Page 111 of Between Never and Forever
If I could take the music and leave behind everything else, I’d be set for life. I just can’t figure out how to do that.
“How’d I do?” Brynn asks as we finish up.
“You did great. I think you’re going to be a natural.”
“Really?” Her eyes widen and she bounces slightly on her toes. “You think I could be good like you?”
I smile and answer honestly.
“Boss, I think you could be better.”
I trail Brynn out of the music room and down the hallway, my mood brightened by the music lessons. My step is light despite the awkward weight of carrying my two acoustics, and my attention is no longer stuck to the floor for fear of seeing something I shouldn’t.
And then I regret it.
Brynn weaves through the formal dining room and I halt in my tracks when I see a large canvas portrait on the wall. My mouth drops, my heart stops, and my eyes sting. I stare at the canvas without blinking.
“Oh, that’s my mom and dad and me.”
Brynn’s voice comes from somewhere off to the side, and I see movement in my periphery as she comes back to stand next to me. I don’t take my eyes off the canvas portrait, though. I can’t. They’re stuck. I might die here staring at this picture, and it’s the closest I’ve ever come to worrying about going to hell.
My eyes scan, and though it hurts, I don’t look away. Morbid fascination and my self-sabotaging tendencies partner up, and I’m nearly knocked over from the force of the shock.
“Is this...” I work to clear my now dry throat and form words with my now numb tongue. I swallow and lick my lips before trying again. “Is this their wedding?”
I know the answer. It’s obvious. Levi’s in a tux and Julianna is in an expensive looking white wedding gown. She’s holding a bouquet of gorgeous flowers. His boutonnière matches. I knew they were married. Levi still wears the ring. That’s not what has my brain addled and my nerves racing.
What throws me off is Brynn.
She’s a toddler in this picture, not an infant.
It’s not uncommon for couples to wait years after the baby is born to get married—there are a multitude of reasons why this happens all the time—but something about this seems significant in a different way. Knowing what I know about Levi’s parents, and what I remember about Julianna’s, something feelsoff.
“They’re going to make you marry her.”
“No way, they wouldn’t.”
“They will.”
“It doesn’t matter what they want. I won’t do it.”
Had he held out? Had he really told them no, but they wore him down? Maybe the delay had to do with college? Maybe it was venue-related or had something to do with aesthetics?
Maybe Jules wanted to lose the baby weight?
I study her. She looks beautiful. An absolute angel in that wedding dress. Maybe Levi said no at first, but he grew to really love her. Maybe he was excited to get married. Maybe—
“Yeah, that’s from our wedding. From the first time Mom got sick.”
I drag my eyes off the portrait and pin them to the side of Brynn’s face. She’s studying the canvas with a small, sad smile. When she speaks again, her voice is wistful, and I’m reminded that she’s only seven. I keep forgetting that. She seems so much older, but she’s still just a child.
“Mommy got sick, and Daddy didn’t want us to be alone. He moved back here, and we got married, and then we became a family.”
I swallow hard and try to process what she’s said, but once again, my mind is moving in slow motion, and I can’t seem to make sense of any of it. Brynn said only a handful of words, but my body feels like it might collapse beneath the gravity of what she’s implied.
“What happened to your mom, Brynnlee?”
I ask the question, but I’m already certain I know the answer.
