“What?” I glance back up at her as though I misheard her. “Who would ever… What? Why? She’s… she’s perfect.”
Mom nods and gives me a sad smile. “That’s when she decided to leave for good. A life with him was what her mom wanted for her, but she wasn’t happy. When she realized he hadn’t told anyone she was gone, she was devastated and angry. Said she knew he was convinced she’d come crawlin’ back and was bankin’ on it.”
“I’m officially the town idiot.”
“Try the world, baby,” she says with a shake of her head. “I heard another thing, Rhett.”
Bracing myself, I look at her. “I’m not sure I want to know what that is.”
She takes my hand, I know it’s serious. “Did you really tell her you didn’t believe her when she told you she loved you?”
“Sort of,” I admit. “I didn’t say it back like I should have.”
“Do you know hard that had to be for her? How scared she must’ve been to push back her fear of sayin’ it and facin’ rejection? She was scared of losin’ you because we all knew somethin’ was up with you on Thanksgiving, and I’m pretty sure you broke her heart.”
It’s been the biggest regret I have. As I lie awake every night, I keep replaying how things could have gone differently. All starting with telling her I love her back. Telling her I didn’t think she knew what love was is the marker of when things went downhill.
“Mom—”
“She grew up with these crazy rules her mom set for her, and I can’t imagine they’re easy to get past. But she did it to try to keep you, and you hurt her. Worse, you did it more than once. First when you said you didn’t believe her and again when you ended things in front of the very people who have wanted to see her fall on her face since she showed up here.”
Tears sting at my eyes as she releases my hand, and I nod. “I screwed up.”
“Yeah, you did. I wasn’t sure what to think of her when you brought her home because of what I’d heard, but there’s a lot more to her than that pretty face she has. She was the one, Rhett. The one for you, and you pushed her out the door. That’s not the man I raised.”
“I know,” I whisper.
“Not to mention that no other in-law in this family could have eaten dinner with us covered in flour with as much grace as that woman did. She’s different from us, but she’s special. And I hate to think how much that dress cost knowin’ it was probably ruined.”
“It’s killin’ me, Mom. I know I hurt her, and I want to take it back. So much. I knew the words that would cut her the deepest because I was angry and hurt, and it was all my own doin’.I’mthe reason, I was hurt, but I took it out on her. I don’t know how I’m goin’ to fix this.”
Patting my hand, she gives me a sad smile. “I heard she’s called about gettin’ appraisals on the house and the land. Sounds like she’s plannin’ to sell the home she saw as her peace.”
It feels like a bomb just dropped in my stomach. Brynlee’s selling her house? I didn’t see it before, but when she’s done with someone, she’s done. And she seems to be done with me.
“Will you help me?”
“Help you how?” Even though she sounds skeptical, I appreciate the small glimmer of hope I see in her eyes.
“A couple of things,” I say and give her my biggest, most pitiful smile.
Mom sighs before chuckling and shakes her head. “Fine. What do you need?”
Opening the notebook I brought with me, I take out the envelope of pictures I have and slide them both over to her. “I need to figure out how to make somethin’ special for Brynlee. If she ever comes back, I need to make sure I have everythin’ for her.”
“What is this?” she asks and flips through the notebook.
“So, I ran into Uncle Barry at the mall a couple of weeks ago. He kind of gave me the idea without realizin’ it, but Brynlee wanted to know about her grandparents. She doesn’t know much, and Barry mentioned Dr. Mackle. So, I talked to him, and he and Brynlee’s dad were good friends, even up until he died.”
“I didn’t know that,” she says and smiles as she pulls out a picture. It’s of Joe and John Mackle as boys. “I remember Joe now. He was runnin’ around with Barry for quite a few years.”
I smile. “Well, Mackle gave me a few stories to write down, and then I went to Fox Trot Valley to ask around about her mom’s parents. Got a few stories and pictures from them, too. There aren’t many, but there’s enough stuff here to make a book for her.”
“You got information about her family for her?”
Nodding, I pull out a picture of Brynlee winning Miss Ohio from the envelope. She looks absolutely stunning, and I can’t believe someone like her could ever love me. I also can’t believe I let her slip through my fingers.
“She doesn’t know this, as far as I know anyway, but her father took this picture. He was there the day she won, and he told Mackle how proud he was of his daughter, and he’d been keepin’ tabs on her since the divorce. He got this stuff when her father passed, so I have another book he made to give to her.”
