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words
floated around in her head. Anything meant
to be will be. This was one of those times
she needed to have faith, and trust this situation would work
itself out. In the meantime, she had to get ready for her visitors.
Her sister Peyton and their cousins, Toni, Jada, and Martina were
expected in fifteen minutes to help unpack.
    Christina jumped at the sound of her
door buzzer. Hurrying to the wall near the entrance, which held a
monitor and an intercom, she saw her cousins standing in front of
the camera. She grinned when Martina Jenkins, a.k.a. MJ stuck her
tongue out at the camera. A carpenter by trade, that girl was the
silliest of them all as well as the one person who drove the entire
family nuts most days, but loyal to a fault.
    Christina swung the door open just as
MJ started to knock. “Hey, you guys.”
    “ All I want to know is
what’s up with that piece of crap you call an elevator?” MJ asked
the moment she stepped across the threshold. “That thing is an
accident waiting to happen.” The dilapidated freight elevator was
Christina’s favorite part of the converted warehouse, giving the
modern space a little rustic vibe. It serviced her unit only, which
happened to be on the top floor.
    “ At least it had automatic
doors and we didn’t have to lift them.” Toni Jenkins-Logan kissed
Christina on the cheek and walked in. “What’s up Cuz?”
    “ Not much, but couldn’t you
have left MJ wherever you found her?” Christina asked.
    “ Nope. She was
driving.”
    “ Hey, Sis.” Peyton Jenkins
stepped in with her hands full. She handed Christina a potted
sunflower and carried the additional bags into the loft.
    “ Ahh, thanks,
PJ!”
    Before Christina could admire the
plant in her hands, Jada “JJ” Jenkins-Anderson stepped into the
doorway. Christina shook her head and grinned. Despite JJ’s
frustrated pout and her hands on her hips, she looked as stylish as
usual in a white halter dress and matching four-inch sandals. Only
she would show up at a box-unpacking-party looking like she just
walked off of the cover of Vogue magazine.
    “ Remind me never to ride
with them again,” she said hugging Christina.
    A month of not hanging out and seeing
Jada was way too long. They had lived together for years, sharing
tubs of ice cream on bad days, and whispering about their deep,
dark secrets on other days. Christina couldn’t be happier for her
cousin and her new life with Zack, but she missed their girl
talks.
    “ MJ must have been a NASCAR
driver in another life,” Jada said. “She drives like a dang
maniac.” Christina laughed, knowing that MJ broke every speed limit
to get them there, which was why Christina never rode anywhere with
her.
    Christina closed the door and carried
her new plant over to a rod-iron plant stand that stood near one of
the floor to ceiling windows.
    “ I assume you know the
plant is from mom. She said sunflowers are your
favorite.”
    “ They are.”
    Peyton frowned. “You two have to be
the strangest women I know. Most people love roses or tulips, but
no you guys have to be different. Oh, and she said that she’ll stop
by tomorrow. She has her aerial yoga class tonight or was it her
nude yoga class?” She threw her arms out, letting them fall against
the side of her thighs. “I don’t know. I can’t keep up with all of
her different activities. I don’t know how dad puts up with
her.”
    Christina smiled and rearranged some
of the plants. “Dad once told me that he fell in love with mom
because of her style, uniqueness, and her inner freak. It turns him
on the way she licks—”
    “ Stop! Yuck.” Peyton
covered her ears and shivered. “A visual suddenly popped into my
head, and not one I want associated with my mother. I can’t even
believe he told you that.”
    Christina laughed at her sister’s
reaction. “Well, I was going to say a Popsicle. What were you
thinking?”
    “ Oh. Um … never
mind.”
    Their mother might not have been born
until after the