"Ashe," Cori walked away from his desk to stare out Ashe's window. It overlooked the small deck and backyard. "Things are never fair. But you know more about that than I do."
"Yeah. Is she gonna hate me when school starts? Like she used to hate Sali?"
"I don't know. But you could try an apology or something."
"I can send more flowers."
"No, do something else this time." Cori turned around, her arms hugging her waist. "Marco says there'll be burgers, cake and ice cream for Sali around six tonight."
"I'll come if it won't make Dori uncomfortable."
"What difference will it make? Ashe, Sali is your best friend. You can't go around worrying what other people will think."
"Dori's your sister, Cori."
"And if Dori would use her sense, she'd know she's alive because of you. I know that," Cori tapped her chest. "Dori's letting her emotions get in the way."
"It wasn't meant to last, Cori. I have to deal with that." Ashe put his finger on another set of figures and it tingled. "Wait." Ashe went back to double check the numbers. "Cori, will you go find Andy?"
"Sure." Cori went off to find Andy, who'd taken a coffee break.
"What did you find, kid?" Andy was back and looking over Ashe's shoulder.
"These figures don't match." Ashe pointed out the numbers. "I mean the totals here do," he tapped the bottom line on the computer, "but these numbers in the middle don't."
"I see that. Looks like somebody got overpaid. A lot," Andy scooted Ashe away from the chair and sat down. "I'll take care of this. Go ahead and go. We'll see you tomorrow morning. At breakfast."
"Okay. Come on, Cori." Ashe draped an arm over Cori's shoulder and they walked out together.
* * *
"Caught it right off the bat," Andy handed the paperwork to Winkler. "The accountant is overpaying one of the secretaries in Little Rock."
"I'll get somebody on it," Winkler took the folder. "I told you he'd find it right away."
"Yeah, but I thought you were exaggerating."
"Not about this one, Andy. Want a homemade burger with cake and ice cream?"
"Yeah."
* * *
"Look, dude," Sali waved his new license.
"Yep," Ashe took the license away and examined the photograph. "Too bad, man. It looks just like you." Sali elbowed Ashe in the ribs for the jab.
"Come on, let's eat," Sali walked toward the patio doors. Marcus was grilling burgers there. Sali and Ashe grabbed plates, put burgers together and loaded any space left with potato salad, baked beans and chips.
"This is good, Mr. DeLuca. Mrs. DeLuca," Ashe said. He loved potato salad.
"There's plenty here, Ashe."
"Am I late?" Adele walked onto the deck carrying a bowl of fresh fruit.
"You're right on time," Denise found a place for the fruit. Ashe and Sali were dipping out strawberries and grapes immediately. Wynn, Dori and Cori showed up at the same time, escorted by Marco. Wynn held a nicely wrapped gift in her hands. Ashe's small box had already gone into the pile at one end of the folding table. Wynn set hers down next to Cori and Dori's gift—they'd brought one together.
Throughout the evening, Dori stayed as far from Ashe as she could. Sali opened his gifts, admired the key ring from Ashe and then followed his parents outside. A nearly new import sat in the driveway. Marcus handed Sali the keys to the small, red car. Ashe sighed.
"Look at it this way," Marco dropped a hand on Ashe's shoulder. "Sali won't ever be able to travel the way you do."
"But wheels impress women," Ashe muttered.
"There's that," Marco agreed.
"It was really cool driving Winkler's Mercedes." It was—Winkler had a new Mercedes SLR McLaren in black. Ashe thought it drove like a dream.
"I've never gotten to drive it," Marco muttered.
"I think Winkler was hanging onto the handle the whole time," Ashe joked.
"We'll drive to Oklahoma in a few weeks to finish the sale of the store—Marcie and Jason are buying it," Adele hugged Ashe. "I'll let you drive if you want."
"So that's where they went," Ashe said. "That's too bad. I like Jason."
"We all do. But Marcie doesn't want to stay after Jackson died."
"Yeah." Ashe watched as Sali, Wynn and Dori loaded into the car and Sali backed out of the drive. They hadn't even asked him to come along. The sun was going down and Aedan and Nathan joined the crowd shortly afterward. Ashe started walking toward his home.
"Son?" Aedan was beside him in a moment.
"Sali didn't even ask me to go." Ashe told himself that he shouldn't be upset over such a trivial thing.
"Ashe, you can't take this personally. You've been separated from them for weeks now, working for Mr. Winkler, and then we thought you were dead. Things will smooth out."
"Sure, Dad."
"Mr. Winkler told me last night that you have something on your arm. I'd like to take a look at it."
"All right, but it gets itchy and burns if people handle it very much," Ashe said. "And when I tried to scrape it off, I got really sick. So don't try, Dad."
"I won't. I just want to see it for myself."
Ashe sat on a kitchen barstool later, having a glass of water while his father looked at the medallions circling his arm. "That's extraordinary, son," Aedan sighed. "And they just appeared?"
"I woke up and there they were," Ashe said. "I don't have any idea how, why or when."
"Perhaps all the Elemaiya get them—I don't recall ever seeing their bare upper arms."
"I wish they'd given me more information than those three pages," Ashe grumbled, lowering his sleeve. "Maybe that would explain how this got here."
"How are you feeling? Still queasy?"
"No, stomach's fine."
"Just the heart, then," Aedan allowed the accent to slip into his voice.
"Yeah. I hope it goes away soon."
"Ashe," Nathan walked into the kitchen with Lavonna and Adele. "I'd like to see the arm, too, if you don't mind."
Ashe peeled back his sleeve for the second time while Nathan, Lavonna and his mother all looked. Aedan warned them not to touch, so they didn't. Ashe was glad when he could pull the sleeve down again. Another discussion took place, much like the one he'd already had with his father.