“Sorry I’m late,” Paulina said, strolling in wearing a spaghetti-strap black dress with a plaid shirt tied around her waist and black combat boots. Her pale hair hung down to her waist. She looked like the poster girl for grunge chic.

Elodie’s boyfriend stared at their youngest sister. Who could blame him? Still, it made Celeste shift uncomfortably in her seat when Paulina stared right back. No one else seemed to notice.

“Celeste, when are you moving back to civilization?” her father asked while the sommelier filled everyone’s wineglasses. “I’ve got a desk with your name on it.”

“Philadelphia isn’t exactly a desert island, Dad,” she said. “And I’m getting my master’s degree so I can teach.”

“How about you, Brodie?” Alan said. “You have your head stuck in the books, too?”

“No, Mr. Pavlin,” Brodie said. For the first time, Celeste could detect the slight muddiness of his Delaware accent. And she hated herself for noticing. “I’m a first-year associate at a law firm.”

“A lawyer!” Alan said, smacking his palm onto the table. “We can always use more of those around here.” He turned to Paulina, seated to his left. “Why don’t you try dating someone with a job for a change?”

“Because it’s so much more fun dating someone with a title,” she said.

Even the new-and-improved Elodie rolled her eyes at that.

“Alan,” Constance said, her lips pursed in displeasure at the direction the conversation had taken. Paulina was Constance’s favorite, always had been, and Celeste had finally reached an age where she accepted this without judgment or too much emotion. “Why don’t you give the kids a little preview of what you have planned for tomorrow night.”

Her mother looked elegant as usual in a navy Chanel suit, her blond hair parted at the side and tucked behind one ear with a diamond clip. Her blue eyes were perfectly made-up with smoky shadow and liquid eyeliner. Her nails were polished a deep crimson, her lips nude gloss. She smelled like her Opium perfume.

“Excellent idea, my love.” Her father, for all his faults (controlling, workaholic, judgmental), had one unimpeachable quality: He adored his wife. “Everyone, tomorrow night will be a historic moment for Pavlin & Co. As you know, I’m introducing the Electric Rose to the press and the public. But I also want to bring Pavlin & Co back to its roots; as my father put it, ‘A diamond says love.’ That’s why I wanted everyone together tomorrow night. Because there’s no greater love than my love for my family.” He raised his glass. “To my girls, my greatest treasure.”

Everyone raised their glasses, and Celeste felt a lump in her throat. It was the warmest expression of feelings she’d heard from her father in years.

Maybe some things could change.

26