"Jacob!" cried a beautiful, raven-haired woman, striking in designer jeans, a peasant blouse, and turquoise jewelry, as she ran out of the silly-huge house to greet us. And now today's adventure would begin.

That morning, Saturday, I had woken up, cuddled in Jake's arms in the hotel room. Rob slept peacefully in the other bed. Turning over, I wriggled into him and looked up, as he opened his eyes. First thing in the morning, sleepy, stubbly, hair wonky, in bed? My Jake was a handsome guy.

"Morning," he said, and kissed me lightly.

"Morning," I returned, happy to have this quiet moment with him, before what was sure to be a day of ... something. Revelations? Connections? Dysfunction? Boredom? Drama?

I think the fact that we had no idea what to expect made the tension thicker.

He rubbed his fingers on my shoulder, and started talking. "I dreamed last night that I had an art gallery, all my own. It was white, airy. It had good lighting, and it was in a nice part of town. I had a room for myself, and all of my pictures were up." He smiled. "There was a whole wall of portraits of you." I rubbed my nose into his chest, snuggling harder. He continued, "That would never happen, though, because they're too intimate. They're just for you and me."

I tilted my head to the side, thoughtful. "Maybe. But I am a professional model. I don't mind. Maybe that intimacy will make them really good."

He shook his head. "No, I'm not sharing those. Anyway, I don't really want to own an art gallery, I don't think," he said quietly. "But it would be nice to have a show and feel like a real artist."

"You are a real artist."

"Well, one who puts work out there."

"When we get back, let's look at that art space collective in Ventura. The one that's housed in an old school."

He looked interested. "I've never been there."

"Let's see if we can get you some show space."

He smiled, leaned over, and kissed me on the nose. "I'd like that." He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "It still stresses me out to not be at work, you know, but I gave away a bunch of cases to other people. I let go of it, you know? I had to."

"Yay," I whispered.

"It's hard to do, though. I keep expecting things to go wrong or to be asked questions about it. It's hard to delegate. I keep thinking of what's going on in the office. And I'm trying not to but it doesn't feel right."

"You'll learn," I said. "We're not talking about making you a slacker. We're just gonna go for balance, and I think when you ease up off of total workaholism, it's going to feel like you're doing nothing. But in reality, you're just getting to be healthier." I leaned over and kissed him, and this time, instead of the chaste morning kiss, he kissed me back for real, a hot kiss, hotter than we should be kissing in the morning, lots of tongue, hands engaged, running down my lower back and holding me to him. Then he looked over at a sleeping Rob and I giggled, and then sighed. "I hate to wake him, but I think we have to, if we're going to get there on time."

I nodded. Torn, as usual, between parental responsibilities and a little somethin' somethin'. That's okay, there was plenty of Jake for me later.

"I just know it's gonna be about money today," he muttered. "That's all she ever thinks about."

I didn't have an answer to that. I didn't know; I was just along for moral support.

We ate breakfast at the hotel, and as we drove in a rental car to his mom's house, he was uncharacteristically quiet. I never had trouble talking with him, and he could be a chatterbox. But right now? Silence.

The morning sky was pale here in the arid Southwest, bigger and wider than in Santa Barbara, where it was edged by the hills on one side and the ocean on the other. We pulled up to the gated community of new, huge houses on big lots, separated from each other by a lot of land. Adapted to the Southwest, they were all adobe-style, with xeriscaping: rocks instead of lawns, and drought tolerant plants like cacti, yucca, and mesquite. But the houses were ostentatious; this was serious money. Rob looked around, wide-eyed.

The guard at the gate let us in. There were no sidewalks and the roads curved here and there, without a sense of being connected to the landscape.

Arriving at a house toward the back of the development, Jake parked the car, and we got out. A tall, thin woman, with striking long black hair, came out to greet us.

"Jacob!" she exclaimed, "you're here," and she wrapped him in a hug.

"Hi mom," he responded, and hugged her back. "It's been a while."

"Oh, my handsome boy," she said, and pinched his cheek. I stifled a giggle; I guess all moms could act like that, even if your kid was six foot something and chiseled.

"This is my girlfriend, Lucy Figueroa, and her son Roberto. Lucy and Rob, this is my mom, Linda."

"You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend," she said, shaking my hand warmly. "It's nice to meet you, Lucy, and welcome, Rob. Come, come inside." She seemed nervous, twitchy, and a little Botoxed. She looked very young to be his mother. Everything about her was very stylish and coiffed. While I expected his mother to be beautiful, I didn't expect this level of grandeur. Jake was so down-to-earth. He didn't go for fancy, although his house was nice. But this level of showing off was not his style.

As we walked up the steps, I heard him say under his breath, "I don't talk to you," and I raised an eyebrow at him. So this was going to be an interesting visit. In many ways, I was glad that he brought me along, because, as always, I wanted to know everything about him. But I also felt like I was intruding.

We walked into the adobe palace, really there was no other way of describing it, and his mom showed us into an enormous great room with a huge television and lots of places to sit.

Sitting on one couch was, apparently, his brother. Perched on the ottoman was his sister.

Jake smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Hi," he said, waving. "I'm Jake."

"Veronika," said his sister, standing up. She was tall, very thin, and had the graceful carriage of a ballet dancer. She went over and gave him a quick hug, then stepped back and shook her head. "I can't believe I'm finally meeting my brother, after all these years." She smiled. "It's so cooool!"

I instantly liked her.

"I'm Shawn," said his brother, who looked like he played football, all brawny and short-haired. They shook hands firmly.

After introductions all around, Linda bustled about getting everyone coffee, even though everyone said that they didn't want it. We were to go to lunch at a country club, and meet up with her husband, Jake's step-father. Rob sat quietly in a corner. I'm sure he was hoping for a book or his Minecraft, but not today. Some days were like that kiddo. I was proud of him for being polite, however.

There was no way around it. It was awkward. Jake, who could talk about anything, was mainly reduced to one word answers about our flight, the hotel, the trip over, how we found the house. Rob didn't say anything. I tried to talk, but found I had nothing to say.

Ugh.

Finally, he looked at his mother and said, directly, "Mom, you asked me to come for a reason. What is it?"

She came over and sat across from him, crossing her legs at the ankles, elegantly. "I wanted to tell you in person, Jacob."

"Tell me what." Jake was being ruder than I had ever seen him, but I think it was a reaction to the whole circumstance.

She took a breath. "As you know, your grandparents, my parents, have both died."

"I didn't know that," he interrupted. "I never met them. They never wanted anything to do with me."

Looking at him, she paused for a moment, and continued, keeping her poise. "Your grandparents started a trust for their grandchildren when you were born. They never told me about it, and they never changed it. It was for you and Ethan."

Jake stared at her.

"The lawyers contacted me right before I got in touch with you. There is a question about it, whether it is only for you, or whether it is for all of the grandchildren, meaning whether Shawn and Veronika are included as well."

"So you're asking me to—" Jake started.

"I'm not asking you to do anything right now," she interrupted. "But we need to deal with this. It's a lot of money."

He stood up. "I don't want it." Then he turned to me. "Lucy, Rob, let's go. We're done."