Page 34 of When Love Is Unexpected

"You're most welcome," says Adam.

Holly turns to Tori and invites her to spend the night.

"Mommy," Tori says, "can I spend the night at Holly's house? I want to see her room."

Katherine glances at Loren, and without saying a word, they agree to have Tori spend the night.

"Yes," Katherine says. "You can go home with Auntie Loren and Holly after lunch."

I feel Loren reach for my hand, and she places it over her belly. I wait for a little kick, but what I get is a massive wave of movement that spreads across her entire belly.

"Oh my gosh!" I exclaim. "That was amazing!"

"I know," Loren says. "It's incredible. I can't tell you how much I enjoy being pregnant."

After lunch, I help Mom clear the table. Sam has left his seat and is now entertaining Jon. They're engrossed in conversation, and it looks like Jon brought his entire dinosaur collection in a shoebox. From what I can gather, he's quizzing Sam on colors. Jon is lining his dinosaurs on the table one by one as Sam calls out the colors. Jon is too young to know the different species of dinosaurs, but he knows all his colors.

"Now it's your turn," Sam says, putting all the toys back in the shoebox. He starts taking the toys out one at a time. "What color is this?" he asks Jon. If Jon gets it right, the toy goes on the table. If he gets it wrong, it goes back into the box, and he tries again. Sam must be saying something funny because I can hear Jon giggling. I think about how much he loves tickling.

Glancing at Sam, I wonder what his love language is. I make a mental note to find out.

When everyone has found a comfortable spot in the den to sit and eat a slice of cheesecake, I sit next to Sam.

"What are you doing today?" I ask him.

"I was planning on going to the studio," he says. "I need to check the kilns to ensure they're in good working condition. They're old, so I'll have to check if anything needs maintenance."

"Are you sure you're not stopping by to see Zoe?"

"You can come with me if you'd like," he says, his tone playful and teasing. "That way, you can keep an eye on me."

"Oh, you're trying to be funny," I say. "Ha, ha."

Later, when Mom and I talk about the trip to San Diego, I see Dad, Adam, and Sam enter the garage. I would love to be a fly on that wall. Something tells me they're talking about me, but it might just be my oversized ego telling me that I'm the center of their universe.

***

Sam and I take Loren and the girls home an hour later and then stop by the studio. When I see how busy it is, I almost feel sorry for Zoe and her assistant.

"What's your assistant's name?" I ask Zoe as I pull some drop cloths from a shelf to cover some tables.

"His name is Luis," she says. "He's a senior in high school, and this is his summer job."

"That's right," I say. "He was here during spring break when I came in with Loren," I remember now.

Sam walks down the hallway to check the kilns. I stay with Zoe and Luis to help them with the customers.

"Is it always this busy?" I ask.

"Business has been picking up," says Zoe. "I think we need to hire one more person. Luis is part-time, so sometimes I'm here alone when it gets this busy."

When Sam is done with the kilns, we stay for a couple more hours to help. Sam asks Zoe to hire one or two more people as soon as possible to help her.

When we leave the studio after closing, Sam asks, "Can I take you to dinner?"

I slip my arm through his, and we walk a few blocks to a nearby cafe we often frequented when Sam lived here.

For dinner, we order turkey sandwiches and sparkling water. We eat and spend an hour laughing and reminiscing about the fun times we shared working together in Loren's studio.

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