Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“It’s so great to have you home, honey.” Brynn had heard these same words from her dad at least a dozen times over the last hour.
When she’d walked in the door. As they’d made lunch.
While he’d updated her on the day-to-day of their life in Boston.
Even when she’d been on her way to the bathroom, and he’d looked up from where he was reading a newspaper.
Now, in the early afternoon, they were sitting in the den at her parents’ house, watching a movie. Even though they were nearing the end, Brynn couldn’t tell you half of what had happened so far. She’d been texting with Hallie almost nonstop, ahead of their date later that night.
Because Brynn had a girlfriend. A girlfriend she was missing very much right now. Especially with everything that Hallie had gone through yesterday. And even though she hadn’t wanted to leave her, Hallie’s conversation with her own mom had stirred something in Brynn.
Since going to Stoneport, she’d managed to get back to visit her parents almost weekly.
She knew that, for them, it was Stoneport that she was visiting, and they looked at Boston as her coming home.
Sure, in some ways, Boston would always be her home, but over the last two months, Stoneport had become the place that she wanted to be.
The place where she wanted to build a life.
She knew it with every fiber of her being.
There was no part of the world that would be as exciting to explore as her budding romance with Hallie.
No monument or natural wonder that could elicit feelings stronger than what it felt like to be wrapped up in Hallie’s arms, doing something as mundane as cuddling on the sofa.
What she’d always wanted, more than anything else in this world, was to feel connected to it. And now, because of Hallie and Reese and Sydney, she did.
She hadn’t been expecting to ask Hallie to be her girlfriend last night.
But she’d been looking down at beautiful lips and eyes and cheeks and that perfect dimple, and the words had just burst out of her.
Even though she’d already told Hallie that she was serious about them, talk was cheap.
She’d learned that from her ex-fiancé, of all people.
And making it official was the first step in proving to Hallie that she was in this for the long haul.
Selfishly, it was also something that she desperately wanted for herself.
For as much as Brynn loved definitions and frameworks, nothing came close to the overwhelming need that she’d felt last night to claim Hallie as hers. To make sure that Hallie knew that Brynn wanted her and her alone.
And in return, she wanted the same promise from Hallie. Desperately.
They were already building something together, regardless of how they’d been defining it.
That much had become clear to Brynn as she’d run her hands down the length of Hallie’s body, massaging the stress out of her tense muscles.
Putting her back together inch by inch with her hands and her words and her care.
And once the spark between them had ignited, like it always did, she’d wanted—no, she’d needed—to make sure that they were on the same page.
Because Brynn was all in.
Then, they’d all sprawled out on the sofa together, Reese and Sydney curled up on one side and her and Hallie on the other. It had only taken about half an hour for Sydney to stop teasing Hallie about their long overdue exit from her bedroom.
Brynn had loved every second of it. And tonight, when they went on their date, she wanted to be able to prove to Hallie just how serious she was about them.
She didn’t care if that made her seem crazy.
She’d already spent too long alone with these feelings—the pining and wanting and wishing—wondering if she was alone in them.
Worried that Hallie didn’t feel the same way.
On top of it, she’d spent even longer than that not even being aware of the breadth of emotions she could possibly feel.
But she understood now, thanks to Hallie. As far as Brynn was concerned, there was nothing more important than love worth taking a risk on.
The film credits started to roll, and she stretched out on the recliner where she’d been snuggled up. Her choice of seat had been much to her parents’ chagrin; she usually sat between them on the sofa.
But there was no way she was letting her parents accidentally see any of the more… sensitive texts that she and Hallie had been sending back and forth. Honestly, who knew that sexting could be so fun?
Earlier, she’d even snuck off to the bathroom to send Hallie a photo.
The button-down that she was wearing had made it easy to undo about half of the buttons, leaving the lacy black bra she was wearing underneath on display.
And yeah, maybe she’d also pushed her cleavage together while she’d been taking the picture.
Which had prompted an immediate phone call.
“Are you trying to kill me, woman?” Hallie had asked, dispensing with any pleasantries.
“That would be very antithetical to the plans that I have for you later,” she’d parried back quietly, trying to keep her parents from overhearing. All the while, exhilaration had been coursing through her veins.
“And what plans would those be?” She had been able to picture Hallie so clearly, sitting at the front desk, her hand propped up under her chin. Brynn imagined the dimple she loved so much popping with that smile.
“I would love to tell you, but we’re about to watch a movie,” she’d teased back, grinning like a half-shirtless idiot in the bathroom.
But she wanted to excite Hallie. Entice her. All that Brynn seemed to be able to think about these days was how to rile Hallie up. To make her dizzy with the same want that had overtaken every one of Brynn’s rational thoughts.
To Hallie’s credit, she’d done a much better job today than they’d both done last night at pulling away from one another to focus on the world around them. “Tell the Fitzpatricks that I said hello. But I’m only letting you go because I want you home as soon as possible.”
Brynn wanted that, too. To be home, with Hallie. Which was why she pulled her thoughts from their call earlier and looked across to the sofa, to where her parents were both sitting.
It was now or never; she had to be on the road soon, anyway. There was no way that she was missing her date tonight. Rubbing her hands down her pants legs, she tried to pluck up her resolve. This wasn’t a bad thing, and she needed to keep that in the front of her mind.
“I wanted to talk to you both about something,” she said, a little more shakily than she would have liked. But it was hard to decondition herself from decades of wanting nothing more than to please her parents.
“What is it?” her mom asked, concern edging into her voice. Brynn knew that tone well.
“Nothing bad,” she clarified quickly. “I’ve been in Stoneport for a couple of months now, and I’m really liking it.”
She appreciated the genuine smiles on both of her parents’ faces. It was her dad who said, “That’s great, Brynn. Sometimes getting away and recalibrating after a difficult situation is just what’s needed.”
“I like it so much, in fact, that I think I’m going to stay.” She almost added “at least for a while,” but she didn’t want to diminish the seriousness of what she was saying.
It was unnerving how her parents, who always had something to say, stayed quiet for so long after her pronouncement. Finally, her mom spoke. “You’ve had a really difficult year. Are you sure this is what you want?”
In her entire life, her parents had never overtly told her no.
Instead, they asked questions and gave her looks that conveyed varying degrees of concern, depending on whatever she was telling them.
The one exception had come when she’d been ten and had built wings, planning to jump off the roof to test them.
In retrospect, she would begrudgingly agree with that one.
Even though Brynn wouldn’t pretend that Hallie wasn’t a big part of her wanting to move to Stoneport, leaving the nest had been good for her.
It was good to make decisions for herself and learn to stand on her own two feet.
For her first thought not to be “What would my parents think about this?” whenever she was making a decision.
Still, nervousness fluttered through her at the idea of disappointing them, and she sat up straighter in her chair, but she refused to lose her resolve.
It’s not like they could stop her anyway, but she didn’t want there to be any negative feelings between them if she could help it.
“I want this. I’ve built a real community there, with people who I care about. I’ve never had that before.”
Now, both of her parents looked confused. “You have a whole life in Boston,” her mom said, uncomfortably quickly.
“I have you two, but I don’t have friends unless you count Gregory.
And I clearly don’t have a good dating track record here.
The city is just not the place for me. I love Stoneport.
It’s slow and familiar and cozy. I’m not exactly built for the hustle and bustle,” she said, managing a self-deprecating grin.
“And I’d love to be where you two are, but it’s not a good enough reason for me to stay. ”
There. She’d said it. She could see, in real time, as the disappointment washed over both of her parents’ faces. It took her back to all those years ago, when their grief was like its own member of their family, overshadowing everything.
Still, she knew that they’d try to be brave about it. That was exactly what happened when her dad said, “Well, we love you, honey. And we’ll support you.”