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He shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head a bit. “I don’t know. I guess first I don’t want to lose focus. I plan to play college ball. I plan to get a degree. Bri plans to get a degree. I don’t want us to settle and regret settling down when we’re so young. I don’t want to go through life wondering if I just fell in love with the first person to come along.”
All the breath is whooshed from my lungs, and my eyes instantly well with tears. Is that how he thinks of us? Does he think Barrett just settled with me? Does he think I just settled with Barrett? Does he think we have regrets or that we just fell in love with the first person to come along?
“Grady,” Barrett says in a voice that is scarily low. Apparently, he has the same questions rolling around through his head and isn’t pleased.
Grady’s eyes widen with recognition as he looks from my tear-filled eyes to Barrett’s anger-filled ones. “No. I didn’t mean…” he trails off.
“Grady,” Barrett says again, this time his voice back to his normal tone.
“I’m sorry. I promise that’s not what I meant.”
“Be that as it may, kiddo. You need to understand something. Your mom and I didn’t settle. I fell in love with her. I never felloutof love with her. Were we young? Yeah. Are we one of the few lucky ones who don’t have to date many people to find our one? No doubt about it. Do we still have to work our asses off to make our marriage work? Absolutely. But everyone does. Not a single marriage is easy. Look at this past week. Obviously we needed time together. It happens. That’s what marriage is about. We forgot that. We stopped putting each other first and focused too much on the young punks who invaded our home decades ago.” He grins. It takes a punk to know a punk, apparently.
Grady laughs. “Nice. I know, Dad. I guess it just freaked me out. That’s why I said something to Cole in the first place. It just wasn’t like you guys. And I guess I assumed some stuff or maybe panicked a little bit.”
“I get that. I promise you we’re good. We’re better than good. We’re great. There’s no one else on this earth for me but your mom, and I think she would say the same.” He looks at me with his eyebrows raised, to which I roll my eyes and agree with him.
Grady chuckles, but Barrett isn’t finished. “You also need to understand that you’re just in high school. Yes, your mom and I are high school sweethearts — her words, obvs—” He grins at his use of words because he’s the biggest dork on the planet. “—but that doesn’t mean that just because you date someone in high school you’re automatically going to get married.”
He clasps his hands together and leans over, elbows on his knees. “I know that. But also if I’m being totally honest with you guys, and myself, I guess, I think I’ve always just been scared of admitting what I feel for Bri. Keeping her as a friend always seemed easier because if I ended up screwing something up with her and then we weren’t friends anymore, I don’t think I could handle that.”
James, who has been oddly quiet this entire time speaks up. “I was married to a woman who I was not friends with first. Apparently, I didn’t know her at all. Bud, whether this thing between you and Bri is long-term or whether you guys date a bit and decide you are better off as friends, I guarantee that you’re in a better place than most marriages. You two have a foundation that most people only dream of. And seriously, you haven’t even gone on a date yet. Relax.”
“Alright, I get it. I may be overreacting a tad bit.”
“You think? It’s Bri, kiddo. You two have hung out hundreds of times. Don’t put so much pressure on yourselves. Not everyone is as perfect as your mom and me.” Barrett snickers.
We all laugh and spend the next few minutes listening to Grady tell us his plans for his date, nothing too crazy. Just dinner at a Mexican restaurant that James told him about a few towns over. After a bit, we all head to bed. Harper went to bed shortly after we got back home, and miraculously, she’s still there. Obviously, James is going to live with us forever, given the fact that a few days with her he’s kept her in her own bed at night.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Barrett
Tonight can’t come soon enough. Between Grady’s continuous pacing and overall anxiety over his date tonight and the plans that I’ve been making, we’re both pretty much live wires. About fifteen minutes ago, I walked into Grady’s room and really wish I hadn’t. He was looking at himself in the mirror, making faces. Only thing I can assume is that he’s practicing how he’s going to greet Bri. I had no idea he would ever be so nervous about a date with her, but it only proves to me just how deep his feelings are for that girl. I turned on my heel and exited just as quickly as I’d entered, without saying a word. I mean, what could I say?
Tonight, I’m taking Tess on a date, too. James said he was staying through the weekend and was cool with staying home with Harper tonight. I plan to give Tess the gift that I had intended to give to her while we were at the cabin, but since we came back early, it just never happened. Now I’m glad it didn’t. This way is better. Much better.
Her mom called this morning and asked Tess to come over and do some baking with her. It’s been a holiday tradition for the two of them for years now. I can’t remember a year when they didn’t do it. It’s just that it’s usually scheduled after Thanksgiving. I may or may not have called her mom and asked her to get together today. She agreed and said she will tell her she wanted to hear all about our trip to the cabin. Hopefully she doesn’t tell her all abouteverything.
Right before lunch I took Grady to the flower shop in town. He wanted to get some flowers for Bri, wanted to make tonight perfect. I decided to copy my son’s brilliant idea, hoping it will bring back memories by sending Tess flowers to her at her parents’ house.
In fact, the entire night I want her to remember. I plan for tonight to be another walk down memory lane. After making dozens of phone calls, picking up everything I need from just as many different places, I think I have everything in place.
The past week we got back to ourselves. Our week was cut short, but that doesn’t mean that we’re going back to the way it was before. Ever. I plan to continue to date the love of my life. And it starts tonight, reminding her of what the foundation of our love was built on. It was easy while we were alone, but now that we’re home I’m so afraid that we’re going to let our world cut into our marriage. I’m determined not to let that happen, so even though I had this planned for while we were at the cabin, it actually works out better to do it tonight, here in our home town.
After getting Grady relaxed, I head to our bedroom to get ready to pick up Tess for our own date. My only fear is that when she will be upset with me for not being home before Grady’s date, but I hope that tonight’s events make up for it.
After showering and dressing with the clothes I picked up from Josh, still not entirely positive why he had them at his ready, I head out into the living room where Maggie, Harper, James and Grady are sitting watching a movie, relaxing their way to a perfect Saturday afternoon. The second I walk into the room with my arms spread wide and a grin on my face to match, James and Grady both burst into laughter that doubles them over. James falls off the couch, clutching his stomach, and wipes his eyes as he takes another look at me, only causing him to laugh harder.
Maggie is giggling but smiling wide, and Harper is looking at me funny with her nose scrunched up. “Daddy, why are you dressed like that?”
“Because I love your mommy, sugar. And I plan to woo the crap out of her tonight.”
“Huh?”
“He’s taking Mom on a date tonight, Harps. Apparently this is what old people do. Dress like weirdos and hope that their wives don’t laugh in their faces,” Grady tells her.
“Aw, come on. This is cool, right, Mags? Mom will get it, yeah?”
