He didn’t know how she managed to tolerate everyone so easily regardless of their personality.
“I did. Come on.” Alex waved for them to follow him up the stairs as he took them two by two.
Julia glanced up at him with a weak smile. “I can go if you prefer not to.”
“No, I want to see this new discovery. This is a nightmare, as usual. Lydia’s parting gift to us, I suppose. And as always, with Lydia, it’s trouble.”
Julia slid an arm around him. “We’ll get through it. At least neither of us is spending a night in a jail cell.”
He pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head. “Thank goodness. Julia, don’t ever scare me like that again.”
“I just…couldn’t let the police start questioning people and pin this on Sierra.”
“We need to speak with her,” Grant said with a sigh.
Julia offered him a reassuring glance as she squeezed his hand.
“That’s not going to be easy. I really don’t want to do it. I’m not sure if I can stomach hearing that Sierra did this.”
“Sierra did what?” Sierra asked as she pounded down the stairs in her high-heeled slippers.
Grant crinkled his brow as the conversation stared him in the face sooner than he wanted. “Sierra, what are you doing up?”
“Doing up? With Cyber Sitter checking on us every five minutes, who can sleep?” Sierra rolled her eyes. “I mean, we’re not five.”
“Has Alex been taking good care of you?”
Sierra descended the remaining stairs to the foyer. “We had more fun when we were planning Lydia’s demise, but she had to go and be murdered and ruin it for us all.”
Grant sucked in a breath at the words. The casual way his daughter mentioned her mother’s murder twisted his stomach into a knot. “Sierra, we…need to talk about that.”
“Why? They didn’t charge you, obviously. You’re home, right?”
“No, they aren’t charging me. Come into the office.”
“Fine,” she answered, “but make it quick. I’m getting hot chocolate for me and Kyle.”
Julia smiled at her as they stepped inside the dark room. “Still doing siblings things?”
Grant switched on his light, filling the room with a warm glow. Sierra sank into a chair and nodded. “Yes, I’ve got a few more movies on the list, then it’s off to video games.”
After offering drinks to Julia and Sierra, Grant poured himself a bourbon and took a sip, his heart a tumultuous sea. At least Julia was with him. Her unwavering support had become his anchor through the tempest that Lydia had brought upon their lives. The thought of confronting Sierra weight heavily on him, a testament to the complex web of love and duty that bound this unconventional family together.
He resigned himself to the fact that he couldn’t put it off any longer. He perched on the corner of the desk, taking another long sip of bourbon to steel his nerves.
“Sierra, ummm…there’s something we need to discuss.”
Sierra crossed her arms and stared up at him. “Yeah, you said. About what? If you still think I’m going to somehow fall apart after Lydia’s timely demise, I’m not. I’m glad she’s gone. She’s tried to rip way too much from this family, including the only person I view as a mother.”
She reached for Julia and took her hand.
“I appreciate that, Sierra,” Julia said, patting her stepdaughter’s hand, “but that’s exactly why we need to ask you a very…difficult question.”
Sierra switched her gaze between Julia and Grant. “What?”
Grant shifted his weight on the desk, his muscles tensing. “Did you have anything to do with Lydia’s death?”
“What?” Sierra asked. “Seriously?”
