tightly as the plane lifts into the sky. Her eyes are squeezed closed, her lips rigid.
“Nervous?” I’d like to reach out and cover her hands with mine, but I’m not sure if that’s appropriate.
“I don’t want to die,” she says through clenched teeth.
I swallow a laugh. I fly so often I don’t even think of it anymore. “You’re not going to die.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Okay, let’s say the odds are very, very small. Minute. Infinitesimal.”
“It’s one in five point three million.”
“Of course you know that.”
“But I don’t care about odds. Even one in five million means it’s possible.”
I can’t help my smile. “You need another glass of wine.”
“Yes. Yes, I do.”
It’s not long before the flight attendant comes by to ask about drinks. Molly is distracted by having a choice of wines. “You don’t get a choice when you fly coach,” she whispers. “I mean, your choice is white or red.” She selects a Pinot Grigio, and I ask for a beer, which also has several choices.
“Okay, back to the Wynn family soap opera,” she says once we have drinks in hand. “The money.”
“Well, like I said, Grandma came from a rich family and she left my dad and Uncle Mark a bunch of cash. I don’t know how much. Just over a year ago, Dad and Uncle Mark sued Grandpa because he stole their money.”
Molly gasps. “Oh my gosh! I heard about the lawsuit. Did he actually steal it?”
“Well, we thought so.” I rub my forehead. “That made Dad even more pissed at Grandpa, which made me pissed at him too. I’ve…been avoiding seeing him ever since.”
Her eyebrows lift. “Ohhhh.”
Now she’s getting why this trip isn’t going to be fun. I don’t have much of a relationship with Grandpa, but I need to try before it’s too late. “We found out later about the Alzheimer’s. I blamed him for stealing money when it was probably his disease. I feel guilty, and I need to make sure he’s okay.”
“That’s…very honorable of you.”
Is it? Mostly I feel like a knob. “After Dad and Uncle Matt sued Grandpa, Grandpa fired my dad.”
Molly’s eyebrows fly up into her hairline. “Your dad worked for him?”
“He coached the Condors.”
“Oh my God.”
“Yeah. And Dad and Uncle Matt were so pissed, Uncle Matt bought a team—the Long Beach Golden Eagles, which have a huge local rivalry against the Condors.”
Molly chokes on a laugh. “Wow. Not many people can buy a hockey team to piss off their dad.”
I grin. “True. Then Uncle Matt hired Dad as their coach. So that really got Grandpa riled up. If they thought that was going to make him pay the money back sooner, they were wrong.”
Molly rolls her lips inward on a smile. “Again, wow.”
“But recently, the whole younger generation of Wynns—except me, because I live so far away—decided to try to do something to reconcile Dad and Uncle Matt with Grandpa. And especially because now we know he has Alzheimer’s.” I stop and clear my throat. “Apparently they’ve all been getting together and figuring out a plan. They discovered that Grandpa didn’t actually steal the money, he borrowed it, with their agreement. But he hasn’t paid it back like he was supposed to.”
“He probably forgot.” She pauses. “I don’t mean that disrespectfully. But if he’s ill…”
“Yeah. Could have something to do with it. It sounds like Chelsea has figured out a way to repay it—”
“I knew it!” Molly pumps a fist. “She’s not a sugar baby!”
“I’m not so sure. It could have been her who made him take the money, and now that Dad and Uncle Matt are fighting back, she knows she has to repay it.”
She gives me the side-eye. “You really don’t like her. I can’t wait to meet all these people.”
I freeze. “Wait, what? You want to meet them?”
“Sure! I’ll bet this party is going to be lit.”
I hadn’t thought of bringing her to the family party. Although ditching her in a hotel room all alone as soon as we get there doesn’t seem very polite.
I knew this wasn’t a good idea.
“You’re kidding me.” I stare at the clerk at the front desk of the Tarragona Resort in Rancho Palos Verde.
“I’m sorry, sir.” She gives me a sympathetic smile. “There are a few weddings being held here tonight, and tomorrow visitors are arriving for a big conference.”
“You have no rooms at all.”
“That’s right. We can let you know if we have a cancellation, though.”
Molly’s hovering beside me anxiously. “I’m sorry,” she whispers. “It’s a big resort, I didn’t