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“I’m sorry, too,” her sister whispered. She linked her arm with Jess’s. “I’m ready to make up for lost time, are you?”
“Desperately.”
“Then let’s do this.”
“For Piglet.”
Dakota snorted.
“We should have made the baby shower pig themed, a missed opportunity really,” Jess teased as they made their way to the kitchen. “Should I buy pig sheets for the crib?”
“I missed you too, Jess.”
They stepped into the kitchen to the sight of Kevin and her father picking up slices of the focaccia, ready to devour. They both froze before taking a bite.
Jess frowned. “That’s supposed to go with dinner.”
“But can’t it be an appetizer?” Kevin whined. “Logan is about to have his whole life changed!”
Jess eyed her father, watching the smile she’d missed for five years curl into his left cheek, new wrinkles crinkled at the corners of his eyes that she never experienced before. So much lost time.
And Jess was finally, finally ready to make up for it.
“Yeah okay, appetizer is fine.”
They both took greedy bites. Her father groaned at the taste, shoveling another bite into his mouth.
“See! I told you!” Kevin cheered, his mouth also half full.
Dad swallowed and nodded fervently as he placed his slice down on a napkin, then patted Kevin’s back. “I think a lot of my life is going to change today, my boy.”
Jess shifted from foot to foot, unable to think of any kind of response to that. Her mother slid open the glass back door, the smell of buttery clams and potatoes and corn wafting into the kitchen as Jasper poked at the foil packs on the grill. “Dinner’s rea— Logan! What are you eating?”
Dad frowned as everyone else laughed. “Jessie brought her focaccia! I’ve been dying to try it.”
“Would you like a slice, Mrs. Valerie?” Kevin asked politely, lifting the serrated knife to cut her a piece.
“Thank you but no, I will be waiting for dinner. A concept my husband doesn’t seem to understand.”
Kevin and her father scoffed, then looked at each other and laughed.
“Oh god,” Jess whispered to her sister. “Did I start dating…Dad??”
Dakota squealed. “You guys are officially dating?”
“Yeah,” she admitted, twisting her mouth to contain her own grin. “Do you think it’s too soon? You know…after everything?”
Her sister shook her head, then looked at her intensely, her brows knitted together. “Do you love him?”
She nodded. “Yes. Very much.”
“Good,” Dakota replied. “Because the way that boy looks at you…sometimes I think that gaze will melt everything in the room.”
Jess peeked up at Kevin, and sure enough, he was looking at her with those bright hazel eyes, lingering on her lips. She blushed, then stuck out her tongue, which had him laughing as they were shepherded out to the porch.
“Am I allowed to know how the shop is doing now?” her father asked.
Kevin slipped a hand around her neck and rubbed a thumb down her nape. She turned to face his reassuring smile. He was already aware of the conversation she had with her father weeks prior. When Dakota texted her days before and invited her to dinner, Kevin encouraged her to say yes. Then declared he was going with her.
