“Hi, Aunt Lydia.” I drew back first, squeezing her hands. “I was so happy when Sophie told me you were coming. I’m sorry I’m late.” Looking at Sophie, I nodded once. “I was a bit…out of it this morning.”
Out of it. Hungover. It was all the same. Tiffany made Ren and I do two rounds of lemon drop shots at the bar before ordering our own drinks. After Kat, Sam, and Gina walked into Divers and made a point to stare at me the entire night, that turned into two more drinks, one more round of tequila shots, and one glass of water that barely helped when I woke up this morning. I was tempted to go to Denny’s for something greasy. I wasn’t sure why, but the way Kat and Sam looked at me had me uneasy the entire night, like they were talking, plotting. I debated on saying something to Kat, asking how she was, but the last encounter we had didn’t go very well and I didn’t want her bringing up her departing gift. That gift that was still buried in the inside pocket of my purse.
“I heard about your outing from Monica Anderson this morning. She just loved telling me about how close you seemed with her daughter these days.”
Tiffany’s mother? “I wasn’t aware you two talked.” Last I knew, Monica and Sophie couldn’t stand each other. Then again, Sophie didn’t get along with most of the dance moms. Or other women. I believed my father liked to describe her as ‘catty’.
“About important things.”
Lydia cleared her throat. “How about we eat before the food gets cold?”
“Colder,” Sophie corrected, directing her focus on me with arched brows. Disapproval was a look tattooed on her face when it came to me. It made me itch.
I followed my aunts into the dining room where food was resting in its normal spots. The selection was larger today considering Lydia was vegan, something I was sure Sophie complained about to the people preparing the menu.
After grabbing what we wanted, Lydia turned to me. “I bet you’re excited to be almost done with school. How much longer do you have?”
I sipped my water. “A couple weeks of classes then a week of finals. Some of my courses are allowing students to be exempt from the exams if we have an A before finals week though.”
“Then you should be set,” Sophie commented.
Shifting in my seat, I admitted, “A few of my grades have dropped since…things have happened.” As soon as the words left my lips, I could see Sophie’s eyes widen. “But they’re not bad. I’m still well over a 3.0 grade point average which is what I need to keep my scholarship.”
“You mean the scholarship the school awarded you following the one you lost for dropping dance?”
Heat raised up the back of my neck like tiny pinpricks.
Lydia murmured, “Sophie.”
“What?” My other aunt asked. “It was a simple question. Adele got into that school because of her abilities, but she nearly got kicked out because she decided to stop dancing. It was a silly risk. I’m stating a fact.”
“It wasn’t,” I argued quietly. “And I didn’t almost get kicked out. I would have applied for loans if I needed to, but they offered me an alternative academic scholarship considering my grades.”
Sophie dabbed her lips with a linin napkin. “I don’t see why you’d need either. I told you I could help pay for school given the circumstances. Your father would have but…”
I swallowed. “Yes, well, I told you I didn’t need the help. I was raised to do things on my own, which is why I denied his help too.”
Sophie didn’t say anything else, but Lydia smiled to herself as she poked at her food. She jumped in after a few awkward moments of silence. “I hate to bring it up, but there was a reason I wanted to come and talk to you both today.”
Sophie’s eyes rolled. “Shocking.”
I eyed her for a moment when she wasn’t looking before glancing back at Lydia with interest. Whatever was on her mind was serious because she had a sheepish look on her face.
“What is it?” I asked lightly.
Setting her fork down, she looked at both of us before sighing. “I was reached out to by a reporter from The Times. They have new information regarding your father, Della.”
My heart dropped. “What?”
Sophie set her napkin down. “How on earth could they still be digging up information on him? It’s done.”
It’s done. Those two words were so final that they hurt. I wasn’t sure I wanted to believe them, even if she was partly right. It’d been months since he was buried, why would the press be reaching out to anybody? And why Lydia?
I was hesitant when I asked, “What did they want?”
Sophie shook her head. “Does it really matter, Adele? Whatever they say can’t be any good, especially not for us.”
Lydia disregarded her sister’s comment and focused solely on me. “He said there was a list being published of the names of the people Anthony stole from. Apparently, it’s extensive.”
We already knew that my father had harmed a lot of people, but during the trial it was considered sealed evidence so nobody could be named publicly. Speculation buzzed in the city, in certain social circles, about something like this coming to light. But after so many months, I figured it was over.
“Why now?” I whispered, frowning.
Lydia reached over and took my hand. “I can only think that they want to give victims justice in a way that outs
