My father tried to recover first. He always did. Years in sales had taught him that confidence, even counterfeit confidence, could carry a weak man through most rooms.
“Ms. Vale,” he said, voice too high and too eager, “what an unexpected honor. If we’d known you were coming—”
“You didn’t,” Helena said.
He actually blinked.
I almost admired her for that one.
My mother found her smile, the social one she wore like lacquer. “This is… such a surprise,” she said. “Kairen never mentioned he knew you.”
That sentence told me everything I needed to know.
Not Are you all right.
Not Kairen.
Not what happened to your face, because there was still a faint red line near my temple where my father had shoved me into the doorframe the night before.
No.
This is such a surprise.
As if the problem was informational.
Jace gave a short, brittle laugh. “Okay,” he said, looking at me. “Very funny. Whose car is this? Some promo thing? You cleaning executive offices so well now the boss gives you rides?”
Helena turned her head and looked at him over the top edge of her sunglasses in a way that made him go quiet without her saying a word.
I stood there on the curb looking at all three of them and felt something strange.