Mom stiffens beside me at the fear in Kelsey’s voice. “It’s a gift,” she says.
“Meilin, stay out of it,” says Dad.
“How can you say that when you brought me into it?”
“You didn’t think this is something I had a right to know before I married you?” Kelsey says to Eric, ignoring the rest of us. “What about our children?”
Eric snorts. “I didn’t tell you because it’s got nothing to do with you or the kids. It only impacts Hua women.” He glances over. “Besides, I thought it didn’t matter anymore.”
“Fuck you, Eric,” I mutter in a low tone, not daring to say it louder.
Dad throws down his napkin and gets up without saying a word, his old trick of simply walking away from anything he doesn’t want to deal with and leaving Mom to take care of the situation. He brushes against the server, who takes one look at the table and then discreetly waves away his colleague, who was about to clear the plates.
Eric watches Dad leave, his jaw twitching. Kelsey dabs at her eyes with a napkin, which only succeeds in smearing her makeup. She gets up, swaying slightly. “I can’t believe any of you.”
“Kelsey—”
“I don’t want to hear it, Eric!” Kelsey doesn’t look at us as she grips her purse to her chest like a shield before swinging on her heel and running out of the restaurant.
Mom blows her breath out softly. “I apologize, Eric.”
Eric looks furious. “You ruined Dad’s birthday. No wonder he’s miserable—married to someone who never puts his needs above her own.”
“Shut up, Eric,” I say. “Dad caused this in the first place. How supportive has he ever been about Mom and her store?”
“What the hell are you talking about? He let her do it. What morecan she ask for?” Eric glowers at me. “What do you think would happen if the attention was off you for a minute?” he says with fake solicitude. “Do you think you would literally explode?”
“Eric, that’s not fair.” Mom has put her napkin down. Her color is high but her body is straight and still, unlike me, who’s shaking.
“My wife left crying, but whatever. The second Lucy gets upset, it’s not fair. Of course. You know what? Even if that perfume shit were real, I don’t know how you think any man could put up with it.”
“What are you talking about?” I demand.
“What do you think it’s like, not knowing if your own wife is using it to control you? Your own daughter?” He glares at me. “Your sister?”
I snort. “Since Mom’s gift is a mood booster, I think it’s clear she’s never used it on any of the men in this family.”
“Like I believe that.”
I want to slap him. “Just because it’s something you’d do doesn’t mean that we would. Stop projecting.”
“Eric, how could you think such a thing?” Mom sounds fierce. “That I would be such a person?”
“I never got to know the person you are. After all, I’m not special like Lucy.” He shoves his chair back hard enough that it almost hits the man behind him. “Thanks for the support, Mom. Good to know whose side you’re on. I need to find Kelsey.”
He leaves, and a swell of silence comes down over what feels like the entire restaurant. Mom looks straight ahead before motioning the server. “We’re ready for the bill.”
He nods, casts his glance over the uneaten food, then leaves the bottle of wine on the table by my hand. I grab it and fill up my glass. Why not.
Mom does not agree. “Don’t you think you’ve had enough?”
“No. Do you see why you should have let Eric tell her before?”
She stares straight ahead. “Kelsey didn’t need to know about us.”
I take a sip large enough to make me cough. “Kelsey was going tofind out when I told her about the problem with her samples.”
“We could have found a solution without her knowing. Even Eric knew better than to tell her, but you, announcing it to everyone under the sun…” She gives a little wave around the restaurant. “A thousand years of secrecy, gone. Telling the wrong person can be fatal for us.”
