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He let go of me with a frown on his face. He turned around and walked over to his car.
“Don’t leave the house and call us if you need anything,” Gabriel said.
“We will,” I smiled at him.
He hugged Annie, gave me a kiss on the cheek, and walked to Nick’s car.
As soon as he left, Annie closed the door and grabbed my hand.
She pulled me to the living room and motioned for me to sit down.
“Where are you going?” I asked her when she turned away from me.
“I’m getting us a drink,” she said, not looking back at me. “Beer or gin tonic?”
“Gin tonic,” I said and leaned back on the couch.
I couldn’t believe how much my life had changed in a matter of days. I didn’t even know how long it had been since I arrived in the City. It felt like months, but I knew it wasn’t. Only a few days had passed, but I lost track. My life changed so much that it kind of didn’t even make sense to keep track of time. I no longer knew who I was. Time really didn’t matter.
“Here you go,” Annie’s voice startled me.
I didn’t even hear her walk in.
“Thank you,” I said and took the glass from her hand.
She sat beside me on the couch and turned to me.
“How are you?” she asked me. “No bullshit. I want the truth.”
I sighed and took a sip of my drink.
“I have no idea,” I said honestly. “I’m confused, sad, angry, scared, in denial. But also, kind of happy that I have a brother. I feel safe here. Name an emotion and I have it, believe me.”
“What about Grace?” she asked quietly.
I looked at her and frowned. “I don’t know what to think. I don’t want to believe she did that. But there is no denying it, is there? She was a horrible woman. But on the other hand, she was my grandma. I loved her. She loved me. I mean later in life, but she did.”
“I had a tough time believing it as well,” Annie said quietly and looked down at the bottle in her hands. “I didn’t know her for long, but I never thought she was capable of such things.”
“How long have you known?” I asked her.
She took a sip of her beer and looked up at me.
“I found out the day Gabe asked us to move in,” she said.
I raised my eyebrows. She had known all this time?
“Don’t hate me, please,” she said and grabbed my hand. “Do you remember when they asked us, and we were both against it?”
I nodded and waited for her to continue.
“Then you went to your room and when you came back, I said we should go live with them,” she said, and I nodded again.
“While you were upstairs, Gabriel showed me the video you saw today,” she continued. “He knew we wouldn’t go, and he needed to convince one of us. And at the time he didn’t want to tell you, so he told me.”
I sighed and took a big sip of my drink.
“I would ask you why you didn’t tell me, but I know it wasn’t your story to tell,” I said quietly.
