A Matter of Heart Read Free Page A

next one, and the thousands and thousands after that.
     You’ve got people who care. Screw your dad. He knows jack about you.”
    “You sit so far away,” I
     say, because anything else would inspire the possibility of tears, especially
     in light of Kellan’s name being voiced. “You and Jonah both.” They sit next to
     each other, which I find incredibly unfair.
    Don’t think of him ,
     Caleb warns. You’ve been so good lately. And it’s a lie, and my
     Conscience knows it’s a lie, because even though we haven’t spoken in months, I
     still think about my fiancé’s twin brother too many times to count in a day.
    “Blame Fate,” Karl says, and
     I do. More than he knows.

 

    Technically, Jonah and I
     live next door to one another, thanks to a “just between guys chat” my father had
     with my boyfriend shortly before we’d graduated high school. This was
     astounding for several reasons, but the biggest was that my dad and I have the
     sort of relationship where the old saying “out of sight, out of mind” is
     grossly applicable. My mom and I look like best friends next to what my dad and
     I are like. Anyway, as Jonah later reported back, during this chat, which
     really was more of a lecture and a list of demands, one of the things my father
     basically said was that he expected his “little girl” to be treated like a
     lady. “Cohabitating, unmarried eighteen-year-old Council members, first and
     second tier, no less, would be unseemly,” he’d informed Jonah, who’d later done
     a pretty fair approximation of my dad when repeating it. “I speak for your father
     as well as Abigail—this sort of wanton behavior won’t be tolerated.”
    Now, this pissed me off
     because my father had, at the most, spent two months of time with me over the
     last year and—while I was at it—how dare he think he could dictate my life once
     I turned eighteen? Furthermore, I couldn’t recall a single time prior to this
     conversation in which he referred to me as his little girl . It was all
     the more ironic since Jonah was actually living under the same roof as me for
     the last couple of months of school, anyway; granted, my parents were, too, but
     still. They’d invited my Connection to move in once his twin moved back to
     Maine and their father started living in Annar full time. So, I called my
     father out on his hypocrisy and there was a face-melting argument between him,
     me, and my mother, but in the end, it was Jonah who was the voice of reason.
    “I promise you we will
     maintain separate addresses until we’re married,” he told them, and,
     incredibly, that was that. Jonah has this effect on people, which I envy. He
     comes across as so inherently confident and trustworthy, so levelheaded that
     hardly anyone ever second-guesses him. Even now, with only a month’s worth of
     sessions under his belt, he is a respected voice in the Council. As for my
     parents, there was nothing they could say when he and I choose apartments right
     next to one another because we did exactly as they asked.
    Not that I’ve told them
     about the open doorway I created between our places or anything. And it’s not
     like they actually come over to visit often, so . . .
    A sharp, invisible tug
     materializes as I ruminate about such things rather than the mind-numbing
     amount of paperwork for the upcoming atoll mission I’ve been given. There’s
     only one thing this strong sensation could mean. Jonah’s home.
    I leap off the couch and
     basically tackle him before he can even drop his backpack. One of the nice
     things about having a Connection who is an Emotional is that I don’t have to
     tell him how relieved I am to see him, especially after the day I’ve had.
    He already knows. And he’s
     already making it all better.
    That’s one of the perks of
     having a Connection. They’re your soul mate, created by Fate for you and only
     you. Somebody who’ll always love you, no matter what.