Page 36 of First Chance

“I enjoy learning.”

He raises his hands in a “I’m not judging” way.

“What about a family?” He asks, and my cheeks heat.

“I want to get married, but no family.”

He tilts his head in surprise.

“My family didn’t exactly give me a good example of family life. I’ll pass,” I add, defusing the questions I see stewing in his brain.

“My sister is coming over for dinner,” he says whilelowering my car to the ground. “You should come. She’ll also insist,” he adds under his breath.

* * *

“Uncle Lochy!!” The little girl with beaded braids in her hair screeches out the window of a red SUV, scrambling out of the car and jumping into his arms as soon as they park.

“Eminem.” He presses a kiss on top of her head. “It’s been too long.”

“Who is this?” She asks, smiling sweetly at me. I’m not great with kids’ ages, but I’d guess she’s 7 or 8.

“This is Jo, she works here.”

“Jo, huh? And here I thought this place was a cockpit,” a woman with a blonde pixie cut says.

“Jo, this is Tessa, my sister’s wife. And, my sister, Becky.” His sister looks a lot like him. Tall with dark hair, French braided down her back. “And their pet velociraptor, Emory.”

“I’m not a velociraptor, Lochy. I’m a princess.” She points to the glittery butterfly and flower clips in her hair to prove her point.

“You’re right, I’m sorry.”

“Are you able to stay for dinner?” His sister asks, and Lochlan glances at me like ‘told ya’.

“I invited her already. She’s staying in grandma’s old studio,” he explains, and I watch her eyes widen briefly before she recovers.

“Hmm, interesting,” Becky smirks, but turns around to grab something from her backseat. “I brought pizza, takethese.”

She plops three boxes in his arms and walks ahead of us into the house.

“She never fails to make herself right back at home,” he mumbles.

Chapter Twelve

Jo

They’re so normal.

It’s like watching bees buzz around a hive, except the little girl, Emory, is at the center. Her mom carries over a slice of pizza and drops it on her plate, her other mom pulls paper towels from the roll beside the sink and divides them out among us while Lochlan lets his niece talk his ear off.

I somehow gathered that they own a brick oven pizza shop and that they’ve been together since college. Becky is Mommy, Tessa is Momma.

I can hardly take a bite of the pizza sitting in front of me, even though it looks incredible. I don’t want to blink and miss a moment of this when it’s better than anything I could have imagined a normal family could be.

Because they love each other.

“Jo, can you teach me how to do pretty makeup like you?” Emory asks, focusing everyone’s attention on me suddenly.

“Oh, um,” I don’t know how to respond because I don’t want to step on any toes, but I don’t want to reject her either.

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