Page 37 of First Chance

“Emory has been obsessed with all the glamorous thingssince she saw her first play on Broadway over spring break,” Tessa says, twirling Emory’s pigtail around her finger playfully.

“My moms aren’t very good at girly stuff even though they’re both girls.” She rolls her eyes in an exasperated kid way that makes them both laugh.

“Jo was Miss North Carolina.” The hive goes silent at Lochlan’s announcement.

“Miss Teen,” I correct him.

“A beauty queen!” Emory squeals, smushing her hands to her cheeks.

Embarrassment fills me, and I’m not entirely sure why. I’m used to that information about me being made known, but I guess I’m used to being mocked for it.

“I would love to teach you makeup, Emory.” I smile at her genuinely, and she erupts in another squeal, clapping her hands.

An hour later, I’m seated cross-legged on the floor in Lochlan’s living room with my makeup bag, teaching Emory how to apply eye shadow in the most age-appropriate way I can.

She, of course, wanted to use the boldest and most sparkly colors, and I would never tell her no.

She giggles endlessly, using her fingertips to smear pink blush across my cheeks, and I don’t need to look in the mirror to know it’s probably the best I’ve ever looked.

“Am I beautiful?” She asks, but her attention is directed at the small lighted mirror sitting on the coffee table, and to the man standing in its reflection behind us.

Lochlan’s leaning casually against the wall with his arms folded across his chest, watching in amusement.

“You’re the most beautiful girl in the world, Eminem.” Her smile widens at his sweet words, and my heart does a little skip. The man who makes men scurry in fear is wrapped around this little girl’s finger.

“What about Jo?” She asks innocently, but he’s already studying the streaks of purple above my eyes, the fingerprints of blush, and the glitter that glosses my lips. He looks longer than necessary, and I can only imagine the response he’s trying to articulate to avoid hurting his niece’s feelings.

“Beautiful,” he forces out.

“Jo, can you do my nails like yours, too?” She asks, tearing my attention from Lochlan’s piercing stare.

“I might have some nail polish somewhere, but I get these done at a nail salon. It’s called acrylics.”

“I want acrylics,” she pouts, and it makes me laugh.

“It’s bad for your real nails. You should wait until you’re much older,” I suggest, seeming to appease her.

“When I’m older, I’m going to be a veterinarian,” she exclaims proudly, over-enunciating the word only slightly.

“That’s amazing. You love animals?”

“Yep! I’m going to rescue all the animals and bring them here to take care of them. Lochy said I can do whatever I want since I was hand-gifted in a basket to run this place.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m the only stray he’s ever kept,” she states proudly.

“She gets it all. The sole inheritor,” Lochlan explains. “Becky and Tessa adopted her after she was abandoned at the front gate. She was only one year old, buckled into a car seat in the middle of March.”

I gasp, but Emory doesn’t look the least bit affected. She must know this story well.

How can people be so cruel?

Leaving a baby in the elements, not knowing if they’ll be safe or cared for. It’s unimaginable.

It’s not fair.

“I’m sorry, I need some air.” I jump up from my seat and run to the front porch before collapsing to my butt on the porch steps.

---