My bottom lip quivers as I slide it back to her. “I don’t want it. She doesn’t deserve my forgiveness. That woman has no place in my life anymore.”
“I understand. Just take it, ok? You don’t have to read it, but you might change your mind someday. Maybe when you have children of your own.”
“You have a daughter.”
I’m an aunt.
Her expression softens in that motherly way I’ve witnessed from both Evie and Olivia. “I do. She’s fourteen now.”
“Please tell me you didn’t name her after one of the muses.”
Our biological father was very into Greek mythology, and our mother was so in love with him that she let him choose our names. At least, that’s what I was told.
“God no. Can you imagine?” She gets a far-off look in her eyes. “Her name is Alexandra. After you.”
My eyes burn with fresh tears. “Clio.”
She reaches across the table and squeezes my hand. “I thought of you every single day. I tried to find you once, but Rodney saw me. He said if I ever tried again, he’d kill me. After our mom died, I hired a PI to find you.”
“So, running into you wasn’t a coincidence?”
She toys with the end of her braid. “No. At first, I only had an old address in Oak Ridge, but it burned down, so we kept digging. When I saw your picture on the Willow Valley Library website, I knew I’d found you. It’s just like my baby sister to follow the books.”
I prop my face on my chin and quirk a brow at her. “What was the plan? Ambush me at work?”
She grimaces. “Kind of.”
“It’s not the worst plan I’ve ever heard,” Jaxon says, wrapping his arm around my waist. “Worked out well for me.”
I elbow him in the ribs, and he lets out a pained grunt.
Clio laughs. The startling sound sends me back in time to another life, before all of the heartache and pain. When our days were filled with laughter and light, happily ever afters, and forehead kisses before bedtime.
“How long have you two been together?” she asks.
“Three years,” Jaxon says.
At the same time, I say, “Five months.”
“You were mine a long fucking time ago, Calliope,” he says gruffly. “You just didn’t know it yet.”
Clio glances between us with a curious expression. “Ok. That’s some stalker shit. Do I need to call the police?”
I can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of me. “It’s a really long story.”
“I’d love to hear it. Do you think we could do this again sometime?”
I nod. “I think I’d like that. Where are you staying?”
“I have a small apartment above a tattoo shop in Willow Valley.”
“Lunar Ink?” Jaxon asks.
“That’s the one. The owner’s kind of a dick, though.”
He chuckles. “He grows on you.”
“I highly doubt it.” Her phone chimes with a text message. She picks it up and reads it. “I have to get going. Can I meet you for coffee later this week? I’d like to introduce you to Lexi.”
