Chapter 26 #3
Grace crying in bed because she wondered if she was imagining things.
The two versions of Brooklyn could no longer be separated.
He loved one.
He could never trust the other.
Luke started the truck.
There was only one place he wanted to go.
Grace opened the front door before he'd reached the porch. One look at his face and she knew. "You talked to her."
Luke nodded. "Can I come in?"
She stepped aside without another question. The house smelled faintly of cinnamon. A pot of soup simmered quietly on the stove.
Wedding seating cards still covered half the dining room table. Ordinary things.
The kind of ordinary things she'd once worried Brooklyn would somehow invade. Luke stood in the middle of the kitchen looking strangely lost.
Grace walked over. She took both of his hands. "What happened?"
He looked down at their joined hands. "She admitted it."
Grace closed her eyes briefly.
"The notes."
He nodded.
"The florist."
"The photographer."
"The vendors."
He swallowed.
"Everything."
Grace squeezed his fingers. "I'm so sorry."
Luke laughed once.
"I don't even know what I'm supposed to feel."
"You don't have to."
"I keep thinking..." He looked around the quiet kitchen. "...I should've protected you."
Grace started to answer.
He shook his head. "No. Please let me say it."
She nodded.
Luke looked at her with an honesty she had rarely seen. "You trusted me."
"You walked into a relationship where another woman already occupied more space than she should have."
His voice caught. "And instead of seeing it..." He looked away. "...I kept asking you to be patient."
Grace felt tears prick behind her eyes.
"I asked you to keep making room." He laughed bitterly.
"I asked you to become smaller so I wouldn't have to choose."
Grace stepped closer.
"You weren't asking me to become smaller."
"I was."
He met her eyes.
"I just didn't realize that's what I was doing."
Silence settled between them.
Finally Grace spoke. "I need to ask you something."
"Anything."
She searched his face.
"When you left the park..." She took a slow breath. "...what were you grieving?"
Luke answered immediately.
"My best friend." She nodded.
"And?"
"My childhood."
Another nod.
"The future I thought we'd all have."
Grace listened quietly.
Luke frowned. "Why?"
She swallowed.
"Because I needed to know."
"What?"
"That you weren't grieving the life you wished you'd had."
Luke stared at her.
Understanding slowly dawned.
"Oh."
Grace looked down.
"I know it probably sounds insecure."
"It doesn't."
She looked back up.
"I just..."
Her voice became very small.
"...needed to hear it."
Luke stepped toward her.
Until there was almost no space between them.
"Grace."
She waited.
"I am grieving a friendship."
He reached up and gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I am grieving the family I thought we all were." His thumb brushed softly across her cheek. "I am not grieving a future with Brooklyn."
Grace closed her eyes.
"I never wanted one."
She looked at him again.
"I need you to understand something."
His voice became firmer than it had been all afternoon.
"I'm not standing here because Brooklyn crossed a line."
"I'm standing here because I love you."
He smiled sadly. "She could have behaved perfectly."
He held her gaze.
"She could have been the world's greatest bridesmaid. I still would've chosen you."
Grace felt the first tear slip down her cheek.
Luke continued.I didn't choose you because Brooklyn lost."
"I chose you because, somewhere along the way..."
He laughed softly."...you became my home."
Grace's breath caught.
He smiled.
He rested his forehead gently against hers.
Neither of them spoke for a long moment.
The soup bubbled quietly on the stove. Outside, leaves skittered across the front walk. Inside, months of uncertainty seemed to dissolve into something far steadier.
Grace smiled through her tears. "I have one more question."
Luke laughed softly.
"I was afraid of that."
She reached up and cupped his face.
"If Brooklyn had never existed..."
Luke blinked. "What?"
"If you'd grown up somewhere else."
"If she'd never been your friend."
"If none of this had ever happened..." She smiled gently. "...would you still have fallen in love with me?"
Luke didn't answer right away. Instead, he wrapped both arms around her waist.
"I think..." He smiled. "...I would've spent my whole life looking for you."
Grace laughed through her tears.
"That's an awfully romantic answer."
"It's also true." He kissed her.
Slowly.
Tenderly.
When they finally pulled apart, Grace rested her head against his chest.
"You know what?"
"What?"
"I'm really looking forward to grocery shopping with you."
Luke laughed.
"Of all the things you could've said..."
She smiled.
"It's because I finally believe you."
"About what?"
"That we're planning a marriage now."
She looked up at him.
"Not just surviving a wedding."
Luke kissed her forehead.
"No."
He smiled.
"We're finally planning the rest of our lives."
And for the first time since he'd knelt with a ring in his pocket...
they both believed it.