Page 54 of Yours, For Good

Tonight, I arrived at dinner right as it started, and didn't get to say hi to her before the first dish was served. Now I chatted with my mother to my left, or with Julia to my right, and counted down the minutes until the meal was over.

My time came once digestifs were served and we were invited back to the drawing room to mingle.

Nora stood by the fireplace with Sally and Julia; the latter was the first to notice me.

"Uncle Javier, I'm glad to see you here."

I gave her a formal nod hello.

"I got caught in a call," I said, "but I really wanted to come. See my friends."

I gave a small smile to Nora, who responded with a wide grin.

"It's good to see you, Javier. How long has it been since New Year's?"

"Much longer than the last text I sent you."

Julia squinted at Nora.

Sally turned curious eyes to me. "Hi again. New Year's, you say?"

"Yes." I sipped from my port. "Nora and I spent the evening together."

"I think that's how we became friends," Nora clarified.

"I thought that was Halloween." I smirked. "That we became friends while dancing."

Nora made a meh gesture with her expressive face. "The point is that we're friends."

"Right," Julia said. "That's… unexpected."

"Are you attending the grad dinner tomorrow?" Sally asked. "My dad couldn't come, so my brother Jim is taking his place."

"Your brother is coming?" The words escaped me before I had time to taste them.

I had no reason whatsoever to be jealous or worry about his presence, and yet…

"Yeah, Javier is coming," Nora said. "He kind of invited himself when I told him about this trip."

When Nora first texted me about the graduation dinner, I had been torn. I had already decided I couldn't attend as Mr. B. I wasn't worried about someone connecting the dots and learning I had sponsored Nora— or worse, for someone to say anything to her about me being her sponsor. Founders and other sponsors rarely attended the event and, even when they did, we never knew who sponsored who. Since backers were cleared independently, we were given a lot of freedom once accepted. The system for submitting a sponsee's name kept things separate, and the loophole had served me well for my purposes. But attending as Javier… getting the best of both worlds…

Temptation won.

I was especially glad now that I knew Jim would be there. Did it matter that in one of her letters Nora implied she did not have any interest in him?

Apparently not.

I shrugged. "Since the party would be practically in my neighborhood, and my friend was graduating—"

"And your niece," Julia added.

"And my niece, of course."

"So Javier is your guest?" Sally frowned. "To the ceremony? I thought we could only bring two people— are your parents not coming?"

My attention darted to Nora. It may not have made sense, but I felt her tiny gasp— a drawing of air around me that cooled down my skin. My stomach dropped for her.

Sally continued, appearing to think out loud, and unaware of Nora's clear discomfort. "I just realized— I don't think I've ever heard you mention your parents. But someone else is attending, right?"