Page 77 of See You at the Sunset

“Thank you, everyone, for taking care of Dennis until Igot here. I’m so—” his voice cracked and he took a breath “—grateful.”

They patted his back on the way out, and he received a couple hugs as well. These were good people. Capable people. Loving people. He was lucky to know them.

Just as the last of the neighbors left, Mimi rushed through the front door.

“Oh good, you’re both here,” she said. “Looks like you’re having a moment?” She looked between the two of them.

Henry wiped his eyes and turned away.

“Good, it’s about time. Henry you’re one of us, and I’m glad you finally realized it. We love you, kiddo,” she said.

Welp, there went the waterworks again. He turned to hide his face, but she walked right up to him and held him by both arms.

He turned back to her and noticed the most serious look he’d ever seen on Mimi’s face.

“Now, Henry J. Shin, Esquire, I need your help.”

31

Jia had told Mimi not to bother picking her up at the airport, she’d grab a taxi. What was most important was that her grandmother was there staying with Dennis until his loved ones could arrive.

Until Henry could get there.

It had been hard seeing Henry opposite her at the meeting. His cool, unflinching demeanor frightened her a little. It was opposite to the warm Henry she’d come to know... the man with the heart beating under that suit. Danced with grandmas, made poop sticks for ailing elders, held her tight, and overwhelmed her in every way.

But she held on to the belief that they had come to understand each other. That he knew why she had to be a part of the lawsuit. And that he knew she knew why he had to show up and fight it.

The driver dropped her off in front of Mimi’s where there were more cars than usual parked on her street. As she letherself out she looked to her front door and then to Dennis’s. Where should she go first? When she’d last checked in with Mimi, Dennis was sleeping comfortably, pain meds in tow and no lasting damage. Still, it would hurt for a while, and Jia hated thinking of Dennis in pain.

She’d drop off her stuff and then go visit him.

When she opened the door, she heard the voices. More than just Mimi’s. And some that didn’t sound familiar... at least not in this space.

She stopped in her tracks.

“Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?” she said as they turned to face the guest in the house.

Immediately, in the presence of her parents, Jia reduced herself to a guest here. They’d invaded this space that she’d for weeks felt safe in.

She had trouble getting a breath in. But she’d long known how to behave in front of her parents. She shrunk inside herself. Closed the windows and doors to her heart so that the emotions would be shut in. Without even having to remind herself, she put the mask on and hid behind the expressionless version of herself. She snuck a peek behind them where Mimi sat on the couch, much the same.

And for some reason, that made Jia angry more than anything.

“Jia, we could ask you the same. I think we specifically told you to head straight to Florida and not come back here.” Her mother’s voice had a practiced and produced lilt to it that created ambiguity around her background. Jia remembered people asking her mother where she was from. And she’d let them list their guesses—England, Singapore, Hong Kong. She would never come out and answer she was a second-generation Korean American born in New Jersey.

“I’m not going to Florida. I’m sorry, but I’ve been thinking about it and that’s not where I want to go. I think...” Jia shook her head. No, those weren’t the right words. “Actually, Iknowthat I want to be here.”

“Absolutely not. You’ve wasted enough time here this summer doing nothing. And that stunt you pulled with the lawsuit in New York? Jia.” Her mom was exasperated, and possibly angry. Jia was used to the former. But as controlling and unforgiving as they’d been with Jia’s mistakes, she’d rarely heard the latter.

“It’s my fault. I called her. One of the residents took a tumble, and I was upset and needed my Jia to comfort me,” Mimi explained. “She was a dear and came right away.”

“Mother, Jia is your granddaughter, not your best friend. And she’s hardly capable of handling issues in a crisis. Why you feel you need to turn to her is beyond me,” her father said. “You’re enabling her to be rudderless, ungrounded, unemployed with no prospects.”

Jia thought she could handle her parents’ disappointment, yet again. But for them to go hard on Mimi, it just wasn’t right. This was her fault. She’d brought this on herself and her grandmother.

Jia nodded to the mug her mother held in her hand. “Mom, can I refresh your tea for you?” She walked over to them and gave her mother a kiss on the cheek and a gentle, barely there hug. She turned and hugged her dad next. His back went ramrod straight, as it always did when Jia—or maybe anyone, for that matter—initiated affection. “It’s good to see you both.”

She took the mug from her mother’s hand and walked to the kitchen. With her back to them all, she let her head drop just an inch and tried to gather herself. She hadn’t beenexpecting them here, that was for sure. But mixed with the stress and emotion of worrying about Dennis and how he was doing, along with wondering what shoe was going to drop next from her parents, Jia was barely hanging on.