28. Chapter Twenty-Seven
Kace walks up to the church with his father, both dressed in suits, and they find themselves stopped by Bobby, of all people.
”No,” Bobby says.
”We”re just here to show support. That”s all,” Kace says. ”This is my father, Victor. Dad, this is Bobby. The guy who threatened to end my career.”
Victor nods to him. ”We don”t want any trouble, but Bri doesn”t have family here with her.”
”And you”re not family.”
”But we”re here. We”ll stand at the back,” Kace says, hoping this compromise will earn him entrance to the funeral. If Bri can see he and his father are here, maybe she”d understand how big of a misunderstanding this whole situation is. That he cares so much about her.
Bobby looks over to Nia, and Kace catches her subtle head nod. ”Fine, but keep a low profile.”
”He really doesn”t like you, does he?” Victor asks as they make their way to stand along the back wall.
The small church is almost filled to the brim, and he spots Tessa sitting with who he assumes to be her parents near the front of the room. Bri is nowhere in sight, but if she”s singing, she”s probably in a back room preparing. Or hyperventilating. God, he wishes she would just let him be here for her without having to force his way in.
Kace sighs. ”Not at all. I can”t blame him, though. No one believes I had nothing to do with that interview, and I don”t have a reason to give them to tell them otherwise. I should have never said a word to Brett.”
”He”s your best friend. You wouldn”t have thought he”d go and blab to anyone else, especially Rudy.”
”Speaking of, it was his idea to have the team come out and help with the cleanup efforts. He even agreed that we shouldn”t give the media a heads up that we were coming. And the way he backed me with Bri”s family when they started threatening her made it feel like things were back like they used to be.”
”Do you think you could forgive him?”
That”s the question Kace has been wrestling with for a week now. ”We”ll never be friends like we used to be, but I do kind of miss him. The real him, not the, uh... jerk version he”s been for a year,” Kace says, remembering he probably shouldn”t swear in church. ”But I don”t know that I can actually consider it fully unless Bri forgives him. She was the one hurt the most when this all exploded.”
His father”s hand rests on his shoulder. ”I know this is hard for you.”
”I love her,” he says, his voice low to avoid being overheard. ”I hate that I waited to tell her until it was too late. That hurts even more. Maybe if I”d said it when I felt it, she wouldn’t have been so quick to believe everything was the way it looked. All I want is her to listen to me. Really listen. She”d know I would never hurt her, and I was never with anyone else. It was all real.”
”Did you get a new suit?”
His eyes look over at his father with confusion. He just poured his heart out, and he asks about the suit? ”What?”
”You”re huge,” he says and grabs his bicep. ”Bigger than you were. Did this have to be custom made?”
”Not custom made, but altered, yes. I may spend most of my free time lifting. I guess it”s made more of a difference than I thought.”
Music starts, and Kace looks towards the front. Tessa cries silently, and the older man, whom he assumes to be her father, wraps his arm around her shoulder while her mother takes her hand. Moments like this make Kace miss his mother. He”s been thinking about her a lot more than normal lately, and he wonders what she would have told him about the Bri situation.
Bri walks up to the front, and while she”s never been someone who wears a ton of goop, her makeup is understated even for her. Kace can”t get over her natural beauty. Moving behind the microphone, she pales even more than she seems to be lately. All he wants to do is run up there and wrap her up in his arms and say everything will be alright.
”Thank you, everyone, for coming. As most of you know, Mr. Hanks didn”t have family, but that didn”t stop him from becoming family to so many of us.” She pauses, swallows, and takes a step back.
Catching her breath, she steps back up and continues. ”For anyone who doesn’t know me, I”m Brianna Waters. Mr. Hanks has been such an important part of my life, and he was an unabashed supporter of everything I did. Lifted me up when I was down. Cheered and shared in my success. Cried with me when I went through my losses. No matter what, he was there, no questions asked, and he never expected anything in return. And he was just like that with every single one of his students.”
Victor pulls a handkerchief from his pocket and wipes his eyes. ”She really has lost so much, hasn”t she?”
Kace nods. ”Yeah, she has.”
”She reminds me so much of your mom.”
Maybe that”s why he”s been thinking about his mom so much more lately.
”Losing Mr. Hanks has been one of the hardest moments of my life so far. He was a beautiful soul who took pride in his students. He lost his own son many years ago, but we became his surrogate children. He was a proud parent when any one of us succeeded, and he found disappointment in our mistakes. But through all of it, he never judged. He guided us through the many life-changing decisions of high school. But more than that, he showed up for everyone, and I know he looks down and loves how many of us showed up for him today.”
Her lip quivers, and she takes another deep breath, pulling herself from the microphone to wrangle her strong emotions. Kace watches, trying to figure out if she needs help, but like the true performer she is, she pulls it together.
”I”ve been asked to perform a song today, and I”ve written one specifically for Mr. Hanks. Please bear with me.”
The crowd cries softly, and she moves to the piano and sits down. Kace didn”t know she knew how to play because she only ever played guitar on stage. Her fingers move masterfully across the keys, and she takes another deep breath as the haunting melody fills the room. Tears threaten to spill from her eyes, but she holds it together to sing the beautiful and tragic song written for the man she saw as her father.
Kace tears up as she finishes the song, and if there was a dry eye in the house before, there isn”t one now. Bri”s gaze sets on him before looking at Tessa crammed into the middle of the pew with her family. When she stands, there”s no hesitation as she walks past everyone right to him.
The moment his arms wrap around her, she breaks down. He shifts to help shield her from view of everyone as the pastor steps up to the microphone and starts the processional.
”I need to get out of here,” Bri whispers. ”Can you help me with that?”
”I got you, baby,” Kace says and gently guides her outside, where Bobby and the rest of the security team wait.
Bobby walks up quickly, but Victor steps forward and holds a hand up. ”We have this.”
Cameras line up on the sidewalk, and Kace wants to scream at everyone to leave her alone. She”s grieving a wonderful man, and she doesn”t need flashes of this posted online with comments about her hair or makeup. Instead, he just does what he can to help shield her from everyone as they make it into the back of their car.
”Do you want to go somewhere?” Victor asks as they settle in.
”The burial is right after this. This was so much harder than I thought it would be,” Bri says and takes a shaky breath. ”And I expected it to be difficult. I”m sorry for breaking down. I really thought I could hold it together.”
He rubs her back as she catches her breath. ”You lost someone very special to you. If anyone knows how that feels, it”s us, sweetheart. You have nothing to apologize for.”
Her entire body shakes as she breaks down again and hugs his father tightly. Seeing them together makes Kace want this for the rest of his life. His father and Bri and him. Maybe a few kids one day.
”Did you write that song in a week?” Kace asks, trying to find a safe change of subject.
Pulling away, she wipes her eyes. ”Uh, yeah. I wrote it two days ago, actually. I sat down at the piano, and it just came out. It”s one of the fastest songs I”ve written.”
”It was beautiful,” Victor says.
”Thank you. Wait, don”t you have a game today, Kace?” Bri asks.
He nods. ”I took an absence. Coach understood I needed to be here.”
”You didn”t have to, but I appreciate it.”
”Baby, you don”t have much of a support system, and I saw Tessa with who, I”m guessing, were her parents in the middle of a pew. Knowing you, you would”ve stood off to the side and held it together until you broke. You need a safe space to feel this, too.”
She lets out a chuckle as her lip quivers. ”It”s like you were able to experience my family firsthand,” she says and gives a sarcastic chuckle. “They played the hell out of that footage.”
”I really want to pop your father in the nose,” Victor says and shakes his fist in the air.
Laughing, Bri sighs. ”Kace almost hit my brother. If there wouldn”t have been cameras around for evidence, I would”ve let him. Someone needs to knock them all down a peg or two.”
”You definitely did that. And Tessa. Good for her for calling out their lies. It”s funny how the six-bedroom house suddenly shrunk into a three-bedroom where your adult siblings stayed with parents who can”t make ends meet. Maybe, I don”t know, getting a job to contribute? Or, and here”s an even crazier thought, move out,” Kace says.
”That”s just plumb crazy, Kace. How dare you suggest the family adult! Adulting is hard!”
”If they ever attempt to badmouth you again, the entire world will jump down their throats. It was honestly one of the best things that could have happened, I think. Especially when they replayed over and over how your brother said he wanted to smack you,” Kace says. ”I still wish I would”ve popped him. The lawsuit would”ve almost been worth it.”
Victor shakes his head. ”I”m really glad they didn”t edit the footage to make you look like a terrible person. You stood up for yourself, and you put them in their place. You finally said enough is enough, and everyone in the world watching was impressed. That took more strength than most people have.”
Bri tilts her head as she looks Kace up and down. ”Are you lifting semi-trucks in your spare time?”
”What?” he asks and laughs.
”You look bigger. Like, really bigger. We noticed it at the cleanup, but in a suit... did you have to have that custom made?”
Victor laughs loudly, and Kace leans back. ”No, it”s not a custom ordered suit.”
”Hey, it”s not a bad thing,” she says and shrugs. ”How bad do I look? I didn”t wear a lot of makeup anticipating the breakdown.”
”You look beautiful.”
”Thank you.”
Kace takes Bri”s hand, and to his surprise, she doesn”t pull away. Instead, she leans against his side, and he notices how cold she is. Or maybe the emotional demands of the day make her shiver. Either way, he releases her hand and wraps his arm around her, pulling her against his side.
The doors of the church open, and they look outside to see the pallbearers carrying the casket to the hearse. Her hand grips his lapel, and the tears start again. He can”t handle it anymore, and he pulls her into his lap and cradles her as she cries.
”I know it sucks right now, but it”ll get easier. The pain dulls a little as time goes on.”
”I don”t know how you did this at seven,” she sobs into his jacket. ”It feels like the world should have ended when he died.”
”It”ll feel that way for a long time. And sometimes, you”ll have those days sneak up on you and knock the wind out of you, but you”ll get through them. I promise,” Victor says.
The rest of the crowd filters outside, and she looks up at Kace with watery blue eyes. ”I don”t know if I have the right to ask or not, but would you come to the cemetery with me?”
”You have the right to ask, and we”ll be right there. Whatever you need,” he says before his lips find her temple. ”I”m still here for you. Always will be.”
Her body shivers under his breath, and he takes a moment to remember how it feels to have her in his arms again. His chest aches for her pain, but he loves the fact she didn”t tell him where to shove it and suffer in solace. It’s a small hope for him.
They drive to the cemetery, and she holds his hand as they walk to the plot. The pastor speaks, and everyone lays a flower on the casket before walking away from the site.
”I”ll be in the car,” Victor says. ”You take as long as you need, sweetheart.”
Bri”s security team stands close by, and Tessa and her parents walk over to them. Bri never releases his hand. Instead, she holds it with a death grip, and he tries to anticipate what she needs.
”How are you holding up, babe?” Tessa asks.
”I”m not doing that great,” Bri says, her voice barely a whisper. ”I can”t believe this is real. It didn”t feel like real life until right now.”
Tessa”s parents each take turns hugging her, and Kace dislikes losing her hand in his as she hugs them back. They”ve known her as long as Tessa has, so he can”t be too jealous of their need to comfort her.
”Let us know if you need anything, Bri,” Tessa”s father says.
”Thank you,” she says and gives him a watery smile.
Her mother hugs Bri again. ”After being the best friend possible to Tessa, we owe you everything. Anything you need, sweetheart, just tell us.”
”Thank you, Mrs. Chambers, but I get more out of our friendship than she does,” Bri says. ”You guys can take off. Kace and his father are here.”
Tessa nods to them. ”I”ll see you at home.”
”You can go with them, Tee.”
”Babe, they”re about to lower the casket into the ground. You need us. You need your family.”
”He was my family,” she whispers.
Kace turns to Bobby and signals for him and the others to walk over. He does without hesitation, and the casket begins to lower into the hole. Bri”s knees buckle, and he reaches out to hold onto her. She hunches forward, sobs and cries of anguish coming from her. Kace hates this for her, but he appreciates how her entire team, her family, circles around her to support her. This is her final goodbye to Mr. Hanks, and he knows all too well how painful this is.
No one says a word, but it”s unmistakable they”re there for whatever she needs. Oscar, the man who normally has a permanent scowl on his face, tears up a little. Something tells him the man has personal experience with loss like this, and Kace has a new appreciation for these men.
He refuses to release Bri because the moment he does, she”ll collapse on the ground. He knows intimately what this feels like. To feel the Earth move as the straps slowly lower the box holding someone you love so dearly into the ground with slight jerking motions. It”s the slowest and most painful form of torture.
Victor reappears with everyone, and he reaches out to rub her back as she sobs silently now. ”Let it out, sweetheart. Let it out.”
”He”s really gone,” Bri says, her voice hiccupping. ”I don”t like this. I don”t like this feeling. I can”t do this... this is too hard.”
The casket reaches the bottom, and Kace turns her to face him, his hands cupping her sunken cheeks. ”You can do this. It sucks, and it”s going to suck, but you aren”t alone. Everyone here is here for you. And I am so sorry. I wish there was a way I could take this pain away from you, but I can”t. It kills me that I can”t, baby.”
Her arms wrap around him, clinging tightly, and she cries. Her pain will never be easier for him to deal with, and he wishes he knew what to do. What exactly she needs. If he could shoulder it all for her, he would, but he can”t. All he can do is hold her until she”s ready to move on her own two feet again.