Page 46 of Nineteen Eighty

“When Ekatherina died…” He’d never said these next words to anyone. “I don’t think what I had with her was what you had with John. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I do now. Unlike you, I’m not heartbroken anymore, I’m just… awake. I’m…”

“You know who you are now.”

“Yes. I know who I am now.”

“It doesn’t matter how we got here. It matters that we are,” Barbara said. “You have a little girl in need of a mother, and a household that would fare better with a woman’s touch. I need a child to nurture and a home to make a hearth in, as they say.” Then she surprised him by laughing. “As a businessman, you probably appreciate better than I do how this feels like a business transaction.”

Augustus laughed after a pause, too. “I said something similar to my mother when she brought the idea to me. But I can appreciate the importance of a transaction that benefits both parties. And Barbara… I can appreciate, too, that somehow there are two people in need of the same unorthodox things that managed to find their way to one another.”

“Almost makes one believe in fate.”

Augustus smiled. “Almost.”

“Ana, right? Your daughter?”

“Yes, Ana. Anasofiya. She was named for her aunt,” Augustus explained. “I call her both names, depending. Sometimes she seems more of an Ana to me, other times…”

“When can I meet her?”

“So you’re… you’re on board with this?”

“I think so. I think we get one another. We don’t know one another, but we can fix that, over time.”

“Tell me something, then,” he said. “Something about you. Something you love.”

Barbara pressed her lips together, looking toward the sky as she thought. “I love to read. I love the beach, especially Destin. I love needlework, though I’m not very good at it. And you, Augustus? What do you love?”

“My daughter and my company,” he replied and put his hands up when she gave him an odd look. “I know, I’m not very interesting. I like to read, too, when I have time, but between Ana and work, I rarely have any left for a hobby. I never have much left of myself for anything, to be honest, which is why…”

“I understand,” Barbara said. “I have no expectations of you, except kindness.”

“I would never, ever…” Augustus trailed off. “You have no reason to ever fear anything like that from me. I don’t know what I have to offer, but I do know I can give you kindness.”

“And a little girl to love,” Barbara said, smiling. “And so you know, while I don’t have anything more substantial to offer, I’d be okay with you visiting my bed from time to time.”

The unabashed way Barbara made this statement made Augustus’s cheeks flush. He was sure she could see it. “I’d be okay with that, too.”

Barbara laughed. “Is that a proposal?”

Augustus buried his grin in his wine. “I suppose it is.”

“So, something simple? Just our immediate family?”

“That would be my vote. We could have it at Magnolia Grace, or even The Gardens.”

“Either is fine. And a short engagement? Winter?”

“I’m a fan of the cold myself.”

“I’ll check my calendar and you check yours?”

“You should know, in full disclosure, I’m also raising my nephew for the time being. Nicolas. He’s Ana’s age. I don’t know how long he’ll be there.”

Barbara nodded. “If you’d told me you have twelve children running around, I’d be happy with that, too. Bring all your nieces and nephews over. We’ll make it a party.”

This was going so smoothly Augustus didn’t quite know what else there was to say. “Saturday would be a good day to come meet the kids. If you’re free?”

Barbara smiled and finally took a sip of her wine. “As it happens, I am.”

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