Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Rhett
“Mom?” I call out as I walk into the house I used to call home. “Are you here?”
“I’m always here,” Mom calls from the kitchen.
Walking into the room, I stare at the stool where Brynlee sat on Thanksgiving. The memory of her covered head to toe in flour makes me both happy and sad. It was the last time I heard her laugh.
I force myself to look at Mom, who stopped washing dishes to stare at me. The World’s Greatest Grandma apron she got for her birthday captures my attention as I avoid her gaze.
“Need any help?” I ask.
A knowing look is her response.
“What?”
“Rhett, we both know this is not the reason you finally dragged your sorry behind back into this house. I’ve been washin’ dishes since before you were born, and I don’t need any help cleanin’ up lunch for just Pop and me. I’m just surprised it took you this long to show your face here.”
My heart sinks. “So… you heard, huh?”
Setting the rag in the sink, she leans against the counter and wipes her hands on her apron. “Heard? Are you kiddin’? I haven’t had so many people talk about one of my children since Rosemary got knocked up in high school.”
Clint was the biggest scandal of the family for years. Probably decades, actually. He and Rosemary fell madly in love the summer before junior year, and that love and passion got carried away. They were married and had a baby before they graduated from high school.
“How bad have the rumors gotten?”
Sitting on the stool at the island where Brynlee sat, I feel a heaviness weigh on me. I’ve spent two weeks avoiding people, and I hate that Mom’s heard all about it. As if I wasn’t already the disappointment in the family for being thirty-five and unmarried with no kids.
“Well, her ex from the city showed up, tryin’ to drag her back to Chicago by force if he had to, and popped her one in the mouth. Then you came out, scared him away, and dumped the girl as she stood there bleedin’ in front of everyone.”
Wow. That’s fairly accurate if not exaggerated. “I’ve lost my nice guy title, haven’t I?”
“Guess losin’ it isn’t everythin’ you hoped it would be, huh? So, Rhett, what really happened? Because I refuse to believe you’d do somethin’ so cruel to Brynlee.”
Swallowing, I can’t meet her eyes. The same as mine. I’ve never been able to lie to Mom. She sees right through any half-truths I try to give her, and I know she knows I lied to get out of the seven birthday parties that have been planned since Thanksgiving.
“I lost my mind,” I say because it’s very much the truth. How else do I explain what happened next? “Kevin showed up and tried to make her leave. She stopped me from beatin’ his ass when he grabbed her, which sent me into a spiral.”
Mom leans on the counter in front of me. “Why?”
“Because she protected him.”
“Did you ever stop to think that maybe she was protectin’ you? That man comes from money. He probably has seven lawyers on speed dial, and I have no doubt he would have sued the man he thought took his fiancée if he’d gotten the bop he likely deserved.”
Um, no, I hadn’t thought of that. At all. And now I feel like a bigger loser for everything that comes next. Damn it.
“They, uh, went outside to talk, and I don’t really know what happened there. I just know Everett came runnin’ into the bar shoutin’ that Kevin hit Brynlee, and when I got out there, he was leavin’ the parkin’ lot. She had a bleedin’ lip and ankle, but she said it was an accident.”
Her eyes widen. “Poor girl.”
“I lost it when she said she didn’t want to press charges. The whole situation with her engagement when I saw it still active online made me crazy. It was impossible to see any logic through the storm brewin’ in my mind.”
“This might be an absurd question, but did it ever occur to you to just… ask her about it? I know for a fact that she didn’t know until Thanksgiving.”
“It is absurd because it would have been logical. And, in case you missed it in the way this story has gone, logic and reasonin’ don’t make appearances.”
Mom sighs and rests her head in her hands. “I didn’t raise you to be this man, Rhett. You’ve always been better than this.”
“And I’ve always been left, Mom. I thought I was on borrowed time, and seein’ that countdown convinced me that she was goin’ back to him. If I asked her, she’d just lie like I thought she had been.”
“Rhett—”
“He’s a better man than I am, Mom.”
The glare I get makes me lean back as though lasers will shoot out and scald me. “First of all, he is not better than you.”
“He’s an underwear model.”
“And when has Brynlee ever made you feel as though you don’t measure up? From what everyone’s told me since you two got together, it’s clear as day that girl loves you. It was clear to me, too.”
I snap my eyes up to lock with hers. “What?”
“I saw it when I was talkin’ to her. It was written all over her face as she talked about the things she loved about you. She didn’t think you two were on the same page, and I don’t think she was wrong. It’s why she hadn’t told you yet.”
Everyone knew but me. “He’s richer than I’ll ever be.”
“She’s not hurtin’ for money herself. Besides, if that’s what she was after, she would’ve never left him.”
“I didn’t trust that she had actually left him,” I say and laugh when she gives me a stern look. One that tells me she knows I’m not this stupid.
“You don’t even know why she left him, do you?”
Licking my lips, I shake my head and stare at the counter. “I never wanted to know more than I had to about it. It was easier to pretend, for a while, that he didn’t exist anymore. Until he did.”
“He cheated on her.”
“What?” I glance back up at her as though I misheard her. “Who would ever… What? Why? She’s… she’s perfect.”
Mom nods and gives me a sad smile. “That’s when she decided to leave for good.
A life with him was what her mom wanted for her, but she wasn’t happy.
When she realized he hadn’t told anyone she was gone, she was devastated and angry.
Said she knew he was convinced she’d come crawlin’ back and was bankin’ on it. ”
“I’m officially the town idiot.”
“Try the world, baby,” she says with a shake of her head. “I heard another thing, Rhett.”
Bracing myself, I look at her. “I’m not sure I want to know what that is.”
She takes my hand, I know it’s serious. “Did you really tell her you didn’t believe her when she told you she loved you?”
“Sort of,” I admit. “I didn’t say it back like I should have.”
“Do you know hard that had to be for her? How scared she must’ve been to push back her fear of sayin’ it and facin’ rejection? She was scared of losin’ you because we all knew somethin’ was up with you on Thanksgiving, and I’m pretty sure you broke her heart.”
It’s been the biggest regret I have. As I lie awake every night, I keep replaying how things could have gone differently. All starting with telling her I love her back. Telling her I didn’t think she knew what love was is the marker of when things went downhill.
“Mom—”
“She grew up with these crazy rules her mom set for her, and I can’t imagine they’re easy to get past. But she did it to try to keep you, and you hurt her.
Worse, you did it more than once. First when you said you didn’t believe her and again when you ended things in front of the very people who have wanted to see her fall on her face since she showed up here. ”
Tears sting at my eyes as she releases my hand, and I nod. “I screwed up.”
“Yeah, you did. I wasn’t sure what to think of her when you brought her home because of what I’d heard, but there’s a lot more to her than that pretty face she has. She was the one, Rhett. The one for you, and you pushed her out the door. That’s not the man I raised.”
“I know,” I whisper.
“Not to mention that no other in-law in this family could have eaten dinner with us covered in flour with as much grace as that woman did. She’s different from us, but she’s special. And I hate to think how much that dress cost knowin’ it was probably ruined.”
“It’s killin’ me, Mom. I know I hurt her, and I want to take it back. So much. I knew the words that would cut her the deepest because I was angry and hurt, and it was all my own doin’. I’m the reason, I was hurt, but I took it out on her. I don’t know how I’m goin’ to fix this.”
Patting my hand, she gives me a sad smile. “I heard she’s called about gettin’ appraisals on the house and the land. Sounds like she’s plannin’ to sell the home she saw as her peace.”
It feels like a bomb just dropped in my stomach. Brynlee’s selling her house? I didn’t see it before, but when she’s done with someone, she’s done. And she seems to be done with me.
“Will you help me?”
“Help you how?” Even though she sounds skeptical, I appreciate the small glimmer of hope I see in her eyes.
“A couple of things,” I say and give her my biggest, most pitiful smile.
Mom sighs before chuckling and shakes her head. “Fine. What do you need?”
Opening the notebook I brought with me, I take out the envelope of pictures I have and slide them both over to her. “I need to figure out how to make somethin’ special for Brynlee. If she ever comes back, I need to make sure I have everythin’ for her.”
“What is this?” she asks and flips through the notebook.
“So, I ran into Uncle Barry at the mall a couple of weeks ago. He kind of gave me the idea without realizin’ it, but Brynlee wanted to know about her grandparents.
She doesn’t know much, and Barry mentioned Dr. Mackle.
So, I talked to him, and he and Brynlee’s dad were good friends, even up until he died. ”
“I didn’t know that,” she says and smiles as she pulls out a picture. It’s of Joe and John Mackle as boys. “I remember Joe now. He was runnin’ around with Barry for quite a few years.”
I smile. “Well, Mackle gave me a few stories to write down, and then I went to Fox Trot Valley to ask around about her mom’s parents. Got a few stories and pictures from them, too. There aren’t many, but there’s enough stuff here to make a book for her.”
“You got information about her family for her?”
Nodding, I pull out a picture of Brynlee winning Miss Ohio from the envelope. She looks absolutely stunning, and I can’t believe someone like her could ever love me. I also can’t believe I let her slip through my fingers.
“She doesn’t know this, as far as I know anyway, but her father took this picture.
He was there the day she won, and he told Mackle how proud he was of his daughter, and he’d been keepin’ tabs on her since the divorce.
He got this stuff when her father passed, so I have another book he made to give to her. ”
Mom smiles as she looks at the photograph. “She’s so poised for nineteen. Needs a bit more meat on her bones, but I feel that way about most women.”
I laugh and sigh. “You think you can help me?”
“You want my help scrapbookin’?”
Nodding, I give her a pleading smile. “Everyone should know about their family. I can’t imagine never knowin’ Pop Pop or Meemaw. She asked me once if I could tell her what I knew about Jensen and Kathleen, but I didn’t have much to tell her.”
“I can help with more information about them. This is such a thoughtful idea. How are you goin’ to get it to her?”
I point at her and shake my head. “I haven’t gotten that far yet. I might be able to talk to Darla. They’re in business together, and at the very least, I’m sure I could convince Darla to send it to her.”
“I’ll start workin’ on it tonight.”
“I need another favor.”
“You sure are askin’ for a lot, baby boy.”
Rolling my eyes, I hold back my groan. Hardy’s the baby boy, not me. “Do you know who was in charge of the Carmichael estate?”
“Jerry Jenkins, I’m sure. Why?”
“I was thinkin’ I could reach out to him. Maybe convince him to give me the names of people who bought items, and then I can try to get a few back for Brynlee. Give it to her with the scrapbook.”
“He should have an inventory list. Actually, he’ll give you a heck of a time with it, so let me have Pops talk to him. He can get it, and then I’ll help you go through the list. I might be able to help get a few things back.”
Relief fills me, and I stand up to hug her. Holding her tightly, I almost feel like a little boy again. “Thank you, Mom.”
“I just hope it’s not all for nothin’.”
“I need to believe she’ll come back,” I say into her fluffy hair as I fight back the tears.
“And when she does, I want to show her that the man she fell for is still here. The man who treated her so terribly and drove her away is long gone. Forever. I hate that man as much as she does, and we’ll never see him again. ”
“I’m goin’ to believe with you. I think she belongs with this family.”
Closing my eyes, I just let Mom hold me. Brynlee belongs here, and she belongs with me. If I ever get to see her again, I’m going to make sure she never questions how I feel ever again. I’ll do everything in my power to make her part of this family. Officially.