Page 48 of Inevitably Yours

Speaking all old-world, he bowed and announced, “Yes. Come ye, come ye. All people from far and wide are invited to bear witness to the beauty, nay, the radiance. A blessing upon the land know by the name of Franscephina. Come closer, so you may take word of this miracle back to your native land of Demerol and Vicodin.”

Apparently a good sport, Cheryl curtsied. “I thank you, good sirs, and I shall approach with honor and respect to bask in her beauty, nay, radiance.” That tattooed lady rose with the elegance of a queen and peeked into the bassinette. “Congratulations, she is beautiful. And by the way, I don’t pass out Demerol and Vicodin so much, that’s more of pain management’s land, and they are a territorial people. I come from the land of shit that kills celebrities who abuse it and makes pregnant women fall in love.”

Cheryl approached the bed. “You did good, little mama. How are you feeling today? Headache, pain where the catheter was? Do you mind?” Cheryl asked and indicated she wanted to look at the site.

“No, go ahead. And about yesterday…”

“Don’t sweat it. Everything looks good. You’ll get a sheet from me in your discharge papers with what to watch for and numbers to call. I can’t stress enough how important it is to be picky. Any little sign, take it seriously. The worst thing that can happen is we tell you you’re fine, send you home with some overpriced ibuprofen, and bill the man over there for the trouble. He looks like his wallet is just fine, so no hesitations, you feel me?”

Gus agreed, and after admiring Cephina one last time, Cheryl left. Andy seemed nervous, but who wouldn’t be taking a baby home from the hospital. There were so many things to worry about, and that’s just the drive over.

Another knock sounded at the door, but this time, the person didn’t enter, Instead, Andy rushed out the door like his pants were on fire. Right before the door closed, Gus caught a glimpse of Jesse. What’s a clerk doing here? The paper-work that could be done was already completed.

When Andy slipped back through the door, Jesse awkwardly waved. She felt bad about the way things had played out. Jesse was a nice guy, but…apparently, I’m not into nice guys. I’m into rough around the edges men. Complete with issues and fear of commitment. Not wanting to be rude, she waved back. If the look beaming from his face was any indication, that was the wrong move. I should’ve gone with rude.

Andy grabbed Marco with one hand and sheepishly walked toward Gus with a large manila envelope in the other.

Andy, sheepish? This must be a humdinger.

“Augusta Rain Thorne, we have a confession to make. With Stacy’s help, we slipped some other paperwork into the things you were signing this morning.”

What?Gus’ heart fell to her feet and shattered into a million pieces. They had tricked her, for what purpose, she didn’t know, but they had tricked her. And not just the two men she felt so close to earlier in therapy. She had glimpsed their souls and believed them to be the best of people. But even so, that wasn’t as devastating as Stacy. Her best friend. The one person she had always been able to be her weird dorky self around. Someone who knew all her secrets, her shame, and her fears.

She was heartbroken.

Devastated.

If she had been wrong about them…

Her mind was swimming in the bitter sea of deception, and she was going under, gulping great big lung fulls. What else had she misjudged?

Who else?

She felt light-headed. This couldn’t be happening. There had to be an explanation, there had to be. These are good people, damn it.

Her voice shaky, she had to restart a few times before she could form a sentence, “Andy, please explain what is going on because my mind is conjuring up some pretty horrific answers on its own.”

“Oh, my god, Gus. No.” Andy leaned down and thumbed her tears. “I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“I told you not to lead with that part, you fool,” Marco scolded. He sat beside her and wrapped her in his embrace. “Shush, it’s not bad, I swear to you. I would kick his sexy ass if his intentions were bad. I may kick his ass anyway, just because.”

Gus breathed a sigh of minimal relief. At least it wasn’t horrible, but she was emotional and hormonal, so she was already walking a tightrope.

“Let me start over. Augusta, we love you and could never repay you for the gift you’ve given us. I know you refused our money, and I would never insult you by paying you.”

“Good,” Gus interrupted. “Because I didn’t do it for that,” Gus declared as she sucked back her tears. Real lady-like, Augusta, she heard her mother’s disapproving voice in her head. Yep, hormones. God, I hate ‘em.

“I hope you hold to that as we give you this. It is NOT payment. It’s just…I can only explain it as overflowing with love. I, we, are so full of love, we are bursting. We want to share that love with you, and the only way I can begin to do that is this.” He gathered the envelope off the floor.

“If you don’t want it, it will break my heart, but it is yours, and there’s nothing you can do about that now but sell it. We love you, and we want you to be happy and, short of dragging John naked to the altar, this is the next best way we could think of.”

With jittery hands, Gus unwound the red thread and slid a pile of papers out of the top. Sure enough, there was her signature, along with ones she didn’t recognize. It was a purchase agreement of some sort, but she couldn’t read it, the words were blurred. “What is this?”

“It’s fifteen thousand square feet of whatever you want it to be. The property is on the edge of town. The contractor has been paid and is just awaiting your renovation instructions. You can open a gym and teach martial arts, get back to your roots if that’s what you want. Or, you could open an alternative therapy retreat; you always seem happiest when you’re helping people. Hell, Augusta, you can leave it open and let John build a damn plane in there, if it makes you happy. And if you decided to be stubborn and do nothing, then just leave the doors open and punks will show up with skateboards.”

Gus was taken aback. More than that, blown away was more like it. Andy sounded so passionate about gifting it to her, how could she say no? She should. Like her mother says, a lady sends the wrong message if she accepts large gifts from men. But her mother didn’t know Andy, she didn’t know Gus, and she didn’t know what was best for Jan. In short, her mother didn’t know squat.

It was the most generous thing anyone had even done for her, and it honestly seemed to make Andy ecstatic to give it. She threw herself into his arms and let her hug speak for her.

An orderly burst through the door with a wheelchair. “Your chariot awaits.” Gus released her hold on Andy.

“You’re the best, you know that,” she said while she sat and Marco lifted the baby into her arms.

Both men kissed her cheeks. Andy whispered, “No, Pixie, that would be you.”

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