Page 58 of There Are No Words

“Then why did you agree?” I crossed my arms.

Maria turned to me and arched a brow. “Because. . . of—”

“You!” Bianca and Perla chimed in.

I sighed. “I just want to meet her.”

“We know. It’s a secret about Mom, a woman we all love and looked up to all our lives. It would be weird to not be at least curious,” Maria said, seeming to somewhat understand where I was coming from.

“Thank you,” I replied, uncrossing my arms and settling my hands in my lap, fussing with my fingers.

“Plus, you didn’t seriously think we’d ever let you go alone, did you?” Bianca asked.

I chuckled. “I guess not. I wouldn’t let any of you go alone, either.”

Perla leaned forward and placed her hand on my shoulder. “Exactly, because we’re sisters. We stick together.”

“Right. Even if one of us wants to do something weird, like show up to a stranger’s home with no clue as to what will happen,” Bianca said, driving home her point.

I rolled my eyes and waved a hand in the air. “I’m changing the subject, okay?” Then I asked, “What do you think she’ll be like?” giving voice to the question lingering in my mind.

Maria lowered the radio and looked in the rearview mirror, waiting for one of our other sisters to answer. I knew she wasn’t thrilled about all of this, but at least she was being a good sport.

Finally, Perla answered, “No idea, but she’s got Mom’s genes, so she can’t be that bad. I’m just leaning into that.”

“And those of her father, who we really have no information on, since he’s dead, other than what the PI dug up,” Maria pointed out, stating the facts.

Bianca clacked her tongue on the roof of her mouth. “I need to see her to judge her.”

“Oooh, what if she’s like one of those women who thinks their shit doesn’t stink?” Perla asked, her voice hitting a high octave.

What? No way!I shook my head. “No, I don’t think so. Come on. Perla’s right, she’s Mom’s daughter. She can’t be like that.”Right?I mean, it was unlikely.Yeah, it’s unlikely.I was going with that. We hadn’t even met her yet. I didn’t want to think negatively.

Eyes never leaving the road, Maria noted, “Environment and experiences contribute to a person’s personality.”

I wasn’t sure what Maria was getting at, but there was no way to know if Jade would be horrible. “I guess we really can’t be sure until we meet her.” But I was choosing to be positive about the whole thing, to be open to seeing the good in her. We owed that much to her. And Mom.

“We’re almost there,” Maria announced and made one last turn into Jade’s neighborhood.

Bianca sighed from the back seat. “You think she’ll be home?”

“We can only try and see. And if she’s not, we can wait around for a bit if everyone wants, too,” Perla put in.

Then Maria asked, “And we’re sure we want to do this?” as if she needed the confirmation.

I groaned.Seriously, Maria? We’re going to do this again?I looked behind at Bianca and Perla, but they still looked like they could go either way. All right, so I guessed I was going to have to be the one to answer.

I nodded, comfortable with my decision to meet Jade. “Yes. Let’s do this. For Mom. For us.” If I had to be the cheerleader here, I was willing to step into that role.

I only hoped that all my positive energy paid off in spades. It’d gut me to find out I had been wrong, and my sisters got hurt in the process. I held on to the hope I had and smiled as I looked at her building while Maria double parked outside.

This is going to be great.

This is going to be great.

Repeating it seemed necessary.

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