Silver and Gold (Red and Black Book 3) Read online

“Anyway,” she said, “I’m the last person that should be giving anyone shit about their love life right now.”

  “Things aren’t going well with…what’s his name, Cam?”

  “Cameron,” Sunshine replied. “And that’s the last time I want to ever hear that name. He wanted me to cancel a photo shoot to spend time with his family. These things are important, you know?”

  “Yeah. Unlike family.”

  “Oh! You know what I mean. He wanted everything to be all about him, and well, a girl has to live a balanced life.”

  I nodded but couldn’t help but wonder. Since we had met, she had experienced multiple “Camerons,” which was impressive when you think about how I had known her for just a few months. And sure, she always came back with a good story, but I was beginning to recognize a pattern—Sunshine. Don’t get me wrong. Sunshine was a good friend, but dating her sounded exhausting.

  Unlike being with a superhero who regularly threw herself off rooftops.

  “All done!” Dawn said, approaching the breakfast bar. I reached out and placed a hand on her hip, pulling her in to place a kiss on her lips. She smiled in response.

  Sunshine let out another sigh.

  “You two are nauseatingly cute,” she said. “Seriously, gonna barf right on these appetizers.”

  She looked down at the almost-empty plate in front of her.

  “I saved some for you.” I nodded down at a single piece of cheese and cracker.

  “Um…thank you?” Dawn replied.

  “He ate them all,” Sunshine said quickly.

  “Not denying it. Although I did have help.”

  “Sorry about that,” Dawn’s mother said, coming up the stairs. She was dressed, I now noticed, just as nicely as everyone else. Yup, clearly, this was a dress-up situation. Guess I’d have to make up for that with charm.

  She nodded to Dawn. “That was your brother. Apparently, he’s in town and will be stopping by for dinner.”

  Sunshine let out the tiniest of squeaks. Dawn’s face broke out into a wide grin.

  “Oh, that’s perfect!” she said. “Michael just gave me something for him yesterday. Let me go get it.”

  With that, she jogged to the stairway, heading to her room upstairs.

  For a second, I wondered if Michael had seen Alan coming. He was, after all, one of the three members of the Forger community who could see across time. Of course, he could only see across the present. The future was a little different. That area belonged to the mysterious Forecaster.

  I heard a light clinking sound next to me and turned to see Sunshine looking through her purse. She pulled out a tiny mirror and began to check her makeup.

  “Really?” I teased. “I thought you were giving up on men forever.”

  “Oh, please. If anyone’s the exception, it’s Alan Takahashi.”

  “He’s up to your standards?”

  “He is the standard.” She snapped the mirror shut.

  I heard a creak as the front door opened. Seconds later, the mystery guest himself was heading up from the garage.

  And he was wearing a suit.

  Who the hell wears suits on a Saturday? Dawn mentioned that he worked for some big company down in Boston. Did that mean working weekends as well?

  He was on the short side, not surprising given that both Dawn and her mother hovered around five feet. His hair was longer too, but looked purposeful, not overgrown. And then there was that gray suit…

  Why the hell hadn’t I thought to dress up to meet Dawn’s family?

  “What a nice surprise,” Dawn’s mother said. “And just in time for dinner!”

  “Is Dawn here?” Alan asked.

  “Um…here, actually.”

  Alan turned around to see his sister standing behind him, a small box covered in fantasy artwork in her hands. Her face broke out into a grin, mirrored by a much smaller, but still genuine-looking smile from her brother.

  “It’s so nice to see you,” she said. “Oh! This is from Northwest Comics. Michael mentioned that you ordered the new expansion. I was gonna text you about it.”

  Dawn handed the box over to Alan. He quickly accepted it.

  “Thank you,” he said. “But in all honesty, I’m actually here to—”

  “Hi, Alan!” Sunshine said, popping up at his side. “Isn’t this a surprise!”

  “Yes,” he said, frowning. “I see I should have called.”

  “Oh, no! I’m not complaining. It’s the good type of surprise, at least for me—us!” she corrected quickly. “Us. I’m not sure if you expected to walk in on a special dinner.”

  I blinked. This type of nervous babbling was something I was used to seeing out of Dawn. Only with Dawn, it was cute.

  “Special dinner?” Alan replied.

  “Why, yes! Alex is here, after all.”

  Picking up on my cue, I stood up and crossed into the living room area, reaching out a hand to shake.

  “Glad to finally meet you,” I said. “Dawn’s only said good stuff about you.”

  In response, Alan gave me a cold, appraising look.

  “Likewise,” he finally said, giving my hand a firm shake.

  Huh. A little different from Dawn’s mother. I wouldn’t label Karou Takahashi as overly friendly, but at least she had been polite and inviting.

  As an older brother myself, I, too, had done the intimidating “big bro” appraisal of my sisters’ romantic partners. But I typically saved the cold shoulder act for the ones who deserved it, like Kyle, the asshole who had cheated on Mariah when Mom was dying from cancer. Dawn and I had only been together for a few months, but in that time, I had pretty much been the gold standard as far as boyfriends go.

  Of course, before those few months, I had served as a henchman to Bailey City’s first supervillain, Calypso.

  Nobody’s perfect.

  I frowned over Alan’s cold greeting as the women in the room accommodated the party crasher, setting him a place at table and offering to break out more appetizers.

  Hopefully, things would improve over dinner.

  My mother, who had passed away a year before, had been a great cook. Of course, she would deny this every time it was brought up.

  “I make nothing fancy,” she would say. “Don’t be silly.”

  Which was true, but that didn’t change the fact that it still tasted great. Unfortunately, while Mariah, Claire, and I were all fans of good cooking, none of us had inherited her skills. Mariah was the best of the three of us, but only knew how to make a handful of recipes.

  And Dawn’s mom, on top of being a fantastic writer (and, I would assume, doctor) was also a damn good cook.

  “Mrs. Takahashi,” I said as I dug into my second piece of lamb. “This is fantastic.”

  “I’m glad you’re enjoying it,” Dawn’s always-polite mother replied. “When I asked Dawn what you liked to eat, she told me pretty much everything.”

  “Factually true, but this is worth the indulgence. I’m going to have to double up on my cardio tomorrow to make up for it.”

  From across the table, Alan let out the tiniest of snorts.

  “That’s right,” Dawn’s mother said. “Dawn mentioned that you worked at Colossus Fitness. Down near Michael and Steve’s place.”

  “That’s right.”

  “I suspect they employ a lot of people your age. It must be easy to work your shifts around your classes.”

  And with that, I felt the joy of a good meal begin to drain out of me. What did she mean “Um, Mom…Alex isn’t in school,” Dawn said, her attention focused on pushing peas around on her plate.

  “That makes sense,” Alan added. “You are a bit older than Dawn, aren’t you?”

  Well, that was an interesting tone of voice.

  “Of course,” Mrs. Takahashi said, recovering smoothly. “Where did you go to school, Alex?”

  I swallowed my mouthful of lamb. “Uh…West Bailey High.”

  Dawn’s mother’s blinked. “Oh. I just…I apologize. It was wr
ong for me to assume.”

  Well, shit.

  It was clear from her reaction that Dawn’s mother had assumed that I had at least some college experience. Unfortunately, I didn’t even have a high school diploma—just a GED.

  What can I say? I was a bit of a moron as a teenager. Not that my twenties have been much better.

  It made it hard for me to get a decent job. People looked at my lack of education and spotty resume and automatically assumed that I couldn’t string two sentences together. Perhaps I should take it as a compliment that Dawn’s mother assumed otherwise.

  But that was beside the point. This was something that Dawn should have prepared her for. The woman had been a doctor. Her son already had two degrees, and Dawn was attending the best college in Bailey City. I was going to go out on a limb and assume education was important to her.

  Why the hell hadn’t Dawn said something?

  I glanced across the table to where Dawn sat, eyes glued on her potatoes.

  No, it wasn’t that she had forgotten to say anything. She had purposely avoided the subject entirely.

  Well, shit.

  “You know, a lot of places are accepting an equivalent amount of work nowadays for jobs in place of college degrees,” Sunshine said. “I guess after years of people burying themselves in mountains of debt, employers are starting to realize that there’s more than one way to get work experience.”

  I forced a smile at Sunshine’s defense but knew it was time to change the subject.

  “Not every place,” I said, keeping my voice light. “My sister Mariah is hard at work on her own mountain of debt. She’s working on her nursing degree. Has an internship over at Bailey General.”

  A smile spread on Dawn’s mother’s face. “I worked at Bailey General for ten years before quitting to write full time. And while I much prefer the flexibility that comes with my new job, I must admit that I found my work there to be very rewarding. I hope the same goes for your sister.”

  “Oh yeah, she’s loving it. Or at least I think she does. I barely see her nowadays. She was able to spend more time at home last semester.”

  “Does that mean you still live at home?” Alan asked.

  I frowned. Weirdly enough, Dawn had asked me the same question when we had first met. But she had just sounded curious. The cool edge to her brother’s sounded a lot more judgmental.

  “Sure,” I said. “It’s a bit of a necessity right now.”

  “Oh, I’m sure.”

  Annoyance sparked inside of me, and my next words came out clipped. “What can I say. One of us needs to be working on that mortgage.”

  Not that you’d know what that was like.

  In response, Alan shut his mouth and frowned.

  “Uh, Alex still lives at home, but…” Dawn paused. “His mom died about a year ago, so he just lives with his two younger sisters.”

  Which is something Alan definitely should have known. An uncomfortable silence fell over the table. I looked to Dawn’s mother. Please tell me Dawn had filled her in on that important detail.

  As if reading my mind, she nodded.

  “My daughter has made me aware of your living situation and the loss you suffered.” She shook her head. “It’s my understanding that one of your sisters is still in high school. It’s…never a good time to lose a parent, but it is quite difficult at that age.”

  The same age Dawn had been when she lost her father. I saw her shift uncomfortably in her seat.

  Time to change the subject again.

  “Claire’s a senior,” I said, “and yeah, it’s been rough on her, but she’s done a great job of keeping things together. Should graduate on time and everything.”

  A helluva lot better than I had done.

  “Do you know what she’s planning on doing after?” Dawn’s mother asked, tactfully avoiding the topic of college.

  “She has a job as a waitress at Norma’s, a diner near where we live, and they’re willing to up her hours to full time after graduation. She’s also planning on taking a class or two at Bailey City Community College. Try out a few things, figure out what she wants to do with her life.”

  Dawn’s mother put her fork down. “You know, I worked as a waitress to help put me through med school. To be honest, I often joked that there were times when it was more tiring than classes.”

  “Was that part of your inspiration for A Taste of Loss?” I asked.

  Dawn’s mother’s face lit up. “Why, yes. Dawn didn’t mention that you’d read any of my books.”

  She shot her daughter a gently chastising look.

  “Sorry,” Dawn said, after swallowing a piece of lamb. “I forgot.”

  It wasn’t the only thing she’d forgotten.

  “I’ve only read a handful,” I admitted. “Things have been kinda busy lately. I’ve fallen behind on my reading.”

  And just as I was establishing myself as literate, Alan stood up from the table.

  “Pardon me,” he said, holding up his phone. “I have a call.”

  “I didn’t hear it ring,” I said with a frown.

  From across the table, Sunshine shook her head at me.

  “That’s fine, Alan,” Dawn’s mother said, then turned to Sunshine. “Sunshine, dear, I’ve been meaning to ask. Dawn mentioned that you have a new photo shoot coming up over spring break.”

  I frowned—it appeared that Dawn had the time to fill in her mother on Sunshine’s latest photo shoot, but not on key aspects of her boyfriend’s life? I felt my frustration grow.

  I heard a clink of china from across the table and looked up to see Dawn sneaking a glance at me. She looked back down again, as if in shame.

  I’ve never been all that good at hiding my emotions.

  I stood up from the table.

  “I’m gonna hit the restroom,” I said.

  “Oh, sure,” Mrs. Takahashi said, turning toward me. “It’s just at the top of the stairs.”

  I nodded and headed in that direction.

  During my visit, it had grown dark outside, so the stairs, which had been lit by natural light, were now pretty damn dark. I kept a hand close to the wall on my way up, looking for the switch. I made it to the top and felt my fingers brush against one. I clicked it on in relief.

  And nearly jumped out of my skin to see Alan standing halfway down the hall.

  “Jesus,” I said. “You scared me. How the hell can you even see up here?”

  In response, he held up his smartphone.

  “Right, right, sure.”

  And then, without another word, he brushed past me and down the stairs.

  Seriously, what the hell? Every time Dawn had described her brother to me, she had used words like “supportive” and “caring.” Sure, she had mentioned that he was a little overprotective, but what older brother wasn’t? What the hell had I done to deserve this kind of treatment?

  Shaking my head, I went in the bathroom and did my business. As I washed my hands, I felt sparks fly at the edge of my vision, a sign that my powers were starting to activate.

  That I was getting angry.

  Pressing my hands on either side of the sink, I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. The sparks began to fade.

  I suppose it was a good sign that the sight of them had surprised me. In the past few months, besides the occasional spat of road rage, I hadn’t heard a peep from my powers. And it was obvious why. My sisters were in good places. And I was picking up as many shifts as I could, so we were making all our bills.

  And then there was Dawn.

  Being with her was different. I had worried, when we started dating, that as a rich girl she would want to go to fancy restaurants and shit like that. But I should have known better. Dawn was all about pastries at the Cupcake Café rather than big meals at places like Antigoni’s, where we had our first date. We went to matinees as opposed to night movies because she wasn’t fond of crowds. And best of all, we spent long stretches of time just talking. On rooftops, during walks, at my place
(which led to other things). Being with Dawn made me ridiculously happy. And the fact that she usually shed her awkwardness around me seemed to indicate that she felt the same way.

  Then why was she hiding stuff about me from her family?

  With a frown, I headed back down the stairs, my frustration dying down to disappointment. Disappointment that I saw reflected on the faces of the three women around the table.

  Not what you’d expect to see around dessert.

  “Did I miss something?” I asked.

  “Alan had to leave,” Dawn said. “Something about an important phone call.”

  Sparks flew back around the edges of my vision. In my household, family dinners had been as important as church. Sure, I had been an annoying little shit, but I had always been around for supper.

  Clearly, Alan didn’t feel the same way.

  “That’s too bad,” I said with a frown, taking my seat. “I guess that means more for me.”

  Mrs. Takahashi smiled, causing some of the tension to relax out of Dawn’s shoulders.

  But as Dawn’s mother cut into the tiramisu she had made for dessert, I found my thoughts drifting back. Why the hell did Alan dislike me? And why had Dawn told her family so little about me?

  It looked like we were going to have to talk before training tonight.

  3

  Dawn

  Being a socially awkward person gives you a wealth of experiences when it comes to, let’s say, unfortunate situations. Uncomfortable first encounters? Been there. First dates that fail before the what would you like to drink? part of the meal. Done that. Parties where you spend the entire first hour hiding in the corner, petting the fluffy family cat? Yup.

  With these unfortunate events behind me, I should have known that dinner with Alex was doomed to fail. And that it was a hundred percent my fault.

  Alex had been his perfect, charming self. Polite, respectful, funny…it had been enough to pull my mom in right from the start. He had passed the small talk test (one that I regularly failed) with flying colors. It was when the conversation had gotten to specifics that things had gotten…uncomfortable.

  It was enough to make me want to skip the night’s training session. And I never skip my training sessions. I mean, being able to say “oh I need to go train” by itself was awesome, even if that training didn’t involve The Danger Room. On top of that, it gave me an excuse to spend more time with Alex.