Page 72

She smiled just as her phone chimed, and she scrambled to unlock it. “Ah, that’s our coffee,” she said, the relief spreading across her face like she wanted to beanywhereelse just then. “I’ll go grab it.”

She jumped off her seat and made a dash for the door before she paused and turned back to me. “I called the front desk,” she said. “Your new access card should be here in five minutes.”

And without another word, she left, and the sudden silence crashed in around me.

I wasn’t sure I wanted last night to meannothing.

Chapter 23

The Past Never Dies

MIA

“Howdoesitfeelto be back home?”

I glanced up at Vitoria, whose feet lay in my lap. She’d propped herself up on the other end of the sofa in Mom’s home, her Nintendo Switch welded to her hands.

Needing our own space after an awkward morning, Reid and I had decided to spend the day apart. It wasn’t something we’d mutually agreed upon; but the quick, tense glances we shared were enough to have me hightailing it to Mom’s place for a break.

“It’s been a little weird,” I admitted, dipping the brush back into the purple nail polish. “Everything feels so familiar but at the same time, I feel like I’ve never been here.”

“What the hell does that even mean?” She chuckled.

I held her foot still, easily falling into the habit we’d formed so many years ago, when I’d paint her toenails and she’d do her homework.

Now, of course, there was no way in hell I’d be of any help with her varsity work, so she was allowed to relax with one of her favorite games. I couldn’t lie and say it didn’t soothe some of the frantic anxiety bristling under my skin.

“It’s like…” I paused, concentrating on her toenails. The shade of purple was beautiful against her dark skin, and I knew exactly which pair of heels she’d be wearing when she went out later that night. “I guess it’s like if you had to go back to school after years, and youknowwhere all the classes are but at the same time, it’d feel weird because there are all these new kids around that you’ve never met.”

“You have a really weird way of explaining things in English.” She chuckled. “I bet it’d make more sense in Portuguese.”

“And I bet you’re just tired of speaking English,” I shot back. “So,cala-te, before I tell Mom where you plan on showing off these sparkly toenails tonight.”

“Asshole,” she muttered distractedly. I chuckled and continued painting her toenails, blowing them dry once the first coat was finished. “Fine, I guess I can kind of understand what you mean.”

“I just feel like I’m constantly in a state of deja vu.” I chuckled.

She hummed a little, obviously distracted.

“I went past Paulo’s place today,” I added, screwing the lid back on the bottle of nail polish. “I didn’t realize he’d sold his shop.”

I’d been a little heartbroken, in fact.

“Yeah, he went out of business two years ago and his son left for England, so he said there was no point in keeping the shop.”

My heart ached. Paulo’s shop had been the one place where all the kids in the neighborhood flocked to after school. Paulo was a kindly old man, and I’d only ever remembered his gentle smile and graying hair. And his thick, wiry eyebrows, of course.

He’d always treated my sister and me to ice creams after school, regaling us with stories of his son’s brilliance in university. On the days when Mom had to work late or couldn’t come pick us up, he’d take care of us so we weren’t home alone. He’d become a father figure to both my sister and me, and seeing his shop windows bordered up, the sign faded and neglected…

My throat tightened again.

“And where is he now?” I asked, gently tapping each of Vitoria’s toenails to check if they’d dried enough for the second coat.

The sound of Vitoria’s game pausing drew my attention, and when I looked up at her, I knew exactly what she’d say.

“He’s gone, Nana,” she said sadly. “Didn’t Mom tell you?”

I racked my brain, trying to remember when Mom would have relayed that kind of news,howshe would have told me.