Page 118 of So Much More

I open the door. “Thanks, Shannon.”

“No ‘Sexy Shannon’ anymore?” he teases.

I smile. “I doubt Randall would appreciate that.”

“Nor would my kinda-sorta new girlfriend.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “Oh?”

“Yeah, I’ll tell you about her later. Go meet your sister.”

I flip the sun visor down to give my hair and makeup one last check in the mirror, but Shannon flips it back up. “You look gorgeous. Go.”

His comment would have unnerved me if he hadn’t told me he has a girlfriend, but since he did, I know his only intention is to give me confidence. “Yes, sir.”

When I step up to the hostess stand, the girl does a double-take, and I laugh. “Did someone who looks like me come in here recently?”

“Yeah, like three minutes ago,” she says with wide eyes.

“That’s my sister.” I feel giddy that I can actually say that.I have a sister.

“I’ll take you to her, then.” As she leads me across the restaurant, she says, “Are you twins?”

“No, we’re a couple years apart.”

Then I spot Andrea, and I burst out laughing again, as does she. She rises from her seat and steps toward me as I approach. We spread our arms out at the same time and hug each other tightly.

“I love your outfit,” she says, referring to my short-sleeve light-green button up shirt and cream-colored pants that match hers almost exactly.

“You have excellent style,” I reply.

We take our seats and grin at each other for longer than would normally be comfortable, but we’re both in awe of being here.

“What do we talk about first?” she finally asks.

“I don’t know! I want to know everything I don’t yet know about youandEmily.”

“Let’s start with Emily.”

“That’s what I was hoping you’d say.”

* * *

“Are you still upset with your mom?” I ask Andrea a few hours later. We’ve eaten appetizers, the main meal, and dessert, and now she’s drinking a decaf coffee and I’m nursing a glass of wine, extending our time as long as we can without irritating our waitress too much. We’ve already determined we’ll leave her a sizable tip since we’ve monopolized the table all evening.

“I’m not,” she says. “I knew from the beginning I’d eventually get over what she did. As a single mom myself, I know how tricky it can be to talk to your kid about their absent dad. It’s hard to know the right thing to do. What about you? You and your mom okay?”

“Yeah, we’re good, and she’s very excited I’m meeting you. She threatened to come down here, too, but I made Dad promise he wouldn’t let her. I didn’t want to overwhelm you and Emily.”

“I would love to meet her someday,” she says. “I’m glad she doesn’t resent me.”

“My mom would never resent you. None of this is your fault. She doesn’t resent your mom, either, for that matter. It was all such a long time ago, and it’s Jack she was mad at, not your mom. He was the one who cheated.”

“She sounds like a great mom.”

“The best.”

“I like to think mine is the best, so maybe we’ll say they’re a tie.”

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