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She wiped her hands on the apron “Great minds think alike”

Stea the air around Sylvie with the ano and to and settled on opposite sides of her tiny table to enjoy the fruits of their shared labor She sneaked a peek at Tony twirling the long strands of spaghetti around his fork Ignoring her earlier advice, her girls sat up and took ardent notice of the way he sucked the thin noodles into his mouth

The sunset’s last soft athat overlooked Harbor City’s crowded skyline How often had she gazed out at that scene froned to the fact that people only wanted to adopt the youngest or the cutest? Too often More depressing still, her existence had severely limited any interest potential parents had in her baby sister, Anya

The first time Henry and Anton had shown up at the adoption day event, they’d spent an hour chatting with Anya Sylvie had stayed off to the side, not wanting to kill her sister’s opportunity for a fas tight, but she’d loved her sister too s and corn on the cob had barely been served when the two ht out the adoption counselor

She’d known the instant the counselor had told theined the counselor saying, it was an older sister who had a learning disability and a te and the bite of hotdog in her mouth lost all flavor Sylvie had wanted to screaain, and having to see the tears in Anya’s eyes Instead, the strangest thing had happened Henry had save her a little wave froesture had shattered the boulders chained to her shoulders, and for the first ti disappoint different

Hope

“I proravy” Tony’s deep rumble popped her bittersweet memory balloon

She took a deep breath, regaining her footing in the here and now “I hope not That would uard”

He flinched, a gri his lips for a second before the expression slid away, replaced by a mask so studiously neutral she wondered what could possibly be lurking behind it

Her cheeks burned “Sorry, bad joke”

He gave her a curt nod and went back to eating

Searching for sohetti dripping in sauce The oregano, garlic, and toue like a present froood”

“You should try ravy Puts this to shame”

She swirled her finger through a red dollop on the plate’s edge and sucked it clean, closing her eyes to fully appreciate the savory goodness “If it’s better than this, your Nonni should open a restaurant”

“She says it’s only good when you make it for someone you care about”