Page 2 of Love Like Ours

Chapter One

Sophia rushed down the busy sidewalk. The snow was falling in thick fat flakes, blurring her vision even more than the tears. The salty drops were almost freezing as they rolled down her cheeks.

The luggage she was pulling behind her held most of her belongings. The rest she’d arranged to have shipped later.

Her mother was gone.

How? Why?

Her brother’s call had sent her down a deep emotional spiral. It had taken less than a minute for the realization that her mother was really gone to sink in. She’d cried so much during her brother’s phone call, it had been hard to hear all the details.

She’d thrown most of her things into her suitcases and had headed to the airport, cursing all the miles and hours between her and her family and her decision to move to New York, all the way on the other side of the country.

Lucas had promised her that Avery was arranging for her flight home. She knew that he and Avery were busy with the restaurant and expecting their first child. They had tried IVF for a few years but never conceived. When they decided to stop trying to have children biologically and had started looking into adoption, Avery had surprisingly gotten pregnant.

With their mother gone, she knew that they might need her there more than ever. Her mother had been managing the restaurant while Avery and Lucas prepared for the birth.

Nothing would be the same without her mom. She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and took a deep breath as she raised her face to allow snowflakes to mix with her tears.

Mom.

The pain in her chest almost caused her to double over.

How was she going to live without her? She had been her rock. Everything Sophia had ever dreamed of being. She’d been so strong. Healthy.

Why was she gone?

Lucas had told her the doctors believed it was a brain aneurysm. They would know more after they examined her.

She was really gone.

How was she supposed to go on alone?

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, shaking her mind from its downward spiral.

“Your flight leaves in two hours,” Avery said when she answered the call. “Are you at the airport yet?”

“I’m on my way inside now.” She picked up her pace. She’d been dropped off at the wrong end of the building and had to push her way through the flood of people leaving the baggage area.

She made her way through the doors and stepped into the hot, crowded building.

“I’ve sent your flight information to your phone. I was able to purchase your ticket under a bereavement condition so you can use the fast pass through security,” Avery said. “Lucas will be there to pick you up in Portland.”

“Okay,” Sophia said, shifting her carry-on bag as she scanned her ID at the kiosk to print out her ticket. “I’ve got my ticket. I’m heading to check my bags and then go through security.” She rushed to get in the next line. “Avery?”

“Yeah?”

“Tell me how.” She felt her eyes burn. “Lucas just said that he found her. That Doctor Stevens thinks it was a brain aneurysm.”

“Oh, honey, it was peaceful. She was asleep. When she didn’t show up for work, or answer our calls, Lucas drove over there. I swear to you, it was peaceful.”

She nodded and set her two larger bags on the scales, then handed her ticket and ID to the agent. The woman quickly checked her bags and handed her the claim tickets.

She could see the long line for security but headed to the pre-check line, where she was surprisingly the only person there. The security guard took one look at her ticket and ID and waved her through.

She set her carry-on and her phone on the conveyor belt. Avery stayed on the line while she walked through security.

“You still there?” she asked, tossing her bag over her shoulder.