No More Waiting, She Chooses Love

"Sis-in-law, I can't believe you're also heading to Houston," Susie greeted me with the same bubbly enthusiasm she always had, calling me 'sis-in-law' as if nothing had changed.

It was as if she was blissfully unaware of the gossip swirling around Ernest online, but I knew better. She had seen it, choosing instead to feign ignorance for the sake of our interaction. Despite being Ernest's sister, Susie was her own person, and the turmoil between Ernest and me wouldn't affect her feelings toward me.

"Maybe you should start calling me just 'Licia,' not 'sis-in-law,' given..." I let out a self-deprecating chuckle, "your brother's decided to tie the knot with someone else."

My words seemed to freeze the smile on Susie's face, and she looked on the verge of tears.

"No," she shook her head vehemently, "you're my sis-in-law, the only one I'll ever acknowledge. No one else will do."

Though her words did little to mend my heart, they did offer a sliver of comfort to my fractured spirit.

I couldn't help but cherish her all the more for it.

"Licia, I swear, he still loves you," Susie suddenly raised her hand as if taking an oath.

gesture reminded me of the promise I had made to Ernest just the

her hand, "Let's skip the vows for now. How can you be so sure

besides everything I've told you before, there was this one time... Ernest got really drunk, and I went to his room to bring him water in the middle of the night. I found him holding your stuffed bear, and he even mistook me for you, calling out your name... He seemed to be saying something about... asking you to wait for him, until

done that, or was Susie just spinning tales

on this flight is thanks to a ticket my brother bought," Susie added, catching me off guard.

sure about that. I've been nagging him about going to see the baseball game for days, and he kept saying no Then suddenly today, he buys me a ticket. I think he knew you'd be on this flight and agreed just so I could keep you company,"

seemed too

why would he, a man who had let me go, stage

question only Ernest could answer. Turning to Susie, I asked, "So, you're

Susie's face twisted awkwardly

leaned

that I like baseball, it's that Mack Craig does. He's going to

so she was

how Mack had ghosted her after her confession, I couldn't help but ask, "Did he get