She waved a hand in dismissal. "No need to thank me. I love doing this stuff. But if you insist, you can thank me after the party, when you've had lots of champagne and danced until your feet hurt."
Ruvon extended his hand. "Thank you for coming up with the idea and orchestrating all the work. You are truly extraordinary."
Amanda smiled. "Think of the cocktail party as a warm-up before the wedding, a grand rehearsal."
Soraya had drifted over during the conversation, drawn by her daughter's smile. "What is happening? Why is everyone smiling?"
Arezoo took her mother's hands. "Amanda is throwing us a cocktail party this Saturday. Before the wedding. So we can still celebrate."
Soraya looked at Amanda with an expression that hovered between gratitude and alarm. "But the store, we cannot possibly help with the cooking?—"
"You don't need to do anything," Amanda said. "Focus on your store and the grand opening. The Odus and I will handle Saturday. All you need to do is show up, wearing something beautiful, and try not to cry."
"I make no promises about the crying," Soraya said, and hugged Amanda.
As she watched the scene, warmth spread through Syssi. This was the clan at its best. When the world threw obstacles in the way of joy, this community didn't surrender it. They found another path to it.
Allegra, who had been patiently observing the proceedings from her stroller with the air of a tiny dignitary at a diplomatic function, chose that moment to start wiggling and trying to get out of the stroller. "Mommy!" She kicked up her legs. "I'm hungry. I want more snack!"
"Snack!" Evie repeated.
Syssi bent to retrieve the container of crackers from the stroller's basket and handed one to Allegra and one to Evie.
"That will buy us another fifteen minutes," Amanda said. "Shall we see the inside now?" She steered Evie's stroller toward the double glass doors.
The inside of the store was a revelation compared to the cramped house that had served in its place. Clean white shelves lined the walls, spaced far enough apart for strollers to navigate comfortably. The lighting was bright but not harsh, and the floor, which was simple polished concrete, seemed easy to clean and practically indestructible.
The place smelled like fresh paint, full of promise and possibility.
Soraya led them through the aisles, pointing out where everything went. "This section will be dry goods, and over there are canned goods. That wall is cleaning supplies and household items."
"And back there," she pointed toward a corner near the refrigeration units, "is the section I am most proud of."
They followed her to a display of shelves stocked with ingredients that Syssi recognized from the elaborate Persian dishes Soraya and her sisters prepared for clan events. Saffron in small glass jars. Dried limes. Rose water. Pomegranate molasses. Sumac. Barberries in sealed bags.
Yasmin appeared from behind a shelving unit, carrying a box that was almost as large as she was. Little Cyra was trailing behind her with a stuffed animal tucked under one arm and the dreamy, distant expression that Syssi had often noticed the girl wearing. "Where do you want the tea, Soraya?"
"Next to the coffee. Top shelf."
"I can't reach the top shelf."
"Then get one of the boys to do it." Soraya gestured vaguely toward the front of the store, where Ruvon and his friends were still hauling boxes.
Syssi crouched down to Cyra's level. "Hi, sweetheart. Who's this?" She pointed to the stuffed animal.
Cyra regarded her with large, serious eyes. "This is Mithra. She's a lion."
"She's a very beautiful lion."
"She protects me when I dream," Cyra said matter-of-factly, and then wandered off after her mother.
Syssi watched her go with a faint chill running down her spine. There was something about that girl. Something in the way she looked at the world, not through it exactly, but past it, as if she could see layers that everyone else missed. Syssi recognized the quality because she had it herself, though in Cyra it was rawer, less filtered, closer to the surface.
She shook off the feeling and stood up. This was a celebration, not a time for borrowed worries.
Amanda had completed her inspection of the store and was nodding approvingly. "You've done an incredible job."
"It was a team effort." Soraya looked around at her sisters, her children, and the men who were still grumbling good-naturedly about their involuntary labor. "I could not have done this without my family."
