“Dad,” the blonde girl said quietly, her eyes darting to me as she said them, then back to her father—my father. “I’m going to get a coffee. Want anything?”
“I’ll take a water,” he said gently, then pulled out his wallet and handed her a ten-dollar bill. She took it with a small smile, then stood up and walked to the counter.
“That’s Rachel. She’ll be nineteen next month. Right after the new year.”
“She looks exactly like me,” I said, surprised the words had come out of my mouth.
“Well, she looks exactly like me, and so do you.” Then he let out a chuckle and it hit me like a tidal wave; I’d heard that particular laugh for the first seven years of my life and hearing it then, I was sure I would have recognized it anywhere. We could have been in a crowded train and had I heard the laugh from the other side of the car, I would have known it was him. I would have felt it deep within me, like I did then. It was a sound that moved through my body, making all the hairs on my arms stand up. “You’re both much prettier than I am, but you definitely look like me.” He continued speaking like nothing was happening, and perhaps, for him, it wasn’t. But I was definitely having a moment.
“We didn’t realize you were bringing anyone with you,” Riot said. Thank you, Riot.
“Well,” he said, reaching up and scratching his chin. “I wasn’t planning on bringing Rachel. She heard me talking with her mother about our meeting and I couldn’t keep her away.” His eyes moved to me. “She’s always known about you. I have a picture of you in my wallet,” he said, leaning over and reaching into his back pocket, pulling it out. “I’ve always kept it in my wallet and I’ve always shown it to Rachel, telling her about her big sister. She’s always wanted to meet you.” He flipped his wallet open and there I was. Five years old. Kindergarten. Blonde pigtails. That same picture had hung in the hallway of every house I’d ever lived in growing up. Although, the picture in his wallet was faded and worn.
It was then that Rachel sat back down in her seat, an eager smile on her face. She looked curious and excited, and truthfully, a little wary. I couldn’t help but smile at her, glad I wasn’t the only nervous one.
“You’re my sister,” I said softly, testing the words out. I’d never had a sister. I’d dreamt of a sister, asked my mother for a sister nearly every Christmas I could remember until I realized where babies actually came from.
“Yeah,” she said hesitantly. “I’m sorry to ambush your meeting, but, well, I wasn’t sure how successful your meeting with Dad was going to be, and if I only ever got one chance to meet you, I was going to take it. So, I stole the keys to Dad’s car.”
Before I could stop them, my eyebrows were reaching for the ceiling, impressed with her negotiation tactics. “Smart thinking,” I said, still smiling. “You’re almost nineteen? So, are you in college then?”
She nodded, then pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and even Riot grabbed my thigh under the table because it was like looking in the mirror. “I’m a freshman at UCSD.”
“Rachel is majoring in elementary education. She wants to be a schoolteacher.”
“I’m majoring in elementary education with a focus on special education. I want to be a special education teacher in an elementary school,” she said, rolling her eyes, as if she corrected her father about this point often.
“What?” Kevin asked, raising his hands in the air. “That’s what I said.”
Rachel rolled her eyes again and looked at me and I found myself doing the same thing. Then I froze, realizing I was no longer nervous, and that made me nervous all over again.
Rachel gave a little laugh and then I saw her eyes naturally move to Riot, back to me, and then with startling speed, back to Riot. Then her eyes went wide. Really wide. And her mouth gaped open to match.
“You’re Riot Bentley,” she said, completely in awe. My eyebrows drew together and for just one moment I was confused as to how she would know who he was, but then she fangirled all over him and I remembered my boyfriend was kind of famous. “You’re on that new awesome cop show, and you’re dating Lexi Black. I love her.”
My head drew back in surprise at her words.
“I was never dating Lexi. I’ve been with Kalli for a while now. Ever since we worked together on the Lexi Black music video.” His hand squeezed my thigh under the table again, and I loved that he considered himself “with” me, even when we weren’t together.
“Wait,” Rachel said with more excitement, “you worked on the music video too?” Her bright and wide eyes were now on me.
“I’m a costume designer. I did the costumes for that video. That’s how we met.”
“Wait a minute…” She took in a deep breath, and I could have sworn she went a little pale. “My long-lost sister is dating Riot Bentley?”