Golden Lies - Barbara Freethy [136]
"I wonder where Alyssa is," she said, checking her watch.
"Right there," Riley replied.
She turned to see Alyssa coming down the street, flanked on both sides by her parents, Jasmine and David. Paige supposed she might have felt angry or upset to see her father with another woman, another daughter, but in truth she felt pleased that he'd done the right thing. When he'd told her his intention to accompany Alyssa to the Chens' tonight, she hadn't been sure he'd go through with it. Maybe there was hope for him yet.
"I'm glad you all came," she said, reassuring them with a warm smile. "There is strength in numbers."
Riley opened the door to the building. "Shall we go in?"
Paige stood back, allowing Alyssa and Jasmine to go first. It was their family, after all.
At the top of the stairs, Alyssa knocked on the door. "They might not be home," she said. "They're probably still at the parade. But everyone will come back here for dinner."
"Do you have a key?" Riley asked.
"I do," Jasmine said, holding up a long, silver key. "I haven't used it twenty-two years."
"Then it's time," Alyssa said.
They all waited as Jasmine inserted the key into the lock and turned the handle.
The Chens' apartment was small, crowded with mismatched furniture and knickknacks. The delicious smell of many Chinese dishes wafted from the kitchen. The dining room table was set for a feast. Paige had a terrible feeling they were about to ruin what was supposed to be the happiest day of the year.
A loud sound from the next room set them all back on their heels.
"Someone is here," Jasmine whispered in a panic. "We must go."
But it was too late to leave. A tiny Asian woman came through the door in a rush. Her eyes widened at the sight of them. "What are you doing here?" she demanded. "You go. You all go. Too early for dinner." She tried to shoo them away, but no one was moving.
"We want to talk to you," Alyssa said. "Before the others come back."
"No, you come back later."
The front door opened behind them to reveal a short, elderly man. Lee Chen, Paige realized, the man who had rescued her and Riley's grandfathers so long ago. He appeared taken aback by their presence, and as his gaze went from one to the other, he seemed to grow more alarmed.
"Jasmine, explain," he said. "Who are these people?"
Jasmine couldn't seem to get her mouth open. Paige almost felt sorry for her. She looked completely overwhelmed. Her father went to Jasmine's side and took her hand in his. Paige was stunned at how oddly dispassionate she felt. Her father was holding the hand of another woman, a woman not her mother. And while she would never have put Jasmine and her father together before, they seemed almost right for each other.
Jasmine needed him. And that was something his own wife had never felt—need. Jasmine looked up to him as if he were important, and her mother had always looked down. It suddenly became so clear to Paige what had drawn these two rather eccentric people together. Alyssa was watching them, too. Alyssa, her sister, watching her own parents together for the first time. A rush of emotion threatened to overwhelm her. Paige sought out the hand of the man standing next to her, and his strength filled her with resolve.
"I'm Paige Hathaway," she said, taking charge. "This is my father, David. And my friend, Riley McAllister, who is the grandson of a man you might remember, Ned Delaney."
Lee Chen's face paled at her words. "Why did you come here? Why did you bring him?" he said to Jasmine in anger. "You dishonor us, dishonor the family. You should go."
"You're a fine one to talk of dishonor," a man said from the doorway.
Paige was shocked to see her grandfather, Wallace Hathaway, walk into the room like a king visiting the local peasants. He was dressed in an expensive suit, and he looked every inch the successful businessman, a direct contrast to the old, baggy clothes worn by Lee Chen. The room went still at his appearance. She had the distinct impression that this was the first time in many years that these two old men