She made a move to bury her head into my arm again, but I caught her by the chin and raised her up to look at me again.
“We can get through this,” I said softly. “We can get through anything together. Together.”
She reached up and pressed her lips to mine, and we stayed there for a moment before I pulled us back down to lie on the bed. She curled into my arm, and I stroked her hair as her tears dried up. When she finally seemed like she had control of herself, I kissed her forehead.
“I am not making you move right now, or anytime soon, but when you are ready, will you come with me on a getaway for a few days?” I asked.
“What about your work?” she asked.
“I have a ton of vacation time I literally never, ever take. All I have to do is tell them I need a couple days of it, and they will figure everything out for me,” I said. “Mason threatened to force me to take a vacation just a couple weeks ago, but I didn’t have anywhere to go.” I kissed her head and stared into her eyes. “Now I do.”
“Okay,” she said. “Maybe it would be best to get away for a few days. Not too far, though. I don’t want to be too far away from my doctor or anything.”
“Of course,” I said. “I think I know just the place anyway. Whenever you’re ready.”
“I’m ready,” she said. I smiled at her, and she returned the smile, squinting her eyes and making fresh teardrops slide out onto her cheeks. I brushed them away with my thumb.
“Sounds good,” I said, sitting up. She sat up with me and then stood to go over to the dresser. A few minutes later and we were all packed and ready, and I took the bags out to the car.
“Mason?” I asked when I made the call to the bar.
“Yeah, what’s up, Tyler?” he said by way of a greeting.
“Hey, remember how you were begging me to take a few days off the other day?” I asked.
“Oh, thank God, you are finally going to take some vacation time,” he said. “Tom will finally get off my back about having a ‘healthy work-life ratio’ for you guys.”
I laughed. “Yeah, just a couple days, though,” I said. “I’m going to take Becca and head out of town for a little getaway.”
“Sounds pretty serious,” Mason said. “Is it pretty serious?”
I sighed. My brothers were the best men I knew, but they were a nosy bunch.
“You have no idea,” I said.
“Alright,” Mason said. “You take off the rest of the week, then. I’ll see you Monday. No arguments.”
“Thanks, Mason,” I said.
“No, thank you,” Mason said. “Now go get some rest and give that girl some company.”
“Will do,” I said and hung up.
34
Becca
“So where are we going?” I asked as we got into the car and pulled on our seat belts. Tyler had only packed one suitcase for each of us, but they included clothes for a couple different weather types, and I packed two dresses and he packed a suit. As much as I knew this was a getaway to remove ourselves from the situation with my family, I was also excited at whatever it was he was planning.
“I know a place about an hour and a half away,” he said, grinning. “I stayed there once with my folks. Rockaway Beach. Dad’s family was from out there, and there’s a vacation house we stayed in that I called about. It’s open for the next week, and I reserved us a couple days of it.”
“Rockaway Beach?” I asked. “I don’t think I’ve been there.”
“You’re going to love it. Besides, we don’t have to leave the house if we don’t want to. I grabbed the big cooler and already threw ice in it. If we want to stop for supplies, we can get what we need and won’t need to go out again.”
I smiled. “That sounds nice.”
“It is. Plus, the place we’re going has a little town area with a few mom-and-pop shops within walking distance. If we need something, we can get it there,” he said.
“I only have one condition,” I said. “I get to choose the music.”
Tyler grinned and put the car into gear. “Deal.”
The drive was smooth, straight down the interstate along the coastline. I forgot how gorgeous that part of the state could be, and as we drove, I took in its beauty while I bobbed my head and tapped my toes to the eighties music I chose. Tyler’s fingers occasionally drummed on the steering wheel as we made our way south, and the further we got away from Astoria, the less stress and weight I felt on my shoulders.
We arrived faster than I thought we would, and Tyler gave me his phone to check the app and get the gate key for the house. It was absolutely amazing. Sitting just off the beach, it looked like a sprawling beach house from the outside but was modern and breezy inside. Lush carpet in the bedrooms felt soft and comforting on my bare feet, and deep mahogany flooring in the living areas felt warm and inviting. We brought our things in, and I unpacked the cooler into the refrigerator and counter space before starting up a lunch.