Page 8 of When Love Is Unexpected

"Do you remember Jon?" asks Katherine after hugging me. Her young son stands behind her, using her legs as a shield.

"Of course, I remember Jon," I say. "Hi, little man."

"Tall!" Jon exclaims, pulling himself away from Katherine just enough to point a finger at me. "You're tall!"

"I think he's a little intimidated by your height," says Katherine.

I pull up a chair and sit down. I offer my hand to Jon, hoping he'll shake it.

With a little nudge, Katherine encourages him to approach me.

"Do you like dinosaurs?" I ask.

Jon nods.

I reach into my pants pocket and pull out a small green plastic toy T-rex. When I hand it to him, he immediately takes it from me.

"What do you say?" asks Katherine.

"Fank you," Jon says in his best, most polite little boy voice.

When I glance at Tori, she's looking up at me expectantly. She has Laila's eyes, green and captivating.

This time, I reach into my shirt pocket and pull out two small barrettes made with sea glass.

"Is that for me?" she asks.

"Yep," I say, "I made one for you and one for Holly."

"Oh my gosh, Sam," says Laila.

I hand Laila one of the barrettes and the other to Tori.

"These are beautiful," Laila says. "You made these?"

"I went sea glass hunting last month," I say, "hoping I'd find enough to make one for each girl."

"I love it!" Tori says, turning the barrette over in her hands. "Thank you, Sammy."

"You're welcome," I say.

"Can you put this on me, Mommy?" asks Tori.

"Holly will be here on Wednesday," says Laila, handing the barrette back to me. "You can give it to her yourself. She's going to love it."

Before we leave, Laila and I make plans to have dinner with Katherine and Adam tomorrow night.

***

Nostalgia overwhelms me as we drive to the studio and park on the curb.

I bought the studio from Loren because this is where I met Laila. I don't want anything about it to change.

The studio is busy. Half of the tables are in use, and there are eight customers inside.

As soon as Zoe sees us, her eyes light up and a smile spreads across her face.

"Sam!" she calls out before excusing herself from the table where she's been helping some customers.

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