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It was something I doubted Memphis would ever be able to get past. I doubted I would ever be able to get past it.
But there was still the possibility of fixing things with Tristan. I hadn’t attended any family dinners since I’d left the hotel with Eli, and I hadn’t been sure if Tristan had or not. My guilt had been off the charts in the past weeks as the weight of what my defection must have done to Tristan. Especially since I didn’t even know if he’d had Memphis to lean on.
At least until Memphis had left town.
I hadn’t found that out until I’d called the hotel a few days ago pretending to want to leave a message for Memphis. They’d told me he’d checked out several weeks earlier.
The knowledge that I’d lost Memphis for good had nearly broken me all over again, but I still had a chance with Tristan. If he forgave me and took me back, we’d never truly be complete, but it would be better than not being together at all. I couldn’t choose between him and Memphis, but I also wouldn’t be without one just because I was without the other.
So I’d finally gotten the courage to call Dom and ask him if Tristan was coming to family dinner this weekend at Dom and Logan’s island house. He’d told me he was, and had agreed not to tell Tristan I would be there, though he’d assured me repeatedly that Tristan would be glad to know it. I’d avoided asking him any more questions about Tristan, only because I didn’t want to hear how badly I’d hurt him. I’d asked about Tanner too and while the little boy was also in therapy to deal with the traumatic events of that day, he was doing as well as could be expected. I’d seen him myself playing with the other kids out in the front yard when I’d arrived with Eli and Mav a half an hour ago.
“Wow, nice car,” I heard Beck say and I glanced up to see he was looking out the window that overlooked the driveway. I could hear the engine rumbling and figured it was Ren arriving in one of his client’s cars that he was testing or one of his personal restoration projects. I could definitely tell it was a muscle car.
“Brennan, can you come out here?” I heard my brother call.
“Yeah,” I said and then set the last plate. I followed Beck who’d already started for the front door. I was surprised to see most of the kids had stopped playing and several of the adults who’d been watching them were congregating near the front door. It took me a moment to maneuver past everyone to get to my brother who was standing at the far end of the crowd. “What?” I asked.
“That,” Zane said as he motioned to the driveway.
My heart dropped out at the sight of a jet black 1970 Plymouth Barracuda sitting in the driveway. I knew instantly whose it was because I only knew one person who owned that kind of car.
I swallowed hard at the sight of Tristan getting out of the passenger seat and when his eyes locked on mine and he smiled, I felt my knees weaken. I was shocked to see Tink jump out of the car behind Tristan and trot up towards the house as all the family dogs ran up to her to investigate. But the cat just stood there looking bored as she was sniffed from every angle by three German Shepherds, a Rottweiler and Matty’s not-so-little-any-more lab-mix puppy. When she began to make her way through the crowd, all the fascinated dogs followed her.
I shifted my eyes from the cat as the driver’s side of the car opened and I took in the sight of Memphis getting out and striding around the vehicle. His eyes also met mine, but he didn’t move towards me. I drank in the sight of him and Tristan as they briefly held hands and then Tristan was walking towards me, his beautiful eyes wide with excitement. I felt tears stinging my eyes and I blinked them back. He came to a stop before me and I couldn’t help but think how confident he looked as he held my gaze. It was almost like he’d been expecting to see me.
“Hi,” he said softly and then he reached out to stroke my face.
I shook my head, but I couldn’t find any words. And then I was in his arms. I stifled a sob and wrapped my arms around him. The strength that he held me with blew my mind. For all the times I’d thought of Tristan as the more docile of the three of us, I realized I’d been wrong. Because he was the strongest of us.
