Diana had the cold bottled water to her lips, and glancing up just as Colette’s brother walked in, she sputtered.
Because this gorgeous man, now fresh-shaven and in slim-cut slacks and an oxford shirt was Crew, from last night.
“Joshua, this is Diana Gallagher-Cary. Our cousin,” Colette said.
Cousins.
The word pushed Diana into a full-on coughing fit.
“Oh my goodness, are you okay?” Colette patted her on the back.
“Yeah, um. You.” Diana’s voice cracked and she stood. Did she … had she … “You said your name was Crew.”
He halted at the door when they locked eyes, and like a hiccup, he started up again. “I … because my friends call me Crew. For Cruz.” His eyes darted around the room to Philip, then to Margo, then Diana, finally halting at Colette. In a way Diana had experienced only with good nurses in the delivery room, a message leaped between them. But Diana didn’t understand what he was trying to say. Because she didn’t know him.
If she had, she wouldn’t have gotten into bed with him.
“Wait. You said your name was Ana,” Crew—no, Joshua—said with a raised eyebrow.
“Um … Ana for Diana?” Diana croaked. “You said you were part of the wedding party.”
“I was, am, I mean! I manage the hotel.”
“Joshua. Josh!” Colette yelled. “No, you didn’t! Of all people, Josh.”
“We didn’t,” Diana and Joshua said at the same time.
Margo giggled. “Oh. Oh my.”
“Oh my God, Mom. This is so embarrassing.” This was too much. This was oversharing. This was crossing the line. She didn’t need to know this.
“Wait, wait. Stop!” Joshua said above the flurry of voices, and the room went silent. “Diana, I am her brother, but we are not blood related. Which means you and I aren’t related.” His body seemed to deflate. “Girls, why don’t you go get a toy from Ate Carolina. Remember? At the front podium?”
The girls ran out at the word toy, and Joshua closed the doors behind them. He gestured for Diana and her mother to sit. Joshua took the seat across from Diana.
“I am adopted. My mother was Colette’s nanny, and her mother took me in as a child. I’ve never known my life without Colette and her family.”
“Our family, Joshua.”
“Yes, well, but in this case, there is a definite line, and Diana and I did not cross it. In more ways than one. Anyway. This has got to be the most awkward situation I have been in, and God knows I’ve been in too many to count.” He turned to Margo. “I am sorry about early this morning.”
“It’s okay,” her mother said.
“Let’s not talk about it anymore, else you will put me into labor,” Colette interrupted, a hand on her belly.
Diana didn’t even have the mind to ask if the woman was serious, because amid the shock of finding out the man she’d nearly slept with was an almost-cousin, she remembered a line in their conversation:
Do you fight that external force, because it’s obviously nefarious?
Joshua thought Diana and her mother were out for the family’s money.
* * *
As more food was brought into the dining room, Diana pushed the awkwardness and her questions aside in favor of her sudden hunger. The contrasting colors of each dish popped out tantalizingly, and her appetite grew as Colette described each one: kare-kare, or oxtail stew; sisig, which was marinated and fried pork; a noodle dish called pancit; and fried tilapia. “Simple dishes for this first meal. I hope you’re not afraid to try some new things.”
“Are you kidding?” Diana spread the napkin on her lap. “You’re looking at a walking stomach.”
“And I did try my best,” Margo piped up, before taking her phone out to snap a pic of the food. “I had a few friends teach me some dishes over the years. I made some mistakes, but I think I got a couple of dishes reasonably right.”
Diana reached out to her mom’s hand, behind Colette, heart squeezing. She’d taken it for granted how her mother had tried to be everything: mother and father and grandfather. “Yes, you did,” she said. “Your arroz caldo was the best. It kept me alive through med school.”
“You’ll have to show us how you do yours, Tita Margo. The restaurant recipes are family based. Maybe we can do a special that’s based on your version.”
Her mother’s upper lip quivered. “Really? That’s sweet. But you don’t have to say that.”
“Let’s serve it up,” Joshua interrupted, like a crack of the whip. He hadn’t said much since they had started their meal. With a child seated on each side, he’d paid attention to their whims, their questions. Now, he perched at the edge of his seat, scooping food onto their plates. It was sweet, especially knowing that these were his ex’s children, that his affection for the girls hadn’t stopped just because his relationship with their mother did.
Still, Diana thought he was being curt to her. The worst, though, was that she couldn’t be upset that he lied because she had, too.
Diana inhaled each dish to smother her barrage of thoughts, mixing the rice and sauces with a spoon and fork. She took cues by watching what Joshua and Colette added to their dishes, like bagoong, or shrimp paste, that gave it a burst of saltiness, a perfect contrast to the deep flavor of peanut sauce. Soon, Diana was high from a full belly of carbs, and despite the conversation focusing on Diana’s plans, which would now include her mother, she started to zone out. Margo, too, had gone silent, a sure sign she was nearing food-coma status.
While they waited for Johnny, Joshua excused himself from the table to smoke with Philip, and her mother took a walk with the girls in the lobby area. Finally alone, Diana asked Colette, “You didn’t finish what you were saying, about Flora?”
Colette bit her lip. Inhaled. “I should just come out and say it … Lola Flora doesn’t know about you.”
The words startled Diana out of her well-fed stupor, her spine becoming ramrod straight. “What do you mean?”
“I didn’t tell her. Well, let me back up. I told her that you contacted me, that we were in conversation, but I haven’t said anything about you coming. Or that you’re here. I thought … I thought it would be better to present you, in person, or soon after I announce it.”
“This doesn’t sound like a good idea at all,” Diana said as Joshua’s words rang in her head. “Joshua thinks we’re trying to infiltrate your family.”
“Ignore him.” She smiled. “He didn’t agree that I should keep it a secret from Lola, although he can’t deny how important it is that you’re here. It’s time to set things right.”
Diana sank back into her chair. “God, we might be giving an old lady a heart attack.”
“It will be a shock, at first. But I also knew if I waited too long, if I had given my lola or the rest of the family the choice, the idea would have been dead in the water. If the family found out before you came, they would have done everything in their power to keep you away. No one wants a scandal. Anyway, I want to bring you to her tomorrow night. Before everyone else comes over.”