Chapter Eight
Brianne
I hate being stubborn, but I mean what I told Braden. I need time to process what had happened, and that takes me a couple more days. First I’ll have to separate my past from my present, and that isn’t easy. It means I have to remember the assholes who used me, and there hadn’t been just one.
Then I’ll have to deal with the fact that Hudson didn’t trust me enough to tell me the truth when all I’ve done is stand by his side.
I went to New York, subjected myself to his rude parents, waited at the hotel while he went to ask his father for the money, and held his hand during his brooding silence on the flight home.
He’d had a few weeks since then to open up, and he hadn’t.
Trust is important, but is it a deal breaker?
I suppose that depends on his reasons, and I haven’t let him explain. Which brings me to now, looking at myself in the mirror and admitting I’ve been exactly what my brother called me. A stubborn princess and it is time I act like an adult.
After stopping at a sandwich shop on the way to the clinic, I drive downtown and pull into the gravel parking lot.
My hands have healed, and I’m not surprised when I see Jimmy standing by a dumpster in the back of the lot.
I draw a deep breath and climb out of my car, food in hand, not surprised when Jimmy walks toward me.
“Hi,” I say, holding out the sandwich I bought him.
“Is that for me?” Surprise fills his gritty voice.
I nod. “There’s water in there, too.” And also a twenty-dollar bill, but since I don’t want a repeat of last time, I don’t mention the money. He’ll find it soon enough.
He grabs the bag, and this time I release my grip fast so he doesn’t drag me down. It helps that I am wearing sneakers and not heels.
“Take care, Jimmy.” I walk toward the building, in my mind already thinking about all the improvements Hudson and my brother can make once they are ready and excited about the prospect.
I let myself in, discover a full waiting room, and resign myself to wait. Striding up to the desk, I smile at Nikki. “Hi. Do you think I could wait in the back office until Hudson has time to talk?”
The brunette smiles. “Sure. Dr. Northfield is the only one here, so it may be a while.”
“That’s fine.” After the torture I’ve probably put him through, I deserve to be kept waiting.
I make myself at home in the office Hudson and Braden share, smiling at the pictures on the desk of my twin and Willow, whose wedding is coming up in a few months. They plan a small affair at a local catering hall because Florida is just too hot to hold an outdoor event.
An hour passes and then another. The longer I wait, the more my nerves increase.
Did Hudson not want to see me, or is he just so busy he can’t make time yet?
My stomach knots, and I try to kill time scrolling social media on my phone and occasionally attempting to read a book on an app, but I can’t concentrate.
I am afraid I pushed him too far by not talking to him after the game, but then I remind myself of the filled outer room and try to calm down.
After a while, I rest my head on my arms on the desk and shut my eyes.
* * *
Hudson
What a fucking long day. I had back-to-back patients, each one serious in its own way, and with Braden needing the day off and Thomas having abdicated the place to us, I’ve been on my own.
Thank God for Janie, the nurse we recently hired, who is as reliable as she is efficient.
Even Nikki abandoned us midday when her mother called because she’d had an accident, and Nikki had to rush off to be with her.
I haven’t had five minutes to eat, let alone sit down and take a load off my feet.
I open the door to my office and stop short at the sight that greets me.
Bri sits in my chair, head resting on her arms on the desk, her dark hair falling over her shoulders and face.
Even so, I know it is her, and my heart starts beating again for the first time since my fuckup at her mother’s house.
I suppose that Nikki, in the frenzied worry about her mother, forgot to tell me Bri is waiting, and I wonder how long she’s been here.
I unhook my stethoscope and lay it on a filing cabinet and take off the white medical jacket I’ve taken to wearing here before walking over and placing my hand on her back.
“Bri?” She doesn’t move, so I rub her shirt with my hand. “Hey, beautiful, wake up.”
“What?” Startled, she jumps in her seat, her entire body jerks upright, and she twists her head up to meet my gaze. “Hudson! Jesus, you scared me. I must’ve fallen into a really deep sleep.”
“Apparently,” I say with a chuckle. “How long have you been here?”
She blinks and glances at her watch. “Three hours. Nikki didn’t tell you I was here?”
I shake my head. “Her mom had an accident, and she rushed out. Sorry about that. But it was an insane day. I just locked the place up before coming in here.”
“It’s fine. I didn’t mind waiting.” Now that the fright has passed, she looks wary of me, and I don’t like the feeling.
I pull Braden’s chair over and settle in beside her.
“Your eye looks better.” Obviously she isn’t ready to jump into the heavy conversation.
“It’s fading to a nice shade of puke yellow.” Damon has a mean punch, but I refuse to out which brother hit me.
All three had seen their sister crying, and Damon had got to me first. It had taken Braden and his shrill whistle to calm everyone down and tell them it was a misunderstanding and none of their business.
Then Christine Prescott had issued a stern warning to her sons, but the joy of the day had gone.
I had driven Macy and Jaxon to Bri’s house to get her car, and Jaxon remained there, watching, until I got into my car and went home.
By then I’d already texted Bri a few times and called twice.
I figured out she wasn’t ready to talk to me, so leaving was my best option.
I owe her mother a happier birthday party and Bri a lot more.
Bri reaches out, and this time, she allows herself to touch me, gently palpating around my eye. “Does it hurt?”
“Nah. I’m fine.”
She rolls her eyes. “Of course you are. Far be it for a man to admit weakness.”
I take her soft hand in mine. “You’re my weakness, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.”
She glances down at our hands, and I do, too, noticing how much more tanned and rough my skin is than hers.
“I’m so used to expecting the worst from men, I overreacted. I heard something, and I jumped to the worst possible conclusion, but that would never have happened if you’d just told me the truth.”
“You’re right. But you have to understand my position.
You’d just admitted to me that I was the first guy not to want something from you.
I knew how you felt about it, and there was no way I’d ever put you in a position where you didn’t know if I was asking you to marry me for money or because I loved you.
” Just the thought makes me physically sick.
“And if I told you what my asshole father wanted, you’d probably have offered to marry me so I could get the clinic money, and then you’d always wonder and be insecure.” I wait until she lifts her head and meets my gaze. “And I’d never do that to you.”
Her eyes fill with tears. “I should have stayed and heard you out, but your words were so damning, and on top of saying you loved me just an hour or so before? I thought for sure I’d fallen into the same trap all over again.”
“I made the wrong choice, and though we all know I’ll make more mistakes in the future, I promise you’ll never doubt that I love you again. Do you forgive me?”
She nods, a smile on her beautiful face. “Do you forgive me for stringing this out and making you wait?”
I grin. “I’d wait forever for you, and don’t you forget it.”
“I can promise you I won’t.”
We each lean forward, our mouths meeting in a long kiss that ends too soon.
“Now about that fundraiser.” She’d left the folder in my possession when she’d run from the house, and in the days that passed, I’d been through it over and over. “I cannot believe what you put together in such a short time. The items the guests will bid on will go for thousands each.”
A trip to the Bahamas on Asher Dare’s private plane and a week in his beach house, front-row seats to concerts and sporting events, a visit to a movie set, and more.
I can’t begin to name them all or imagine how much money the event will raise. “You did all that for me?”
She nods. “Because I love you.”
“So, you’ll be my date for the event?” I ask.
“You know I will.”
Satisfied, I hold her hands tighter. “Just so we’re clear, you’re mine, Bri. And I love you for the amazing, wonderful woman that you are.”
Her answering smile hits me in the heart.
“I know,” she says, a saucy glint in her eyes. “You love me enough to take a punch from my brothers and not tell me which one hit you.” She shakes her head and laughs. “I’d call that true love.”
“You’re damned right,” I say and seal my lips over hers.