Page 14 of Remind Me
Walking downstairs, I headed for the kitchen to find Austin sitting at the counter with a coffee in front of him. He looked up when he heard me come in and grunted a “Morning.”
“How much did you have to drink?”
“I don’t know, I think I lost count. Why?”
“Normally you wake up better than any of us and today, you look like death.”
“Thanks, V, love you too.”
“Oh, buddy, don’t even get me started. After a shitty night’s sleep the night before, Cash got dragged out of bed to come and get your ass. Not to mention that you stopped me getting laid. You are lucky he didn’t have them call Ma.” Austin groaned and laid his head down on the counter.
“Not the mental image I needed in my head, thanks.” He lifted his head to look at me. “I know, V, I fucked up. I don’t know what I was thinking. He should have just left me there.”
“No because then Carmella would have had to put up with you and no one deserves that.” I turned my back to him and got Cash’s mug down from the cupboard. Reaching over and taking the coffee pot out, I filled up his mug before replacing it. Moving to the fridge, I took out the creamer and a bottle of orange juice. After pouring myself a glass, I finished making Cash’s coffee for when he came down from his shower.
“V, you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, why?”
“You sure? You are drinking orange juice over coffee.”
“I’m fine, just trying not to drink as much of it. Starting to get a little jittery throughout the day. Nothing to worry about though, Doc has given me a clean bill of health.”
“If you are sure.”
“I am, you want something to eat or just gonna drink your coffee?”
“If you are making food for you, then yes, if not I will grab something after I pick up my car.”
“Where is it?”
“At home. I am not stupid enough to drink and drive. I had already dug my grave enough for one night don’t you think?”
“This is true, Ma and Pa would have murdered you for that if Cash and Beau didn’t get there first.”
“I know what seeing that does to them, I would never want to put them through that or be the reason someone else didn’t make it home at night. It’s not something I could live with.”
“Good to know you aren’t completely stupid, then.” He opened his mouth to say something, but I held my hand up. “Let me just say something. I love you, Austin, yes there are times we all want to kill you for the stupid shit you do but at the end of the day we are family. If we really thought that you and Holly were meant to be together, we wouldn’t have pushed so hard against it. I don’t want to speak ill of the dead, but she only loved herself. There was no way that she could ever love anyone more than herself. There is no way her family would have ever let her slum it with anyone that didn’t have a trust fund. The two of you were not meant to be. I know you feel bad about how things ended but there was no way of that happening any other way. She was more than happy to string you along for her own sick amusement. You saw what she did to your shop and Belle.” Austin dropped his head and nodded.
“I know, I saw that when I ended things with her, and Cash helped me remember it last night. I know you are right. I can’t apologize for being human and feeling though. I am sorry that I didn’t reach out to one of you or even Belle. I could have kept her company while Beau was at work instead of pissing off three people in one night. That has to be a record for me.”
“No, you have pissed off more but like I said, at the end of the day, we are family and we don’t hold grudges.” He gave me a look as if to say “really?” and snorted.
“Yeah, let’s go with that, V.” Crossing over to the fridge, I pulled out stuff to start making omelettes for us.
“I don’t hold them against people who don’t deserve it, put it that way.” Our conversation was interrupted by Cash coming down the stairs. He picked up his coffee and leant against the counter.
“What are we talking about?”
“About how V doesn’t hold grudges.”
“Oh, she doesn’t. She will let it go but not before making your life hell first.”
“Guys, I am right here.” I took out a bowl and set it on the counter, cracking the eggs into it, I added water, salt, and pepper before beginning to whisk it all together. Once I was done, I added some bits of diced bacon to it and moved over to the stove top, turning it on and waited for the pan to heat up.
“I’m sorry, Sug, but you know we are right.”
“As I said to Austin and I stand by it, I hold them against people who deserve it.”
