Page 55 of Break Out

“Hi, Aubrey. Brody. I’m glad you’re here. I hope you both enjoy tonight.” She sweeps her arm around the room. “You’re at table twelve.” She points to a table for two situated in the corner. Bri and Devon are seated nearby.

“This is beautiful, Clara. Not at all what I expected,” I admit, watching wait staff dressed in black uniforms flit between the tables bringing guests drinks.

Clara laughs. “Mom about shit her pants when I told the wedding planner what I wanted. She wasn’t thrilled. But this was important to Chet and me. We wanted to recreate the place we had our first date. One of the waiters will take your order. Dinner menus are on the table.”

Before I can pick my jaw off the ground and reply, Chet walks up and pulls Clara into his side, kissing her.

“Hello, Aubrey.” He greets me with a smile before turning his attention to Brody. I hold my breath, waiting to see what he’s going to say. Brody told me what happened at brunch, and I laughed so hard when he recounted Arthur and Thad’s comments. Chet clears his throat and puts his hand out to Brody. “I want to apologize for the way I spoke to you yesterday. It was out of line.”

Brody jerks his head back slightly before letting go of my hand and shaking Chet’s. “Apology accepted.”

“You caught me having a bad morning. But that’s not an excuse for how I treated you. I’m sorry.”

Brody looks over at me, and I shake my head slightly, silently telling him that I have no idea what happened.

“No worries,” Brody says.

“Okay. Well then, right this way,” Clara says, spinning on her heel and grabbing Chet’s hand as she beckons for us to follow her to our table. Once we are seated, they excuse themselves to greet more guests. A waiter appears and we order some drinks.

“Are we in the twilight zone?” Brody whispers, leaning across the table.

“I don’t know. Maybe.” I huff out a laugh, glancing around the room. I spot my mother sitting next to Aurthur at a table with Chet’s parents. She’s scowling even more than usual and sitting stiffly in her seat. I glance over at my little sister, and for the first time in a long time, I really look at her. She’s glowing. Without our mother hovering around pushing things on her, Clara seems like a different person.

“What are you thinking?” Brody asks me after the waiter comes back with our drinks and asks us what we’d like for dinner.

“That all of this”—I gesture around—“is not what I was expecting. And that maybe I unfairly judged my sister. I kind of wonder how much of this week was her idea and how much of it was Mother’s because she likes to put on a show.”

“But what about what Clara said to you last night? That isn’t exactly something you can blame on your mom. That was all her.”

“Maybe you’re right. But also, do I really know her anymore? She’s been around our mother a lot longer than I ever was. Maybe that’s her coping mechanism . . .” I suggest while watching Clara and Chet talk to their friends at another table.

“Don’t make excuses for her.”

Before I can say anything, the waiter returns with our food, and we dig into our meals. I contemplate what Brody said, but I also start to wonder if there’s more going on with Clara and Mother than I know. I make a mental note to pull Bri aside later and ask her what’s really going on. And to talk to Clara more.

Chapter twenty-one

Brody

I sneak glances at Aubrey during dinner, trying to figure out how to approach the topic of us being together after this week. I was just going to go for it and tell her how I feel, but after I overheard her on the phone with Summer, I realized I need a plan—a way that we can make it work between us—for her to even consider us staying together. Something more than I’m going to retire and go with her wherever she goes even if that means moving to Hawaii.

Now that I’ve had her, I don’t want to let her go. I don’t want anyone else. Aubrey has always been special to me, but now it’s on a whole other level. We’ve skipped the whole awkward getting to know each other and figuring out if we’re compatible because we’ve been friends for so long. Somehow, I instinctively knew her body and what would make her feel good.

I didn’t know what I was missing until I had her, and now I don’t ever want to go without her again. I hope she feels the same way. Because if she doesn’t, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I hope her reluctance for us to be something more is only because she doesn’t know my plan to retire.

I open my mouth to ask if she wants to dance but am interrupted by the buzzing of my phone in my pocket. I pull it out and see it’s Bruce, my agent. I hit Ignore, sending him to voicemail.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah. Fine.” I shove my phone back into my pocket. “It was Caleb. I’ll call him later.” The lie rolls off my tongue. It feels easier than telling her the truth. I glance up to find her studying me.

“Let’s dance.” I gesture toward the small dance floor set up in front of the string quartet.

“Oh, I don’t think . . .”

“Come on,” I say, getting to my feet and holding out my hand.

“No one else is dancing,” Aubrey protests, glancing around the room at the rest of the guests who are all either still eating dinner or standing around in small groups talking.