Page 148 of Just Let Go

Randall stood. “I don’t have to listen to this.”

“Fine, but you need to know this is your issue, not mine,” Benji said. “You’re not doing me any favors by holding on to all of this. The only thing I want is my brother back.”

Randall stormed off, leaving them all stunned.

“Have him let me know when you find him, okay?” Benji asked.

Quinn nodded, then stood. “It was nice to meet you both.”

Both Charlene and Benji stared at their plates and said nothing.

The day was crisp and cold. They should’ve been out celebrating, and instead he was off somewhere feeling miserable. She started with his room, but it was empty. She checked the gym, the lounge, Happy’s room. All empty.

Randall’s words rushed back at her:Check the bars.

She shoved the thought aside and went back to her own room, sent him anotherHey, where are you?text, then proceeded to pace the floor for a solid hour.

Where was he? Why wasn’t he answering her messages?

By evening, she felt like a hamster in a cage. She didn’t know her way around town, but what choice did she have? She was starting to get really worried.

She found her rental car in the parking lot and started off in the direction her GPS told her was downtown. She scanned the parked cars, searching for his familiar SUV and whispering prayers that God would keep him safe and protected and smart.

“And when I do find him, Lord, please give me the right words to say.” It was obvious Grady was hurting, but would he let her in long enough to tell her why?

Finally, after twenty minutes of driving up and down Main Street, she spotted his Jeep and found a spot nearby. She pulledher coat around her and stopped next to his car, which was parked directly in front of a small bar called Doonby’s.

A nervous feeling welled up inside her as she got out of the car. She wasn’t good in strange places or different states or bars. But for his sake, she had to check.

She walked toward the bar, the sound of loud music streaming out onto the street. She passed by a handful of men headed inside. One guy fell in step beside her. “You look lost.”

“I’m looking for my friend,” she said.

“Is your friend as pretty as you?”

“He’s prettier.” She shot the guy a look.

“Quinn?”

She turned at the sound of Grady’s voice and found him sitting on a small bench near the street.

Heat rushed to her cheeks as she forced herself not to walk away as the guys disappeared inside.

“What are you doing here?” He stood.

“I came to find you,” she said. She watched him for a long moment, and while she couldn’t deny she was angry with him—for leaving her at the restaurant, for losing his temper, for coming here of all places—she was surprised to find that wasn’t the only emotion welling up inside.

She saw him for who he really was—a broken man. Whatever had happened in the past, he’d carried it with him ever since, a weight that kept him from believing he was worthy of forgiveness.

She knew a little something about that. What was it Carly had told her—she saw the world through a lens of brokenness? She knew now it was true. She clung to a past that held her hostage, believing the lies that she’d done something wrong, that she was unlovable.

But it wasn’t Quinn who drove her mother away. She saw that now, and she was making peace with the fact that she may never be able to reconcile with the woman she’d been waiting for. Likea child holding a balloon on a windy day, she’d simply let it go. Given it over.

Could Grady ever do the same?

“You look really pretty,” he said.

“You look a little drunk.”

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