Gabriella let go of Mallory’s arms, and now that she was more curious than scared, she finally sat down at the table.
Kizzy reached across the table, offering Mallory her hand. She took it, and they shared a sympathetic squeeze.
“Mallory, what happened might be a little upsetting. Do you really want to know?”
“Absolutely. I’mnotfragile, despite what some people may think.” She may have said that a little too emphatically.
Kizzy let go of her hand. “I know you’re not. I just wanted to make sure you wanted the whole story. Like I said, it could come as a shock to anybody.”
Mallory nodded.
“Well, the short explanation is they blew themselves up.”
Mallory would have liked to hide her shock, but she was sure her eyes must be bugging out of her head. “They what?”
Kizzy grimaced. “I’m sorry if that was blunt. They wouldn’t have done it if it weren’t absolutely necessary. Basically, they were being held hostage, and it was my fault.” She hung her head.
“Oh. I’m sorry. I don’t think I know anything about this. Hostage? How?”
“No, you probably don’t. Noah was sworn to secrecy, and he’s good to his word. I don’t know how much Dante knew about it. Noah probably didn’t even tell him.”
“That would make sense. Noah seems like a very trustworthy person.”
“He is,” Gabriella said. “All my boys are.”
“And so are we,” Antonio added.
“I know. You’re a very special family,” Mallory said. And she meant it. Not many people would witness her turn into a spider monkey and not bat an eyelash.
“Now, getting back to the situation that led up to this.”
“There’s not a lot I can say,” Kizzy said. “But that’s because I’ve been sworn to secrecy too. If we… Never mind.”
“Say what you were going to say,” Mallory prompted.
Kizzy shook her head. “It’s too soon.”
Gabriella cleared her throat. “If I may be so bold, and I don’t know if this is what Kizzy was going to say, butI’mgoing to say it, if you two become part of this family, there will be no more secrets. We will trust each other completely. If you can’t do that, say something right now.”
The girls glanced at each other across the table and then at Gabriella.
Kizzy spoke up first. “Are you psychic too?”
Antonio burst out laughing. “Our sons think she is, but her only superpower is she’s a mom! And her women’s intuition is scarily accurate.”
“Well, yes, that’s sort of what I was alluding to,” Kizzy said. “But I don’t know where we are relationship-wise. Mallory and Dante seem a lot further along than Noah and I. We were just getting close. I’m guessing you and Dante are—serious.”
One of the little birds jumped up and down and chirped. Gabriella chuckled. “That was Dante. I think he was affirming your assumption.”
“So, you can’t understand bird language?”
“No. Antonio is a little better at guessing than I am. Plus we’ve come up with a way to get yes or no responses. If you ask them a yes or no question, and they look at you with their right eye, it means yes. If they look at you with their left eye, it means no.”
Mallory smiled at the little bird. “Well, then, in answer to Kizzy’s question about if we’re serious… I’d say yes.”
Dante looked at her with his right eye. Encouraged to say more, she added, “We’re in love. I wish I could throw my arms around him right now and give him a hug and kiss, but I’m afraid I don’t know how to hug or kiss a bird.”
Antonio laughed. “It’s probably better if you don’t. Our beaks can be sharp. Youcanlet them hop on you and stroke their feathers, but hugging and kissing is probably not a good idea. Oh, and if they poop on you, it means good luck!”
