So Sweet a Changeling: A Novel of the Terribly Acronymed Detective Club (Book 6)

Chapter Thirty-Two: Sunny, Sunday

Lauren called him while they were at Gurdwara, but his phone was on silent in his pocket and he was serving langar at the time, his hands full with ladle and pot, so he couldn't discreetly leave and see who was calling. She left a message, though, and he finally remembered to check it after they got home.

"Sunny, hey, it's Lauren. I know you're at your gurdwara, so no hurry; the rest of us are sleeping in anyway after the night we've had. I just wanted to ask if you guys were available to come to our place for an early dinner? We're calling a meeting of the LSDC. There's lots to discuss. Anyway, call me back when you get this message."

Jesus Christ, his friends were always getting themselves into situations without him! He thought Rachel had been at Bard on the Beach! And hadn't Lauren been working yesterday? His evening had been anything but exciting: a meeting of the Homelessness Action Task Force, a necessary gathering of councillors and members of the public to discuss strategies for addressing a rise in the unhoused population downtown. Their work had value, but it was still a meeting, with lots of people, who liked to hear themselves talk, filling the hours when they could have been finished a lot earlier. His only consolation was that Regan Nakamura, his friend and fellow councillor, had also been there, and she'd brought some much-needed empathy and compassion to the discussion.

He consulted Tej, and they made sure his mom and dad would be able to see to their own dinner while they were out. When they were sure they could make it, he called Lauren back.

"Hey, Sunny," she answered.

"What the hell did you guys get up to last night?" he asked.

"We'll tell you when you get here. Can you come?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Sunny, I know you think we had fun without you, but I swear it wasn't that way. I was working at the time, and Rachel and Al were at their thing."

He blinked in surprise. "What happened to them at Bard?"

"It's too much to go over on the phone. Come by, we'll order in."

So, they bundled the kids into the van and drove over to Burnaby. Rachel, Al, Emma and, to no one's surprise now, Logan, were already there.

"You kids are going to sit on lawn chairs in the yard," Joe said with a tight smile, as if reading Sunny's mind. "It's a lovely summer day, no reason to stay inside. We're going to sit on the balcony."

Harpreet, Naomi and Logan walked sullenly down the stairs and into the yard, followed by Tosh and Ajit, who smirked knowingly, and Emma, who was particularly cheerful today, sporting a pair of pink costume fairy wings and showing them off to everybody, zooming around the lawn and threatening to trip and fall every time she turned a corner because of her balance issues.

"Emma got those last night at the gift shop," Rachel explained.

"And look what they got me," Lauren grumbled, holding up a tote bag with the words, Though she be but little, she is fierce written on it.

Sunny snorted laughter. "It's perfect!" he exclaimed.

Lauren scowled at him. Rachel shook her arm out, saying, "I'm still paying for it."

"It's all done with love," Tej assured Lauren. "You know we wouldn't have you any other way."

"That quote refers to the character of Hermia," Al said, "who runs away with Lysander, the love of her life, over the objections of her father, who commands her to either marry a man she doesn't love, enter a convent or be put to death. She fights for Lysander even when he's temporarily bewitched and falls in love with her rival, Helena. You're a fighter just like Hermia, Lauren."