Page 106 of That Time I Kissed The Groomsman Grump
She shakes her head. “I’m only disappointed you didn’t trust your father and me enough to tell us the truth before.”
Now the heaviness is back, a giant boulder in my gut. She’s absolutely right. I didn’t trust them. Instead of being real with my parents, I always kept things on the surface. I kept them at a distance. And I did the same with Natalie. With Beau. And Kasey. I’ve been going through the motions, afraid of other people’s reactions. I became Broody Brady, a guywho madenobodyhappy.
“You’re right. I should’ve told you sooner.” I clear my throat, scrubbing a hand over my mouth. “And I’m sorry. To all of you.”
“Don’t apologize to me,” Doc Swanson says. “You were just trying to be loyal.” He splays his hands. “If Wendy and I had been honest about whatwewanted earlier…”
“Don’t do that, either,” Natalie says to everyone at the table. “You’re all good people doing your best.”
“Yes!” My mother pipes up. “It’s like I always say.” She lifts a finger. “When you know better, you do better!”
“Ha!” My dad barks out a laugh. “I think someone else might’ve coined that phrase first, Elaine.”
“Oh, no, no.” She frowns. “That wasdefinitelyme, Phil.”
“Fine, dear. Whatever you say.” He scoots his chair back and stands, coming around the table to my side. “Brady?” He nods, indicating I should stand too. I glance around, wondering what’s going on.
“Okay.” I slowly rise from the table. When I straighten to my full height, I’m almost a half-foot taller than he is. And yet, I still feel like a kid wanting to please my father. He reaches for my hand and gives it a firm shake.
“It takes a real man to do what you just did.”
“Dad.” My throat constricts. An esophagus of emotion.
“No. Really.” He meets my gaze. “That couldn’t have been easy for you to admit. And I know I’ve made things harder on you than they had to be. I probably said plenty of stuff that made you think you couldn’t tell us you wanted to be Dan Brown.”
“Or James Patterson,” my mother chimes in.
My dad jerks his chin in my mom’s direction. “Then there’s this one.” A smile skims across his face. “I love your mother, but she’s a real piece of work. With all her talk about having a doctor for a son. That couldn’t have been easy.”
I bite back the lump in my throat. “I just want to make you both proud.”
He claps me on the back. “I am proud,” he says. “Your mother is too. Right, Elaine?”
“Of course I am!” she pipes up. “Maybe you could write a series of medical mysteries! Dr. Graham Solves The Case.”
“Don’t listen to her,” my dad says. “I think a series of murders on the golf course is the way to go.”
“Thanks, Dad. I’ll have to give it some thought.”
“Good.” His face swoops into a grin. “Now let’s talk royalties…”
ChapterForty-Five
NATALIE
“You okay?” Brady asks. His window is down, so the air is blowing his hair straight off his face. “Or are you nervous?” He reaches for my hand. Gives it a squeeze. I nod, wiping my other sweaty palm on my skirt.
Yes, I’m okay. Andyes, I’m nervous. I’m also afraid my voice will crack if I say that out loud, so I keep my focus on the road, and try not to think about the next twelve hours. Two layovers, three planes, a one-way ticket. Zero Brady. We’re only a few minutes from the airport. Only a few minutes from goodbye.
My stomach twists, and my nose starts to sting. “I’m going to miss you so much,” I say.
His jaw flexes at the edge. “Yeah. Me too.”
We’ve been together almost constantly since the fire. Five whole days. But five days wasn’t nearly enough. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough time with Brady. There’s no such thing when you want all the moments. All the hours, days, weeks, months, years. We were just getting started, and soon I’ll be boarding a plane—make that three separate planes—and flying thousands of miles away.
Be grateful, Nat. Be happy you’re here with him right now. In this truck. With his hand in yours. Your sweaty, sweaty hand.
“I’m surprised your mom didn’t sneak into your bag.” He snorts, trying to cheer me up. “Then again, did you actually check to be sure Betty Slater’s not hiding in that pink carry-on?”
