Page 91 of Sweeter Than Fiction

“You guys should come to New York sometime. I know Donovan would love to show you around.”

She smiles. “That would be nice. I’m sure Kaylee would love to go see where her Uncle D lives.”

“Man, that little girl really loves him, doesn’t she?’

“Oh, yeah. He used to come pick her up all the time and go spend time with her—whether it was just going to get ice cream or spending the entire day at the park. When he moved, it was hard for her. She constantly wondered where he was. It took a lot of diverting her attention to get her through it.”

“He never told me that,” I say.

“I never told him. Donovan holds enough guilt over moving—especially with Mom and Kaylee. I didn’t want to make it worse. I know he moved to further his career and build a better financial future for himself. I don’t want to make him feel bad about his decision.”

We fall silent again before I finally say, “I wanted to thank you.”

Her eyebrows furrow. “For what? I know the coffee isn’t that good.”

“For pushing Don to ask me out. I don’t know what you said to him, but I’m glad you did. I’m so awkward and introverted that I never would have stepped up and actually asked him out. Hell, I probably would have denied my feelings for the rest of our lives for fear of getting rejected. Ever since he took the leap, I’m happier than I’ve ever been. So, thank you…for whatever you said to him.”

“Well, you’re welcome. But I know my brother. He would have eventually gotten his head out of his ass and saw the light. But quite frankly, I was tired of him wasting all of his time with women who meant absolutely nothing to him. I just gave him a friendly nudge.”

Showing a little of my vulnerable side, I ask, “Do you think he will miss his days of sleeping around?”

She shakes her head while swallowing the sip of coffee in her mouth. “Not a chance.”

“Really? I’m worried he will get bored.”

“No matter what his dating life has looked like, Donovan has always been a hopeless romantic. He’s yearned for someone he can come home to and shower with love. A partner and a best friend wrapped into one. I think that he thought he found that with Alicia. He tried to fit a square peg into a round hole. After her, he was in New York and just didn’t want to feel so lonely. And maybe he wouldn’t for a few hours at a time, but every time I’d talk to him, I could tell how miserable he was. He was searching for that connection in all the wrong places.”

“And you don’t think that I was just a convenient option?” I ask.

“Not at all.” She sets her hand on mine to reassure me. “Because that man talked about you like you hung the sun in the sky before you guys ever got involved romantically. I think that speaks volumes.”

Jill’s phone dings on the table. She picks it up. “Speak of the devil. Donovan says, ‘I swear to God, Jill. You better not be doing anything to scare Abby off. You may be older than me, but I’m much bigger.’ See? I think he really likes you.”

As she types out a response, I think about everything she and I have talked about—especially the thing about how Don will go above and beyond to make his woman happy without asking for anything in return. All of that makes perfect sense. Don does everything he can just to make me smile.

But I don’t want to be like Alicia. I don’t want to have a one-sided relationship where I never take into account how he feels. I don’t want it to be him constantly making me happy and me never doing the same for him. I want to make him just as deliriously happy as he makes me.

But what do I do for the most easy-going guy in the world? What sort of grand gesture do I do for him?

When Jill puts her phone back down, I say, “Hey, Jill, do you think you could help me out with something?”

When we get back to Denise’s, Don greets us at the door with Kaylee riding around on his shoulders.

“Jill,” he pointedly greets his sister. “You and I are going to have a talk later.”

As she glides by him, she turns her head, “Whatever you say, baby brother.”

Then, he turns his attention to me. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” I smile at him. “Your sister is great.”

“Good God, she’s drugged you, hasn’t she?”

“I can assure you that I am in my right mind.”

Kaylee tugs Don’s ears so hard that his eyes cross. “Giddy up!” She cries. “Horses don’t stop to talk.”

I smack him on the butt, “Get along, little doggie.”

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