After a moment, she gave me an assessing look, put her arm around my shoulder, and went right where I didn’t want her to. “But what I should have asked was how you felt about it. Who cares about what two old women and the memory of a very-good-but-quite-dead man think? You’re the one who has to live with it!”

Leave it Saba to lighten the mood with her dark-as-night humor.

I laughed and got in the car. “All right, old lady, buy me a beer at this fancy joint you’re taking me to and I’ll catch you up on my life.”

She winked at me as she put the car in drive and headed out of the guesthouse. “I want all the gory details.”

“Well, first there was the breakup with Miguel.” I trailed off, knowing there would be a reaction.

Saba did not disappoint in her scorn for my ex. Her mouth twisted to the side at the mention of his name. “Fatima told me about that. He’s the one who lost here. You don’t need a man who can’t see your worth.”

I knew she meant it. Saba was not one to say things to be nice. If she said it, she believed it.

“Thanks.” I realized after I’d said it that I didn’t feel like talking about Miguel, so I veered elsewhere. “The job in DC is exciting, though,” I said, forcing myself to sound enthusiastic. If I was an expert at anything, it was at telling my loved ones what they wanted to hear. Saba looked at me like she suspected there was more there, but she didn’t push.

We sat in silence, and after a few minutes, drove into what I assumed was the Hotel Marquis. I turned in my seat to get a good look at the majestic entrance of the hotel. “Wow. Someone did way too much,” I said, awed by the enormous grounds and gorgeous gardens.

Saba chuckled as I took everything in. From the gate to the buildings, everything looked like something straight out of Vegas or Dubai. The entrance was a twenty-foot gilded metal gate, manually operated by white-gloved bellhops wearing red velvet jackets with gold embroidery. And that was only to get into the parking lot.

It only got swankier once we were inside. I stood in the lobby and turned around, gaping at all the marble and crystal. “Saba, this is fancy. Whatever happened to your rustic tastes?”

She smacked my shoulder as I turned in another circle. “Leave me alone, you brat. I’m old and like nice things now. Close your mouth and let’s start walking to the pool so I can buy you a beer and something with no meat in it.”