Brick by Brick by Cate Ashwood & L.J. LaBarthe

Author:Cate Ashwood & L.J. LaBarthe
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2015-06-15T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“UNCLE P, I don’t feel well.”

Parley looked in the rearview mirror to see his nephew of sorts, five-year-old Desta, looking decidedly green. He frowned, even as Desta’s sister, six-year-old Jiang, clutched his hand and turned to look at Parley’s own sister, Emma.

“He looks really sick, Auntie Em.”

“Par, I think he’s going to barf,” Emma said.

“We’ll pull over as soon as we can, kids,” Veronica, Parley’s best friend and business partner, said. She turned to look at the three in the back seat. “Hold on there, kiddo,” she said to Desta. “We’ll fix it.”

“If this bothersome traffic will cooperate,” Parley muttered.

Veronica, brunette and beautiful, her dark skin glowing as she laughed, said, “We’ll pray for it.”

It took him a few minutes to navigate, and soon he’d parked the car on the shoulder of the road. Typical, Parley thought. Now that his nephew was throwing up everything he’d ever eaten, there were no other cars—no other signs of human life. The almost mad rush of traffic that had dogged them on the drive up here from Vancouver had gone, disappearing beyond the horizon.

They were on the outskirts of Aldergrove, on their way home from a family outing chosen by Jiang. Jiang and Desta were Veronica’s two adopted children. Desta was from Ethiopia, Jiang from China. Jiang had just recovered from surgery to correct an extremely bad cleft palate—so bad that the craniofacial team at BC Women’s and Children’s Hospital had demanded of Veronica why it had taken so long to get her treated. Parley’s terse reply on her behalf about adoption laws taking time and perhaps if they talked less and operated more had been met with stony glares.

Now they were clustered around Desta, who looked much less green around the gills and was sipping from a bottle of water pressed into his hand by Emma. Parley couldn’t stop the smile that sprung to his lips. These were the people he loved most in the world. Veronica, who understood him better than he understood himself, and had never pushed him to do anything; Emma, his baby sister, now eighteen years old and with hot pink hair, a black leather jacket, and piercings in both ears, her left eyebrow, and one nostril; Jiang, her lip still covered by gauze, wearing a purple T-shirt with an elephant on it and blue jeans; and Desta, his tight black curls framing his face, wearing a gray T-shirt and blue jeans. His family. His life.

Veronica came over to join him, bumping his shoulder with her own. She was nearly the same height as him, and quite probably the best friend he’d ever had. Aside from Zach, of course, but Zach resided in his memory, the wistful regret of love lost and never found that he would sometimes look at late at night and then cry himself to sleep over.

“You know where we are, right?” Veronica said in her soft, gentle voice.

Parley nodded. “Yeah. I’m trying not to think too much about it. I almost fell over when Jiang said she wanted to visit the zoo.

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