Page 45 of Last Fall

He laughed. “Family first. Plus I wanted to meet you.” He finished shrugging into his blazer and stuck out his hand. “Besides this is just a friendly scrimmage game. They don’t need me yelling at them until right before they hittheice.”

Zoe shook his hand looking a little dazed. “Well it was good to meetyou,Jack.”

“And you, Zoe. I hope you’ll join us for dinner afterward? I promise the Cassidy clan isn’t too scary when we’retogether.”

He punched me in the arm on the way, then wrapped me up in a hug. “We’ll talkafter?”

“Meet you atTuscany.”

My attention was already square on Zoe. I tried to be cool as Jack sauntered out the door of the box, but really, I was just staring at how beautiful she was thewholetime.

“So that’s Jack.” I really hoped he hadn’t rattled hertoohard.

“He seemsreallynice.”

A very basic comment. I wanted more. At least an idea of what was going on in that head of hers. “He’s a year older than me and a least a yearuglier.”

She giggled, just the way I hoped. “Does everyone in your family work insports?”

“Nope. We’re not like the Daniels. Jack was always into hockey. He played in the NHL for two seasons before he transitioned into coaching. I don’t know that I’d be where I am todaywithouthim.”

I tried tempting her with menu options but she waved them off. “Andeveryoneelse?”

“Not insports.”

“Are youbeingcoy?”

“No.” I really wasn’t. “I just have a lot of siblings. I didn’t want you to fall asleep while I namedthemall.”

She laughed. “I don’t even know their names. That seems like something Ishouldknow.”

She had a very good point. “Well, Jack’s the oldest and I’m second in line. Then there’s Ana and Elena. Ana is a nurse and Elena is a physician’s assistant. Then there’s the brat pack, Roberto andNacho.”

“Nacho?”

Some nicknames stuck harder than others. “Short for Ignacio. They’re a year apart just like me and Jack. They’re just as close as we are, too. They both went into banking. After Nacho is Jane, she’s actually our free spirit. She’s currently working as an au pair in France but in October she’s joining a friend on a crew as a steward. They’ll be working on a yacht moving from Alaska to Mexico for thewinter.”

“Wow. It seems like you all like to work inpairs.”

She wasn’t wrong. “That brings us toBelle.”

“The writer who doesn’t want to be awriter?”

“Bingo. She thinks she wants to go into financial planning like Rob and Nacho, but, if we’re following this pairing theory, she really belongs in the free spirit category.” I swear even the universesawthis.

“I like your logic, even if it isflawed.”

And I liked the way Zoe smiled. “Just talk to her. I respect your opinion.” If after today she said Belle wasn’t cut out for writing I’d let it go, support my sister in her plans. But if Zoe said there was something—and I swear there was—then I wasn’t going to stop nudging her to atleasttry.

She didn’t have to travel the world with a backpack and notebook like Jane, but she could go to a writing conference or join a writing group, couldn’t she? Baby steps were stillsteps.

“You ready tomeether?”

She looked around the room. “How many of your siblingsarehere?”

“Just Jack and Belle. She came up with Jack for the game. Everyone else was too busy for ascrimmagegame.”

She leaned closer. “Then who are all thesepeople?”

---