He grabs a bag he had brought in from the night before. I was nosy and peeked in it. He’d packed a change of clothes, shaving stuff, things like that. He was prepared, which I appreciate.
After we’re dressed, and after we’ve made out enough that we have to take some time to readjust our hair, and for Adam, readjust elsewhere as well, we make our way downstairs. We are chatting, joking, and giggling the two floors down, and when we get into the kitchen, we’re looking for all the world like…what did William say? Lovebirds. Lovebirds who are maybe in love, in addition to all of the bonding hormones coursing through our veins.
And the first person to witness it isn’t Nadia.
It’s Amá Sonya.
I stop so fast, Adam nearly collides with my back. He wraps an arm around me instead, keeping us both upright, and Amá stares at the point of contact with the most unimpressed expression on her face. “Sky. You kept refusing my offer of brunch. So I had to bring brunch to you.” She opens her arms at the table, which is set as though we are fine dining at a fancy restaurant uptown. After glaring at me some more, she glances at Adam. “Mr.Noemi, I take it?”
“Uh—” Adam furrows his brow, clearly trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Which. Same.
“Adam,” I say quickly. “This is Sonya. My grandmother. Nadia’s sister.”
She stands and holds her hand out to him as though she’s aqueen and he’s supposed to kiss it. He takes it slowly, wrapping his other hand around it, and turns on the charm. He gives her his most disarming smile and says, “It’s great to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“No you haven’t,” Sonya says primly, pulling her hand away. “I need to speak with my granddaughter now. In private, if that wasn’t clear.”
My eyes about pop out of my head. What the fuck did I just hear? “Amá Sonya. Adam and I had plans—”
She raises her eyebrow at me, completely nonplussed. “Plans? Like the plans you and I had last week?”
I narrow my eyes. “Those weren’t plans forus! That was a blind date you lied to me about!”
“We all want what’s best for our children and grandchildren.” She makes a very discreet gesture toward Adam that I’m pretty sure only I see. I hope only I see, because she clearly means she doesn’t think Adam is what’s best for me.
“Sky.” Adam turns to me. “It’s okay. I’ve gotta check on Gramps, anyway. Make sure his night was okay, and that he gets his morning meds.”
I breathe out a sigh and finally nod. “Sure. I know. Tell William good morning for me.”
Adam kisses my forehead as he slings his bag over his shoulder. He turns to Amá Sonya and dips his head. “It was a pleasure to meet you, ma’am.” She raises her eyebrow at him in response and doesn’t speak again until he’s out the door.
“Well?” She gestures to the table. “Shall we?”
I pull out the chair opposite her. “Did Nadia know you and I had brunch plans today?” I have to fully restrain myself from making air quotes around “brunch plans.”
“No. But I have an extra key she gave me about thirty years ago.”
I’ve seen Sonya here so infrequently that I wonder if this is her first time using her spare key ever. Another thought occurs to me, though. She’s so in my business, so intrusive, that what if she comes in the house and tries to find out our secrets or something? I smother a snort when I imagine her coming across my four enormous packs of condoms in my room.
“Is something funny?”
Oops. I guess I didn’t smother that laugh hard enough. I shake my head. “Of course not, Amá.”
She hmphs and opens up the lids of the serving bowls. Inside is what looks like a breakfast pasta, with eggs, bacon, vegetables, and cheese. It sounds like it could be a mess in theory, but it looks incredible, right down to the most perfect sprig of parsley on top for garnish. There’s another bowl of sweet potato fries and one more of fresh fruit surrounding a porcelain bowl of thick whipped cream.
“Thank you for bringing brunch,” I say, because I am absolutely starving, and even though from the way she’s treating me, it’s possible she’s poisoned the food, that’s not going to stop me from digging in.
“You’re welcome.”
We both serve ourselves and eat in silence for a few moments. Finally, she says, “That man is no good for you.”
I swallow my bite. “You’ve said this, yes.”
“Do not give me sass, Sky Temple.”
I nod without speaking and focus on eating instead. I don’t know how to not give her sass right now. She’s been asking for far worse than sass for a long time, as far as I’m concerned.
She takes her cloth napkin from her lap and dabs at the corners of her mouth, even though she eats in such small bites, there’s no way for food to get anywhere but where it’s supposed to go. Finally, she gets to the point. “Adam Noemi has been questioning many people in this town about you.”
