Grace’s eyebrows rose as she continued chewing, and a moment later she asked, “What else does he know about your background? Besides the fact that your father is a felon.”
Is this a trick? What does she already know? But she knew Grace, like any good attorney, would never ask a question without already knowing the answer. At least the answer to what was in her background. As far as Reese knew, Grace hadn’t talked to Brody about Reese, so she wouldn’t know what Reese had told him.
Reese swallowed over the knot in her throat. “He knows my mother is…is an alcoholic.”
A tight smile appeared on Grace’s mouth. “And soon you’ll have to tell him your father is a murderer.”
A soft gasp slipped from Reese’s mouth. It had been bad enough that her father was in prison on drug charges, but now he had killed a man. Maybe it was in self-defense. But she knew that didn’t matter. At least not to Grace.
“And Brody’s okay with all this?” Grace glanced away, then looked at Reese. “Of course he’s not, but he thinks he loves you, so he’s willing to overlook those deficiencies.”
They’re not my deficiencies!
“And what about Josh?” Grace asked. “How does Brody feel about your ex-husband?”
Fourteen
The blood drained from Reese’s face. Crap, crap, crap! I knew she’d find out, and now I’m going to have to not only tell Brody my father is a murderer, but that I was married before to a man who knew me well, knew my parents, yet still married me. And then stopped loving me when he found someone better.
“Brody doesn’t know, does he?” Grace said, her voice perfectly calm.
Mortified, Reese shook her head, barely managing to maintain eye contact with Grace, then murmured, “No.”
“No,” Grace echoed. “I wonder why you haven’t told him.”
Feeling defeated, Reese asked, “Why are you doing this? Why do you hate me?”
“Oh, Reese,” Grace said as her eyebrows pulled together. “I don’t hate you. I hardly know you, and you seem like a nice enough girl.”
“Then, why?”
Grace’s forehead smoothed out and she shook her head once. “Because I love my son, that’s why. I want what’s best for him. He’s been through enough, and I don’t want to see him hurt.”
Reese wondered what Grace was referring to, what Brody had been through, and realized there was much she didn’t know about him. He could say the same about you. For example, that you were married before. So don’t condemn him for not telling you everything about his life.
“What makes you think being with me will hurt him?” Reese asked. “Does he seem unhappy to you now?”
Grace set her fork down and rested her forearms on the table. “No. But then again, you’re a very beautiful woman, and he’s in the first blush of this lust-filled fling.”
Reese’s mouth fell open. Lust-filled fling? Is that how she sees my relationship with Brody? Offended in the extreme, she wanted to lash out, but then she realized she had no ammunition. Besides, she wasn’t completely certain Grace was wrong. Is she right? Is this all just a physical attraction? She briefly examined her feelings. Not on my part. But what about Brody?
She didn’t have an answer to that.
“It’s clear to me that you’re a smart woman,” Grace said, and Reese felt a shimmer of pride at her compliment. “And I think you’re beginning to understand what I’m trying to tell you. Is that correct?”
Do I see her point that I’m just a temporary plaything for Brody, a woman who’s not worthy of him? Yes, I know that’s what she’s trying to tell me, but that doesn’t mean I believe it. Sadness and despair seeped into her bones. At least, I don’t want to believe it.
Grace straightened and lifted her water glass. “I need to get back to my office, but I appreciate you taking the initiative and setting up this meeting.” She sipped her drink, then placed it on the table. “I think you know what needs to happen now.” She smiled with confidence. “It’s time for you to move along on your travels.”
No! No, I won’t do it. I won’t leave Brody. But Reese was too dazed by the way the lunch had turned out to argue with Grace.
Grace set her cloth napkin on the table. “I suggest you don’t delay the inevitable. There’s no point in drawing it out.”
Heart pounding, and desperate to fight back, Reese finally gathered the courage to speak up. Her mouth had gone dry, so she took a quick sip of water before saying, “No, Grace.”
Grace’s eyebrows rose.
To make her stance clear, Reese added, “I’m not leaving.” She lifted her chin. “Brody and I love each other, and that’s all there is to it.”
Grace’s eyes narrowed, then she leaned forward and her voice dropped to just above a whisper. “You don’t want to fight me on this.”
Dread pierced Reese’s pretend calm, and she wanted to lean away, but she forced herself to stay still. Pressing her lips together, she stared back, although inside she was quaking.
Grace straightened and smiled. “I’ll take care of the check. Good-bye, Reese.” Then she stood and walked away without a backward glance.
The moment Grace was out of sight, Reese let her emotions—fear, sadness, determination—take over as she began to breathe heavily. On the verge of losing it completely, she grabbed her purse and hurried to the ladies’ room where she pushed her way into a stall, locked the door behind her, and pressed her hands to her tear-filled eyes. Quiet sobs shook her shoulders, and she felt lonelier than she had in a long, long time. With no one to talk to, she didn’t know what she should do.
Should I tell Brody? Instinctively knowing that would cause all kinds of complications, she shook her head. Would he even believe me if I told him what his mother said? He’d seemed so convinced his family would love me… What went wrong? Why is his mother doing this? Does she really think we don’t love each other? Is she really so certain that Brody will end up hurt if he’s with me? And what happened to Brody in the past? Who’s Megan? Who’s Kayla?
Then the questions that bothered her the most filled her mind. Am I really unworthy of Brody? Will I ever find true happiness?
Confused, upset, distraught, Reese stayed in the stall until her sobs had turned into occasional deep breaths. When she finally ventured out of the stall and saw her reflection in the mirror—red eyes, rosy cheeks, smeared mascara—she knew she had to clean up her face before going back to Brody.
Twenty minutes later, once she thought she looked reasonably normal, she left the restaurant. As she drove back to Brody’s house in his car, everything felt surreal. I’m driving his car back to his house, and I don’t know what I’m going to tell him when he asks me how lunch with his mother went.
Fifteen
When Reese walked into Brody’s house, the only sound she heard was the crashing of ocean waves along the shore. The sound drew her attention to the open balcony doors where she saw Brody sitting on a lounge chair, his laptop balanced on his legs. He was facing the ocean, so she could only see the back of his head as well as his shoulders. Her first instinct was to rush into his arms to seek comfort and reassurance that his mother was wrong, that she was more to him than a temporary diversion fueled by physical attraction.
I know he loves me. I do. And I love him.
Fresh tears filled her eyes, but refusing to let them come, she drew in a deep breath before slowly releasing it, which helped her get her emotions under control.
Not wanting to interrupt him while he was working—especially because he hadn’t done a lot of work since her arrival the day before—Reese went into the bedroom to take some time to freshen up, which included touching up her make-up.
Just after she had finished, Brody walked into the bedroom.
“I thought I heard something,” he said with a warm smile.
When she saw him standing in front of her, love towards him suffused her. But sadness quickly followed. Sadness that if Grace was right, if he didn’t truly love her, her heart would be shatt
ered. “I’m sorry. I…I didn’t want to interrupt you while you were working.”
Brody noticed that Reese’s voice was soft, hesitant, uncertain. And there was something in her eyes, something he couldn’t put his finger on, but something he had seen when he had first met her, was first getting to know her.
He moved to stand in front of her, and gazed into her eyes. “I would rather be with you than working any day.”
Her lips turned up in a smile, and the look in her eyes seemed to clear. “Really?”
Why is she asking that? He laughed. “Of course, really.”
Her smile grew, which warmed him.
“How was your lunch?” he asked.
A dark cloud seemed to pass over her face, but a bright smile appeared a split-second later. “It was fine.”
I’m sure it wasn’t an easy conversation to have, having to tell my mother that she’d lied. “So you cleared everything up about your parents?”
She nodded. “Uh-huh.”
“And my mother wasn’t too upset about, you know, being lied to?” He knew his mother, and he knew she didn’t put up with lying. He just hoped she hadn’t been too hard on Reese.
Reese’s smile tightened. “I think we worked it out.”
Relieved, Brody smiled. Then he decided it was time for a break from work. I’ll work later tonight, but right now I have a better idea. “I have something for you.” Brody went to his closet, took out a large bag, then came back to stand in front of Reese. “Over the weekend, while I was missing you and wishing you were already here…” He smiled at the look of obvious pleasure on her face. “I decided to get you this.” He held the bag out to her.
She took it from him, but kept her gaze on him as she tried to forget the awful words Grace had spoken at lunch. I’m glad Brody didn’t push for any details of our conversation. I really don’t want to tell him what his mother said.
She glanced at the bag in her hands. “What is it?”
“I guess you’ll have to open it and see.”
Grinning like a child on Christmas morning, Reese opened the bag, reached in, and pulled out a wetsuit. She held it against herself. This will fit perfectly. Then, with a mock frown, said, “You don’t really think you’re going to get me back in the ocean, do you?”
Brody’s eyebrows went up. “Yes, I do.”
Then she thought about the parts she had enjoyed the last time he had taken her in the waves—like the way he had yanked her against his chest to protect her from the giant wave that had been approaching—and decided going with him in the ocean wouldn’t be so bad. I know he’ll keep me safe. “And when, may I ask, is this going to happen?”
His smile grew. “Right now seems like a perfect time, don’t you think?”
After the horrible lunch she had had with his mother, she knew it would do her good to focus on Brody. And in the ocean there would be nothing to distract them from each other—except the waves. But even the waves would give them an excuse to be close. “Okay.” She laughed at the look of surprise on his face.
Fifteen minutes later they were strolling down the beach, hand-in-hand, both wearing wetsuits.
“This is a good spot,” Brody said. “Let’s go in here.”
Reese looked at the never-ending waves and felt her fear notch up. Unconsciously, she gripped Brody’s hand more tightly.
Moving to face her, he said, “Don’t worry, my love. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
His reassurance, coupled with the look on his face and the tone of his voice, settled her nerves. “I know you won’t.”
The complete confidence in her voice, in her trust in him, filled Brody with love.
Holding her hand, Brody led her into the water, going deeper and deeper until the water reached her chest. Waves rushed past them, but he kept a tight hold on her, ready to do whatever it took to protect her, to keep her safe.
They faced each other, sideways to the waves, and Reese placed her arms loosely around his neck.
“Mmmm,” he murmured. “I like this.”
She pressed herself closer, until she was right against his chest, and he wished they were in swimsuits instead of wetsuits. Then he would be able to feel her skin against his.
“What are you thinking?” Reese asked as she gazed at him.
He smiled, then pressed his lips to hers. “Just how much I love you.”
The way he said it, so completely sure, filled Reese with renewed optimism that she was right and Grace was wrong. See? He really does love me. I don’t know what his mother’s problem is, but it’s just that. Her problem.
Determined to forget the things Grace had said to her, as well as the way it had made her sob in the bathroom, Reese stared into Brody’s blue-green eyes. “I love you too.”
They were so focused on each other, neither one noticed the approaching wave, and a cold burst of water crashed over them. Brody kept his grip on Reese, and though the wave pushed water up her nose, Brody kept her in place, secure in his arms.
Coughing, Reese cleared the salt water out of her nose and lungs
“I’m sorry,” Brody said. “I need to pay better attention.”
Overjoyed at his love for her, she was ready to forgive him anything. She laughed. “That’s okay.” Then, despite her best intentions to forget Grace and their entire conversation, something Grace had said cried out for an answer.
“Brody? Who’s Megan?”
Sixteen
What the heck? Reese’s question took Brody completely by surprise. Where did she come up with that? Did she find something in my room? Something with Megan’s name?
It wasn’t that he had been trying to hide anything, it’s more like he hadn’t been ready to talk to Reese about the woman he had been completely besotted with, the woman he had planned on spending the rest of his life with. Until she had been killed in a car accident.
Thinking about her still hurt, and he preferred to keep memories of her tucked away in a compartment of his mind marked Things to try to forget. But he knew he needed to tell Reese about Megan eventually. And now he had an opening.
Looking at the waves, Brody gathered his thoughts. Then he faced Reese. “She’s someone I once knew.”
What does that mean? Reese waited for Brody to give her more information, but he seemed reluctant, which worried her. Is this a woman he cared about? Still cares about?
Then, hating the idea, she realized maybe she shouldn’t dismiss out of hand the things Grace had told her. She’s known Brody a lot longer than I have. Loathing the thought, she quietly acknowledged that maybe what Grace had said had a glimmer of truth. Is she right that I’m just a distraction for Brody? As much as that thought hurt, Reese wasn’t afraid to face the truth. She had been willing to face the truth when she had fled after their first kiss, and she was willing to face the truth now.
Brody saw several emotions chase each other across Reese’s face—confusion, worry, sadness—and knew he had to tell her more. Much more.
“Megan…” Saying her name out loud nearly made him flinch, but he kept his expression under control. “I…That is, we were going to be married.”
Reese gasped in surprise. That was the last thing she had expected him to say. What happened? I can see he’s not over her. Did she dump him? When did this happen? Is he still in love with her?
Jealousy, sharp as a knife, pierced her. Fear was close on its heels. What if she shows up? Will he drop me like a bag of rotten garbage?
The thought made her feel small and insignificant—unworthy. His mother is right. And I’m an idiot for thinking his feelings for me are real.
Still, she had to know what had happened, what her own chances were to have a future with him.
Keeping her eyes steady on his, she asked, “Where is she now?”
Brody glanced at the waves before meeting her gaze. “Let’s head to the beach.”
That sounds serious. Do I really want to know?
But she did want to know. Desperately. “Okay
.”
They walked out of the ocean together, and the fact that Brody kept her hand in his gave her a measure of hope.
When they reached the sand, Brody pulled Reese down so that they sat side by side, facing the ocean. He wanted her to understand that though a part of him still loved Megan—and always would—she was in his past now. She had to be. Even so, losing her had affected him, molded him into who he was today.
Staring at their hands, he stroked Reese’s palm with his thumb.
“Why didn’t you marry her?” Reese asked. “What happened?”
He lifted his gaze from their hands and looked at her sweet face. Her expression was open, loving. But there was caution there too. And he couldn’t blame her.
“She was killed in a car accident.”
Reese’s lips parted. Pain was etched on Brody’s face, but selfishly, Reese was happy. “I’m so sorry,” she said. And though she empathized with his loss, she was overjoyed to know this woman Brody obviously loved wouldn’t appear out of the blue to take him away from her.
What kind of a person does that make me? She pictured Grace’s face at lunch, and heard her telling her that it was time for her to move on in her travels, and wondered if she was right. What kind of person is happy to find out someone died?
Cheeks burning with shame, Reese reached out and touched Brody’s face. He smiled sadly at her.
“When did this happen?” she asked.
“Last summer.”
Reese nodded. His pain still seems so fresh. “Why didn’t you tell me about her before?” And when would you have told me if I hadn’t asked?
A muscle moved in his jaw. “Because thinking about her hurts. A lot.”
Feeling dreadful about her own relief, she focused on Brody, wanting to take his pain away, but not knowing how. Her hand moved from his face to take his hands in hers.
Searching for Love: The Complete Story Page 24