When Sunny locked eyes with Al at the memorial for Martha Anderson, he knew right away it was him. The man was simply an older and taller version of the boy who grew up on Lawrence Street; other than that, he hadn't changed at all. No facial hair, and still relatively thin. Al was peering at him as if trying to place him, but something about him must have made something click, because he brightened almost immediately.

"Sunny!" Al called.

Sunny grinned. "Al? Is that really you?"

Al offered his hand. Sunny was having none of it and scooped him into a bear hug. 

They unlocked, chuckling awkwardly. "I just saw Joe before," Al said. "He told me you might be coming."

"Joe's here?" Sunny asked, looking around to see if he might spot him.

"He says you're married with two kids. Are they here too?"

Sunny's smile faltered. "Yeah, well, Harpreet got the flu, so Tej decided to keep her and Ajit home today." 

He didn't know why he lied just now. He could have just told him the truth, that he didn't know they were bringing the kids today, that he thought it would have been intense enough just bringing all the old crew together without introducing spouses and children too. The truth would have been easy enough to understand. At the same time, he thought Al would be disappointed not seeing his wife and kids today, and he didn't want to disappoint his old friend so early in their reacquaintance, so he came up with the lie on the spot. 

"Tej is your wife?" Al asked.

"Yeah. Too bad you couldn't meet her today."

"So, Joe and Lauren, huh?"

Sunny chuckled. It still amazed him, too. "A little too close to home, if you ask me, but to each their own. Their kids are beautiful, though."

"So, I heard from Lauren you're a lawyer, now."

"Yeah. Nothing exciting. Family law, wills and estates. Still living and working in New West. How about you?"

"New West," Al said, surprising him. He'd been living in the same city with him and he didn't even know it. "I moved back here from Coquitlam when I moved out," Al explained. "It's the only city still affordable that's along the Skytrain line. I work in downtown Vancouver, at the library, in the Cataloguing Department."

"Oh, yeah. I can't envision what you might do, but it sounds like a nice, steady career."

"It is."

"So, do you work in the big coliseum building downtown?"

Al nodded. "It's not really based on the Coliseum in Rome, that wasn't the intent of Moshe Safdie, the architect."

There was an awkward pause. Al cleared his throat. "I like your turban. Am I allowed to say that?"

Sunny chuckled and patted his arm. "You are, buddy."

"It's just that the last time I saw you, you were bareheaded and clean shaven."

"Well, I grew up, man. Men grow their hair and beards in my religion."

"Does it ever itch, your beard?"

"Sometimes, but I groom it and give it a lot of attention."

Al looked desperate to change the subject all of a sudden. He looked around the room, noticed something to his left, and brightened. "Did you see the pictures on the projector? A couple of them have us in them."

"Seriously?!" Sunny said, incredulous.

"Yeah, and look!" Al turned behind him, noticed a group of people gathered around a binder on the table with all the refreshments on it, and his face fell. "Oh. Uh, there was an article in there, about when we took down that abusive dad, remember that?"

"The Case of the Runaway Kid." Sunny enunciated the words as if it were the title of a mystery book. "Yeah, I remember." Sunny pumped his fist and said, "LSDC!"

"LSDC!" Al parroted, and chuckled. "It wasn't really a good acronym."

"Ah, well, our world was pretty small back then. Our beat was about two square kilometres."

Suddenly, a female voice behind Sunny said, "Did I hear someone say LSDC?"

Sunny was already glad he'd come today. Al was still a nice guy, maybe a little nervous and politely curious about his evolution as a Sikh man, but still the same Al he remembered from Queensborough, and Al seemed genuinely happy to see him again. But when Sunny turned, and Al saw the small woman behind him, he knew by the way Al lit up that he'd remember this reunion for the rest of his life.

"Lauren!" he exclaimed.

She squealed and and threw herself into his arms. For a second Sunny thought Al was going to swing her in a circle, but the room was too crowded.

"It's so good to see you!" she said.

Sunny wrapped his arms around both of them. "Group hug!"

When they unlocked, they were all wiping their eyes. "This is so crazy," Lauren said. "The two of you finally together again. You both grew up to be good looking dudes!"

Al blushed. "Joe has us all beat in the growing department," he said.

"He always was the biggest," she said, rather proudly.

"And you're his little woman, figuratively and literally," Sunny said.

Lauren punched him playfully on the shoulder. He winced and shook his arm out. "I forgot you were the hardest hitter," he said.

"How's family life?" Al asked Lauren.

"Oh... you know... busy. Depending a lot on the grandparents for babysitting, even though we really shouldn't, they're getting too old to keep up with them."

"Oh! So, they're all still around?"

Sunny felt his stomach drop at the realization that they might be heading into the territory of loss. It was only natural, given that they were at the memorial for the woman who'd overseen their childhood adventures, but he had no desire to bring up Bishan now.

To his relief, Lauren answered first. "Yeah, well... Joe's dad had a health scare, viral encephalitis, can you believe it?"

Al gasped. "Is he okay?"

Lauren shrugged. "He was in and out of a coma for months, but he came out of it. Not quite the same as he used to be, though... sometimes the circuits don't connect, if you know what I mean."

Al nodded dumbly.

"Don't ask Joe about it, though, he doesn't like to talk about it," she said.

"And your mom and dad?"

"Still as plucky as ever, although they ran out of battles to fight a long time ago; no one finds their relationship controversial anymore, and I think they live in a state of perpetual disappointment about it."

Al's eyes widened in surprised amusement. "Are they here today?" he asked.

Lauren shook her head. "Joe's mom and dad are here, and they don't get along, so they thought it would be better not to come. Martha meant more to Joe's parents, anyway." She made a show of looking around the room. "Are your parents here?"

"My mom is. My dad passed away ten years ago."

"Oh, Al, I'm so sorry!" Lauren said. Sunny patted his arm, unable to think of anything better to do. So, that was why he'd asked if their parents were still around.

"It's okay, long time ago," Al said, his welling eyes betraying him. He cleared his throat. "How about you, Sunny?"

Sunny was afraid of this. He just had to make sure he said nothing about his sister unless they asked specifically; hopefully they didn't even remember her. "Well, my mom and dad live with us; it's the custom in Sikh families. Anyway, Mom won't leave the grandkids' side if they're sick, and Dad has no interest in going anywhere without Mom, especially to a crowded party like this. He has diabetes, so he doesn't like going out and worrying about his blood sugar." He chuckled. "I bet Tej is wishing she left the kids to Mom's care and came with me."

"In-law problems?" Lauren asked, smirking, her dimples popping.

"Well, they get along okay, but when we're always around each other, it's only natural to grate on each other from time to time."

"Are you a politician?" Al asked. "Because that was a very diplomatic answer."

Sunny chuckled. "As a matter of fact, I'll be running for city council next election." In fact, Rodney Maxwell, the young Mayor of New Westminster, had finally convinced him today while they'd been chatting and Sunny had been keeping an eye out for his old friends. The two had worked closely together for years, when Maxwell had still been just a Councillor and they'd volunteered on a lot of the same projects, like blood drives and fundraisers for women's shelters, two causes close to Sunny's heart, the latter because of Bishan, who'd never let on that she'd been the victim of domestic abuse, and the former because Sikhs historically had low turnout for blood donations, and hospitals were low on blood containing types most common to the Desi community.

"Are you serious?" Lauren asked in awe.

"Yes."

"Wow, good for you," Al said. "Maybe I'll vote for you."

Sunny burst out laughing. "Maybe, he says! What a guy!"

They all laughed at that, but Lauren stopped before all of them. Sunny calmed down and looked at her, and then saw what she was looking at.

Rachel was at the entrance to the ballroom.

She was dressed smartly in a black pantsuit with a green blouse, meant to set off her eyes, but the effect was dampened by the bags under them. Her dirty blonde hair had no rat's nests anymore, but was limp and lifeless. She looked thin and stooped, weighed down by all the events of her past year.

This was the woman Martha Anderson had wanted to execute her will, but of all of them, Rachel looked like she'd changed the most, and not for the better. Could Sunny trust her with this duty?

Al stood as frozen as he was, but instead of looking dismayed as Sunny was feeling, he looked like a puppy that hadn't seen its master all day. The man hadn't lost his crush for her even after thirty years, it seemed.

Lauren, seeing the friend she'd missed so dearly, strode to her with no hesitation, and Sunny chided himself for his own and followed. Rachel was like a deer in the headlights when she saw them, and looked as if she was thinking about bolting, but took too long to decide, because Lauren was already there.

"Rachel," Lauren said, opening her arms.

 Rachel leaned in and returned the hug briefly, a few pats on the back and done. "Hi, Lauren. Wow, how long has it been?"

"Too long. You look great!"

"No, I don't. You do, though." She looked up and saw Al and Sunny. "Hey, guys."

Sunny offered his hand, not quite as willing to risk the hug as Lauren was. "How are you, Rachel?"

She took it and said, "Oh... been better. But you guys... wow, so surreal to see you all. And Joe?"

"Right here," Joe said, sidling up beside Sunny and patting down on his shoulder, which compressed him like a spring. Tosh and Naomi were at his sides, and now Sunny wished he'd just brought Tej and the kids after all. "Tosh and Naomi, meet Mom's and my childhood friends, Rachel and Al. You've already met Sunny and his family."

Tosh burrowed his face deeper into his dad's leg. "Hi," the older and braver Naomi said. "Where're Harpreet and Ajit?"

Sunny crouched down to their level and said, "Sorry Naomi, Harpreet has the flu today, so we decided to keep them at home so she didn't get you two sick." Great, now he was lying to children, too.

"Beautiful children," Rachel said.

"Thank you," Lauren said. "We think so, too."

Suddenly no one knew what to say, but soon they were distracted by a tapping on a microphone. They looked to a podium at the right side of the room, where Rodney Maxwell was trying to get everyone's attention. The large metal urn containing Martha Anderson's cremains sat alone on a small table beside it.

"Hi everybody," he said. "I'm Rodney Maxwell, Mayor of New Westminster." A short round of polite applause. "I'd like to welcome you all to this memorial for Martha Anderson, who lived in Queensborough all of her one hundred and four years and, from the number of people gathered here, was a well-loved member of this community." Another round of applause.

Rachel caught sight of a photo blown up on the wall by the projector, and her eyes widened. Al was right, Sunny noticed; there were photos of them as kids in this slideshow. In this one, Rachel was around twelve, sitting beside Mrs. Anderson at the piano.

Before Rodney went on further with his remarks, Rachel burst into sobs.

Rodney went on for a few seconds, but even he began to realize he was losing everyone's attention as they were turning to see who was mourning so loudly.

It went on for a few painful seconds until, finally, Lauren whispered something in Rachel's ear. She nodded, and all of them left the ballroom together. This was better. She could get it all out without having everyone looking at her, and the five of them could just be there, not needing to say anything, just absorbing this surreal moment of reunion.

Tosh and Naomi, not ones to miss an opportunity to play, took off running in the open meadow on which sat the community centre. Joe and Lauren looked after them for a minute, then turned back to Rachel.

"Sorry," Rachel said, wiping her eyes. "Sorry, everyone. How embarrassing."

"It's okay to miss her," Lauren said.

"That's the thing, though," Rachel said. "I never stayed in touch with her after I left. My mom was back in my life and..."

"Yeah..." Al said, as if he knew exactly what she was talking about. "I think this is about more than Mrs. Anderson."

"Oh, you do, do you?" Rachel resentfully.

"How about this, guys," Lauren said. "How about Rachel doesn't have to say anything about her troubles. How about we're all just happy to see each other again."

"You're right," Sunny said. "No one gets singled out. We all have adversities to overcome. I do, however, need to give this to you, as per Martha Anderson's instructions." Sunny reached into his inside jacket pocket and drew out the envelope containing the letter Mrs. Anderson had written for Rachel, which Marjorie Wilson had dropped off at his office.

"What is it?" she asked.

Sunny shrugged. "Only you are allowed to open it and find out. From the thinness of the envelope, however, I'd say it was a letter."

Rachel paled. "A letter from Mrs. Anderson?"

"Yes."

Rachel took it in pincered fingers and looked at her name written on it. She looked at her four old friends, who were looking at her expectantly.

"I can't read it right now," she said. "I'm sorry, I'm just not ready."

"That letter is for your eyes only," Sunny said. "You can read it whenever you like, and you don't have to tell us a single thing about what's in it. I do, however, need to get an answer from you about whether or not you will be executor of the will."

The other friends gasped. "She wants you to be executor?" Lauren said. "You never told me that, Sunny."

"It wasn't relevant to your duty to find her," Sunny said, feeling defensive for some reason, as if Lauren had caught him in a lie, even though everybody had bought the lie he'd told today.

"Peace, you two," Rachel said. "We're all friends again, remember? The point is you found me, and now you know why." She turned to Sunny. "Has anyone ever refused to be executor before?"

Sunny did his best to hide his dismay. "Certainly. Usually, though, when a person or couple plans an estate, they ask their intended executor long in advance, so there's no shock when the time comes, but if a chosen executor refuses, we have a way of picking another."

Rachel sighed.

"Are you saying no, then?" Sunny prompted when she didn't speak for a minute.

"I don't know. It's just so out of the blue. I only just found out she died, and she wants me to do this even though we haven't spoken in ages."

"It is a big responsibility," Al said.

She shrugged. "Then again, it's not like I have anything else to do, as I'm sure you all know." She looked pointedly at them, and their eyes couldn't meet hers. "It might make a welcome distraction from my own problems."

"We'll help you, if you need it," Lauren said.

"I guess I'll see how much help I need, first," she said.

"She has some assets to liquidate and disburse to various beneficiaries," Sunny said. "And there's the house, of course."

"Oh, God, the house," she said.

And then, as if they all knew what she was thinking, they all said with her, "The dolls."

"So, if you're on board with being executor, and it seems you are, I'll get you a copy of the will, and give you all the documents we have," Sunny said. "Maybe this coming week?"

"Okay."

Rachel slipped the envelope into her purse. They all watched it go in, and then they were all silent for an uncomfortable moment.

Suddenly, Al said, "Like I was telling Sunny before, there was an article in the binder in there, among all the articles featuring Mrs. Anderson, that had us in it, getting that commendation from the City."

"The runaway kid?" Joe asked.

"The ceremony was also here, wasn't it," Lauren said.

"My family was so proud of me," Sunny said. "Little Sikh boy does good deed." Of course, that was after they'd grounded him for getting involved in the first place and putting himself in danger, when none of the others had received any punishment at all; it still rankled him all these years later, the injustice.

"Me too," Lauren said. "Mom and Dad saw me as some kind of vindicator for their marriage. 'Look, look at the hero child we produced!'" She said this part with an announcer's voice. "They didn't realize that nobody cared anymore; even in the Seventies, they weren't that controversial."

"My dad got a standing ovation from his coworkers at the mill the next day," Joe said, chuckling. "He was so embarrassed."

"I don't think my dad appreciated the attention," Al said. "He was quite reserved. Remember Hunter and Duchess? They really were guard dogs. He didn't like people coming around."

"I was really scared of those Dobermans," Rachel said.

"They weren't warm and cuddly," Al said. "I don't blame you for being scared. I was a little, too, but they knew who the family was and who to protect, so they never did anything to me. When they died, we never got other pets, but when I moved out I got a cat. Much better suited to my personality." He looked sidelong at Rachel. "I remember your dad a little. He worked really hard to support the both of you. He must have been proud of you too."

"Yeah," she squeaked tearfully. "He was so proud. I miss him so much!"

This time, it was Al who wrapped her in his arms. "I'm sorry," he said, "I didn't know he passed away."

She nodded into his chest.

"I know how you feel," he said. "My dad was an odd man, but I miss him too."

No one spoke as they stood embracing. 

"You know the kid died, right?" she said into his chest.

"Sorry?"

She stepped away from him. She wiped her eyes and took a moment to steel herself. They all looked at her.

"What did you say?" Lauren asked.

"The kid. The runaway kid. Danny Trybek, right?"

"I almost forgot his name," Sunny lied, making that the second one of the day. "Did you say he died?"

"Yeah," Rachel croaked. "My mom took great pleasure in telling me about it. I guess none of your parents said anything about it to you, did they. Didn't want to damage their precious children's image of themselves. Or maybe they just forgot."

"What do you mean?" Al asked. "How did he die?"

She sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve like a child. "For us, the Case of the Runaway Kid ended with that commendation. Danny Trybek's father was arrested, yes, but Danny's mother was no saint either. She was an alcoholic, and when the authorities investigated the family situation after the arrest, they determined that she was in no condition to raise him on her own, and Danny was eventually seized by Social Services and placed in foster care. He was passed from one foster family to another, each of whom neglected or abused him almost as bad as his father did, and by the time he aged out of foster care he had absolutely nowhere to go and no way to take care of himself. He quickly fell into homelessness, prostitution and drug abuse, and died of an overdose at the age of nineteen."

They stood staring at her, unable to process anything she'd said. 

"Huh. Wow," Al said, stepping away and running a hand through his hair. His khakis were a little wrinkled on the backs of the legs.

"How do you know all this, Rachel?" Lauren asked.

"I told you. My mom told me."

"How does she know?" Joe asked. "Maybe she made it all up."

Rachel blinked in surprise. "She was a social worker herself before she burned out. She made it her mission to spite my dad every chance she got. When he died I think he was relieved to finally escape her clutches. He never should have taken her back."

"Wait, I don't follow," Sunny said. "Those two statements were non sequiturs. "

"Sorry, I lost track there," she said, shaking her head. "What I meant to say was, my dad was really proud of me for helping to turn in that asshole. He liked reading fantasy books and mystery books in his spare time, and he had a real fondness for heroes, especially heroes that everyone writes off in the beginning, like Frodo in Lord of the Rings, or Poirot in Agatha Christie's books; everyone dismisses him as an egg-headed dandy until he catches the crook. For him, his daughter couldn't have been a better example of the underdog hero in real life.

"Well, my mother had just come back into our lives back then, and she couldn't stand her daughter getting affection she felt she rightfully deserved for deigning to grace us with her presence again after eight years away. So, she stored the details of my accomplishment away in case she could use it against me later. And she did.

"She followed Danny's story. She wasn't his case worker, but she knew the woman who was. She tracked him until he died, and then she proudly sat my dad and me down and let us know just what the hero daughter had accomplished."

They all gaped at her.

"Wow, what a bitch!" Lauren said. "Forgive my saying so."

"You're not wrong," Rachel muttered.

After that it was hard to talk about anything else, and their bright reunion fizzled out. Eventually they just watched Naomi and Tosh chase each other, commenting on which traits they took from which parent. There was no way Rachel was going back inside after the scene she'd made, so they stayed outside as long as decency allowed, and then they saw Rachel to her rented car and said goodbye to her from there, with the promise that they would get together this coming week to discuss the will. Then Sunny saw the rest of them back inside, chatted with Rodney a little more, and said an awkward goodbye to everyone, unsure if he would even see Al again.  

When Sunny returned home, Tej asked, "So, how did it go?"

"I made a mistake," he said.

Tej frowned. "Did it not go well?"

"Oh, it was fine, but I should have brought you and the kids; Naomi and Tosh were there, and I had to come up with an excuse for why you weren't. If we see them next time--"

"If?"

"When we see them next time, they think Harpreet had the flu, so if they ask how she is, say she's better."

She chuckled in amazement. "Okay. Well, I hope we see them again. I haven't met Rachel and Al yet. The way Lauren goes on about Rachel, you'd think she pooped rainbows."

Sunny burst out laughing. "Well, actually, she isn't doing great right now. We tracked her down as a beneficiary of the estate of the woman whose memorial we all attended, so hopefully that will help her out until she gets back on her feet."

As it turned out, Lauren had an additional idea for that. The woman was gung-ho about helping the best friend of her youth, even going as far as clearing her name of the embezzlement accusation that had gotten her fired. Until then, she said, she and Joe were going to offer her piece work accounting at their respective companies, and did Sunny also have some he could offer.

"I can do that," he said. "At the very least, I can source out my own billing to her. I'll see about the rest of the firm."

"Fantastic!" Lauren said. "Maybe even this week when you talk to her about the will!"

Sunny chuckled and said, "Slow down, Lauren, I have to at least do an assessment of what I need on Monday, so not before Tuesday, anyway."

"Fine, fine." Lauren let out an excited breath and said, "So? What did you think?"

"Of Rachel?"

"And Al, too, but yes, Rachel!"

"Honestly? I'm worried about her."

"Me, too, but that's why I want to do this for her. I just know that, if she's working and has a purpose again, she'll bounce back and be the Rachel we remember."

"I hope you're right. I want that Rachel back, too."

Thanks for reading this far! If you read the previous three novels in this series, you'll have seen this pivotal reunion scene in some form or another from Al's, Rachel's, Lauren's and Joe's points of view. This was Sunny's turn, and I wanted to show how everyone's states of minds were different at the time they all came together. If you liked what you just read, hit "Vote" to send this title up the ranks. Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

To get back to Lauren in the present day, and an exchange of secrets with Rachel that's been a long time coming, click on "Continue reading."