Page 80 of Dahlias, Sapphires, and Cool Autumn Dusk
“Me too. It does feel like it’s supposed to be.” He paused. “But there will come a time we will all wantsomealone time at night.”
I didn’t misunderstand him. “Right.”
“Given that we are unlikely to move to different apartments for a very long time, you’ll be stuck sharing Barrett’s closet. Actually, you can spread out your clothes, if you want. You’re welcome to some of my closet.”
I shook my head, thinking it would get confusing. I struggled to remember where I put things already, so leaving them all over the house would make it worse. Still, Barrett might prefer it. “Let me ask your brother if he wants some more space.”
“He won’t.” Jules laughed. “Just if you want to.”
We said hello to the doormen. They treated me like a resident lately. I didn’t even notice it anymore, which in and of itself was bizarre but good.
I put my head on Julian’s shoulder, and he sighed. “Thank you for today.”
“No need to ever thank me for anything.” I kissed his hand.
Ten minutes later, we made it to the restaurant, a cozy place with soft, golden lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Red walls featured gold tapestries adorned with dragons and phoenixes. The red was different from Dina’s apartment, brighter. Each table was set with porcelain plates and bowls, and the scent ofstir-fried vegetables and meat immediately made my stomach growl.
Julian squeezed my fingers. “We’ll have a table in the back. It’s always the same one. Nothing changes here, which I love. We used to come once a week with Granny when we were little, then it became our birthday spot. She still comes a lot with her friends.”
He led me toward the back, where a large table waited for us. We were last to arrive, so I glanced at my phone to make sure we weren’t late only to see we were right on time. Everyone stood to greet us. Julian hugged Jeremy, saying something I couldn’t hear. Jer grinned at him and patted him on the back.
There was a seat empty next to Dina, so I took it. Jeremy sat on my other side and kissed my cheek. “Have a good day?”
“It was fun,” I admitted with a grin. “I’d never seen any of the movies we watched before, and they were all just amazing.”
“Yeah. . .you made Jules’ day.” He grinned. “He can’t get any of us to watch that many of his favorite movies in one sitting.”
I shook my head. “I guess the question now is…what are we doing tonight?”
“You’ll see.” He winked at me, so I focused on dinner and let him surprise me.
Conversation flowed easily, and even Phoenix seemed alert. He hadn’t hurt himself skating, which was great since a few times he came back with bad road rash. They teased each other and talked, but I did notice they engaged more with their granny than their parents.
Rosalind leaned forward at one point to admit, “This is great. I really can’t remember the last time none of them got unhappy and stormed away from the table.”
Barrett shook his head. “Still early. Anything can happen.”
She rolled her eyes but laughed. “No, seriously, I was hoping, Alatheia, you might be available for lunch next weekend.”
Everyone went eerily silent, waiting for my answer as if it mattered, but Phoenix turned to her before I could summon my voice.
“Is this a good lunch or a bad lunch? I don’t want her to have lunch with you if you’re just going to complain or say mean things.”
Rosalind held up her hands, her smile genuine. “A good lunch. I owe your girlfriend a lot of apologies. I was certainly not at my best this summer, so I would really like to properly apologize and get to know her.”
“I would like that,” I lied. I really wouldn’t, but that seemed like the right answer. She scared me more than a little, but I wouldn’t get over it if I didn’t try.
The conversation perked back up, as if the glitch never happened, and I looked at Dina. “Can I ask you a question?”
I noticed her skin seemed a little off, paler than normal, but not so much that I wanted to mention it in front of everyone. Still, I wondered if she wasn’t sleeping. “Absolutely. Always. You look so pretty tonight.”
“Thank you. I was wondering…since you came from somewhere else, too, you weren’t raised in the Life. Is it possible you have advice about how to handle something? A situation?”
She nodded. “I honestly would be more shocked if youdidn’thave a million questions. Go ahead. What got you wondering?”
I sighed. “How do you handle it when they argue?”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Specifically? Like about what?”
