Sound of Heartache ( Sound of Book 2)

by Roy, Chelsea

  “Does that mean you’re gonna ask my mama to marry you?” Brenna asked him. She was watching him carefully as she asked the question and Brent choked on the water. How in the hell did this little girl have a window into his mind? He wondered if all children were so perceptive.

  “Brenna…” He wasn’t even sure how to begin to answer this question. He felt like he was a soldier who’d been dropped in a field laden with hidden landmines. No matter what way he turned, he was likely to blow something up. He didn’t want to lie to her, but this was something between him and Aimee.

  “Uh-oh. You’re using my real name. That’s not good,” Brenna muttered with surprising insight. Brent laughed a little.

  “It’s just, this conversation is a really grown-up one to have, you know?” He told her carefully.

  “Oh, I know it is. But I think you and my mom should get married.” Brenna’s earnest face stared out at him from the screen of his iPad.

  “Bug, we don’t even live in the same city yet. She hasn’t even seen my new house. What if she doesn’t like it?” He asked, trying to buy a little time so he could formulate a real answer. Brenna’s face broke into a giant smile.

  “Daddy, you’re silly! Your house is awesome. She’ll love it. And if she doesn’t, I know you’d find her a new one.” Outwitted by his ten-year old daughter. Fantastic.

  “Your mom and I haven’t really talked about her moving here, or me moving there. I think maybe I should talk to her about that first, don’t you?” Brent exhaled and ran a hand over his face, forgetting briefly that his daughter could see him. “Those are things you should talk about before you talk about getting married.” He finally said.

  Brenna’s face looked concerned. “I know you guys were going to get married before mama had to go away to have me. So if she never went away you guys would already be married and she would live in San Diego. So we should move there, not you here.” She nodded her head as if everything was already settled. For her, it probably was.

  Brent couldn’t deny he was trapped by Brenna’s logic. She was correct in the way only a kid could be. Uninterrupted, he and Aimee would have celebrated their 10th anniversary this year. Instead they were slowly reacquainting themselves in an intricate, convoluted dance. He knew with certainty that Aimee still loved him even though they hadn’t said they words, so that wasn’t an issue. But how would she feel about moving to San Diego? Was he being presumptuous to think she would uproot her life and move for him? Damn, he was tired of wondering and waiting. It was time to man up and start doing.

  “Well… if you were going to plan the best way to ask your mama to marry me, how would you do it?” Now that the words were out there, ideas began to flash through Brent’s mind. He pretty much had unlimited money at his disposal, so if he decided to do it he could do whatever he wanted. Would she like a beach proposal? A hot air balloon? A ferris wheel? Brent immediately dismissed those things as too cheesy. Aimee was someone who appreciated sentimentality, not big romantic gestures. But what could he use to appeal to her with? What would be most meaningful coming from him?

  Brenna’s face scrunched up in thought for a few moments, before it smoothed out again and she smiled. “If it were me doing the planning, I would recreate one of your very favorite days with her. Take her to the same places. Do the same things. Show her you remember that stuff. And then I would ask her at the end of the day.”

  Brent felt a large smile stretch across his face. Clearly his girl knew her mom well. Aimee would melt over something like that and it would be the perfect opportunity to remind Aimee of how they’d fallen in love in the first place.

  “Bug, you’re a genius.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  “I’m still not sure why we had to drop Brenna off with Jack and Ellie. They’re going to think the worst of us. We dump Brenna on them every time I come around!” Aimee stood next to Brent’s car with her hands on her hips. It was his real car this time, not a rental, but still a Mercedes SUV. The mild breeze in Encinitas blew her long dark hair around her shoulders and it was hard to maintain a good glare when the weather was almost as gorgeous as the man. Brent looked unapologetic.

  “Look, Jack owes me. He’s happy to help. Plus, I think Brenna lets him and Ellie have two seconds to breathe. Little Elliott can be some work and he adores Brenna.” Aimee wasn’t entirely convinced that his friends didn’t think she was the worst mom ever for ditching her kid at the first opportunity. Neither Jack nor Ellie had anything negative to support her paranoia; in fact, they seemed enthused to see Brenna and had been genuinely nice to Aimee. But, still.

  “Are you sure this isn’t something we can do with Brenna?” She asked for what was probably the fifth time since finding out that morning they had plans.

  “Aimee, my sweet woman, get in the car. I’ve got plans for the day and they don’t include Brenna.” Aimee frowned but slid into Brent’s SUV. His car was sleek and beautiful but nothing like what she’d thought a rock star would drive. She’d been so certain he drove a Porsche or Tesla or something similarly obscene.

  “You’re still not telling me what we’re doing?” She asked him. She watched as he deftly navigated the car through the busy streets and onto the interstate. They were headed back down into San Diego and that had her very curious.

  “I’ll tell you this much. We’re going to take a stroll down memory lane. How’s that?” Brent glanced over at her and smiled. She smiled back, liking the idea of revisiting some of the spots they used to hang out at. She wondered if the coffee house where they spent so many hours studying was still there. Surely something like it still was because where there were students, there had to be coffee. Brent’s attire didn’t give her many clues. He was dressed very casually in a lightweight button up cotton shirt with the sleeves rolled up his forearms and untucked from his cargo shorts. His hair was in the traditional pomp, but with his sunglasses on he looked pretty tamed down.

  “I’d really like that,” she confessed, and reached over the console to link his free hand with hers. “I’ve missed Point Loma.” Brent squeezed her hand gently and she regarded their intertwined fingers. His hand was so much larger than hers, and it was roughed considerably by playing the guitar. He made her feel very feminine.

  As they drove toward the city, she and Brent chatted about the drive from Vegas to San Diego. She told Brent about a couple of the games she played with Brenna to help make the time pass. She had learned early on that being inventive was the only way to travel with a child in the car. If you weren’t, you were in for a long and painful ride.

  “What about slug bug?” He asked her, after she finished telling him about the name-the-state game, which involved seeing who could get the most license plates from different states. She’d won that game this time, much to Brenna’s dismay.

  “Hello, of course we played slug bug. That’s a given. But you know, your daughter is a slugging aficionado. My arm was killing me by the time we got to your house!” Aimee rubbed her arm in imagined pain and gave an exaggerated grimace. Brenna really did have eagle eyes and could spot a Bug from miles away. She won the dang game every time they played.

  Brent finally pulled into a parking lot on their old campus. Aimee was swamped with memories of their time together. Walking. In class. Kissing. Falling in love. She smiled over at him, his image wavering as she fought back tears.

  “C’mon, let’s go for a walk.” Brent hopped out of the car and was opening her door before she had hardly even unbuckled herself. He pulled her out of the car gently and waited patiently while she stowed her purse under the back seat. Fingers threaded, they began to walk across the campus. Aimee knew instinctively they were walking toward the building that housed the biology department.

  “You were so grumpy that first day,” Aimee told him, recalling the first time she had seen him. When she sat next to him, she had been immediately drawn to the scruff along his chin and his unusually styled hair. Most of the time he was clean-shaven, but he hadn’t be
en that day. His extraordinary looks had been intimidating for a seventeen year-old freshman, but she had pushed forward intrepidly.

  “I was intimidated as hell,” he admitted ruefully. She gave a small laugh. He was smarter than he gave himself credit for and she knew he would have done just fine without her. They paused at the bottom of the steps of the building where he had taken a chance and held her hand as they’d walked away from their first biology exam. Everything had changed after that day.

  “You were intimidating you know,” Aimee said, squeezing his hand. He pulled back a little, looking completely shocked. Not once had Aimee ever told him that.

  “You didn’t let on!” He told her. She just shook her head. They began walking again, this time the route very familiar.

  “Is it still there?” Aimee held her breath. She didn’t know why it was so important to her that the stupid coffeehouse still be the same. She glanced over at Brent’s profile. He was smiling.

  “It’s changed hands a few times, but yeah. It’s still there.” Aimee’s steps quickened and Brent laughed at her. It only took a few minutes to reach the store, and Aimee was thrilled to see the business thriving when they went inside. She let Brent order their regular drinks and she waited with him at the beverage bar for them to come up.

  “Are we staying here? I can grab a couple chairs if we are,” she offered. Brent just shook his head. She was interested in where they were going to go after this, but she was enjoying the day too much to really worry about it. When the barista called out Brent’s name, he grabbed their drinks from the bar and hooked his arm through hers.

  “C’mon. One last stop. We can drink these while we walk.” Brent handed over Aimee’s drink, and she took the cold cup from him. It seemed silly to be drinking an iced drink in late November, but San Diego winters weren’t exactly cold. They began walking down a very familiar sidewalk and Aimee felt a tightening deep in her chest.

  “I was so nervous to go to your apartment that first time. I wasn’t really comfortable with guys yet, and definitely not with you. You were so sexy and I had a giant crush on you. I was afraid if we were alone together, I’d do or say something incredibly stupid,” Aimee confessed.

  Brent glanced over at her and grinned. “I really had no idea. You were so hard for me to read. Luckily we got it right, though.” Aimee grinned back and took a long pull from her straw. They had definitely gotten it right.

  She grimaced as a memory hit her. “And then I almost prevented Brenna from being created.” She squeezed his hand. “Sorry about that. Again.” Brent gave a dry chuckle.

  “Yeah, I wasn’t too sure everything was going to work right after that.” They both chuckled.

  When they hit the parking lot of the apartment complex, Aimee looked around. The buildings had fresh paint and had clearly been kept up due to their proximity to the campus. The color was a little different but everything seemed so much the same that she felt transported in time. Brent continued through the lot, and Aimee was surprised when they began to climb the stairs. She had figured they would just stand and reminisce, but apparently not.

  Both of their footsteps slowed as they walked down the covered hall. “How long did you stay here after I left?” Aimee asked Brent.

  “About a year. I kept thinking I had to stay so you’d know where to find me. When we finally started getting recognized, Eric convinced me you’d be able to get to me if you wanted to, and we moved. I wouldn’t have survived without him.” The look on Brent’s face was reflective, but not angry, which made Aimee tremendously relieved. She didn’t want to spoil their day.

  They stopped outside Brent’s old apartment door and contemplated it. Brent’s warm hand slid into hers and she leaned against his shoulder.

  “I’ve regretted so much of what happened, but I wouldn’t change a thing. You were the best thing to ever happen to me,” Aimee told him sincerely. She took a deep breath, before slowly exhaling. It felt good to say those words. Brent leaned his forehead against hers.

  “Neither would I,” he murmured.

  The apartment door popped open, startling Aimee so badly she almost dropped her drink. A grinning Eric stood there. He propped his arm up against the doorway, effectively blocking their entry into the apartment.

  “Hey kids,” he said mischievously. Aimee took a gasping breath, and to her horror, burst into tears.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Oh God. Oh, God! Aimee sobbing was not the reaction Brent anticipated when he paid the kid who rented the apartment three months of his rent to let them use it for the day. The kid had been willing to do it for free because he was a huge fan of the band, but Brent knew what it was like to be a struggling student so he insisted on the payment. Brent looked down at the woman he loved, before glancing over at Eric helplessly.

  “Babe… Aimee, don’t cry,” he said, feeling like an ass. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to make you sad.” He looked over at Eric, who was standing there looking just as lost as he felt, and mouthed, “Help me!”

  Eric opened the door further before saying, “This nice guy doesn’t make pretty girls stay out in the cold.” He sounded flirty and stupidly silly, and Brent knew Aimee would respond well to it. She gave a hiccupping laugh.

  “I have heard that a nice guy lives here,” she said, her words echoing a line she uttered a decade previously. Brent kept his hand at the small of her back as she entered the apartment. Her eyes darted around, taking in the familiarity of the room but cataloguing all of the differences because it was now someone else’s home.

  Eric moved into the kitchen like they’d rehearsed and Brent’s heart began to race. It was now or never. He took Aimee’s hands into his. Both sets were shaking. Even though they were in a good place now, being back in this tiny apartment was overwhelming.

  “Aimee. This apartment is where I first fell in love with you. It’s where I realized how much you meant to me. It’s where I made love to you for the first time. It’s where we began.” Brent kept his voice steady. Aimee was trembling and her beautiful eyes were wide on his.

  “It’s also where you made me,” a soft voice said, and their daughter walked down the hallway. “It’s where you found out I was coming. It’s where you planned for me to live when I was born. It’s where I was first loved.” Brenna stepped into the circle with her parents. Brent beamed at her. He couldn’t have been any prouder of her. He looked back at Aimee, who had tears streaming down her cheeks.

  “This apartment has been so important to us, to our family. I thought it needed one more thing to happen here.” Smiling, he dropped to his knee. He clumsily set his drink on the floor and fumbled a box out of his pocket.

  “Oh, Brent. Oh my God.” Aimee choked out. Brent could see even her knees were trembling, she was shaking so hard.

  “Aimee Bryant Lansing, will you marry me?” Brent asked, as he held the now-open box up to her. Inside the box was a large solitaire ruby engagement ring set in platinum with two rows of much smaller diamonds running on either side of it. Brent knew Aimee loved rubies because it was her birthstone, and now Brenna’s too. The ring was unique and beautiful and fit his Aimee perfectly.

  Aimee’s surprisingly steady hand picked up the ring and slid it onto her finger, where she smiled down at it through the tears that continued to rain down her cheeks. She looked away from the ring and into his eyes. “A million times over, yes.” Brent felt a smile stretch his face and felt the wetness of his own tears.

  “Yes?” He said. She nodded.

  “Yes,” she whispered, and as he stood with shaking legs, she pulled him and Brenna into a tight hug. “Yes!” she cried out happily, and they all laughed through their tears.

  EPILOGUE

  Their wedding was very small. He and Aimee wanted it that way. Their relationship had started off very inauspiciously and it seemed to make sense to affirm it quietly among their friends and family. Brent’s parents had attended, as had the nurse who helped deliver Brenna. The entire band was there,
too, of course.

  Brent couldn’t help but smile at the memory of his parents meeting Brenna. They had been stunned to learn they were grandparents and hadn’t once held a grudge against Aimee for the choices she made. Despite Aimee’s nervousness, he had brought them all together the same weekend he proposed and things couldn’t have gone better. They lived less than two hours away and were so completely charmed by his girl that they were down in Point Loma every other weekend. Sometimes Brenna went and stayed with them in Orange County, giving him and Aimee some serious alone time. Brent’s mom had been infuriated to learn what Aimee’s mom had tried to do and she was working hard to build a solid relationship with Aimee. Brent loved his parents for their easy acceptance of his little family.

  At Aimee’s request, Brent had secured permits for them to be married on a quiet stretch of beach. A violinist had sat off to the side, playing soft music for the small crowd. The late spring afternoon was mild and temperate and the blue skies were cloudless. It was impossible for the day to be any more perfect.

  When Aimee appeared and walked barefoot across the sand toward him, hand in hand with their daughter, Brent had nearly fallen to his knees and wept. The only other time he could recall her looking so radiantly beautiful was when she had been pregnant with Brenna. Her dress was incredibly simple and the lightweight fabric fluttered in the slight breeze. He had been unable to prevent his eyes from watering, and as Aimee had drawn closer, he could see her eyes were just as shiny. Taking her slender hand in his allowed him to draw a deep breath and relax. Brenna stood to his other side and Brent had never felt more loved in his life. Feeling the weight of the simple platinum wedding band resting on his finger gave him a feeling of completion and he knew Aimee felt the same when he slid the simple eternity band next to her ruby engagement ring.

  Brent had planned a small surprise, and after sliding on Aimee’s band, he turned to his daughter. He spoke of his love and commitment to her and promised to be there for her in every way possible. He slid a small band onto her right hand that was made up of small diamonds and rubies intertwined. He asked her to remember how much her parents loved her whenever she looked at it, and her simple reply had been, “I will”.