Page 43 of Inevitably Yours

SeeingAugusta reach for him was like glimpsing Heaven. He never would’ve expected it in a million years. He also never realized how much he craved it, needed it. The unschooled look on her face the moment she saw him was pure joy at his presence. John couldn’t remember if anyone had ever gifted him that look before.

It lasted just a second or two, but it would linger in his heart for an eternity. It said so much, two hazel eyes twinkling with love and pride and emotions he couldn’t begin to examine. He did know each one was precious and important.

He sat silently in the waiting room. He was grateful that all his brothers and pseudo-father brought the ambient noise to a dull roar. The television was on ESPN, so the voices of the sports announcers helped, too. “Thank the Lord for sound-proofing,” he mumbled to himself.

The squeal of Augusta’s pain earlier damn near broke him. But before he had the chance to turn into an emotional wreck, he was ushered from the room, along with the other men, and the door was closed.

There was a bit of guilt for not being in there, but their relationship, the intimate part, anyway, had just begun. He couldn’t expect to be invited, nor did he think he wanted to be. However, sitting here and not being able to help was hard, too.

For a moment, he thought about being in the hall while Deborah gave birth to a child she had just hours before informed him wasn’t his. But he shook it off. He refused to let the past rule him any longer. Augusta was not his ex, the baby was never his, but would be in his life, and when Augusta left the hospital, they would be together. So absolutely nothing was the same as before.

The men had already made him tell his tale three times, and he was sick of talking about his bad landing. They teased a little but mostly were just happy he was okay and here.

“You all right, son? And I don’t mean your scrape up with the plane,” Frank startled him by asking. John was so deep in thought, he hadn’t realized Frank had taken the seat next to him until he spoke.

Frank had a flattering way of looking at it. Scrape up, my ass. “Yeah. Just a lot of in my own head stuff to sort through.”

“Yep. I can understand that. I saw the look you and our Gus shared.” Frank looked around conspiratorially. “Don’t mention it to the Missus, but I owe her another dang bag and matching shoes. I need to learn to stop taking her blasted fool’s bets.”

John knew about the rest of the family and their betting pools, but to his knowledge, Frank and Francis didn’t get involved in those. Sure, they knew, but he didn’t think they put money down. Did that mean they were in on the pool for when he and Augusta would get together?

“Hey Walker, I hear y’all been betting on my love life?” John tried to sound angry, but he couldn’t quite muster it.

“As if you have to ask? Wait, that…in there…you already fucked her? Woohoo, I think I had this week.”

Frank chided his son. “Don’t be vulgar, son, that’s your family you’re talking about, and you’ll never be too old for me to whoop you.” Walker looked properly browbeaten and lowered his head.

Until Michael pulled up something on his phone. “Damn it, look at that Dubya, you pulled a double. You had this week for her to pop out the rugrat, too. Drinks are on you for the next month.”

Frank just shook his head. If he wasn’t talking about that pool, what was he talking about? “If Walker won the pool, why do you have to buy Francis anything?”

“If you have to ask, you haven’t been paying attention. Walker and Erika happened before you came along, but Francis bet me they’d be together.”

At John’s unimpressed look, Frank continued, “Did I mention that was when Tori first brought her to a picnic? Years before they even knew they’d be together.”

Now, that was impressive, but not shocking.

“Anyway,” Frank was starting to gossip like a church lady. John felt that just this once, Frank was talking more for his own benefit than that of someone else. He was nervous about the birth too, he just covered it well. Frank had done so much for all of them, he would be damned if he’d deny him the distraction. So, John leaned in with interest.

“She bet me that day, yep, that very day. Oh, and did I mention that it was my Francis who encouraged Tori to run off to Tennessee with that no-good piece of offal she was dating? No one could see her genius, not even me.”

Frank stopped talking for a moment and turned his head toward the door as if he could hear something. But no sounds were coming. Maybe it was wishful thinking.

“Yep, it was her. I asked her what in the name of Sam Hill she was thinking. Send her off with that…anyway, you know what she told me? She said she just had a gut feeling that Torionna needed to be there. Well,” Frank turned his affectionate gaze toward his son-in-law, “you know where that led.”

An aged hand rested on his, and he looked up into Frank’s eyes—really looked at him for the first time and realized that while everyone thought this family was stitched together through Francis, Frank seemed to need it as much as she did. And everyone thinks you indulge her.

“Then there’s you and your sister. It was my little lady that finally cleared the path for that big man over there to cherish your sister the way she deserves. And that brings us to you.” Frank patted his hand. “You, you were tougher. She laid awake at night worrying over you.”

That little nugget of information shook John to his core. After his parents died, he had always been the worrier. This was a new position for him. Not that he enjoyed her sleepless night, but he rather did enjoy the fact that another person worried about him.

“But, she won’t have to worry about you anymore, now will she?” John was left more than a little confused when Frank said nothing more and instead went to pour himself a cup of coffee.

My weakness.

Never one to resist the call of the bitter brew, no matter the position of the sun, John followed. He also wanted to question Frank a little more, keep him talking, for his sake. John laughed at himself. My sake, too. The subject was a welcomed distraction.

While staring into the dark liquid as it splashed into his cup, he realized he had just been gifted with a rare opportunity to razz Frank a little. Today was apparently a day of firsts.

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