“I know your heart is in the right place, but she wants to be a part of Keira’s birthday celebration.”
“She is a part of it. She made the cake.”
Callie flashed him a look that said he was incredibly stupid, then smiled. “If you say so.”
“Women,” he muttered.
“Men,” she said, mocking his tone. “Do you think they’re sleeping together?”
Malcolm stared at her. “If you’re trying to distract me, you’re doing a good job. Do I think who is sleeping with whom?”
“Grandfather Alberto and Carmen. Keira thinks they are and she knows stuff.”
Mercifully, his mind went blank because those were not images he wanted to remember. “No. Just no. And we’re not asking.”
“I wouldn’t ask. I just wondered. Carmen’s a lot younger, but our grandfather is still a vital, handsome man. It would be nice to think people still had sex at that age. You know, for when we’re older.”
“He’s your grandfather. Grandparent sex is inherently uncomfortable to think about.”
She grinned. “Technically he is my grandfather, but I haven’t known him long enough to feel the family connection. To me he’s just a lovely older man who may or may not be doing the wild thing with his housekeeper and best friend. You, on the other hand, are now overwhelmed with a vague icky feeling. My work here is done.”
“You’re not a nice person.”
Callie laughed. “That may be true. Now help me get the drinks. Everyone will be ready in a few minutes.”
They went into the kitchen where the caterer and her staff were already at work. Keira had gone upstairs to put away the birthday presents her friends had given her and Carmen was with... Malcolm winced. Carmen was with his grandfather. Were they more than friends? Did he want to know?
He carried a bottle of wine and four glasses into the living room, along with Keira’s favorite Lavender Dry Sparkling Soda. Callie brought in a tray with mini quiches on them.
“I’m not sure Keira ate much at the party. There was so much going on. I know I’m starving.” She offered him the tray.
He took a mushroom cheese quiche, then set the tray next to the drinks.
Keira raced into the room. “That was the best party ever,” she told him. “I had a great time.”
“I’m glad. Thirteen is an important birthday.”
“I know. In three years I get to drive.”
“Not something we’re going to talk about tonight,” Grandfather Alberto said as he and Carmen walked into the living room. “I want you to wait to grow up.”
“I’m not sure I can help it,” Keira said, rushing to him.
Malcolm did his best not to overmonitor his grandfather. So what if he was—
He silently swore at Callie for saying something. Worse, he knew she’d done it on purpose—just to mess with him. They’d gotten to know each other well enough for him to see she had a wicked sense of humor and could certainly hold her own. She was fierce when necessary and she cared deeply about Keira.
He knew she was seeing Santiago and he hoped that went well. Funny how when they’d first gone out, he’d been worried about Santiago getting involved with her. As time went on, he found himself more and more concerned about Callie instead.
“We’d better get started,” Grandfather Alberto said. “You have a big pile of presents to get through and then we’ll have dinner.”
Carmen glared at Malcolm. “Yes, I saw the caterer is here.”
“I’m sorry,” Malcolm told her. “I will never hire a caterer again without talking to you.”
Keira laughed. “You’re in big trouble.”
“Tell me about it.”
Keira looked at the pile of presents. “That’s a lot,” she said, her smile fading a little. “Where do you want me to start?”
“With mine,” Grandfather Alberto said, pointing to a huge box leaning against the coffee table. “I picked it out myself.”
Keira knelt next to the box and began to tear at the paper. Malcolm had no idea what it was until she sat back and grinned at her grandfather.
“For real?”
Malcolm stared at the picture of a guitar on the box. His heart sank. That was going to be noisy and he was only a hallway from Keira’s room.
Callie leaned close. “Stop looking so stricken. It’s electric and there are headphones.”
“You’re starting to scare me with your ability to read me.”
“I should hope so.” She sipped her wine.
The next present was a gift certificate for lessons. Keira ran over to her grandfather. “This is exactly what I was hoping for.”
What? Keira wanted to learn to play the guitar? Why didn’t he know that? She never talked about it. Or had she and had he not listened?
The present reveal continued. Lizzy—no doubt with help from Callie or Carmen—had given Keira a subscription to Teen Vogue, with a request for cuddling while Keira read the magazine. Carmen’s gifts included some weird kind of floppy curler that one could sleep in, along with a stack of books and certificates to teach Keira how to make tamales, spaghetti sauce from scratch and pie crust. She reached for his presents next.
She studied the box then looked at him. “Textbooks?” she asked, shaking a large box. “Nope. Not heavy enough.”
She ripped the paper and stared at the picture of the girly, pink sleeping bag. He’d been inspired by her new friendships and had figured sleepovers were just around the corner. He’d gone online to find the pinkest sleeping bag he could find. But as Keira stared at the box, her face fell.
She turned to him. “How could you?” Her voice shook and tears spilled down her cheeks. She jumped to her feet. “So when you throw me out, I’ll have a place to sleep?”
The accusation was so unexpected and stunning, he couldn’t think of how to respond. “What? No. Keira, it’s for sleepovers.” He fought embarrassment and shame, although he knew he hadn’t done anything wrong.
“I got you games and slumber party Mad Libs, as well. For your friends.”
Callie leaned over and squeezed his arm. “Keira, honey, you need to calm down.”
She was crying harder now, barely able to catch her breath. “You don’t get to tell me what to do. None of you do. I hate you all. I hate you!”
The last words were a scream. The tears turned into sobs as she ran out of the room. When she was gone, no one said anything for a long time.
Carmen sighed. “She’s overtired, Malcolm. She doesn’t mean it.”
He was less sure. “I bought her games,” he repeated.
His grandfather looked at him. “She knows. She’ll pull herself together and be fine. You’ll see.”
“I’ll go after her,” Callie said as she stood. “I think we need to just hug it out.”
Malcolm excused himself as well, but instead of following Callie, he went into his study and closed the door. He felt sick and confused. He had no idea what had gone wrong or how to fix it. He reached for his phone to call Delaney only to remember she wasn’t feeling well.
“Hell in a handbasket,” he muttered to himself. “Hell in a handbasket.”
* * *
About nine that night Callie stepped into the hallway and drew in a breath. The meltdown was over and Keira was asleep, Lizzy curled up next to her. Callie felt exhausted and wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and pull the covers over her head, but she still had one more thing to do.
Carmen had checked in earlier to get an update, and Callie had asked her to tell Grandfather Alberto Keira was feeling better, which left only Malcolm.
She walked the few steps to his half-open door, knocked once and then entered. Malcolm was at his computer. He looked up at her and motioned to a chair.
“Someone is stealing at work,” he said. “It’s been going on for a few months now. Santiago and I can’t figure out how they’re doing it.”
Stealing? “What department?”
“Dry soup and drink mixes.”
“I’m there now.” She didn’t mean to sound defensive, but that was how it came out anyway.
“It started happening long before you got here, Callie, and even if it hadn’t, I still wouldn’t think it was you.”
“Thanks.”
She sat down across from him and leaned back against the chair. “I’m exhausted.”
“I’ll bet. How is she?”
“Sleeping.” She straightened and looked at him. “She feels awful.”
“That makes two of us.”
“Are you mad at her?”
“No. Hurt. Baffled. I don’t know what I did wrong.”
“Nothing. You did nothing wrong, Malcolm. It was all too much for her. Her first party, then the big family dinner. All the presents, us, she was overwhelmed. She’s still a kid and she doesn’t have a lot of coping skills. She held it together for as long as she could and then things kind of exploded.”
“At me.” He pressed his lips together. “Sorry. I realize she’s the one we’re talking about.”
“But you got the brunt of it, I know. It’s hard. On the bright side, she thinks it’s safe to yell at you, so that’s progress.”
He raised his eyebrows. “How is that progress?”