“Well, Doctor St. John, I would hate for you to lose a thumb out here messing around with dead limbs. I could have called a guy.”
“So could I, but I had a chainsaw and a little time. I rather be hands on when it comes to the things I care about.”
“Y’all cannot do this, Jase. I came here to start over. You and your brother can’t just impose on my life like this. What we had, the mistakes we made, that’s all over.”
His eyes softened and he took a step closer as he removed the gloves he wore and touched my face. “Nothing we did was a mistake. Don’t ever say that, Harp.”
“So, you don’t have any regrets at all? Because I sure do.”
“My biggest regret is not coming to you the moment I knew where you were. Bro was just in such a dark space for so long. By the time I found you, I didn’t know if him knowing where you were was a good or bad thing.”
“Jase, please. I need peace in my life right now. I didn’t come back to cause a disturbance in either of your lives. If I knew you were so close now, I would have reconsidered coming here.”
“Don’t say that, Harp.”
“Your brother already popped up over here today, getting in my son’s head, and now you’re here. I can’t take this.”
“You know how much we love you, Harp. I know you and Joe have a deeper connection, and I’m cool with that. We had this whole plan about treating you like the queen you are for the rest of your life, and then you were gone. He blames me. Honestly, I blame me too. We didn’t speak for over a month after you left,” Jase stated. “He loved you so much that it hurt me to watch him suffer without you. I don’t want to tell you the things he needs to tell you, but you do need to hear him out.”
“Things are different now. So much time has passed, and I have a kid to think about now, Jase.”
He sighed and shook his head. “I know that, Harper.”
“Do you? If you were considering my kid, you would have never shown up here uninvited and unannounced with a chainsaw like you were filming a horror movie.”
“I know we hurt you, but please, baby, don’t give up on us. You know we would never purposely hurt you.”
Before I could come up with something sharp to cut through his resolve, the sound of pounding footsteps caused me to look back as Cam ran out onto the back porch.
“Mom, guess what I found!” he shouted as he came to a stop. I looked down in time to see the look on his face fall into a frown. “Doctor JoJo, I thought you left.”
“I’m not Doctor JoJo, little man,” Jase filled him in with a chuckle. He was amused.
Cameron’s eyes shot to me then back to Jase. I was kind of enjoying it too, so instead of speaking up, I let things play out. Cam eyed Jase suspiciously before he settled on an answer.
“So, are you like his brother or something?”
“You got it. I’m Doctor Jase.”
“Are y’all twins? You look just like him, but you talk kinda different.”
“Yep, we’re identical twins. Most people can’t tell us apart. even though my muscles are bigger, and I’m way more handsome than him.”
“That’s a lie,” I blurted before I could stop myself.
“So, you think he’s bigger than me?”
“You guys are pretty identical, but I do think your head is bigger than his.”
“Agreed,” Jase said, winking before returning his focus to Cam.
“I’ve never seen twins that were grownups before. You have the same face almost, except around your eyes looks different, and maybe your nose a little.”
“You’re very observant, big guy. How old are you?”
“Cameron, what were you going to show me?” I asked, interrupting their exchange. I didn’t need them getting too familiar. I was trying to get away from these fools, not pull them in closer.
“I was on my tablet, and I found a video about how to make a robot at home.”
