“Wow. You’re even more beautiful than I remembered.” With a hesitance that I’d never seen in him, he asked, “Would you like to get something to eat? I’d love to catch up.”

And that’s how it all began. At first, I’d thought it was strange that we never dined in Shady Palms, instead driving out to nearby towns where we didn’t know anyone. He’d claimed he wanted to avoid all the local gossips, which I’d appreciated.

Of course, this was before I knew anything. Before I knew who he’d become. Back when I thought we could pick up where we left off, when I thought the surest cure to my heartbreak was a new love. I mean, that’s how it worked in just about every rom-com ever, and why would they steer me wrong? But then my aunt and grandmother found out about us. As Lola Flor screamed at me, Tita Rosie explained what he’d been doing to them. To us. Derek’s betrayal, coming so soon after Sam’s . . .

I shook my head, as if I could physically shake these dismal thoughts away. No need to dwell on that. No one knew I’d been seeing him when I got back, not even Adeena. And no one needed to know. It was just a couple of dates, it hadn’t meant anything.

Nothing at all.

I pulled on warm leggings and an off-the-shoulder black sweater, which managed to be sexy and cozy at the same time. Casual but cute, especially if paired with dangly earrings, booties, and a nice scarf.

“How do I look, Nisa?” I modeled my outfit to my tiny sausage dog.

She tilted her head as if seriously considering it, and barked.

“You’re right, how could I forget?”

I went over to my jewelry box to put on the necklace my parents left me. It was a simple disk of green jade on a golden chain, and the one physical reminder of them I was able to carry into adulthood. I wore it everywhere, even to bed, taking it off only to shower or swim.

I rubbed the smooth, cool surface of the pendant, remembering my first year of high school when I worried the chain was getting too small for me to wear. My grandmother had wanted to just replace the chain, but I wouldn’t hear of it. My aunt came up with the idea of extending it by adding one of her gold bracelets to the back.

“That way,” she said, settling the necklace over my head, “you still have the original, but you have a piece of me with you as well. To remind you we’re always with you.”

She smiled, but even at that age I could see the sadness in her eyes. I wasn’t the only one who missed them.

My phone rang, pulling me out of my memories. I didn’t recognize the number and went to reject the call, then remembered Stan had promised to call if he had any info.

“Hello?”

“Lila, we need to talk,” a somewhat recognizable female voice said. The voice managed to be both hesitant and harsh at the same time—whoever it was clearly did not want to be having this conversation.

“May I ask who’s speaking, please?”

“Oh God, are you seriously that polite, Miss Perfect? It’s Janet.”

The night in prison had put her out of my mind, but that argument in the hospital came back in full force. “Oh. Hey. What can I do for you?”

“More like what I can do for you.” She paused, likely wanting me to beg her for more information. When I didn’t, she said, “Look, I could get in a lot of trouble for this, but I didn’t like the way our last conversation ended. I talked to Terrence about it and he wants me to try again. Will you let me do this for him?”

Stunned, I said, “I’m sorry too, Janet.” I glanced at the clock, noting I was going to be late picking up Adeena. “Look, I have to be somewhere soon, but do you want to meet for lunch tomorrow? Sushi-ya is close to the hospital, right?”

“Oh that’s fine, I mean I’m only sticking out my neck for you. Why not put it off another day?” She sighed in frustration. “Whatever. See you at one thirty tomorrow. Don’t be late.”

I agreed, but before I could say goodbye, she managed to get a final shot in. “Oh, and since I’m doing you such a big favor, lunch is on you tomorrow.”

And then she hung up on me.

Hmm, guess I couldn’t expect her to change that much.

I spritzed on my perfume, a special blend of citrus and ginger I created myself, and bundled up before heading out. I made it to Adeena’s fifteen minutes late, which in Brown People Time (BPT) meant I was actually a little early.

I texted her to let her know I was there, then spent a few minutes going over the list Adeena had returned to me, adding notes and questions. I’d just crossed out Stan and Martha’s names when the passenger door opened and Adeena slid inside, calling out to her family, “I’m going out with Lila, be back later!”

I waved at her parents and aunties who’d gathered at the door, watching us disapprovingly. “What’s with the looks?” I asked as we drove off.

She rolled her eyes. “They heard you got arrested and think you’re a bad influence on me.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Did you tell them that you’re the bad influence in this relationship?”

“Oh, that’s another thing. One of my aunties got it into her head that we’re dating since we spend so much time together.”

I glanced over at her. “What’s wrong with best friends spending time together? Plus, I haven’t been home in forever. Did you stress that we were ju—that we were friends?”

I almost said “just friends,” as if romantic partnership was superior to platonic friendship, but stopped myself. Adeena hated that term and idea. And I’d learned, time and again, she was right. There was no hierarchy to love.

Adeena rolled her eyes. “And that just because I like girls doesn’t mean I like every girl in existence since that’s not how sexuality works? Of course I did. You think it did any good?”

I snorted. Nothing else needed to be said. We both knew how our families were when it came to stuff like that. Still, this was the perfect opportunity to get her back for her earlier teasing.

“You should’ve told them that Dr. Jae was going to be at dinner, too. Their daughter on a date with a dentist? They’d love that.”

Her eyes flashed. “Don’t you dare mention it to them! I can just see them latching on to him, showing up at his job with samosas and welcoming him to the family.” She shuddered.

We got to El Gato Negro around 8:15 or so. When we went inside, Dr. Jae was already sitting at a table, nervously downing a basket of tortilla chips and salsa all by himself. As we watched, he stopped a server to ask for a refill on chips.

“Hey Doc, you been here long?” Adeena plopped into the seat across from him, setting her bag and coat next to her. “Sorry Lila, you know I take up a lot of space. We can use this as the bag and coat seat if you want to pass your stuff over.”

This was a setup! I knew it.

I glared at her, saying, “Marcus is joining us for dinner, too, so you should hang your things on the back of your chair.”

“Who’s Marcus?” Dr. Jae asked as I slid into the seat next to Adeena.

“A family friend who’s helping us with the c—with some stuff.” Probably shouldn’t go blabbing to everyone about our investigation.

Our waitress came by to introduce herself as Elena and ask for our drink orders. “Oh, are you waiting for someone else? Would you like to wait?”

“Nah, who knows when he’ll show up. We can get started without him.” I was driving, so I stuck with horchata, and Dr. Jae echoed my order. Adeena got one of their giant fishbowl margaritas.

We all helped ourselves to the chips and variety of salsas. Adeena preferred the fiery red chile sauce, while I loved the tangy green tomatillo. Dr. Jae, that coward, stuck with the mild tomato salsa.

Adeena was incredulous. “Aren’t you Korean? How can you not like spicy food?”

He shrugged. “My dad’s White. And I know what you’re thinking, but Park is apparently an English surname, too. My mom’s maiden name was Kim.”

“So because of your dad, you don’t like spicy food?” I asked.

“He can’t handle it, so my mom never made it for us. The only spicy thing I eat is kimchi, and even that has to be served with bowls and bowls of rice. I love all the other stuff though, especially the seafood dishes. Unfortunately—”

“The majority of those dishes are cooked with red pepper paste and spicy as heck. I get it. Most Filipino food isn’t spicy, or at least not where my family’s from, so when I met Adeena, I couldn’t handle it. But her family’s food was so delicious, I slowly built up my spice tolerance every time I ate at her house. Give it time.”

He laughed. “I’m almost thirty. How much time do I need? I’ve made peace with it. Jonathan’s the chile fiend. He takes after our mother in that respect. Got our dad’s personality though.”

“Jonathan? Oh, you have a brother? Older or younger?” I asked.

Now it was Adeena’s turn to laugh. “Are you serious? You don’t know who his brother is?”

“Should I?”

“It’s Detective Park,” she said, watching my expression carefully.