“You are not that happy to be scrubbing a grill,” Zen says.
“I love this place. I’ll do anything to make it shine.”
“Even though it’s not yours anymore?”
“It hasn’t been mine since my mom sold her share to Chandler’s parents. So this isn’t much different than it was a month ago.”
There’s silence, and I don’t know if Zen’s deciding if they want to ask more questions, and if so, which one first, or if Zen’s deciding to walk away.
Did Grey assume that Chandler sold the café on behalf of the whole family and split the proceeds with us? Does Zen think the same?
I angle a glance at the silver back above the grill.
Zen’s blurry reflection is still there.
They want the tea.
“Mom wanted me to go to college,” I say. “We were in that spot where her regular profits from the café—moderate as they were, considering they were split three ways—on top of her income as a stylist pushed us into a tax bracket that got lower financial aid, but if she sold her part to her brother, I’d leave school with fewer loans. So she sold her third of Bean & Nugget to her brother.”
“What did you major in?”
“Communication.”
They make a noise that’s clearly a stifled laugh.
“I know,” I say. “Already mastered that. I should’ve been like one of my other cousins and studied engineering or nursing.”
“Why’d you hook up with Uncle Grey in Hawaii knowing you were just going to ghost him the next morning?”
Hello, direct questions. I pause in my scrubbing to turn and look them straight on. “I didn’t head out that night with the intention of hooking up with anyone. All I wanted to do was make up for some of the bad that I did to one of my best friends by spreading some kindness in the world. He was supposed to be a random stranger I saved from an awkward situation at a bar, and instead, he was funny and charming and impossible to resist when he insisted on helping me do a few more good deeds.”
They don’t look like they believe me. Whether because funny and charming and impossible to resist doesn’t fit their view of Grey or because they don’t want to believe me is anyone’s guess.
“I ghosted him because I was a supporting character in the viral video of the day, and he either hadn’t seen it or he didn’t recognize me or he was kind enough to pretend he hadn’t. I thought he deserved way better than someone like me who was a complete and total disaster, but he was just so nice about wanting to know me better. I thought I was doing him a kindness in making a clean break. I left a note so he wouldn’t worry.”
They’re studying me like they’ve sworn a blood oath of loyalty to the man who’s apparently way more grumpy than he let on when we were in Hawaii and don’t want to consider that I’m not the bad guy.
“And in case he left this part out,” I add softly, “he gave me his dog’s name as his own first.”
They visibly startle. “Did he actually tell you about Duke?”
“No. Everyone in town is super curious who he is, and someone sent me a picture of him and the dog off his Instagram.”
Now I’m getting the eyeball of so it’s true. You’re the town gossip. “Someone sent you a picture. You didn’t go digging yourself.”
“I’m off gossip.”
“I hear you are the gossip.”
“Small town. I’m not the only one.”
“But you’re the best?”
“Was. I’m recovering. Unless there’s a critical reason in my life that I need to not be.”
They are definitely suspicious.
As they should be.
“I am so curious why you haven’t really pushed harder to find out why Uncle Grey would bail out Chippy from his internet gambling addiction,” they say. “That seems like it would be a critical piece of information in your life.”
I blink.
Blink again.
And then I burst out laughing instead of taking the opening. “Chippy?”
They shrug. “Whatever his name is. I also saw his wedding disaster video. I’m on Team Emma, obviously, because who wouldn’t be? Word around town is you are too. Even though you’re related to him.”
“Can’t choose your blood. He hurt us all in nearly unforgivable ways. He doesn’t qualify as my family anymore.”
They shudder like they get it, freeze, and then their expression goes blank as the page I imagine Decker’s staring at right now if he’s up yet.