Page 19 of Inevitably Yours

Jan roseto her feet and spun around to flop on the bed. Gus busied herself unzipping Jan’s bags and folding her clothes and placing them in the appropriate drawers.

“I’ll take the good news first. Most people go with bad to end on a positive, but I say start positive and then maybe the bad won’t seem so bad.”

Unmentionables on top. Sleepwear in the middle, and occasionals on bottom.Halfway through, she realized what she had done. Before Jan could deliver any news, Gus’ condition prompted her to request, “Jan, could you open the bottom drawer for me?” Jan grabbed a handful of clothes from her bag and came toward Gus.

Jan bent down and opened the bottom draw. Gus grabbed the neatly folded contents of the top drawer and dropped them carelessly into the bottom. Then, she closed the drawer with her foot.

The raised eyebrow and questioning look she received from her sister was priceless. After a prolonged moment of eye contact and quiet communication, Jan flashed her winning smile and distributed the contents of her hands randomly among the open drawers. A wave of rebellion and relief washed over the sisters as they shared a special moment that no one else could understand. After Jan’s bags were empty, they both lay back on the bed staring at the ceiling like they did when they were younger.

“Oh, the good news is, the cat is safe and sound under the bed.” When Jan didn’t continue, Gus prompted.

“And?”

“And, are you missing any socks? Because I think your cat is a hoarder and needs an intervention.”

“Yeah? What’s the bad news?” Jan turned toward her and propped her golden head on her hand.

“That was the bad news; your cat’s a thief and since you couldn’t open the bottom drawer, I can only assume you don’t have the flexibility to retrieve your pilfered items?”

Gus trained her gaze on her beautiful sister and raised her hand to her sister’s cheek. “That’s actually good news because I seriously thought I was losing my mind with all the little things that have gone missing. Now I know it’s just Rick’s way of making a place for himself here.”

Jan covered Gus’ hand with her own. The sadness in Jan’s eyes was heart-wrenching. “You always did know how to find the bright side.” Jan flopped back on the bed but still held on to Gus’ hand, letting their intertwined fingers rest on the bed between them. “Something I never perfected,” she added, her voice low and mournful.

What do you say to that? A beautiful, vibrant young woman with the world at her feet who didn’t see the bright side of things.

After moving their joined hands to her belly right where Butterbean was Riverdancing, Gus spoke hopefully, “It’s never too late to learn, Jan.”

Fascination sparkled in Jan’s eyes as she traced the baby’s movement intently, like a game of Pat-A-Cake she didn’t plan to lose. Gus was content to let her enjoy the moment but silently made a pledge. It’s never too late, and I’ll teach you like I should have all those year ago, little sis. I’ll teach you.

The baby decided to nap, and the spell was broken.

“Augusta Rain Thorne, don’t make this all about me. I can see it in your eyes. I am here for you. Yes, I am going to sow a few wild oats while I’m here, but this is not about that.” Jan rose from the bed and dusted herself off, then offered a hand to Gus. Once they were both upright, Jan rested her hands on her hips.

“Now, big sister, tell me true, what is the one thing you are craving like crazy but all the mother…and father hens in your life are denying you? The one you can stomach, that is. I am starving and ready to get my grub on.” She leaned in close. “I won’t tell if you won’t.” With that, she flipped her golden locks and sashayed through the bedroom door.

Jan’s slender form was hidden behind the open refrigerator door when Gus entered the kitchen. “Looks like you have all I need to whip you up some…” The way she said “some” triggered the memory center in Gus’ brain, and they said in unison…

“Trash Can Nachos.”

Gus got lost in memories of nachos and two little blonde-headed girls sneaking around. The first time she made them for Jan, they had been sent to bed after a cleansing smoothie supper and were starving. Earlier that day, Gus had taken the change she had left from the book fair at school and bought herself and Jan candy bars on the way home.

They each ate a square and stashed the rest for later. Jan must have been about in second grade. Their mother found Jan’s and was convinced they had eaten more and this was the remnants. Needing to cleanse the poison and calories from their systems, they were given the smoothie and that was it.

Of course, they were never truly starved, but as kids, they thought they were dying. Jan wouldn’t stop crying that her stomach hurt, so when the Thornes left for a social event with strict instruction of fruit only, Gus disobeyed.

However, she couldn’t touch the obvious choices in the fridge or their mother would notice. Instead, Gus looked for things that wouldn’t be missed. A scoop of this, a pinch of that. Of course, no true chips in the Thorne household, so they always improvised. Whatever was crunchy or could be made crunchy. Celery, a toasted slice of gluten-free bread, quinoa cooked into thin crisps. Anything worked to impress her younger sister.

As they grew, their TCN got better; they kept Fritos stashed just for that purpose. Gus smiled at the memories. They weren’t bad ones, as it might seem to others; that was when they bonded as sisters. Gus’ smile faded as she remembered the first time and how she vowed never to let Jan go to bed in pain.

Before she had time to make more pledges and promises to right the past, Jan said words that melted her heart, “You know, these nachos were a hit in my dorm room. So much so we made it a Friday night study tradition. Each friend brought one ingredient from her personal stash, and I had to find a way to whip it up into tasty nachos. It was something the residents of Kelton Hall looked forward to the way I did growing up.”

Jan continued working, and Gus was mesmerized watching her. No more words were needed. Gus was starting to realize the positive impact she had on Jan’s life. Maybe, just maybe, her parents hadn’t destroyed all Jan’s spirit after I took off. Jan just buried it to protect it.

And I’m going to help her dig it up.

They sat down to eat and, even though the conversation had graduated from boys to men, Augusta felt like a teenager again. When she looked across the table, she saw a cute little girl with blonde pigtails and freckles eating secret nachos.

“So, give me the cliff notes of you and John. I’ve been following your videos, so I have a pretty good idea, however, I didn’t see the latest, so spill. Wait, still spill, but first, tell me about falling in love with him. You’ve told me about the cat and a few little stories, but I want to hear about that one moment. The one that changed everything. Then you can get back to the summary and latest.” Jan brought her knees up and hugged them. Her eyes were wide and waiting. Gus could barely push herself up to the table, never mind lifting her knees up that high.

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