Chapter 33
Thirty-Three
GIA
The soft knock at her bedroom door, followed by the sounds of little feet and giggling, was the only warning she got right before something landed across her chest.
“Oomph.” Gia groaned even as she tried to hide her smile.
“Wake up!” Tuy?t Mai yelled. Her sweet voice softened her demand.
“I’m up. I’m up.” Rolling over, she caught Tuy?t Mai by the waist and screamed, “Tickle time!”
The peals of laughter would melt anyone’s heart. It softened the sting of being ditched by Jake last night.
“Stop! Stop!” Tuy?t Mai tapped out, tears of laughter streaming down her face.
“All right, you little rascal. I’m up. Now what?” she asked, picking the two-year-old up and hugging her to her chest.
“Pancakes?”
Gia nodded. “Pancakes.” She moved to get up. “Where’s your mom?”
Th?y Mai stood at the door and answered. “She went to help Uncle Jake.”
Frowning, she pushed herself to stand.
What the hell is going on, and why did nobody call me?
“Mom said she’d be back to make pancakes,” Th?y Mai told her little sister, who squealed about wanting chocolate chips in hers. Gia put her down, smiling as Tuy?t Mai joined her older sister and they left her behind.
Though a part of her wanted to stay with her family, her heart still sank when she got a text from Jake about an emergency he and Marley needed to tend to, though he wouldn’t elaborate on the issue. It was a reminder that she wasn’t a part of their family unit, and it hurt.
Jake had called her before bed last night. He reassured her everything was fine but was cagey about the details, which only made her uneasy.
Checking her phone, she saw messages from Kim and Jerry. She opened Kim’s message but ignored the latter.
Kim
Everything has been taken care of.
Gia breathed a sigh of relief. She’d talked to Kim after lunch yesterday. She quickly caught her up on what she had been up to for the past month. Before she could even ask, Kim laid out a plan of action for her. With only a few words, Gia was ready to walk away from her past.
There were more important things in life than chasing an empty dream. Life was too fucking short.
If Alex hadn’t decided to come to town, it would have taken her longer for Gia to finally cut ties with her old life.
When the sheriff came by to talk to her, he’d taken her statement in their living room—which she’d found odd, but chalked it up to being a small-town perk.
When she asked what would happen to Alex, he frowned and interlaced his fingers. She braced herself for bad news.
“Alex’s father posted bail, and he was released about an hour ago,” Sheriff Lancaster said, his voice rough after years of tobacco use. He’d shot her an apologetic look.
Her hackles rose as she realized Alex was already free to walk around like he hadn’t drugged her. She didn’t even want to know what he had planned to do with her once he’d gotten her back to the hotel, nor had she asked Sheriff Lancaster any details. What she didn’t know couldn’t hurt her.
Or so she’d like to believe. What she did know was she was done playing games with her life—which was what prompted her phone call with Kim, who demanded an update.
When she’d gotten to the part about what Alex had done, Kim’s silence had taken on a dangerous edge.
Her silent fury was scarier than if she’d raised her voice.
It made the hairs on Gia’s arms rise in both fear and awe.
Clearly, she had underestimated how scary Kim was, but it was reassuring to know Kim had her back.
By the time she made her way downstairs, the girls were already making a dent in their pancakes. Minh stood by the kitchen sink, deep in thought, a look of sadness marring her features. She walked up to Minh, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and giving her a squeeze.
“Morning,” Gia said. She knew that faraway look by now. Minh was thinking about her late husband. “You okay?” she whispered, careful to keep her voice low so the girls wouldn’t hear her.
Minh sniffled, nodding and wiping away the tears that escaped. “I’m fine,” she said, her arm coming up to grip Gia’s forearm. “He would have loved to be here to see all of this, you know?”
“Yeah, I know.” Gia squeezed her sister closer to her.
Ken hadn’t been a part of their family long, but during the brief time he was, he brought joy into their lives.
Three years ago, Ken was driving home from a double shift at the hospital when a drunk driver going the wrong direction collided with his car.
The police said he’d died on impact and that it was a blessing, but nobody could find it in them to be thankful that a father was gone, a wife had lost her husband, and two little girls would never get to see their father again.
It was a cruel twist of fate for the Lien’s to lose both Thao and Ken.
The summer that changed all of their lives.
Minh breathed deeply before patting Gia on her arm. “Anyway, you should get going.”
“Going where?” Gia took a step back.
Minh turned around, her smile back, but now edged with sadness. “Jake needs you down at the community center.”
“Right now? Why?” She glanced at the clock on the microwave. It wasn’t even nine a.m. yet.
“He has a surprise for you. You should go before it’s too late.” Minh made a shooing motion with her hands. “I’ll come by with the girls after they eat breakfast. Mom and Dad will be there around lunchtime with food. Oh, and maybe wear that pink top with the daisies on it.”
“What’s wrong with my shirt?” She looked down at the oversized black T-shirt she had on.
“Just trust me, okay?” Minh’s hands came up to cup her face.
Gia scanned Minh’s earnest expression, sensing something big was going to happen but not knowing what. “Okay.” She nodded, deciding to trust her sister.
She changed and was out the door in under five minutes. The sound of everyone yelling their goodbyes as she shut the door left a small smile on her face.
Whatever the surprise was, it was clear everyone was in on it.
They won’t let anything bad happen to me.
Within minutes, she was staring at the community center. The parking lot was nearly full.
What the hell is going on? she wondered, getting out of the car. She spied Jake’s car parked near the front entrance.
As she made her way to the front doors, she was intercepted by Diem, who stopped her and pulled her around back, saying it wasn’t quite ready for her yet.
Diem ignored her questions about what was happening, only answering by saying Gia would see soon and everything was going to be fine. They had it all covered.
Have what covered? Why is everyone acting so weird?
When Diem led her around back, she saw Luke with an animal cage in each hand. By the loud meowing coming from the containers, she would guess they were cats.
“Hey, Gia! This was a fantastic idea. Thank you for helping the clinic,” Luke said as he passed by her.
“Helping the clinic?” she asked, bewildered.
“Yeah, it really was a great idea. Oh, look, there’s Jake!” Diem pointed to where Jake was standing with arms crossed, listening intently to Marley.
Gia gestured with a thumb to Jake. “I’m gonna go—”
“I’ll see you soon!” Diem was gone before she knew it.
She watched Marley and Jake with their heads together like they were in the middle of a huddle.
“Um, hey,” she said, waving awkwardly before letting her hand drop to her side. “Can one of you guys tell me what’s going on here?”
Marley beamed a bright smile at her. “Gia! You’re just in time.”
“In time for what, exactly?” There was now a parade of people carrying more animal crates into the community center.
“The fundraiser you helped organize.” Marley winked.
She frowned, confused. “I did what now?”
“Come on, I’ll fill you in. Let’s bring some of these other guys in.” Marley led the way to the back, where Clay was unloading crates from a truck bed. Gia glanced at Jake, who shrugged as if he were only along for the ride.
“I can’t tell you everything yet, but just trust me, okay?” Marley said to her before handing Gia a small crate with a white cat in it.
“Um… okay. Sure.” She cradled the crate to her chest.
“Perfect. We’re almost done setting up inside. I can’t wait to see how it turned out.” Marley practically skipped to the community center with a carrier holding an orange cat.
Once inside, Marley set her carrier down on a nearby table. Gia took it as a sign to put hers next to it, while Jake placed the two he had carried in. Someone shouted for Jake’s attention. He kissed Gia’s cheek before walking off.
She followed Marley to a nearby table. The young girl turned to her with a roll of tape and a small stack of papers. “I couldn’t bring Tuna or her kittens since they’re too young, so I took pictures of them. Can you post them up on the table?”
“Um… sure thing,” she said, taking the items from Marley.
Marley looked around the bustling community center like a proud director. “The booth for The Lotus looks like it’s almost ready.”
“Right. Minh mentioned my parents will bring food in the afternoon,” she said.
“Oh, good! I’m so glad they wanted to donate food to the event. People are going to love it!” Marley squealed and took off as Diem gestured her over to where she and Silas were clearly arguing about something.
Gia stood in the middle of the room. Everyone moved around her with purpose, and she still only had a vague sense of what was going on.
In the corner, Zoey set up a table full of baked items from Sweet Tooth Cakes.
She was talking animatedly to Josie, whose table was set up next to hers, holding freshly brewed coffee from Sip Happens.
Across the way, Diem and Silas looked like they were still in the middle of a heated argument while Alina looked on with amusement.
Even Lana was here with some new books from her bookstore.
At the back entrance, she spotted Quynh dragging a grumpy-looking Griffin behind her as she made a beeline for the Sip Happens booth.
Smart.
Gia could use a cup of coffee right now.