Page 20 of A Magnolia Move-In
I snorted. “A genius who set off the fire alarm andbrought out the entire fire department for a charred piece of imitation crab.”
He folded his arms. “Well, I won’t be making the food. I’ll be heating up what Fiona made for you. But if you are saying you aren’t hungry, I’ll just forget about it and get back to my game.” He moved to grab the remote, but I wrapped my fingers around it.
“No, I’ll trust you to heat it up.” I ran my gaze over him. “I mean, you don’t look like you are starving, so you seem to have a handle on at least the microwave.”
He glowered at me. “Har har,” he said as he stood.
I settled back in my seat as I watched him move around the kitchen. First to the fridge to grab the container, then to the cupboard that held the plates. Finally, the smell of beef and broccoli with rice filled the air and made my mouth water.
I was starving.
He brought me the plate with a bottle of water and a fork. I didn’t even wait to say thank you before I started shoveling in the food. Once I was satiated, I would thank him. But for now, I was hungry, so I was going to eat.
Jackson settled back on the couch and moved to unpause the TV. He stopped. I could see him peering over at me through his peripheral vision. I swallowed so I could tell him to spit it out, but thankfully, he didn’t need prodding.
“Fiona said that she invited you to the book club.” I could tell that he was trying to sound nonchalant about this. But I could read my brother like an open book.
“And?”
He swallowed. “Are you going to take her up on that offer?”
I sighed as my stomach soured around the food I’d just inhaled. I wanted to say no, but at the look on Jackson’s face and the hope in his voice, I just nodded. “I can try.”
His shoulders relaxed as he looked over at me. “That would be nice. Fiona really wants to get to know you.”
“And I want to get to know her, too.”
He frowned.
“What?” I asked.
“She said you seemed distant earlier.”
“You two talked about me?”
He shrugged. “She was just worried that she’d upset you. Said you ran from her after she suggested the book club.”
So, they had discussed me. I didn’t like it, but I understood it. After all, I knew that they talked, and they were a couple. It made sense.
I sighed. “I don’t really want to talk about it, Jackson.” I fiddled with my empty plate. I was tired even though I’d spent most of my day in my room.
I already had a lot on my mind, and the last thing I needed was to feel guilty about rejecting an invitation from my brother’s girlfriend.
He scrubbed his face. Then he nodded. “I get it. I’ll tell Fiona to let it go.”
My heart ached as I watched my brother stand up and gather my dishes. I ran through what I wanted to say, butnothing seemed sane. I sounded irrational in my own mind, and that wasn’t who I wanted to be—even if I wasn’t sure I had the strength to be anything different.
“It won’t be forever,” I whispered, not sure if I wanted him to hear me. After all, was that a promise that I could keep? My life was so uncertain. I needed to be careful that I didn’t commit to something and then renege on it.
“Really? Promise?” he asked. He straightened up from the dishwasher with a fork in his hand. His gaze landed on me, and I could see the pain in his eyes.
I was failing my brother.
“Yes.” I swallowed, emotions rising up inside of me despite my desire to keep them locked away. “Just let me figure out where I’m at right now. I promise I will make it up to Fiona.”
He nodded as he bent back down and slipped the fork into the utensil box. “I would like that,” he said, his voice low with emotion.
I smiled at him. I liked seeing my big brother in love. It was a good look on him. “I know.” I wished in that moment that I could stand, cross the room, and wrap my arms around Jackson. I wanted to be able to show him that I cared—without being a burden on him.
