Page 50 of Inevitably Yours

“Just because I know, doesn’t mean I can be.”

“Oh really, so if I could prove to you what she wanted was in fact you, warts and all, or plain words and fruit bouquets, would you stop acting younger than that Jesse fella? Give my sister a chance at happiness, with you?”

John simply shrugged an agreement.

“All right then, come with me.” She led him to her bedroom and opened her laptop. When John followed her unspoken command to sit, she logged on to her social media site and entered a group. He noticed Augusta’s face with the play triangle in front of it.

January scrawled something on a sticky note and handed it to him. “I suggest you start with these six videos. If you want to watch the others, you can, but I think these will make my point. I’ll work on dinner while you do that.”

Five minutes or more passed as he sat staring at the triangle in front of her smiling face. It felt a little like invasion to push play, but he reasoned with himself since these were online, it wasn’t like they were private.

Once he could rationalize it, he pushed play on the video. Her voice buoyed his heart, and her face lit up the room. There was a subtle sadness to her at first, but when she spoke of their date, even as crappy as it had ended, the sadness lifted. Her eyes sparkled with what he could only call love.

She described their dinner as if it was the most magical night of her life. She spoke of how she knew the date would end badly between them, but she savored the steps from the car to the house. Questions and comments popped up with times beside them, and Augusta answered. Her voice was puzzlingly sad and upbeat, and while he could tell her heart was bruised, she encouraged others to chase love.

She is too good for me.

He pushed play on the next one on the list and so on and so on. Each video was more honest than the last. Augusta was unbent, unbroken through it all. Not only that, she was worried more about helping others than herself.

When she spoke of him, it was like she saw through to parts of him he had convinced himself no one noticed, no one knew.

No one could love…or desire.

John was not a man to cry, but he most certainly had something in his eyes right about now

He was more convinced than ever that she was too good for him, but he was also more determined not to give a shit.

After signing off January’s account, he closed her laptop and sought her out on the kitchen. Not only was he looking at himself and Augusta differently, he saw January a little differently too. She was basically a shorter—if that were even possible—less snarky Stacy. From this day forward, she was his little sister, too.

A loner by nature had just gained a new family practically overnight. The tiny blonde he sought was stirring a bubbling pot on the stove. It smelled like jambalaya. When she took a step back, John caught her in an embrace and swung her around the kitchen, just like he used to do with Stacy, and just like Stacy, she squirmed. “Put me down, you big galoot.”

When he complied, she returned to cooking. “So, I take it I’ve made my point, or rather, Augusta did.”

“Yes, and I thank you.”

“You can thank me with the new summer Coach beach tote, if you really wanted to show your appreciation.”

John had a great laugh. “You will fit in just fine around here. I better get to work”

After he finished up with what needed to be done at Augusta’s, he headed next door to tweak the fine details.

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