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A large man pushed himself off the couch and took the plate from Jason. He spotted Cassie hiding in the doorway, and his eyebrows shot up. She recognized him from the other night. He was the one who had stolen Jason’s phone from Kiki. It was Ty.
“Hey, Jay’s brought a friend.”
Cassie stepped forward as eight faces turned in her direction. Despite the size of the room, Granny Mabel had filled it wall to wall with furniture. Two mismatched couches and a pair of chairs were situated around a coffee table laden with food and drink. An entertainment center sat off to one side and a pa
ir of bookshelves lined the opposite wall. Someone was playing music through a portable speaker. She didn’t recognize the song, but she liked the beat.
Jason cleared his throat. “This is Cassie. We work together at the museum.”
The entire room erupted into hellos and cheers and obnoxious wolf whistles, the latter of which mostly came from Ty. Kiki jumped up from the couch, her downy curls now in two puffs, one on each side of her head, and crossed the room to give Cassie a hug and steer her to the last remaining seat.
The next hour was a whirlwind of names and faces and raucous laughter. Jason was in his element. Cassie had never seen this side of him. He was quiet at the museum, more interested in observing than interacting with people. But here, surrounded by family, he was someone new. She liked the way his eyes crinkled when he laughed.
Kiki properly introduced herself this time, though she clearly had no regrets about the first impression she’d made on Cassie when she sent her that video at the bar. She kept the louder boys in line with her sharp tongue, but her voice turned soft with the younger cousins, checking in on them to make sure they had enough to eat or to see if they needed a ride home or to ask about their day.
Kiki’s presence was magnetic, drawing you closer with every laugh, every joke, every story. Each person in that room had their own quirks, their own personality, but Kiki was the rope that bound them together. She was special.
In fact, all the women in the room were. Granny Mabel had said they had a strong intuition—something they didn’t share with the men in the family. And every once in a while, she’d catch one of them staring like they could see right through her.
Though she would’ve been happier to sit back and bask in everyone else’s enjoyment, Cassie allowed Kiki to drag her from person to person, making introductions and sharing stories. She was quick on her feet, which made even more sense when Cassie found out she had a successful career as a lawyer.
Jason’s gaze followed Cassie around the room as she made small talk and laughed at everyone’s jokes. He sat between Ty and Ty’s brother Evan, who had a thick beard and a bright smile. Ty was in construction, which explained his bulging muscles, while Evan was a personal trainer, which explained why he was even bigger than Ty. The two had a friendly rivalry, which Cassie assumed extended to the gym. When she quietly joked that Evan seemed to be winning that race, Ty scowled, and Evan howled with laughter.
And on it went. The other couch held three more people. Jamie couldn’t have been older than twenty-two. He was going to school to be an accountant. His little brother, Daryl, sitting on the other end of the sofa with a book in his hand, was two years younger and going to school for computer science. The woman in between them looked hilariously out of place in her sleek dress and giant hoop earrings. Janelle, Kiki explained, was going to school for fashion design. She even had a small following on Instagram who looked to her for advice on clothes, jewelry, and hair styles. Janelle politely said hello, only gazing up from her phone long enough to make eye contact.
Kiki turned to the last two people in the room. One was a short, stocky woman sitting in an armchair. She had a shaved head, dyed fuchsia, and wore baggy pants and a tight top. Her arms were covered in tattoos. She shook Cassie’s hand as Kiki introduced her as Dionne, her younger sister. She was a professional artist with several paintings hanging in a local gallery. Sitting next to Dionne on the arm of the chair was a woman with tawny skin wearing a dusty rose-colored hijab and tailored pantsuit. She had one arm draped around Dionne’s shoulders as she introduced herself as Imani, a personal chef. She didn’t seem at all intimidated by the vibe of the room, which led Cassie to assume the two had been dating for quite some time.
As the first hour stretched into the second, Dionne invited Cassie to visit her gallery before she and Imani drifted out of the room. Soon after, Jamie and Daryl packed up to go back to their dorms. Janelle followed moments later, promising to meet Kiki for lunch the next day. Ty gave Cassie a bear hug on the way out, and Evan, not to be outmatched, lifted her up and spun her around before gently setting her back down on the floor. He punched Jason in the shoulder before grabbing a cookie and sauntering out of the room.
Cassie slumped onto the couch, turning to Jason. “How do you do that all the time? I’m exhausted.”
“I’ve built up a tolerance.” He sat down next to her, shoving several potato chips into his mouth. “You’ll get used to it.”
Cassie tried not to grin at the idea that she might see Jason’s family again, but it was no use.
Kiki must’ve caught it. She was sitting across from Cassie in one of the chairs. “For the record, everyone liked you, too.”
“That’s nice to hear.”
“It sounds like you don’t believe it.”
Cassie looked to where Janelle had been sitting. “I just hope no one thought I was intruding on family time.”
Kiki followed her gaze. “Janelle?” She smiled and shook her head. “Janelle is super quiet. You wouldn’t think that by looking at her. She looks like a supermodel. God, I can’t believe she’s going to be twenty-five soon.”
Jason groaned. “When did we get so old?”
“I don’t know.” Kiki’s smile faded. “It was Janelle’s sister who died. Jasmine. She was a year older. Their mom, our aunt, died when they were little. Now it’s just Janelle and Uncle Roger.”
“I’m so sorry.” The silence of the room was suffocating. “Were they close?”
“So close.” The smile returned to Kiki’s face. “I’ve never even seen them get into an argument. Not a real one, anyway. They were best friends.”
“How is she holding up?”
“I don’t know. She’s not talking a lot, but she’s around. I take that as a good sign. If it were Dionne—” Kiki broke off. Shook her head. Smiled without smiling. “I’d bury myself alongside her.”
The three of them let that hang in the air for a moment. Cassie couldn’t stop herself from asking. She remembered what Jason had said at the bar. “She had a heart defect?”
