He tells me more about his family, his wife Cassie, his twin daughters Felise and Magan, the family business he’s worked in his whole life, along with his two brothers. “My dad… your grandfather… started the company, and he still likes to think he runs things.” His smile turns wry. “We make sure he’s still involved in some decisions.”
“That’s good.”
I’ve long finished my scone and iced coffee, and over an hour has passed by the time I think to look at my phone.
“Would you like to meet the rest of the family?” Joe asks.
I lift my head up and down in slow assent. “If they’d like to meet me.”
“They’ve already said they do. Let’s arrange a time for you to come for dinner. Saturday?”
“I can do that.”
He gives me his address. We already have each other’s phone numbers. We stand and leave the coffee shop. On the sunny sidewalk, he faces me. “I’m so glad to have this chance to meet you and get to know you,” he says quietly.
I suck in a shaky breath. “Me too.”
He leans down to give me a quick kiss on the cheek. “See you Saturday.”
We head in opposite directions, my car parked around the corner. My head is buzzing, and I start to walk through a red light I’m so distracted.
This is amazing. That guy is my father. He doesn’t look like an axe murderer or a rapist. He seems kind, with an impression of strength, security, and wisdom. I still don’t know exactly what happened between him and my mom, but the fact that she never fell in love with anyone else leads me to believe she loved Joe a lot. He talked about her as if he loved her too. Why didn’t things work out with them? It sounds like they were young. I may never know. But at least I’ve found my family.
TRACE
It’s Friday night, and my buddies are going to the Hearty Cow Bottles & Bites to watch the Cubs play in Pittsburgh. I walk into the bar, and a wall of noise smacks me in the chest. The place is packed, baseball on every TV. I spot Garrett in the middle of the bar and head toward him. Also here are Lincoln, Miles, and Wes.
We all greet each other with bro shakes and back slaps, and I take the empty stool at the high-top table. They’ve already ordered beers and nachos. Garrett signals a waitress, and she speeds over with a big smile.
“I’ll have a Blond Witch.” It’s sort of a joke with my friends, but it’s a nice, light ale.
She nods and looks around. “Anyone else need another?”
They’re all good, so she zips away.
I’ve known these guys since we attended the Academy, so since we were sixteen.
“How come you’re late?” Garrett asks.
“I’m not that late.” I help myself to a nacho piled with beef and cheese. “I had to go home and let Cheddar out.” Cheddar’s my dog, and it’s true. What I don’t say is that I also got lost in an old grimoire with some interesting resurrection spells I’ve never seen before.
Garrett shoots me a skeptical glance.
“Business good?” Lincoln asks, forestalling any questions from Garrett.
“Yeah. Great.” I chomp down the nacho.
“I don’t know how you work for family,” Lincoln says. “If I had to work with my dad, one of us would kill the other the first day.”
“Joe’s not my dad,” I remind him.
He rolls his eyes. “Might as well be.”
I shrug. “Sometimes it’s frustrating. Like, when I want to make changes and he doesn’t. If he was really my dad, I’d fight it out. But most of the time he lets me run the reno side of the business without interfering, so that’s good.”
“Yeah, it’s good if you can make your own decisions,” Garrett says.
“I’ve learned a lot from him,” I add. “Stuff they don’t teach you in college. And I like doing renovations. Selling real estate would definitely not be my thing.”
“I could sell real estate,” Miles muses.
We all scoff. Except, he probably could. Miles is so smart he could do anything. He works as a master marijuana extractor. It sounds like a joke, but he’s a highly skilled scientist. We call him a mad scientist even though he looks more like a football player.
“How was your date the other night?” Garrett asks.
Oh yeah. I swallow. “I should be so pissed at you.”