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“I was right at that first game,” Avery said. “You’re totally a softie.”

Jo let out a chuckle. “Look, I don’t like that many people, but your family seems to be the exception. So shut up and take my money.”

Avery smirked at her. “You basically offered me a hundred thousand dollars a year, just because you’re nice.”

“I’m no such thing and I won’t stand for this slander.”

Avery laughed outright, and Jo grinned. She didn’t think about how it helped, the ice queen persona. That people tried to hurt you less if they didn’t think you had feelings. That the only way to get anything done as a woman in Hollywood was to have everyone assume you took no shit. And even with that reputation, people still thought she was too soft to write Agent Silver.

“I’ll leave you to your work,” Jo said. “My accountant will call later to set up a time you can sit down and figure things out while you’re not simultaneously making food.”

8

EMMA

Emma loved it when Avery invited herself over for dinner, because Avery inviting herself over for dinner meant Avery making or buying dinner, and cleaning up, too. She did it when she needed a break from her family or she had to girl-talk something out or she just hadn’t seen her sister recently. Whatever the reason, Emma was always happy to oblige.

When Avery said she was coming over with homemade lasagna to throw in the oven, Emma didn’t think anything of it. It was a little unusual for Avery to come over on a Friday night, but nothing seemed suspicious. Emma spun on one of her kitchen stools and told her sister about her day.

“Jo says I should consider being a script doctor,” Emma said, rolling her eyes. “But I don’t even actually do any of the writing, I’m just good at helping her figure out what she needs to do.”

“Cool,” Avery said. Her voice was flat.

Emma stopped spinning on her stool. “What?”

“Nothing,” Avery said. “What?”

“Why are you being weird?”

“I’m not being weird!” Avery sounded way too panicked for someone who supposedly wasn’t being weird.

Emma narrowed her eyes. “What’s going on?”

Avery sighed heavily. She leaned on her elbows on the kitchen island across from Emma’s stool.

“I don’t know how to explain this to you,” she said.

“Okay, you know you’re going to have to explain it immediately now because otherwise I’m going to freak out about all the bad things it could be,” Emma said. “Do you have cancer? Did Dani and Ezra read Harry Potter and decide Hufflepuff was a bad house? Are the dogs okay?”

“I’m going to pretend I’m not offended that you made me having cancer sound like the least bad of those situations,” Avery said. “But no. None of that. It’s... what it is, is...”

Emma’s chest tightened with worry. “Ave.”

“Jo’s nephew is on Ezra and Dani’s baseball team.”

Emma blinked. That didn’t seem that bad. “Okay?”

Avery flailed her hands a little like Emma wasn’t understanding. Emma flailed back at her.

“Jo’s nephew is on Ezra and Dani’s baseball team and I’ve been sitting next to her at every game.”

“Wait, what?”

Avery moved from leaning on her elbows to a more upright position, leaning on her hands instead.

“I haven’t told you because I was trying to get you to come to a game,” she said. “I thought it’d be funny to see your face when you saw Jo. I know I let it go on for too long.”

Emma pointed her toes toward the ground, then switched and flexed them toward the ceiling. It didn’t help the squirmy feeling in her body.