Stealing Promises

by Brina Courtney

  She waved back and began to look around the party in search of Brighton. It didn’t take her long to find him sitting on a log next to the fire alone. She pointed him out to Claire and walked over by herself while Claire chatted with some other former members of the cheerleading squad. She had always been more outgoing than Victoria. She was focused on her social life which proved to be important now that she was working in marketing.

  When Victoria got to Brighton he stood up awkwardly like he didn’t know how to greet her. He settled on a quick kiss on the cheek. “Some party. Thanks for inviting me.”

  “Sorry that we’re late. I had a dinner with Kate I had to finish up. Has anybody talked to you yet?”

  “Talk to the bloke that no one knows? Not really. People seem a little close minded around here.”

  She sat down next to him, “Well, then you haven’t met our hippies yet. Because they love everybody.”

  He laughed, “I assume you weren’t part of that group in high school.”

  She shook her head, “Oh no. I was a total nerd. All that I was focused on was college and getting to the next step of my life. I didn’t take a lot of time to enjoy the time that I had. Always focused on the next step, never living in the present.”

  He looked at her like he was considering something, “So, are you telling me you are not spontaneous?”

  “I certainly wasn’t in high school. I guess I could be a little bit more now. Remember, I do like an adventure.”

  He took her cup from her hand. “Then let’s have one.” He set both the plastic cups in the sand and stood up taking her hand.

  “Where are we going?”

  “If I told you then I’d have to kill you.”

  Victoria looked over her shoulder to see Claire still making her rounds with the group. She wouldn’t miss her if they were only gone for a little bit. “Well, I don’t want that to happen. Let’s go.”

  She and Brighton ran far down the beach to another lit fire, this one unoccupied. They stopped out of breath and he started to take off his clothes. “What the hell are you doing? We’re not that far away from the group! Someone is going to see you.”

  Brighton laughed while he removed his shirt unveiling a six pack and rock hard pecs. “That’s part of the adventure. Getting caught.”

  “You’re dangerous.”

  “And you’re a prude.”

  She folded her arms and he knew he gone too far, “Come on Tori. Come in the water with me.”

  “It’s freezing,” she countered. Tori, nobody called her Tori except her dad, but she kind of liked it.

  “Who cares?”

  She knew it wasn’t the fact that it was cold that was stopping her, it was the water. She looked out and watched the waves crash on the shore while Brighton continued to remove his clothes. When he was left in nothing but a pair of boxer briefs she knew she had to make a decision.

  “You have to promise me something.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You’ll hold my hand.”

  He smiled, “I was hoping you would ask.”

  She took off her jacket and shoes first then removed a tank top and jeans to reveal very plain set of underwear. She had no plans of showing them off that evening.

  Slowly Brighton grabbed her hands and gently pulled her into the water. Instead of the nightmare she expected, she felt free. Truly free. Her emotions washed away with the water and, for the first time in months, she didn’t think about Levi. She only thought about Brighton and the water flowing around her.

  He held tight to her hand while she stood and looked up to the stars. Her concentration only broke when he whispered to her, “You make me feel alive. I don’t know what it is about you, but ever since that first day you walked into group… You just make me feel like I want to be better.”

  She looked over at his glistening body in the moonlight and noticed that around his neck were set of dog tags. His loss.

  All the realness of the situation came crashing down upon her with the next wave. The water was ice cold against her skin and it was time to get out. “I’m freezing, let’s go sit by the fire.”

  She let go of his hand and walked away leaving him speechless in a sea of questions.

  Only after they put their clothes back on and sat next to the fire on the sand was she ready to ask a question that had been burning in her mind.

  “Are those dog tags yours?”

  He absentmindedly ran his fingers along the chain around his neck. “Mine? No, they’re not mine.”

  Then she was right. “They belong to the person you lost. The reason you started the group?”

  “I didn’t start the group, but yeah, she was why I joined it.”

  She. The word struck Victoria like a slap in the face. Here she was having told him all about her past love when he had never mentioned his.

  “Who was she?”

  He looked away. She noticed the rough facial hair he had left on his chin and lower cheeks in the light of the fire. Shadows of his past danced on his face. Brighton was uncommonly beautiful and his thick British accent allowed Victoria to fall into the story with ease.

  He took a deep breath before starting his tale, “Tiffany and I were best friends in high school. She was awesome. She liked football and really had a lot of respect for people, you know? But some things were really hard for her. Some people were really hard on her. Her dad was a mess and her mom was pretty absent. They split up when she was little and she always hoped that her mom would take more of an interest in her, but she never did. My mum practically raised her for most of her high school life. Until I decided to go to college and she opted for the military and we kind of lost touch. My mum would tell me that she would call her and update her but I didn’t hear from her as much. I don’t even know if she ever met someone.” He paused, clearly reflecting on his loss of contact with her. ”And then she got deployed. I remember her calling me the night before she left. It was the first time we had talked in weeks. She was so excited and so scared at the same time. She was being trained in the medical field and when she got out would have become an RN. It was an amazing opportunity for a kid like her--someone who didn’t come from anything, someone who needed to run away. Three months after she had arrived in Afghanistan, her transport vehicle hit a roadside bomb. Four guys and Tiffany exploded. There wasn’t even anything left to identify accept her dog tags.” He pulled them from around his neck and held them in his hand. “This is all I have left of her.”

  Victoria sat silently, unsure of what to say. At least she had been there when it happened with Levi, but to not see it or have any real closure was terrifying. Brighton took another deep breath before continuing on, “You know her dad didn’t even come to her funeral?” He shook his head. “Her mum showed up, but she stood in the back and didn’t say anything to any of us. I’m not even sure she knew she was in the military.” He looked out over the water. “I just don’t get it. How could someone so amazing just fall away like that? Only twelve people came to her funeral. It’s not right.”

  Victoria picked at the sand, avoiding eye contact with Brighton hoping that she could think of something wise to say. But nothing came out.

  “Sorry. I hate when I dump on people like that.”

  She looked up to meet his eyes, seeing clarity within them. “Don’t be sorry. Sorry is for wimps; you and I are both stronger than sorry. Your friend was fighting for her country, she was doing what she thought was right. She died doing what she thought was right. Just like Levi. He died protecting me. Our situations are similar in a way. But I’m not sorry, and you shouldn’t be either.”

  Brighton sat speechless staring open mouthed at the petite girl in front of him. Victoria didn’t know when she had gotten so strong, but suddenly she felt like she could handle anything.

  “I’m not going to law school,” she told him. He cocked his head in confusion.

  “Were you supposed to?”

  She nodded, “Harvard or Yale… I had offer
s from both.”

  “Impressive.” He sat back relieving some of the tension in his body.

  “Yeah it is. But I’m not going. Instead I’m going to write a book.”

  “A book? You’re going to give up law school to write a book? I thought your thing was poetry.”

  “I’m not giving anything up. And I do like poetry, but I want to write a book about grief and what it’s like to get through it.”

  She absentmindedly touched the scars on the inside of her arm. “I tried to commit suicide you know. About a week after Levi died. I don’t ever want to feel that low again.”

  “Wow. You are not at all what I expected. Everything you say surprises me.” Brighton crossed his arms in front of him studying Victoria with judging eyes.

  “What did you expect?”

  “A mopey ex-fiancée still holding onto a life that doesn’t exist anymore.”

  “That was honest.” She wasn’t offended, just intrigued.

  “But you’re not like that. You’re completely letting go of your past to embrace a totally new future. One with lots of questions.”

  She nodded, “I haven’t completely let go, but I’m trying. Maybe you should try it sometime. Take a bit of your own advice from group. Put away your anger and resentment and just be happy with the time that you had with her. She sounds like she was special.”

  “Maybe I should. So where can I stay in this quaint little town?”

  “Well, there’s a B&B in town.”

  “Smashing. I’ll find it.” He took out his phone and started scrolling. “You good?”

  “Yeah, I’m staying with my parents. Actually, we should get back, Claire’s going to worry.”

  He stood up slowly offering her a hand. She took it but once she was up, he didn’t let go. They walked back to the party together. Victoria tried to ignore the chills because she knew they weren’t from the water, they were from him.

  15

  16

  “Your phone’s been going off an awful lot,” Victoria’s mom commented the next morning. It was true; Brighton hadn’t stopped texting since last night.

  “Yeah well…”

  “Well, who is he?” Her mom turned her back to Victoria and continued to work on her pancakes.

  Victoria sighed, “His name is Brighton, he’s from group.”

  “Oh?” She could tell her mom was playing games. Either she already knew about him, thanks to Kate, or she didn’t want to spook her.

  “Go ahead, Mom, tell me what you want to know.” I downed the rest of my orange juice like it would help me get the words out.

  Her mom turned around wiping her hands on her apron. With her beautiful blonde hair and soft blue eyes she was just an older version of Victoria and Fallon. “I want to know if he makes you happy. Parents always worry about their kids no matter how old they are. So does he make you happy?”

  That was so much more of a loaded question than Victoria was prepared for. “He makes me think. And he makes me feel.”

  Her mother nodded. “Okay then.”

  Victoria held her empty glass in her hands. “I don’t want to be empty anymore Mom. I want to be more than that.”

  Her mom came over and sat down in the chair next to her, reaching across to take Victoria’s hands in her own. “Then be more.”

  Victoria called Brighton after talking with her mom. She wanted to spend more time with Brighton; he made her think.

  “Did you have fun last night?” He asked smugly.

  “It was interesting.”

  “Adventurous?”

  “Yes, you could call it that.”

  “So I have a two hour drive back to school today. Any interest in joining me?”

  “You and me in the car for two hours. I don’t know… besides I drove up here with Claire.”

  “Okay,” he sounded defeated.

  She didn’t want to disappoint him. She wanted to give this real effort. “You know what? Let me text Claire.”

  “Brilliant. I’ll pick you up in an hour.”

  “Great, I’ll text you my parent’s address.” Wow awkward.

  He was silent for a minute before he said, “Cheers,” and hung up the phone.

  Two uninterrupted hours alone with Brighton. She was getting adventurous.

  When Victoria texted Claire a few minutes later she wasn’t shocked by the response.

  You’re going home with him?

  -Well he’s taking me home.

  Yeah

  -What?

  Nothing. Good for you. I’m going to Brad’s. I’ll see you at home tonight

  -K. See ya.

  She knew what Claire was thinking without even hearing her voice. This wasn’t the Victoria she knew, the planned out calculated type A person who was never spontaneous. But Brighton made her feel daring. That there was some great mystery behind each corner and he would help her put the puzzle pieces together to figure it out.

  She packed her things quickly and sat out on the front porch with her bag next to her reading book. At first when the silver Audi showed up she didn’t even move. When she heard the footsteps approach her she looked up from her latest novel.

  “All right?”

  “Yeah. Let me just say goodbye to my mom. My dad is on a golf trip.”

  He nodded and she turned swiftly and went into the house. She ran into the kitchen where her mom was still working on her latest baking masterpiece.

  “I’m leaving Mom.”

  Her mother wiped her hands on her apron and embraced her. “Love you kiddo.”

  “Love you too Mom.”

  As she left the house she heard her mom yell to them saying, “Be safe.” Some things parents will always tell you, but sometimes they mean more than you realize.

  Brighton had already put her bag in the car and started the engine. He was leaning casually next to the passenger side door and opened it upon her arrival. She sat down expecting to be nervous but instead felt relaxed as he pulled out of her driveway and they started their trip.

  “Your house is amazing. You grew up there, right?”

  She nodded, “Yeah, my parents, my sister, and I.”

  “Older or younger?”

  “She’s got three years on me. She’s married now, but she lives close by. That was my plan to until…”

  “Until your boyfriend got shot?” The way he said it, so nonchalant, suddenly made Victoria feel uncomfortable.

  “He wasn’t just my boyfriend. Levi was everything to me.”

  He looked over at her with his mouth open slightly. His chiseled features outlined by the sun behind him. “I didn’t mean to offend. That was stupid of me to say.”

  “I’m glad you see it that way. But yeah, I didn’t have any plans to move far away, but I kind of like where I live now.”

  “Sometimes I miss London. The architecture and the beauty of its age, but there’s nothing there for me anymore. Is there something here for you?”

  She shrugged, unsure how to answer him. Was there anything here for her anymore? She didn’t know. Her family would always be in Cape Haven, but her past haunted her here too.

  They sat in silence for a while listening to music. Victoria almost fell asleep before Brighton let it be known why he actually asked to take her home.

  “So are you seeing anyone?”

  “No, are you?”

  He smiled, “No, but there’s someone I would like to see.”

  “Oh? Who’s that?”

  “You.”

  She gulped. How was she supposed to respond to that? He knew her past and knew that she wasn’t ready to start dating yet. But here he was professing his feelings for her. And she had to admit that her heart was beating harder than it had in months.

  “Me?” She choked out. “Why me?”

  “You’re interesting and unique.”

  “I am?”

  “You are. You’re also incredibly beautiful.”

  “Thank you.” She was sincere knowing that his words were hone
st made her feel grateful for his compliments.

  “So what do you think?”

  She looked out the window unable to make eye contact with them. She knew if she looked into those green eyes that she wouldn’t tell him the truth.

  “I’m not ready yet. I want to be, but I’m not.”

  “Do you feel anything for me?”

  She knew that she did. She couldn’t stop thinking about the way that he talked or about how he made her feel. Brighton was something special; someone she wanted to hold onto.

  “Yes,” she whispered. “But that doesn’t change the way that I feel.”

  As they approached her apartment complex he stopped. “But you do feel something for me. And that’s a start.”

  She nodded, pursing her lips.

  He pulled up in front of her apartment and got her bag without another word. He opened her door and when she exited the car he passed her luggage to her.

  “This is goodbye.”

  “So it is,” she offered, still stunned by their conversation in the car.

  “I’ll call you. And I’m not some American prick, so I actually will call.”

  She laughed, “Good to know.”

  He kissed her quickly on the cheek. “Goodbye Victoria.”

  She rubbed the spot where he had left his mark of affection. “Bye.”

  17

  Two months passed and Victoria spent most of her free time with Brighton. They spent their days perusing books and talking about their futures. Making big decisions with someone that was so new to her seemed so foreign but at the same time exhilarating. Graduation and the holidays were quickly approaching and she was trying to figure out where she would go from here. And if Brighton would be a part of it.

  “What do you think about this one?” She said tossing him a brochure of a campus on the West Coast.

  “Uhhh… totally?”

  She playfully hit him with another pamphlet. “You know graduation is only a couple weeks away and I need to make a decision.”

  “What about your book?” He rested his hands behind his head and leaned back on her bed.