Chapter 37 #2
Before I can answer, Stephen sets the box down in front of Raewyn with a flourish. “Here, my love.” He leans down and presses a lingering kiss to her lips, much to Braxton’s loud displeasure. “Thirty-one years together, and not nearly long enough.”
“Oh, honey…” She stares up at him, her eyes glimmering brightly.
My heart surges into my throat. I’ve never seen love like what these two hold for each other; bone-deep and time-tested.
They have no doubts that they’re exactly where they need to be, and with the person who makes them the best version of themselves.
I swallow roughly, sliding a glance toward Braxton.
He’s watching his parents, his own eyes suspiciously bright and a smile on his lips.
Gratitude fills me at the fact that I still have a place in this house and this family.
I don’t know what the future holds for me and Braxton, but right now, I wouldn’t give this up for anything.
I reach out, laying my hand against his denim-clad thigh, and Braxton looks down at it before glancing at me. I don’t know what he sees in my face, but his expression softens as he presses his free hand against the back of mine, holding me there.
Across from us, Raewyn is impatiently yanking open the box, pulling out a tarnished black metal tree. It’s large, the spindly branches spreading outward. There are matching leaves soldered onto several branches, and the metal jangles softly as Raewyn lifts the tree.
Stephen bends over her shoulder. “I’ve made more leaves for whoever you would like to add,” he tells her quietly, pointing at each leaf. “But here you and I are. There’s Annie and Braxton.” He shifts his finger slightly. “And our Gracie.”
Neither of them notices as I go still, Stephen reading out every other name he added to the tree. My eyes are burning, and I realize I haven’t blinked or breathed in several seconds, my chest aching with the need for oxygen.
“Gracie?” Braxton leans so close that his breath coasts over the shell of my ear. “What’s wrong?”
I turn to look at him, the tips of our noses brushing, his mossy green eyes taking up all of my vision. “I’m on the tree,” I say in a hushed whisper. “I wasn’t on the tree, but now I am.”
Braxton’s smile is crooked. “Of course you’re on the tree,” he says cockily. “You’re family. And you know what? I fuck up again, they’re definitely picking you.”
“Too right,” Stephen booms, clearly having overheard. “You’re ours, Gracie, and there’s no getting away from us now.”
My mouth trembles, and I sink my teeth into my bottom lip, refusing to make this moment about me. “You’re sneaky,” I tell Stephen. “When did you make that leaf? It wasn’t there the other day.”
Stephen smiles. “I didn’t make it.” He shrugs. “I just told him to make it.” He jerks his head at Braxton, who shakes his head with a laugh.
“That’s not how it happened, and you know it, old man,” he counters. He turns to look at me, but I keep my attention on Raewyn and Stephen, knowing I’ll break if I focus on Braxton right now. I’m teetering on the edge of a cliff, and I don’t want to dive headfirst over. Not now. Not here.
“Dad asked for help with some last-minute touches,” Braxton explains to me and Raewyn, his fingers pulsing against my arm. “I suggested that he make a leaf for you, and Dad told me that he was already ahead of me, and he was just waiting for me to put the name on it.”
I do look at Braxton then, finding his stare locked on my face, filled with warmth and understanding as they search my eyes.
“You etched the name?” I ask, voice raspy. And I know this is such a simple thing, and it shouldn’t be affecting me this much…
But it’s permanence.
Raewyn is going to hang that tree somewhere, my name attached to it like I always belonged, like I have a place in this house, with this family—something the people who share my blood never bothered to give me.
Braxton murmurs in my ear, “No matter what happens with you and me, you’re part of this now.”
I choke down the emotions, too overwhelmed to speak as I look across the table and catch Raewyn’s eye.
She gives me a brief nod, understanding without words as she turns to Stephen, changing the subject.
“The only thing that would make this present better is if my air fryer magically turned back up.” She raises her eyebrows pointedly.
“You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you, husband of mine? ”
Stephen does one slow blink, his mouth not even twitching. “I think this would look good in the living room.” He points at the tree. “Right across from the couch, where everyone can see it. What do you think, my love?”
Raewyn clucks her tongue, but her eyes are shining with mirth. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you.”
Stephen leans down, pressing a smacking kiss to her cheek. “Give me another thirty years, and then some more.”
The truck rumbles to a slow stop outside my house. Braxton cuts the engine, leaving us in silence as I stare out the window at the darkened house, only the security light above the door lighting up the night.
This house is everything I dreamed it would be, but I can’t help imagining a time when Braxton and I would have been coming home together…not just him dropping me off.
He sits back, his elbow on the door and head turned toward me. “You okay, Rumpel?” he asks softly. “You’ve been quiet for the last hour.”
I twist my fingers in my lap. “Did you ever think we’d end up here like this?”
His eyebrows draw together. “How do you mean?”
I wet my dry lips, trying to sort through the words in my head. “A year ago, I was picturing this future between us, you know? And now…”
Braxton looks away, stare moving to the house that was supposed to be ours. “Yeah.” It’s a whisper, so low that I almost don’t hear it.
“Do you think it’s lost?”
He doesn’t look at me, his expression solemn. “I don’t know. I live with this hope that it’s not.” He rubs two fingers over his jaw, his expression thoughtful. “I used to think I knew everything, that the world was just in the palm of my hands.”
“Arrogant,” I murmur.
“You’re not wrong. I felt invincible. I met you, and it cemented that I was on the right path and that I was making the right choices.
” He looks at me then, his expression sincere.
“In just one month, I made every single wrong choice I possibly could. I hurt you in a way I never imagined hurting anyone. I hurt my family, my friends, myself.”
Each word sends an ache pulsing through my chest. “Arrogant,” I repeat, and a dry laugh escapes him.
“Arrogant, and unbelievably stupid at the same time.” Braxton reaches over, capturing my hand in his and tangling his fingers with mine. “I’m learning, though.”
I stare down at his tanned hand, the stroke of his fingers against my knuckles, the rough calluses on his palms. “I want to trust you again,” I say dispiritedly. “But I’m terrified that I’ll end up back where we were. How do I…”
His fingers tighten against mine. “I can’t answer that for you.
I wish I could. All I can do is ask for you to give me time.
You do that, and I’ll show up. I’ll prove to you every day that you’re making the right decision.
I’ll be here, supporting you as much as you support me.
” Braxton blows out a quiet breath, the night still and quiet around us.
“One day, we might be challenged again. Maybe something similar, maybe something different. That’s when I’ll really show you I’ll never shut you out. I’ll never turn away again.”
I drop my free hand on top of our joined ones, clutching him tightly, desperate to believe in every word he’s giving me.
Braxton reaches out, cupping my face, thumb stroking my cheek.
“You have me, Gracie. Whatever that looks like.” His eyes bounce between mine.
“I know you’re scared, and we have so much more still to work through, but I told you, I’m fighting for us now.
I’ll carry that on my shoulders until you’re ready to share it with me. ”
I blink, but it does nothing to stop the tears that pool in my eyes.
This whole night has been unexpected and emotional, and I wasn’t prepared.
I didn’t have my guard up against it. It was supposed to just be Sunday dinner with Stephen and Raewyn, and it has turned into a situation where I can no longer ignore the writing on the wall.
“We do this on your time,” Braxton continues, voice determined. “I told you already, I’m not going anywhere. You just let me know when—”
“Our date,” I blurt. “I’m ready.” I didn’t plan on saying these words, but they feel right. He feels right.
His head jerks back in surprise before a slow smile curls his mouth. “Yeah?” he breathes out. “You serious?”
My nod is jerky, but I won’t take the words back. “Yes. We’ll take it slow, but…Take me on a date, and we’ll go from there.”
Braxton leans across the console, our hands still awkwardly tangled as he presses his forehead against mine.
“You got it, Rumpel,” he rumbles. “Anything for you.”