Chapter 10

“Like, I don’t know, five hundred or something?” He cleared his throat. “I’ll pay you back in January.”

He was a cop. Kenya was a nurse. They were givers. The most generous people I knew. I took out my phone. “I’ll e-transfer you two thousand. Call it a Christmas present.”

“Oh, man, thank you.”

Seconds later, Lene came walking into the room. Alone. I frowned at her. “Where’s Derek?”

My father returned with the Aquavit and some shot glasses. “Oh, I have you all to myself.” He lined up the glasses and poured. Spilled a lot. “That’s a rare occasion.”

Lene sat at my side, squeezing me in. She smelled like lilacs and chocolate. “Derek is nauseous, so he’s gonna lie down with Violet-Rose and maybe join us for dinner. He doesn’t know.” She squeezed my hand. “I wanna talk to you.”

“Let’s have a toast first,” Dad said, raising his glass.

“Skoal. To your health, Dad.” Boone lifted his drink. “To your great big heart, too.”