Then the doors swung open.
I could tell Maya had arrived before I even saw her.
The mood in the room shifted.
Voices dropped.
Maya entered in a sparkling gown better suited to a gala than her own daughter’s wedding. Diamonds glittered at her throat. Harry walked beside her, polished and expensive-looking, his family trailing close behind.
Then the doors swung open.
Maya spotted Adele and threw her arms open.
“My beautiful girl!”
Her voice rang across the room.
“I dreamed of this day,” Maya said, pitched loud enough for Harry’s family to catch. “You have no idea how long I’ve dreamed of seeing you like this.”
Adele smiled, but I recognized that smile — courteous, not warm.
“I’m glad you made it,” she said.
“My beautiful girl!”
Maya reached up to touch Adele’s cheek.
Then she turned toward me. “Robert.”
“Maya.”
Her gaze swept over my suit. “You look tired.”
