Page 108 of Terms + Conditions
She can’t get the words out, and suddenly, I realize why she’s so upset. Elizabeth understands the grief Brie must be dealing with better than anyone.
“I know, Sugar,” I say gently, pulling her back into my grasp when tears begin to burn my own eyes. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to lose your mother so young, only to get her back and have her savagely ripped away again.
“What if the test says you’re not her father?”
“I don’t know,” I whisper.
Elizabeth takes a small step back, and I wipe away a tear that has trailed down her cheek. She does the same for me and reaches up to press a quick peck to my lips.
“Will you do this with me?” I ask, studying her hands before I look up to meet her gaze. “Please, I-I need you there.”
Brie looks small, sitting on the couch across from me, with her hands stuffed under her thighs and her sock-covered feet barely scraping the floor of the back porch. Elizabeth joins us with three mugs of hot cocoa—Mom’s recipe, Elizabeth is the only person I know who can make it almost as good as Mom. She hands one to each of us before sitting next to me. She sits on her feet and offers me a smile before taking a sip of the cocoa and motioning toward Brie with her eyes.
“Brie…is there anything you want to tell us?” I ask.
She traces the rim of her mug and shuffles her feet in front of her, chewing on the inside of her lip before meeting my stare. She clears her throat, sitting up a little straighter as she pulls her feet under her. “Like what?”
“We know.” I sigh. “About your mother.”
Her eyes grow ten times in size, and she looks between us. “I don’t—I don’t know what you—”
“Brie.” Elizabeth stops her gently. Setting her mug on the table, she makes her way over to the other couch and takes one of Brie’s hands in hers. With a soft smile, Elizabeth says, “I am so sorry, truly.”
Brie’s eyes begin to fill with water, and she swallows hard, trying to keep the tears at bay.
“I, um…I lost both of my parents when I was young, too.” Elizabeth rolls up the left sleeve of her sweater and turns over her wrist, tracing the worn scar that trails up her arm. “I was a little older than you were. My brother attacked us, and unfortunately, my parents didn’t make it, so I know what it’s like to grow up without my momma, too.”
Elizabeth reaches up and wipes a few tears that fall down Brie’s cheeks. “Does your Uncle Justin know you’re here?”
Brie averts her gaze down to the mug in her lap. I’m guessing that would be a no.
“He thinks you’re at your friend’s house, right?” Elizabeth continues and Brie meets her gaze before offering a slow nod. Elizabeth glances at me, and a sad smile graces her lips. “We should probably tell him where you are, don’t you think?”
“Probably,” Brie whispers.
“We’re not mad,” I say, meeting both of their gazes. “But I wish you had been honest with us.”
Her bottom lip trembles, looking between us. “I’m sorry.”
Elizabeth wraps her arms around the young girl, and I join them, wrapping my arms around both of them, sandwichingBrie between us. My wife offers a tearful smile atop Brie’s head, and I return the gesture. I didn’t think it was possible, but I’ve fallen more in love with this woman in the last few moments. She handled this entire situation with grace and compassion, while I hadn’t the slightest idea where to begin. I can only thank God that she and I reconciled before this happened because I don’t think I would’ve been able to handle this on my own.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
THEN
May 2025
“WHERE’S ELLIE?” FINN ASKS when I hand him a fresh beer. I had invited Finn, Nick, and Alex over for a pre-Memorial Day BBQ since everyone was going to be in town at the same time, and I hadn’t seen much of Finn since New Year’s. After everything that happened between him and Michaela, he’s kept his distance. He spent Thanksgiving with us but joined the Monroes at their cabin for Christmas. In doing so, he got a free ticket to the Dean and Raeanne showdown. Twenty years of sexual tension and hidden feelings came to a head and ended with Rae leaving without even saying goodbye. I liked them together, but Dean refused to tell her the truth, scared she might reject him—look how that turned out. “And I thought I had problems,” Finn joked when he told me about it on New Year’s Eve in Los Angeles. He’s kept his distance from all of us since.
Elizabeth and I spent the new year apart—I was in Los Angeles, and she was in New York with Nina.
“She’s back in Charleston,” I say, running a hand through my hair.
It’s longer than I normally keep it, but I’ve been so busy I haven’t even thought about getting it cut. Michaela said it wasstarting to look like a sophisticated mullet before she left for Europe. While she meant it as a jab, I kind of liked it.
My sister had been here long enough to drop off a few suitcases and make sure there was enough room for her shit that would be delivered by movers the next week. Michaela had finally left David, for good this time. The fact she even went back to that asshole in the first place blows my mind, but I’m just glad she realized the mistake she made. I almost didn’t answer when she called to say she was leaving and needed a place to stay while she figured things out. A day later, I got a call that she was going on a sabbatical…in Europe.
So now, all of her shit is packed away in one of the guest rooms, waiting for her to return. And what am I going to tell her when she gets back and realizes Elizabeth hasn’t been home in months? I have no fucking clue.
