Page 87 of Glad You Exist

I’m thrilled for my brother but at the same time I can’t completely shake the feeling of grief and regret that Mom isn’t here to see us happy like this.

The week we spent at our grandmother’s house helped ease some of the grief and regret. It really helped us both feel closer and connected to Mom despite her absence. There were a lot of tears but there was also laughter and love. We were surrounded by Mom’s side of the family. It also felt good to be together, just the two of us. Dan and I had both been so preoccupied with friends and school. The most time we spent together was a quick breakfast or dinner here and there, usually with Brad or Summer sitting in the kitchen with us. We finally were able to catch up and talk like we used to before Mom died.

Dan confessed that he had been in constant communication with Summer for over a year leading up to his return home, having reconnected with her two summers ago when he went to a party with his old friends from high school. That at first, she wouldn’t entertain anything other than friendship with him because of the distance and his penchant for dating around. So, when he had come back home a few months ago, he had fully intended to pursue a relationship with Summer having already developed feelings for her.

Thank God she felt the same way. I don’t know how my brother would have handled it, had she rejected him. He had never had his heart broken or been this serious about any other girl before. Seeing them together made me almost as happy as Brad made me.

Brad is down from the ladder. I feel him slip his arms around my waist, resting his chin on top of my head as we both gaze up at the lights.

“Are you happy?”

I tilt my head back to give him access to my forehead, my eyelids fluttering as he presses a gentle kiss there. I nod in response, letting myself relax in his heat and the warmth of this moment with him.

“Very. Thank you for helping me.”

He hums as his arms tighten around me, “I want to run something by you.”

I turn my head slightly, granting him permission to rain gentle kisses on my temple and cheek. I didn’t know I could be more attuned to Brad than I already was, but it was like as soon as I opened myself up to him, my senses heightened around him even more. It was instantaneous. I know with just with a single look or slight movement from Brad what he wants without him having to vocalize it.

“Okay.” The word draws out in a sigh of contentment.

“You have to say yes first.”

That gives me pause. I turn in his arms and raise an eyebrow at him. “Say yes?”

“You trust me?”

“Better than anyone. Yes.”

“Is that a yes?”

I roll my eyes, resting my chin on his chest. I stretch up to my tiptoes and loop my arms lazily around his neck. “Yes.”

“I have something planned for your birthday and you already said yes to it.”

I half-laugh, half-snort. “Sneaky. What do you have planned?”

“It’s a secret.”

He bends to kiss my nose. My eyelids. My chin. Everywhere but where I want him to.

I grip the back of his neck and tug him down. “I don’t like surprises.”

He smiles against my lips, hovering there.

“You’ll like this one.”

“So, what exactly are you running by me then?” I murmur, kneading the back of his neck.

“I just want to give you time to process that I’m taking you away for the weekend.”

I pull back, my feet meeting asphalt again as I move my hands to his chest and peer up at him. “The whole weekend?”

He smiles down at me, but I can sense he’s treading carefully. Knowing I need time to prepare myself mentally for anything that deviates from my norm. Anything other than that could trigger my anxiety. If I didn’t already feel so many things for this guy, I would fall for him a bit more with how much care he puts into his every thought and gesture.

“Three nights. Four days.”

My birthday falls on a Saturday over a holiday weekend which means we have that Monday off school as well.

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