2 Savannah #2
them, Cora had walled herself off. She kept the entire world—even her sisters—at arm’s length, hiding away in her Houston
apartment. It was making her more and more cranky.
What she needed, in Savannah’s humble opinion, was to get back in the real world and let people love her, and the sooner the
better. After all, life was never meant to be lived alone. What better way for that to happen than for Cora to fall in love?
Cora finding someone was the reason Savannah interviewed every single guy she ever came in contact with. New hire at Chris’s
office? She’d corner him at the company Christmas party. Guy in the grocery store without a ring? She’d worm her way to the
checkout line in front of him. She could be quite crafty when she wanted to be.
But so far her scheming hadn’t done any good. The dates Savannah had managed to set up for Cora had turned into disasters.
After the last one, which was over a year ago, Cora had threatened to never come to Atlanta again if Savannah set her up one
more time. That hadn’t stopped Savannah from being on the lookout for Cora’s perfect partner, but it had stopped the dates since Savannah hadn’t figured out a way to get Cora to go on them.
Until now.
“You might be right,” Savannah said as the plan started to form in her mind.
Cora gave a confident nod from her corner of the couch. “Of course I’m right.”
“No, not you.” Savannah deliberately focused her gaze on Bianca. “You.”
“Me?” Bianca looked surprised, pointing a finger at herself.
Savannah nodded.
She still didn’t believe AI was capable of cracking the code to true love any more than meteorology had cracked the code to
accurately predicting the weather. But maybe it could get close. Maybe it could see something the rest of them were missing.
Plus, there was the added benefit that the setup wouldn’t come from Savannah.
This could work.
“Maybe your little computer program is on to something,” Savannah said.
“Scientifically backed AI,” Bianca corrected.
“Sure, we’ll call it that.” Savannah waved a dismissive hand as she sorted the plan in her mind.
“Maybe we should call it a crock of—”
Savannah held up her hand to stop Cora before she went any further but kept her focus on Bianca. “You really think SoulMatch
could find Cora’s soulmate?”
“I mean, it can’t create a man who doesn’t exist. But if he’s out there and willing to be found, SoulMatch will find him.”
“Interesting.” Savannah nibbled on her lip.
“Did it ever occur to you two that maybe I don’t want to find my soulmate?” Cora said. “That maybe I’m alone because I prefer
it that way?”
Savannah ignored her. Maybe that was the story she was telling everyone else. Maybe that was even what she was telling herself,
but it wasn’t the whole story.
Savannah knew Cora. She was one of the most caring, kind, and selfless people she’d ever met. She loved big.
But she wasn’t as tough as she came across. Cora had been hurt before. And each time, she seemed to back away from love, from
people, a little more. It was starting to get to the point that if she backed away any further, Savannah was afraid she’d
disconnect completely.
The same way Savannah wasn’t willing to let Bianca run off with every single person who sparked the slightest interest, she wasn’t willing to let Cora give up on love because her heart had been broken. If Cora wasn’t going to put herself out there, Savannah would have to do it for her.
The plan brewing in her mind might be crazy, but maybe there was merit to it. Maybe, just maybe, it could work.
“Okay,” Savannah said finally.
Bianca narrowed her eyes, looking suspicious. “Okay, what?”
Savannah propped her hands on her hips and squared off with Bianca. “If you can prove your new dating site is so good that
it can make Cora fall in love, then we’ll have no choice but to admit you were right.”
“Who’s the we in this scenario?” Cora said from behind her. “Because I’m certainly not part of it.”
“Let me get this straight.” Bianca locked her steely gaze with Savannah’s. “If I can prove this dating app is legit, then
you’ll be okay with me moving to Idaho to be with Zander?”
“I mean, it’s far away, but—”
Bianca cut her off. “And get married?”
“If he’s really your soulmate, I would never want to stand in your way.” That was a big if . But Savannah would be the first to admit she’d been wrong before. Maybe she was wrong about this. It seemed highly unlikely,
but...
“At the end of the summer?”
The anxiety Savannah had been trying to keep at bay bubbled up, but she pushed it back down and kept going. “Seems a little
quick. But, sure. I’ll even help you plan it. We could do it here.”
Bianca cocked a suspicious eyebrow. “And all I have to do is find Cora a date?”
Savannah held up a finger. “Not a date. I could find Cora a date.”
“Perfectly capable of finding my own dates, thank you. That has never been the problem,” Cora said.
Savannah ignored her and kept going. “You have to find someone she’ll fall in love with. Correction: your dating app has to find someone.”
Baby sister and eldest sister stared each other down like they were a couple of gunslingers at a showdown, the words settling
around them like dust on a Wild West road.
Bianca’s gaze was steely, as if she were weighing some kind of challenge or a dare. “Done.”
Honestly, it felt kind of like a dare, which wasn’t exactly Savannah’s purpose.
Her goal was to keep her sisters from self-destructing. She’d assumed wise words and encouragement would’ve been enough for
that. But since neither of them was listening, she was forced to take drastic measures.
Cora stepped between them, breaking up the stare-down. “There’s only one problem.”
“Which is?” Bianca asked.
“I never agreed to any of this.”
The realization knocked some of the wind out of Savannah’s sails. “But...” she started without any idea of where to go
with it. Because she knew one thing for sure: it was easier to catch a cloud than to try to get Cora to do what Cora didn’t
want to do.
“But nothing,” Cora said. “I’m not going on a date with some rando. And I sure as heck am not putting my profile on some dating
app for a bunch of creepers.”
Bianca looked offended. “Not even for me?”
“Especially not for you. I agree with Savannah. You can’t marry someone you’ve only talked to on the internet .” The extra emphasis Cora put on the last three words made it sound like Bianca was hanging out in some crime-ridden, lawless
back alley instead of a site many people spent a large part of their day using.
Bianca, however, looked unfazed. “You know what? Since you have zero experience with falling in love and a phobia to commitment,
you don’t get to weigh in. Because you have no idea what you’re talking about.” She held her hand up in the shape of a zero
for added emphasis.
It was another low blow, especially since the comment touched on moments from the past Bianca clearly didn’t remember.
Or maybe, which was equally as likely, no one had ever told her.
Since the sisters all felt the same age now, sometimes it was hard to remember that Bianca was still a kid when she and Cora were in college and testing their legs in the adult world.
Savannah sucked in a breath as if she were the one taking the punch and looked over at Cora. Hurt flickered across her face,
but it faded quickly as her calm, stoic, nothing-gets-to-me exterior reappeared.
“Careful, sis. That’s where you’re wrong. I actually know exactly how this is going to turn out. And I don’t even need a crystal
ball.”
Bianca huffed and rolled her eyes, which only seemed to heighten Cora’s determination.
“You can match me with anyone you want on your cute little dating site,” Cora continued. “But it doesn’t matter how compatible
we are, he’s going to leave. They always leave.”
Bianca studied her for a second. “You have to be the most cynical person in the world.”
“Realistic. There’s a difference.”
Bianca rolled her eyes again.
“Fine.” Cora crossed her arms in front of her chest, not bothering to hide her judgment. “If you need me to prove it, I’ll
prove it. Set me up. But if my guy walks away, you don’t move to Idaho.”
“You know what? Maybe this was a bad idea,” Savannah said. Yes, she might have started this, but now that she heard it from
the other side, she didn’t like where it was going. Someone was going to get hurt.
“And how do I know you’re not going to sabotage the relationship?” Bianca glared at Cora, who was looking more and more self-righteous
as the conversation went on.
“Because I won’t have to. Real life will do it for me. We can have the most perfect first date of all time. Shoot, we can
even start dreaming about forever. But as soon as all the drama of reality sets in—which won’t take long because I’m sharing
a house with my sisters—my soulmate will be out the door so quick, he’ll set a new record for fastest man alive.”
“Seriously? That’s what you think?” Bianca matched Cora’s posture. “Who hurt you?”
Her answer was meant to be sarcastic, but it hit below the belt. This was starting to get out of hand.
“It’s called life experience. Get ya some.”
Bianca shook her head like Cora was the most ridiculous person she’d ever met. “You’re telling me there’s no way even your
soulmate would stick around until the end of the summer?”
“That’s what I’m saying, assuming your AI bot can find my ‘soulmate.’” She gestured air quotes around the last word.
“But if he does stick around, you’ll admit you’re overly pessimistic and will agree to read whatever self-help book I deem
most appropriate?”
“I feel so confident about my stance that if I’m wrong, I’ll sing at your wedding.”
“Interesting.” Bianca considered this for a second. “In front of everyone?”
“The cheesiest love song you can find.” Cora held out her hand to shake on it.
“Wait.” Savannah stepped in between them. “I don’t like this.”
Bianca glared at her. “Wasn’t it your idea?”