Chapter 2
Twins. He loved his sister, but Auggie could be over-the-top on a good day.
His phone buzzed. Speaking of over-the-top.
.. “Yo, Auggie. What’s up? We doing dinner tonight or what?
” He wondered what Justine and her friend had planned for the evening.
If Justine had a boyfriend or significant other.
Odd that her aunt had never mentioned her, considering he and Rosie had been good friends for months.
And of course, they kind of worked together.
“Bro, I need help.”
Xavier swallowed a sigh. “Of course you do.”
“Don’t be pretentious. Buzz me up.”
“Do you even know what pretentious means?”
He winced at the vitriol that accompanied his sister’s answer and buzzed Auggie in, which reminded him he only had himself to blame about Dan—the guy he never should have allowed in the building.
Apparently, Christine still didn’t like the word “no.” They’d broken up a month ago, and she continued to harass him, now using her brother to send messages.
Last time Xavier would make that mistake.
He’d known he and Christine were over a while ago, but he’d tried his best to make it work. As a therapist, Xavier knew all about dysfunction and lying to oneself. Christine had been pleasant...at first. A nice woman, attractive, self-sufficient. The perfect companion.
Until she’d revealed certain truths, become clingy and codependent, and had made his life a living hell with petty jealousies and insecurity. Auggie hadn’t liked her either, and that was typically a telling sign that things wouldn’t work out.
Xavier could count on one hand the number of times they’d approved of each other’s relationships. A real pair, the both of them.
“We’re so pathetic,” he muttered as Augusta Hanover pushed through the door.
Though obviously not identical twins, they might as well have been.
They shared the same features, voice inflections, and had that twin-brain, where they had a tendency to pick up on what the other might be feeling or thinking.
Auggie was incredibly pretty, more redhead than brunette, tall, and had a trim and toned physique.
She’d never taken crap from anyone in her life—a clear balance to Xavier’s people-pleaser mentality.
He had a few inches on his sister in addition to muscle but wasn’t nearly as defined.
Auggie, a personal trainer and gym-worshipper, had an aggressive drive and a tendency to go after what she wanted.
Unlike Auggie, he got the twin share of charm, had a smile that could kill from twenty paces—according to Mom—and the patience his sister lacked.
They were two halves of the same whole. Unfortunately, most significant others wanted the entire piece, not just a half, and neither he nor Auggie had yet to find that perfect partner for more than a few months here or there.
“Xavier, my dearest brother, you still pale beside the glory that is me.” Auggie flexed, showing off some impressive biceps, looking cute and fit in a pair of workout shorts and a tee-shirt, her hair pulled back into a long ponytail. “If only you had my brain, my sense of style... breasts.”
Xavier rolled his eyes. “If I wanted a ‘boob’ I’d look no further than you. Idiot.”
Auggie grinned and flipped him off.
“Thanks. But I already had one of those earlier.”
“This?” She pointed that middle finger at his face “What happened?”
“I went against my better judgement and let Christine’s brother in to talk to me. The only good thing about the visit was I got to return her grandmother’s necklace without meeting up with her.”
“The same necklace she deliberately left here last time so you’d have to talk to her again?” Auggie asked.
Xavier sighed. “Please don’t say it.”
Auggie shrugged.
A few seconds passed.
“Itoldyouso,” Auggie blurted. “Ah, that feels better.”
After a second of glaring at each other, they eased into smiles and laughed.
Xavier looked his sister over. “You working out more?”
“Yeah. There’s a new event I’m entering in August. It’s a fitness competition with major sponsorship. Winner gets backing from the sponsors, a fifty thousand dollar prize, and emcee rights for the winter competition, which includes major branding and marketing. It’s huge, Xav.”
“Where’s it being held?”
“Our great city of Seattle. Duh.”
“Hey, for all I know you’re going to Hawaii on another ‘work’ trip.”
“I wish. And that Hawaii trip was legit. I worked out, trained two guys at the hotel gym, and had a hell of a time with Barry. You know, before we broke up.” Auggie plopped herself on the couch and eased her forearm over her eyes. “My life is a mess.”
“When isn’t it?” Xavier muttered but didn’t react when Auggie moved her forearm to glare before covering up again. Taking one for the team, he asked, “Okay, Ms. Messy, what’s wrong?”
“It’s Rafe.”
“Wait. The guy who thinks he’s a pirate?”
“Oh my God. He wore that shirt because he was modeling. It wasn’t his everyday wear.”
“And he looked like a pirate. Am I wrong?”
Auggie gave a loud sigh. “It’s just... He’s not the man I thought he was.”
“Auggie, he’s exactly the man you thought he was. Handsome, a stud in bed—your words, not mine—and not much between his ears.”
“But they were such cute ears.” Auggie paused. “I feel bad that I don’t miss him. I’m thirty-two. Shouldn’t I be thinking about a steady relationship at this age? Babies? A family? Shouldn’t we?” She moved her arm and stared at Xavier.
“You’ve been talking to Mom recently. A mistake.”
“I know.” Auggie groaned. “I though it was you calling so I picked up the phone. Anyway, she made some valid points.”
“Auggie, you know you can’t force love. Mom got lucky.”
They paused a moment, still missing their father though it had been over ten years since his passing.
Auggie nodded. “Ever since breaking up with Noel last year, she hasn’t been happy.” Though it didn’t need to be said they’d both loathed Noel for a multitude of reasons. “She’s too focused on us and needs to concentrate on her own life. She’s got a few good years left.”
Xavier snorted. “Ya think?” Their mother had just turned fifty-two and had no plan to die anytime soon.
Or so she’d said just a few weeks ago when nagging him to find a wife and have a few kids while she was still young enough to appreciate running around with them.
“You do have a point. It’s not healthy for her to be so alone all the time. ”
“She’d say the same thing about you.”
“Hey, I was dating Christine until recently.”
Auggie gave him a knowing look. “We all knew that was going nowhere. She was your Rafe, only a little smarter.”
Xavier bit back a laugh. “Okay, okay. So we need to hook Mom up, is that what you’re saying?” He felt a little ill just thinking about his mother out there, dating. Noel had been bad enough.
“Do I need to use smaller words?”
This time Xavier shot Auggie the finger. “Look, I have to finish my article before tomorrow morning. But I have time to join my baby sister in a pizza and some beer.”
“Baby sister? I’m barely four minutes younger than you.”
“Five minutes, but who’s counting?”
She made a face.
“I also have soda if you don’t want beer. But nothing diet. Real sugar for us real people.”
Auggie gagged. “That you’re not dead yet, after all the crap you eat and drink, is a miracle. Must be all those good vibes you’re passing along to your readers.”
Xavier cleared his throat. “Not my readers. Aunt Truth’s readers. Remember, I’m just filling in while she’s on sabbatical.”
Auggie sat up and rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I’m not gonna tell anyone you’re pretending to be the popular Aunt Truth. Sheesh. I’m just messing with you.”
“Good. Because I need this break, and I’m actually enjoying the work.”
“It’s still therapy, Xavier, no matter how hard you pretend you’re taking a break from your day job.” Auggie shook her head. “Denial. The first step to accepting your faults.”
“That’s one of the first stages of grief, actually, so—”
“Like I care. We already have one shrink in the family. We don’t need me telling people how to think too.”
“That’s not what I do. I—”
“Don’t care.” She grinned. “I always thought you drew better than you spoke. Stick to cartoons, Bro, and we’ll all be better for it.”
“Stop or my head will explode from all the compliments.” He ignored his sister’s laughter. “Order us an extra-large pie. One half extra cheese and—”
“—the other all the toppings. I got it.”
Xavier grabbed them some beer while Auggie called in their order. In the other room, on a drawing desk, sat his current project. A cartoon to go with the advice column he’d been working on. It was silly, he knew, but he got a kick out of drawing out snippets of relationship dramas and problems.
Ever since Aunt Truth had decided to take him on as a silent partner, he’d been answering the advice column for Searching the Needle Weekly, a free weekly paper and streaming channel that had just sold Aunt Truth to an affiliate for some serious money.
Now he had more work with better pay. Nothing close to his previous salary as an LMFT—Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist—but he didn’t need the money.
His father’s life insurance and investments had helped the entire family avoid deep debt for the rest of their lives.
He brought the beers to the table and watched Auggie surf through channels. They settled on a reality medical program.
She grimaced. “Ew. How the hell do you get a bike chain stuck in your thigh?’
They both cringed as the doctors proceeded to remove said chain, but they didn’t look away. Fascinated by other people’s messes, Xavier thought with humor.
An hour later, as they nibbled on pizza while watching a true crime show, Auggie said, “I know a guy I can set Mom up with. He’s nice and built like a brick.”
“Uh, I don’t know that she’s into beefy guys.”
Auggie frowned. “What’s wrong with working out?”
“Nothing. But Mom’s a little more cerebral.”
“Stereotype much?” Auggie huffed. “You know, we’re not all meatheads.”
“I know that. But I’ve also met a lot of your friends. Exactly which one do you think’s good enough for Mom?”
She opened her mouth and closed it. “Okay, so not Josh. Or Abe. But a few other names come to mind. I’ll feel them out first though.”
“Fine. I’ll do the same. I have a few guys from work that might fit. Problem is, few of them know how to leave their therapist hats at the office.”
Auggie arched a brow. “Isn’t that what Christine said about you?”
“Yeah.” He sighed. “But she was just annoying.” He chuckled at Auggie’s exaggerated nod. “Hold on. I’ll get some paper and a pen so we can make a list.”
So he spent the majority of his Friday night with his twin drafting a dating list for their mother. Though he didn’t think any of the guys would work, at least it was a start.
And while he wrote down names, he tried not to think about how sad his circumstances had become that even his mother was gearing up to have a social life more exciting than his own.