Begin Again (Beautiful 2)

Dr. Hansen put her notepad down and moved to the end of the sofa. She took my hand in hers and gave it a squeeze.

“I think the real question here is what do you want going forward? If it’s being happy, then work on finding what makes you happy again. And if Brody features into that, then let it be.”

“I’m scared,” I admitted almost sheepishly. “What if he doesn’t forgive me?”

Dr. Hansen smiled. It was warm and reassuring. Motherly. “It will all be okay,” she said. “You’ll see.”

I gave her a small smile in return, and hoped she was right.

AFTER SPENDING THE rest of my afternoon shopping, and mulling over Dr. Hansen’s advice, I took a slow, leisurely drive to Huntley and Grayson’s house. They were having a barbeque with the family to celebrate news of Huntley’s pregnancy. I always looked forward to their barbeques and after an enlightening session with Dr. Hansen, I was excited to spend the evening enjoying myself with the people I cared about the most.

I came to a stop outside their house and grabbed Huntley’s gift from the backseat. It was a spur of the moment purchase, something that would mean a lot to her, to both of us. I walked in without knocking, and followed the sound of loud chatter and laughter coming from outside on the deck. Huntley’s face lit up when she saw me and made her way towards me, embracing me without hesitation. I hadn’t seen her for two weeks while her and Grayson were on their honeymoon in Paris. I’d missed her fiercely.

“I’m so happy to see you,” she said with a broad grin on her face. She was absolutely glowing.

“You too,” I replied, returning her grin. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” she replied. I took her gift out and handed it to her.

“What is this?”

“Open it.”

She lifted the lid off the small pink box and took out the necklace with the heart pendant. It was engraved with ‘A best friend is a sister that Destiny forgot to give you”.

“It’s beautiful,” she sniffled. She waved me off when I wanted to ask her what was wrong and said, “Hormones, don’t mind me. I love it.”

Just then, Grayson stepped up to her side, not noticing her brief bout of blubbering, and pulled me into a bear hug. I laughed, and while it sounded strange falling from my lips, it felt good.

“I’m glad you guys are back,” I said. “Two weeks is way too long.”

Grayson chuckled and looked Huntley with pure adoration. “I had a hard time keeping her there that long. Three days in and she wanted to come home because she missed Hunter.”

Huntley responded with a playful slap, and replied, “You’re such an ass, Gray. You know you missed him too!”

He winked at her and gave her a chaste kiss. “Whatever you say, wife.”

They were so in love it was nauseating. And sweet. They were proof that true love and happy ever after’s didn’t only exist in the romance novels that crowded my e-reader.

I cleared my throat and a rose colored blush crept over Huntley’s cheeks. “I’m going to say hi to everyone else. Try not to rip each other’s clothes off while I’m gone.”

“No promises,” Grayson called out from behind me and again, I laughed. I made my way around the deck and said hello to Grayson’s parents, noticing that Jeff had been absent. We hadn’t spoken since the wedding and I missed him, but I understood his need for space. I just hoped we could, at some point, go back to being friends. I moved on to Huntley’s aunt and uncle and then finally on to Brody’s grandparents. I was talking to Brody’s grandmother when i felt eyes burning into the back of my head. The fine hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention, and my skin prickled with awareness. I knew it was Brody before I turned around, but when our eyes met, my heart stuttered. He’d always had that effect on me. Everyone else disappeared and just like it had been before, it was just the two of us. His hair was a sexy disheveled mess and he looked incredible in his dark jeans and grey t-shirt. I caught the smirk that played on his lips and realized that I’d been ogling him. It couldn’t be helped. It came naturally to me, despite all that had happened between us, and that familiar energy still pulsated between us. We had so much to talk about, and I wanted to talk to him, but only one thing mattered then.

He was home.

I stopped outside my grandparent’s farmhouse and gave myself a moment a breath for the first time in two months. It had taken me that long to get my things packed up in Chicago and finish up my last month at Johnson Waterman. Thankfully Sienna’s father hadn’t kicked up a fuss after I handed in my resignation, and to my surprise neither did Sienna.

I was glad to finally be out of Chicago and back where I belonged.

My grandfather, Clay was sitting on the front porch, pipe in hand. I hopped out of my truck, thankful that Grayson had been kind enough to leave it at the airport for me, and walked up the porch steps. My grandfather stood, and gave me the once over.

“It’s about time you showed up, boy. Been waitin’ for you for over a year.”

I chuckled and gave him a hug. “I know, I know. Took me a little longer to figure my shit out,” I replied.

“Well,” he said, patting me on the back, “none of that matters. You’re home now.”

The font screen door opened and my grandmother, Luanne appeared, her mouth wrinkling at the side from her wide smile.

“Hi grandma.”

She wordlessly wrapped her thin arms around my waist and squeezed. I kissed her gray hair and relaxed, breathing in her sweet familiar scent. I barely remembered my parents but as far as I was concerned, I didn’t need them if I had people like Clay and Luanne Scott taking care of me.

“Welcome home, Brody. We’re so happy you’re back for good.”

“Me too,” I said into her hair.

She pulled away and looked up at my face. “We’ve missed you.”

I wiped a stray tear from her aged cheek and tried to squelch the guilt I felt. Demi wasn’t the only I’d inadvertently left behind.

“I’m home now,” I told her, “and I have no intention of ever leaving again.”

My grandmother cupped my cheek. “That makes me so happy to hear.”

My grandfather cleared his throat. “Enough now, Luanne. Boy’s been home all of five minutes and you’re already smothering him.”

“Oh hush,” she slapped him on the chest, “I was not.” She looked back up at me, laughter in her eyes. “I just made some fresh sweet tea. Why don’t you sit outside here with your granddaddy and I’ll bring you some.”

“Sounds good, thank you Gama.”

She disappeared inside and my grandfather resumed his seat while I took the chair next to him. We were quiet for a while, almost contemplative as we both stared out onto the open land in front of us. My grandmother brought us some sweet tea as promised and shared a look with my grandfather before disappearing inside.

“You know,” he began, “I was just a few years younger than you are now when I married your grandmother.” His face transformed from the hard look I had always known growing up and softened. He let out a low whistle, and I listened while he spoke. “Man oh man, she was the prettiest young thing I’d ever seen, and we were so smitten people starting getting sick of it. Anyway, our parents were so mad when we decided to get hitched, but we didn’t care. Your grandmother was it for me and we didn’t see any point in waiting. It was a few years later when things got tough and we reached a point in our marriage where we weren’t sure if we could make it work. We decided some time apart would be best, and I honestly thought it was over.”