Page 48 of The Family Guest

“Bingo!” I high-fived my equally excited brother. “What should we text back?”

“Tell her you found it and want to return it to her.”

I did as my brother asked. She instantly texted back.

Thank goodness!

Where do you live? I asked.

Neither Will nor I recognized the area code. And there was no listed address. Fingers crossed she didn’t live in Anchorage.

To our great relief, she lived in Redlands. About sixty miles away. She texted her address.

Two questions loomed: How were we going to get the laptop back to her?

And why did Tanya steal it in the first place?

TWENTY-FIVE

NATALIE

The following Sunday, exactly a week after Tanya’s accident, I sat alone at the table in our charming breakfast room, drinking coffee and savoring a buttery croissant, once again using the beautiful china my mother-in-law had given us. She had a similar set she used daily. I, in contrast, reserved mine for special occasions…like birthdays. Today was one.

Sunshine sprinkled through the French doors and cast the room in a golden haze. While I loved rain, I was happy today was sunny. It brightened my spirits, and she would have wanted this day to be picture-perfect.

“Natalie, you look so dressed up to be going to the farmers market.”

I looked up and saw Tanya coming my way. Unlike me, who was clad in a Prada floral dress and a delicate pashmina shawl, she was wearing ripped jeans, a cropped T-shirt, and sparkly pink flip-flops.

Fresh as the morning dew, she looked beautiful. She had recovered quickly from her dreadful car accident, and the scar above her eyebrow was healing nicely, although it was still visible. To make her feel less self-conscious about it, I’d taken her to my Beverly Hills hairdresser, who’d given her wispy bangs to camouflage it. The bangs suited her and made her look younger.

“I should have told you,” I said. “I’m not going to the farmers market today.”

“Oh. Why not?”

“Join me for breakfast and I’ll explain.”

I quickly set up another place setting and served her some coffee, fresh fruit, and one of the lovely pastries I’d picked up yesterday on the way home from Will’s robotics meet-up.

“So, Natalie, where are you going so dressed up?” she asked, popping a berry into her mouth. “Oh, and by the way, you look positively beautiful.”

I twitched a small smile. I could feel my emotions rising. A tightness in my chest.

“Thanks. It’s Anabel’s birthday. She would have been nineteen today.” My voice sounded far away to me. Sad.

I took a fortifying sip of my coffee. “Anabel was the light of my life. I’m going to church shortly and afterward to her gravesite.”

“Do you all go?” asked our guest. “Your entire family?”

“No. I prefer to go by myself.” My grief was mine alone to bear.

Sadness welled up inside me. My eyes began to mist, and I couldn’t stop a few tears from falling. I dabbed my eyes with my linen napkin while Tanya reached across the table and tenderly held my free hand in hers. Her gaze was filled with warmth and compassion.

“Natalie, if it’s okay, I’d like to come with you. It would mean a lot to me.”

With another smile, I squeezed her hand. “I’d really like that.” I no longer wanted to be alone.

“Do I need to wear something black?”