“You have no idea how accurate you are,” I say. “Once you meet him that reference will make even more sense.”
She does another slow turn around the space, her eyes moving from the windows to the kitchen to the bathroom door.
“So what brought you to Dark River anyway?” I ask. “Not a lot of people move here on purpose.”
“I grew up in Seattle and wanted somewhere smaller, honestly. When I saw the job listing I pretty much jumped on it immediately.” She moves back toward the center of the room. “I got here a few days before the school year started, so it was all a whirlwind, but I’ve loved pretty much every second of it.”
“Do you miss Seattle at all?” Some part of me realizes I’m hoping she’ll say no. I don’t want to examine why.
She tilts her head, considering. “I miss some of my friends and my sister Sophie. But honestly I’m glad to have moved away. Growing up watching shows like Gilmore Girls gave me small-town fantasies. It’s no Stars Hollow, but Dark River is a pretty damn close PNW version.”
I laugh. “Mr. Castellano is eccentric enough that he might count as your Kirk.”
“Wait, you’ve seen the show?” She raises her eyebrows, looking pleasantly surprised.
“My mom had it on in the background a lot, so I’ve seen quite a bit of it.” I push off the counter, trying to ignore the small thrill I get from making her smile.
“Well, living in a town like that has always been my dream,” she says. “I went to school on the east coast and loved it, but the Pacific Northwest is home. When I saw the Dark River job posting it felt like the perfect excuse to get out of Seattle. My family is a bit cutthroat and I wanted a fresh start.”
“How many siblings do you have?”
“Four sisters. I think my dad kept hoping for a boy but eventually gave up.” She laughs. “What about you?”
“Opposites then. I have four brothers, and three of them live here in Dark River.”
“You’re kidding.” Her eyes widen. “Five boys? Your poor mother.”
I grin. “Shockingly shechosethat. We’re all adopted, though I think it went in order of difficulty. My oldest brother Dominic was probably the easiest, second oldest Calvin was pretty easy too. Then as it went down we got crazier. I was pretty well behaved, but my youngest brothers Jack and Alex used to do things like set fires and jump off the roof. There were times when I think she and my dad wondered what they’d gotten themselves into.”
She laughs. “Yeah, my youngest sister Sophie and I were terrors as kids. We once convinced our older sisters we’d seen a ghost in the attic and they refused to go up there for two years. My parents were not amused when they found out we’d been making spooky noises with the baby monitor.”
“That’s brilliant,” I say. “I can only imagine what kind of trouble Chloe would get into if she had a sibling.”
“Does she ever wish she had one?” Emma asks, then her eyeswiden. “Oh, sorry, that’s so inappropriate for me to ask.” Her hand flies up like she’s trying to physically take back the words.
“No, no, you’re fine,” I say, waving off her concern. “She asks me about it sometimes, actually. Usually when one of her friends talks about their siblings, she starts campaigning for someone to boss around.”
Emma relaxes slightly but still looks a bit embarrassed. “I can see that. Siblings are great, though I was a monster to my sister Sophie when we were growing up. Thankfully we’re best friends now, but man I was terrible. Made her do all my chores, blamed her for things I broke.”
I laugh. “Nothing like sibling rivalry to build character.”
“Exactly. Sounds like we both had enough siblings to give us plenty of that.” She moves closer, into the kitchen, running her hand along the counter. “So how long have you owned this place?”
“A little over ten years now. Fresh out of college and convinced I was making a smart investment.”
“And was it?” she asks, glancing up at me.
“Eventually,” I say. “My ex-wife and I lived here while we got the restaurant off the ground. It was cramped and we were working insane hours, but it worked at the time. Once we could afford something bigger, I turned it into a rental. Now the rent goes toward Chloe’s college fund. Assuming she doesn’t end up becoming a Formula 1 racer like she keeps threatening.”
Emma’s face lights up. “Yeah, I’ve noticed that ambition. She told me her uncle is a Formula 1 driver and that she’s going to be the first woman world champion. Then retire early to help save the ocean.”
“That’s my kid.” I can’t help but smile. “I’m grateful every day she’s so passionate about things, though her complete lack of fear scares the hell out of me sometimes.”
“That’s what makes her so special though. She hasn’t learned to be scared yet. She just goes after what she wants.”
“Yeah,” I say, “though she’s also going to give me a heartattack with how precocious she is. Last month she tried to befriend a raccoon by leaving a trail of prosciutto from the garden to our porch. I woke up to three raccoons in lawn chairs like they owned the place.”
Emma laughs, and a snort escapes. Her hand flies to her mouth, eyes going wide. “Oh my god. I sound like a honking duck.”
