Free Unavoidable Chance by Annalisa Nicole Page B

make scrambled eggs, I try to think of something I can get for Ava. We really just met and I can’t go all out, but I want her to know I’m thinking about her and that last night wasn’t just a one-time thing to me. Her sunshine scent brings a smile to my face and then it hits me. My flower delivery guy always has amazing flowers for the restaurant centerpieces. I’ll ask him what he has that’s yellow. She’ll love that, I’m sure.
    “I’m still not talking to you. But seriously, you’re making your kids breakfast and by the look on your face, which looks similar to the one last night, you should be ashamed of yourself,” Quinn says, opening the cupboard getting out her favorite coffee cup.
    “Seriously, what crawled up your ass?” I ask.
    “Ooh, Daddy, you said ass,” Sky chastises in a singsong voice, as she walks into the kitchen and takes her seat at the bar top.
    “Sky, don’t say ass,” I tell her, looking at her with my serious face.
    “I was just repeating what you said, Daddy,” she says innocently.
    “You still don’t repeat it, got it?”
    The toast in the toaster pops up, breaking the tension between me and my sister. I take some eggs out for Sky and put them on a plate, then sprinkle on some cheddar cheese. I already have black beans in the bottom of three bowls; I divide the rest of the scrambled eggs and place them on top of the beans, and then top each with sliced avocado and a dollop of salsa.  A pinch of salt and pepper, and there you have the perfect black bean breakfast bowl. I butter the toast and give Sky her plain breakfast, then place Quinn’s in front of her with a little more force than necessary, and a stern knock the fucking attitude off look. Hope already has her fork in her hand eagerly waiting for her bowl. I place hers in front of her and give her a smile. I stand on the other side of the bar and quickly eat mine.
    I put my bowl in the sink and kiss the girls on the head. Quinn rolls her eyes at me as I grab my keys and walk into the garage.
    At the restaurant, I tie up all the loose ends from last night as I hear the flower guy come in through the back door. I head out of my office with a smile and meet him in the kitchen as he’s placing the flowers in the walk-in refrigerator.
    “Morning, John. Do you have something that’s yellow that I can give to someone really special?” He looks up from his delivery with a huge smile on his face. He’s been with me from day one, and he knows all about my wife and pretty much everything there is to know about me. I see him almost on a daily, and he’s the type of guy you just feel comfortable talking to.
    “What kind of special person?” he questions with one eye squinting.
    I can’t help the smile on my face as I think about Ava. “Not just special, someone real special,” I reply.
    “It needs to be yellow?” he asks.
    “No, not needs, it has to be yellow,” I reply.
    Now he has a smile on his face. His smile turns into a look that says, I know the perfect thing , and then he says, “I know the perfect thing. I just got in a shipment of Cymbidium Orchids. They’re yellow with a deep pink lip,” he starts to say.
    Ava and her perfectly formed, soft, pink lips drift through my brain, and I think of those perfect pink lips wrapping around something else as John continues to talk.
    “The Cymbidium Orchid, or yellow orchids in general, means new beginnings. Does that sound about right?” he asks.
    “That sounds perfect!” I turn around and write a note on a piece of paper, and hand it to John along with her work address. “Do you think you can have it delivered today?”
    “For you, I can make that happen,” he says with a smile. He finishes unloading the delivery, pats the piece of paper in his front pocket, points at me with another smile, then leaves.
     

Chapter 6
     
    Ava
     
    Armed with my complicated coffee, my briefcase, and my trashcan, I exit the elevator and hope no one sees me carrying a freaking