3: 3

The old man was thinking exactly what I was thinking.

He kept right on tearing into our son. "You'd have starved us both to death by now!"

"Dad, don't talk like that."

"You're not worth a slab of barbecue. Would a slab of barbecue sit around hoping its mother would die?"

"If you can't wait, we can be laid in the coffin right now and hauled off to the crematorium!"

"Dad..."

"Right, me too."

"Might as well plant us both up on the hill while you're at it!"

"Cash in our pensions all in one go."

I had never seen Walter this angry before. The words came out of him like a machine gun.

Our son opened his mouth and couldn't decide which line to argue with first.

Walter, still shaking with it, muttered under his breath, "Should've known he was an ungrateful stray you can never feed full. Never should've taken him in."

He said it low, but Curtis caught every word.

"Dad, Gabriella's the one you raised for nothing. On Mom's sixtieth birthday she brushed it off, said work was too busy. I didn't even stay late at the office that day, and you dump all your anger on me!"

"Do you have to play favorites this openly?"

Walter was about to fire back again, and I was afraid he'd work himself into a heart attack, so I grabbed his hand fast.

So our son thought we played favorites?

Fine. Then we'd tell him exactly why we favored her, and put an end to that pitiful little fantasy of his.

Mind made up, but it was Celeste who jumped in first.

"Mom, Dad, Curtis and I are more than willing to take care of you. Since we're all here today, I won't dance around it. Give us a straight answer. Does the estate go to us, or to Gabriella?"

The whole family's eyes turned to me.

I didn't answer right away.

"Walter, call Gabriella and see how far out she is."

The hope on our son's face and the smile on Celeste's both froze.

Curtis especially. He blurted out, baffled, "Mom, you're really going to side with an adopted daughter? Over your own son?"

I ignored him and steered Walter toward the door of the private room.

Curtis was no fool. He caught on to what I meant, and it lit him up instantly.

He rushed over and blocked his father in the doorway.

"Dad, even you're taking the adopted daughter's side?"

"Mom's lost her head, and now you're joining in the nonsense!"

I cleared my throat and said, cold, "You gave me such a generous gift. It's only right I give you one back."

With that I pushed Curtis aside and sent the old man off to call our daughter.

Watching Walter's back as he walked away, I said to my son, "One of you two really isn't ours by blood. You and Gabriella."

"Today I'm telling you both where you came from. She has to be here for it."

Once he heard that, Curtis finally let out a breath of relief.

4: 4

While we waited for my daughter to arrive, my son and Celeste could hardly sit still. They'd convinced themselves that once the adoption business was out in the open, my and Walter's estate would drop neatly into their pockets.

"Mom, is Gabriella Lambert really coming?"

"Of course she is."

I looked hard at the son I'd raised for thirty years. "All these years, someone always had to take the short end. That can't go on forever."

"It's time somebody got to enjoy a little comfort!"

Curtis let out a breath, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.

Ten minutes later, my daughter hurried into the restaurant, out of breath.

She had her arms full of gift boxes. Before I could scold her for spending, she was already laughing and pressing a pair of high-end sneakers into Walter's hands.

Walter grumbled, but the smile had already softened his whole face.

"Silly girl, you didn't have to waste money. Your mother and I don't need for anything."

"They're just walking shoes for you two. They didn't cost much."

Then she held out a thick gold bracelet to me.

When I didn't take it, she tucked the bracelet into my hand herself, then carried a boxed set of nice cosmetics over to Celeste.

"Gabriella, what am I, some beggar you're tossing scraps to?"

"You cry poor to my face all day long, then don't blink at a gold bracelet worth tens of thousands. And you fob me off with a few hundred dollars of makeup?"

Celeste finished cursing, snatched the box out of my daughter's hands, and slammed it hard on the floor. The bottles cracked, lotion running everywhere.

Curtis grabbed the belt my daughter hadn't even handed over yet and threw it down too.

"Nothing I hate more than people with hidden agendas."

"A few hundred dollars in little handouts, and you think you can buy Mom and Dad's car and house?"

Seeing that from my son, even my last shred of hope went out.

Thirty years. Was this the kind of person I'd raised?

I couldn't hold it in. "I'm not a fool either. You don't trade away a watermelon for a sesame seed!"

Curtis smiled and shot my daughter a smug look.

"You hear that? Put away your little schemes."

When my daughter didn't bother answering him, he pushed further, laying into her.

"You married out, so stay out of your parents' affairs! Keep stirring the pot all you want. An outsider can't steal away flesh-and-blood family."

My daughter stood there, bewildered by the whole thing.

I stepped forward, stunned, and put her behind me.

"What's yours, no one can take from you. What isn't yours, you'll have to give back too!"

Celeste, seeing me shield my daughter, was the first to catch on.

"You old thing, a little handout and it blinds your dog eyes! You're just old. You're not blind. One bracelet and she thinks she's buying your mountain of gold. Can't you even tell your own kin from a stranger?"

Spit flew from Celeste's mouth, the whole private room reeking with her.

I drew my brows tight, raised my hand, and slapped her across the face.

"Can't tell my own from a stranger? Fine. Let me tell you right now who's my own and who's the stranger!"

Walter had never seen me lose my composure like this. He started, then kept saying, good, good.

"Shut that filthy mouth of yours!"

Seeing both her father and me angry, my daughter didn't understand what was happening. She tugged at my arm, trying to calm me down.

I said, "Curtis Lambert, you're the one we adopted. Gabriella is our own flesh and blood!"

Curtis's mouth fell open. He stared at me, disbelieving.

"Mom, you can be angry, but you can't just say things like that. It hurts people, talk like that!"

"I'm not just saying it. The adoption papers are back at the house."

It took Curtis only a few seconds to go from shock to something calm and easy.

I had no time for him. I kept going. "From today on, whether your father and I get sick or die, it has nothing to do with you."

Curtis listened quietly and didn't argue.

Celeste's eyes went wide, her mouth still foul. "You old wretch, who do you think you're fooling!"

A loud crack of a slap rang out.

Celeste had been hit hard across the face.

"You keep your mouth clean around my mother!"

Celeste was stunned that Curtis had struck her.

It took her a few minutes to register that it was Curtis who'd done it.

Out of habit, her eyes swung to me.

This time I folded my arms and watched, cold-eyed, with no intention of stepping in again. If these two wanted to put on a show for me, then I'd watch. Let's see how far they could carry this little double act.