He stared and nodded, but said nothing more.
Clariana looked up at me, then at Samuel Lewis, “Grandpa, what festival is today?”
Samuel Lewis looked at her, his eyes soft, “Today is the last day of the year.”
Clariana said vaguely, “Does that mean the whole family has to be together?”
Samuel Lewis nodded.
Clariana looked at me, thought for a moment, and then said, “Mom, why aren’t grandpa and uncle here?”
I paused and smiled, “Grandpa and uncle have something to do. Your aunt has a baby and can’t go out, so they have to stay at home.”
“So when are we going to see the baby?” Clariana talked a lot and asked a lot of questions.
Samuel Lewis patiently answered her questions, and I got up and went to the kitchen. Yara was preparing dough, Dennis was making dumplings and Luna was washing vegetables.
Dennis smiled when he saw me, “Can you do it?”
I nodded, walked over to him, washed my hands, and made dumplings with him, “Grandma used to teach me that when I was a kid.”
Yara looked at me, “Didn’t you grow up in the South? Few girls in the south know how to make dumplings. The same goes for the older generation. Not many of them can make dumplings. I remember when I was a kid my mom couldn’t either.”
“Maybe my grandmother had been to many places, she would make dumplings by herself every New Year, and she always made a lot. And she also liked stews, she didn’t really like typical southern dishes, so we had mostly northern stews.”
Yara smiled, “It sounds like your grandmother is a real northerner!”
I smiled and looked down to make dumplings. “It seemed that she had never told me the story of her youth, and all I remember is the time when she took me to live in HL Area.”
Luna overheard our conversation, then she walked over, looked at me and said, “Clara, have you ever thought about it? Your grandmother is an old lady who has no relatives or friends in HL Area, but she knew the richest man in Newton Town, the Old Mr. George, and she trusted you to him. Did the Old Mr. George tell you how they met?”
I hesitated for a moment, then shook my head slightly. “No.” I’d never really thought about these things.
Indeed, my grandmother had no family or friends in HL Area, and seldom approached the neighbors in the alley.
When I was young, I heard from Diana’s mother that my grandmother came to HL Area in her fifties. As a middle-aged woman, she bought a small yard in HL Area and lived there by herself. Then she picked me up by accident and raised me. After a long time, the people in the alley had no curiosity, and no one had asked her where her home was!
“Do you know your grandmother’s name?” Yara asked with some curiosity.
I thought about it and said “Violet Kennedy. I’ve been using her last name.”
When I thought of this, I thought of Leo. Why did Leo’s father entrust Leo to an old man?
Of all the rich families in HL Area, why did he choose my grandmother?
Luna paused and looked at me, “In that sandalwood box, your grandmother left you a fine piece of jade. Have you opened it?”
I shook my head and looked at Dennis unconsciously, “I can’t open that box.”
Dennis paused slightly, “We’ll open it tonight.”
I nodded, a little curious.
After lunch, Luna and Yara somehow agreed to have a barbecue in the courtyard that afternoon, since it was New Year’s Eve.
Dennis and I just picked up a lot of groceries at the supermarket, and we had enough food.
As we set up the barbecue stand, Yara grabbed me and said, “Leave it to these two men. Come on, walk with me and we can talk!”
Stunned, I got up and followed her to the backyard. She had something to say to me.
Finn had planted some fruit in the back yard, and the soil had just been dug up, so there wasn’t much to see.
Yara sat down on the swing in the summerhouse and looked at me, “Are you and Dennis planning another wedding?”
I froze, shook my head, and said, “No.”
She pressed her lips together and paused, “What about…” Then she looked at me and stopped talking.
She paused as she sat down in her chair, “Have you been using birth control recently?”
The topic…
I blushed and froze for a moment and then said, “No!”
She nodded, “Well, you should be thinking about having a second child. Clariana is almost five years old. If you have another baby, I can help with the baby, and your relationship with the Lewis family will be better.”
I was silent for a moment and did not speak again.
Out of nowhere, she brought up Hank. She looked at me and began to say, “As for the Gibson family, you’ve got to talk Dennis out of it. I’ve been married to Yank for ten years, and during my years at the Gibson Family, I still have some attachment to them. Now he had gone too far after all. I need you to talk to him.”
I pressed my lips and said, “Yara, there are things I can talk about and things I can’t talk about. This whole Gibson’s thing, if I say anything, it’ll only be worse than we thought.”
She stared at me for a long time, her eyes glazed over, and she sighed, “Well, it was my fault after all!”
I should have talked to Dennis just because I owed Hank, but I couldn’t. Once I did, the whole thing would change.
The two of them had been at loggerheads for years, but I didn’t understand why this had suddenly happened. What on earth did Hank say to Dennis that day that made him want to kill them all?
We went back to the front yard and the barbecue had started. Dennis served me grilled chicken and vegetables, “Try it, but don’t eat too much.”
I nodded and smiled, “Did you make it?”
He nodded, but did not answer, but said, “Try it!”
I sat down and took a bite, and it was delicious. Thinking of the soup Luna had cooked this morning, I couldn’t help saying, “I wonder if Karina’s with Leo. Yara made some delicious food. We should have sent some to them.”
Luna was good at cooking, so the soups were delicious. With Yara, they could make a lot.
Denis nodded, “I’ll have Toby deliver it tonight!”
I couldn’t help smiling, “Are you the only one celebrating the New Year? Since the office is closed today, aren’t you going to send Toby home with his wife and kids?”
He paused for a moment and said, “Shall I do it?”
I said with a smile, “Well then, thank you, Mr. George.”
He leaned close to me and lowered his voice, “Is there a reward?”
Stunned, I leaned in and kissed him, “Is that enough?”
“Yes, it is.” He smiled charmingly.
I bowed my head to enjoy the food, and he said, “I thought you were concerned about Folly Lewis, because she seems to keep in touch with you. I didn’t realize it was Karina you were thinking about.”
I was stunned as I ate my food. Then I put down my plate, took a sip of water, and said, “Do you believe there is another you in this world?”