Page 27 of The Billionaire's Commitment

“It wasn’t that. He was proud of me joining the Navy, I think, but he didn’t understand why. I think he always expected me to run the farm when I was old enough. I didn’t like the idea of the choice being taken away from me before I could even vote,” he said.

“So instead, you signed your life and body over to the military?”

Brody laughed. “I never had anyone explain my situation to me quite like that, but I guess you’re right.”

“Was it the right decision for you?”

“Yes. Definitely. I don’t regret for a second joining the Navy or getting into the SEALs. It allowed me to meet Logan and Eric. My life has been better since they came into it. I mean, if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have come to New York, and I wouldn’t be standing here with you,” Brody said.

I could feel myself blushing and turned away from him. “You have a way with words, Brody.”

“Not really. I just speak the truth. I’m having a good time. I hope you are too.”

“Sure,” I said and tried to give him a reassuring smile.

“Do you want to check out more of the exhibit or see the gardens outside?” he asked.

“What’s in the gardens?” I asked.

My brain was starting to fade from looking at all the art and trying to come up with something to say. I thought being outside and seeing what was there would be a good change of scenery.

“I have no idea, but there’s one way to find out,” Brody said, and we walked out to the garden.

It was a clear, crisp fall day, and the sun was high overhead. The garden was lined with trees along the side and a cement area with small pools and fountains around it. Around all the cement were sculptures scattered around in various height sizes and designs. There were even more people mingling around the sculptures here than there were inside. I didn’t blame them, the space was open, inviting, and as there were a few people sitting on the cement benches, it looked like a place that wanted people to sit and linger.

I walked with Brody along the edge of the garden, taking in the sculptures. Again, I wasn’t totally sure what I was looking at, but some I liked and some I didn’t. One looked as if it was a mass body of people all combined together. I wasn’t sure if that was what it was supposed to be, but it was how I looked at it.

“This one kind of freaks me out,” Brody said as we stood in front of it.

“It looks like bodies,” I admitted.

“Right? Like dead bodies all pushed together and tried to be made beautiful.”

“Does it remind you of being in the Navy?” I asked.

“Not until you mentioned it. I saw my share of bodies but luckily never like this. Ready to move to another one?” Brody asked.

He didn’t wait for me to answer, but I was just as happy to get away from the sculpture as he was. We walked around the others, and they didn’t hold that much interest to me. Brody seemed to be interested in them, and I stood by him as he looked at them.

After a few minutes, Brody looked over at me. It took me a few moments to realize he was as I was looking at the trees and seeing the apartment buildings that were just outside the museum and trying to comprehend how a museum could be right next to houses and how strange and probably cool that was for whoever lived there.

“This isn’t your thing, is it?” he asked.

“What? I mean, well,” I stammered.

“You would make a terrible poker player,” Brody said with a laugh.

“Is that a compliment or an insult?”

“It could actually be both, but in your case and in this instance, it’s a compliment. People who are good at poker are also good liars or can hide their emotions well. You can’t. I can tell you aren’t enjoying yourself. I’m sorry. I thought this might be something you would like to do.”

“Me? You decided to come here for me? Thank you. That is kind of you to think that I am so sophisticated that I would not only like but understand all of this, but I really don’t. I mean, seeing Monet’sWater Lilieswas really cool. I only knew about that because we learned about them in Ms. Gardner’s class. It wasn’t like I took an art history class when I was in college.”

“You went to college and could have. I only learned about any of this when I looked it up before we came here,” Brody admitted.

“You could have fooled me. I thought you were all into this and had learned about art and all of this when you were traveling with the Navy.”

“I did get to travel with the Navy, but we certainly didn’t have time to be walking through museums. Even if we did, I doubt I would have actually done it. I like it, I guess, I will go to them if the need is there, but it really isn’t my cup of tea.”

---