Color Me Pretty: A Father's Best Friend Romance

“About important things.”

Lydia cleared her throat. “How about we eat before the food gets cold?”

“Colder,” Sophie corrected, directing her focus on me with arched brows. Disapproval was a look tattooed on her face when it came to me. It made me itch.

I followed my aunts into the dining room where food was resting in its normal spots. The selection was larger today considering Lydia was vegan, something I was sure Sophie complained about to the people preparing the menu.

After grabbing what we wanted, Lydia turned to me. “I bet you’re excited to be almost done with school. How much longer do you have?”

I sipped my water. “A couple weeks of classes then a week of finals. Some of my courses are allowing students to be exempt from the exams if we have an A before finals week though.”

“Then you should be set,” Sophie commented.

Shifting in my seat, I admitted, “A few of my grades have dropped since…things have happened.” As soon as the words left my lips, I could see Sophie’s eyes widen. “But they’re not bad. I’m still well over a 3.0 grade point average which is what I need to keep my scholarship.”

“You mean the scholarship the school awarded you following the one you lost for dropping dance?”

Heat raised up the back of my neck like tiny pinpricks.

Lydia murmured, “Sophie.”

“What?” My other aunt asked. “It was a simple question. Adele got into that school because of her abilities, but she nearly got kicked out because she decided to stop dancing. It was a silly risk. I’m stating a fact.”

“It wasn’t,” I argued quietly. “And I didn’t almost get kicked out. I would have applied for loans if I needed to, but they offered me an alternative academic scholarship considering my grades.”

Sophie dabbed her lips with a linin napkin. “I don’t see why you’d need either. I told you I could help pay for school given the circumstances. Your father would have but…”

I swallowed. “Yes, well, I told you I didn’t need the help. I was raised to do things on my own, which is why I denied his help too.”

Sophie didn’t say anything else, but Lydia smiled to herself as she poked at her food. She jumped in after a few awkward moments of silence. “I hate to bring it up, but there was a reason I wanted to come and talk to you both today.”

Sophie’s eyes rolled. “Shocking.”

I eyed her for a moment when she wasn’t looking before glancing back at Lydia with interest. Whatever was on her mind was serious because she had a sheepish look on her face.

“What is it?” I asked lightly.

Setting her fork down, she looked at both of us before sighing. “I was reached out to by a reporter from The Times. They have new information regarding your father, Della.”

My heart dropped. “What?”

Sophie set her napkin down. “How on earth could they still be digging up information on him? It’s done.”

It’s done. Those two words were so final that they hurt. I wasn’t sure I wanted to believe them, even if she was partly right. It’d been months since he was buried, why would the press be reaching out to anybody? And why Lydia?

I was hesitant when I asked, “What did they want?”

Sophie shook her head. “Does it really matter, Adele? Whatever they say can’t be any good, especially not for us.”

Lydia disregarded her sister’s comment and focused solely on me. “He said there was a list being published of the names of the people Anthony stole from. Apparently, it’s extensive.”

We already knew that my father had harmed a lot of people, but during the trial it was considered sealed evidence so nobody could be named publicly. Speculation buzzed in the city, in certain social circles, about something like this coming to light. But after so many months, I figured it was over.

“Why now?” I whispered, frowning.

Lydia reached over and took my hand. “I can only think that they want to give victims justice in a way that outs Anthony. I’m sorry, Della, I know how hard this has to be for you.”

“For all of us!” Sophie said abruptly. “I can’t believe they’re going to put our name out there again. It isn’t right.”