“I didn’t tell you, because there was nothing to tell. Yes, Bryn and I slept together. It was a one-night thing. Her ex-boyfriend showed up at her house and acted like a complete ass. It upset her, I went over to make sure she was okay, and it just happened. That’s it. We never talked about it. We never made a big deal out of it. It was a fluke, and now we’re back to just being business,” I said.
“Are you sure about that?” she asked.
“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked.
“I just want to make sure you’re actually being honest with yourself. And that you really know how she’s feeling, too,” she said.
“Did she say something to you?” I asked.
“No,” Lindsey said. “And according to Vince, she didn’t really say anything to your mother, either. But that hasn’t slowed down Minnie’s dedication to getting the two of you together.”
“Fantastic,” I said. “Maybe I need to have a talk with her. I really thought she had given up on Bryn and me as a match. On the other hand, she means well.”
“Of course she does,” Lindsey said. “She’s your mother. She loves you, and she wants you to be happy.”
Lindsey was right. It wasn’t like Mom did this to be annoying, or to interfere with my life. She really was trying to find a way to make me happy. Which meant that despite how much it didn’t sit well with me to have to just let it go and not confront her about yet again interjecting herself into my business, that’s exactly what I had to do. I needed to just let it go. Not think about it. Not let it affect me.
Which was what I did. Right up until I was leaving work the next day and found Bryn leaned up against my car. Her ankles were crossed in front of her while she flipped through the glossy pages of a thick magazine.
“Bryn?” I said as I approached her.
She looked up at me and let the magazine flip closed. That’s when I saw it was a bridal magazine. The expression on her face was several shades less than glowing bliss.
Oh, damn.
She took a few steps toward me and held the magazine out to me with an annoyed look in her eyes. “Can you please tell your mother that even though the sex was good, she doesn’t need to send any more bridal magazines to my house. You don’t need to be saddled with me.”
I was taken aback by how candid she was but didn’t move. She shoved the magazine toward me a bit harder, and I took it from her. “I can definitely tell her that the sex was great, but I’ll modify the rest to say you didn’t want more than one night.”
It was the best I could do, and I figured it was an honest shot. But if I was hoping for any kind of revelation for Bryn, I was immediately disappointed. Rather than explaining why there was never any more between us, or why she completely withdrew from me, or even responding at all, Bryn shook her head. She walked away from me without saying any other word, and all I could do was watch after her.
What she said stuck with me. It wasn’t just that Bryn wanted me to tell my mother not to send her any more bridal magazines, or even that we weren’t a couple.
Unfortunately, my mind didn’t agree with me. As much as I tried to convince myself to just push the whole situation away, I couldn’t get the thoughts and questions to quiet down. On the off chance she wouldn’t be at the bar that night, I sent Lindsey a text.
It used to be that she was at the bar basically every moment of her life. She inherited it from her father, who got it from his. That bar was always going to be her life. It was her family’s legacy, and she always knew that no matter where she went in life, she would end up back here in Charlotte running the favorite neighborhood spot.
That was one of the reasons she took some time away a few years back. She always said there wasn’t even a part of her that didn’t think she would come back. It wasn’t like she was trying to run away and find a new life. She just wanted to see what else there was out there for her to experience before it was time to take up her birthright.
Spending every bit of time she could at the bar meant making as much money as possible and trying to prove herself. But now that she was with Vince, she was taking more time off and entrusting the bar to her staff more. Luckily, that was one of the nights she decided to stay at home.