Page 3 of Every Time We Touch

“A privilege,” Austin, the youngest, says.

“Can’t argue with that.” Eric’s smile says it all.

How he speaks about his children was also a massive draw. He talks about them with the kind of joy that comes from being a present, involved dad—which says a lot about a man and his priorities.

“I used to dance competitively, but now I mostly teach,” I say.

“I’d love to take one of your classes,” Austin’s boyfriend says.

“So would I,” one sister’s husband says, earning him more than one look of disapproval.

“I can put together a group session for the St Jameses,” I joke.

This actually merits a smile from Jennifer. At last.

“I was trying to imagine all of us in a dance class together,” Jennifer says. “We’re tight as a family, but that’s a couple of steps too far.” She catches my glance for a split second—she has the most beautiful blue eyes—before the family all start talking over each other again, trying to decide which dance would suit who most.

Juan decides on a rumba for himself. Heather and Lauren are partial to learning how to waltz properly with their husbands. Nora is convinced she can pull off a quickstep, pointing at herself as she says it.

“I’ve had a personal trainer since High Life,” she says. “Marcy used to be in the military.”

Mimi leans back and runs her hand over the back of Nora’s head, her eyes full of something—maybe pride, maybe love, maybe both—and seeing the two of them together like that is such a sweet moment.

For Eric to sit at this table with his ex-wife like this is not a given. My parents are divorced and they haven’t spoken to each other for ten years, maybe longer. This family has a lot of love between them and wants the best for each other, despite the parents not staying together. Whether they will accept me as the best for their father remains to be seen, but my first meeting with them has been positive.

“What about you?” I ask Jennifer, now that she seems to have warmed up to me a little.

“What do you think?” she says. “You’re the expert.”

I look her in the eye—as a former competitive dancer, it’s second nature—and smile. She’s not LA-beautiful, in the sense that there’s nothing fake about her. She’s more depth than flash. She’s the most guarded of the siblings—the most challenging to crack.

“You’re definitely a tango girl,” I say. Maybe she even has a super-sultry Argentine tango in her, but this room full of family members is not the place to say that out loud.

Heather slaps her sister on the arm. “I swear to god, only last week Jen was saying she was ready for a new challenge, like learning how to tango.” Heather beams me a wide smile. “Those were her literal, actual words.”

“I know a pretty good dance school,” I say to the both of them.

Jennifer shoots me a look that says she’d rather cut off a toe than have me teach her how to tango—there’s definitely a lot more work to do in the winning-over department when it comes to her.

“I’ll be there tomorrow,” Juan says. “I’m ready to rumba.”

The moment passes and the conversation meanders to another subject but, as brunch comes to an end, and Eric and I say our goodbyes, I reckon I got the majority of the St Jameses to like me. As I live and breathe, because I’m also that kind of girl, I swear I’ll get Jennifer to do much more than merely tolerate me.

Chapter 3

Jen

“She was all right,” I say to Marcy who, in good lesbian tradition, has become one of my best friends after we broke up. “Very fit. You’d like her.”

“Dancers are some of the fittest people around,” she says in that very Marcy way she has—understated but still full of conviction. “It asks a lot of the body.”

“I just…” I shake my head. “I find it hard to accept that she was born in the same year as Heather and I. That we could have gone to school together.” I huff out some air. “I never thought my dad was like that.”

“He’s licking his wounds after Abby.” Marcy has a naturally severe face, but when she gives you a genuine smile, there’s a surprising softness to it—it’s one of the reasons I fell in love with her a few years ago. “There’s a good chance it won’t last.”

“Then why bring her over to meet us?”

“Because your dad doesn’t know that yet. He’s smitten and his life, that was in ruins after Abby, suddenly looks wonderful again because of this woman. Maybe he just wanted to show you and your siblings that he’s doing well again.” She winks at me. “Nora said she was hella hot, by the way.”