“If you want, I can teach you some of my simpler ones. Bryce is fond of kinpira renkon—stir-fried lotus root,” she explains when I frown inconfusion. “It’s just that I rarely make it because it doesn’t always go with my dinners.”
“Sure. I’d love that.”
Shockingly enough, we manage to decimate the desserts on the trays. Akiko sighs with satisfaction. “That was fun.” She grins at me. “And delicious. We should do it again. Next time with Lareina. She’s a hoot.”
“I’d love that.”
Akiko insists on picking up the tab, saying it’s her prerogative as my mother-in-law. I offer to treat her next time, and we laugh and leave together.
As we spill into the lobby, I stop short. Sherry’s there. She seems to have been unaffected by the wedding. The same serene expression, her thumb constantly moving the beads on her japamala. Aaron’s debt apparently hasn’t affected her—she’s still in a designer dress and the Louboutin shoes she loves so much.
Her eyes flick to me, then to Akiko, eyebrows rising a bit at how closely we’re standing together. I stiffen, feeling oddly like a man getting caught cheating.
“Hello, Finn.”
Akiko tilts her head in curiosity and confusion.
“And this is…?” Sherry trails off, waiting for me to fill in the blank.
I tense as the need to please her and be perfect grips me, like some kind of ingrained conditioning. “Akiko.”
“I’m Fiona’s mother-in-law,” Akiko elaborates, extending her hand smoothly.
Sherry takes a step back. Akiko drops her hand with a puzzled look.
“Mother-in-law?” Sherry turns to me, her voice suddenly taut. “When did you get married?”
“Last week.” I clear my throat, then quickly add, “Sorry you weren’t invited. It was rather sudden. But literally nobody was invited. It wasn’t just you.”
“Who’s the groom?”
“Bryce.”
“That Huxley boy?”
“Yeah.” I indicate Akiko with a sideways nod. “This is AkikoHuxley.”
“I see.” Sherry blinks a few times, processing the information. It must be a shock. After all, I was supposed to marry Jude not too long ago. She abruptly spins around and starts to walk away.
“Wait!” I can’t let her go like this, when I don’t know how upset she is.
She stops, but doesn’t turn around. “What is it?”
“Are you…upset with me?”
A moment of silence. “No. I’m fine. We don’t have the kind of relationship in which you need my permission to pursue your own happiness. Besides, it’s good karma for Finley. You did well, and so did I.” She squeezes my hand, then walks away.
I stare at her retreating back. She sometimes says things that don’t make much sense, but this is a new height of incomprehensibility. Zachary hated it when I questioned her, so I quit probing. But I wish I could figure out what’s going on in her head. What does marrying Bryce have to do with Finley’s karma?
“Are you all right?” Akiko says.
“Yes.” I turn to her and manage a smile. “I think so.”
“Is your mother always so…unique?”
I almost laugh at her word choice. “I guess.” Still, I can’t shake off the feeling that something’s off with Sherry…except I know she won’t tell me anything.
Chapter Thirty-Three
