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“Passion should believe itself irresistible. It should forget civility and consideration and all the other curses of a refined nature. Above all, it should never ask for leave where there is a right of way.”
Those words written long ago by such a romantic soul had always affected me. I was not sure how much my choice would change our lives but I knew my heart belonged to Brent and Reese would be helpless to change that.
I went into the kitchen to help Brent. “This house is amazing. I can’t believe Maggie could afford this place,” I said, wiping down the counters.
“Maggie inherited it from your grandmother. It was your grandfather’s dream. He made a ton of money during the dot.com craze and invested wisely. They continued to live a modest life. As he aged, he decided to build a house here for your grandma and Mags. He hoped to move here when he retired and did most of the work himself. They planned to leave the house in Mass for your parents but then he passed away and your grandmother and Maggie couldn’t stand the thought of living here without him. Maggie rents it a few times every summer to cover the bills, but that’s it. She’s never stepped foot inside,” Brent explained, knowing more about my family than I did.
“Wow, I had no idea. So, who takes care of the place?” I asked.
“Your aunt hired a caretaker. He helps with the rentals and she trusts him with everything. She called to let him know we were coming. He came by and stocked the fridge and turned on the heat for us,” he replied.
We spent the rest of the evening talking, and playing board games. Brent beat me a few dozen times in Checkers but I schooled him in Scrabble, redeeming myself. So much had changed for me in a few short months. My life had taken an expected turn. I had lost my parents, been handed what seemed like an insurmountable responsibility and fallen for Brent. I felt happier than I had in a long time. I was not looking forward to the evening coming to an end, and the thought of Reese showing up tomorrow made me increasingly uncomfortable.
“Hey, what are you thinking about, Blake?” Brent’s voice ended my mental rambling.
“What am I not thinking about,” I said. “I have a question to ask.”
“Shoot,” he smiled.
“Do you think there is any chance they got it wrong?” I asked, sliding one of the scrabble squares back and forth across the table fretfully.
He didn’t have to ask to know I was referring to Reese.
“Claire, we’ve been over this. Things are designed with a purpose, for a reason. You have to accept that you have no control over it.”
“I can’t, Brent, because I feel something different,” I admitted.
Brent moved closer to me, placing his hand on my knee. His touch reminded me I definitely felt something different. It was meant to be friendly, but my body knew it was something more.
“You won’t when Reese gets here. I promise you. The bond between the two of you will pull you to him and you’ll forget about how you feel about me,” he explained, running his fingers through his hair. I saw in the movement he hoped he was wrong as much as I did.
“I’m not sure that’s a promise you can keep. I mean it Brent. I felt nothing when I was around Reese. Frankly, he’s annoying as hell,” I laughed.
Brent laughed softly and teasingly tapped the tip of my nose with his index finger.
“Well, he can be that at times,” he agreed. “But you’ll love him anyway.”
“I won’t,” I argued, folding my hands in my lap, pursing my lips in frustration.
“You will,” Brent countered, resting his fingers along the bottom of my jaw, using his thumb to remove my pout.
His fingers lingered and our eyes locked. When the heat in my core was too much to take, I put my mouth on his. He tensed immediately and moved away from me, leaving my heart empty.
“Claire, we can’t.”
“I know. I’m sorry,” I whispered ruefully.
He slid close to me again and reached for my hand. “Look, promise me when Reese gets here, you’ll give him a chance. It will happen and for your safety alone, you’ll need him. Please,” Brent pleaded.
“I’ll try.” That was all I could offer –that I would try. I wasn’t sure yet how I was possibly going to manage it. Everything emotion in me told me Reese was not the one.
I thought about what my mom always used to say to me whenever I wanted something I had no control over.
If was meant to be, Claire, it will happen.
In this case, I wanted Brent but was reluctantly starting to feel like it wasn’t meant to be.
When we went up to bed, Brent agreed to lay with me. He didn’t even make an argument as to why it was a bad idea. I thought it was because he knew it wouldn’t make a difference in what was supposed to happen. I curled up around him with my head on his chest, lost in the rhythm of his heartbeat. He ran his fingers through the side of my hair until I drifted off to sleep.
