by J. Nathan
Elaine walked over to Trey, her face lighting up. Trey turned and spoke to her like he knew her, then the two of them disappeared.
My heartbeat thumped harder.
Claire fussed in my arms which meant she was hungry. I stood and walked on wobbly legs over to the formula counter, retrieving her bottle from the nurse.
I needed to pull it together.
I needed to keep my composure.
Babies like Claire needed Trey. They needed his donation. They needed the attention he could bring to this epidemic. And, regardless of how I felt about Trey, she needed him.
I sat back down and offered the bottle to Claire who eagerly took the formula. “You’re one hungry girl, aren’t you?” I said, watching her eyes drift close as she sucked it down. “Does it taste good?” I burped her a couple times, and offered up more formula.
“Gonna introduce me to your friend?”
I pulled in a silent breath before my eyes slowly lifted. I wanted to hate Trey, standing there all put together in his dark jeans and button-down shirt. I wanted to tell him I hated him for what he’d done to me. But as he stood in the baby nursery, having flown to Vegas for no other reason than to clearly meet with Elaine after I’d asked him to, I couldn’t. And it hurt me to admit that to myself. “This is Claire.”
I saw the moment the name registered because his head flinched back.
“At least that’s what I call her,” I explained.
He tipped his head, gauging my expression carefully. “She didn’t have a name?”
I shook my head. “Did you?”
He shook his head and something about knowing that tugged at my heart. Trey crouched in front of me and stared at Claire. “She’s so tiny.”
“She was two pounds when she was born.” I checked the bottle and it was time to burp her. I pulled the bottle from her mouth, and her lips continued to suck. “Sorry, little lady,” I said, adjusting her in my lap.
“Her mouth is still moving,” Trey observed.
“Yeah. She does that.” I rubbed her back in small circles.
“I thought you’re supposed to hit them?”
“She doesn’t need that.” A small burp shot from her mouth. “See?” I turned her and offered her the bottle which she took right away.
Trey watched her suck away at the formula. “Elaine said you’ve been here every day.”
I raked my teeth over my bottom lip, embarrassed to admit the truth. Would he think I was crazy? Would he think what happened overseas loosened a screw in my head? It didn’t matter anymore. “Yup.”
A long silence passed between us. A long uncomfortable silence.
“I’m sorry,” Trey said.
My eyes flashed from Claire to him still crouched in front of me.
“I should have trusted you,” he said, pain creasing the corners of his eyes.
Tears pricked my eyes, and I hated that they did. He’d hurt me. He’d turned his back on me. He couldn’t just show up here after weeks of silence and expect my forgiveness. Life didn’t work like that. I didn’t work like that. “Not now, Trey.”
He huffed his frustration. “When?”
“Don’t ruin my time with Claire. I leave tonight.”
He stood up and buried his hands in his pockets, looking down at us.
Was he going to turn his back on me again because he didn’t get his way?
“Can I hold her?” he asked.
I closed my eyes, pained by his question. Pained by his apology. Pained by the sight of him in front of me. But something about him wanting to hold her made me stand up.
He took a step back.
“Where are you going?” I asked, sensing the sudden fear in his eyes. “Sit.”
He took my place in the chair and held out his arms.
“Just relax your arms on your lap.”
He did and I bent down and placed Claire into them. The smile that replaced the fear on Trey’s face lightened the tightness clawing at my chest. Claire looked up at him and their gazes locked.
“Hi, little one,” he said, seemingly mesmerized by the tiny baby in his arms. “I’m Brie’s friend Trey…me and you have a lot in common…”
Tears welled in my eyes as I watched him talk to Claire, but I willed them back with every shred of strength I had left.
“I met my mom here,” he continued. “She spent time rocking me the way Brie’s been rocking you.”
I turned away and pretended to look at something behind me so I could wipe away the rogue tear trailing down my cheek.
“My mom and Brie were very similar. She was kind like Brie. And funny. And, even though she was my mom, I can still say she was pretty, inside and out.”
Claire cooed.
I spun around, not wanting to miss their interaction.
Trey stared down at her, smiling like I’d never seen him smile before.
I slipped out my phone and captured the moment. Trey was so lost in her eyes that he didn’t even notice. I slipped my phone back into my pocket and watched Claire fall asleep in his arms.
He began to hum a song to her. I would’ve been lying if I said a tiny piece of my heart didn’t thaw when it came to Trey. “You’re a natural,” I said.
He glanced up at me. “You think so?”
I nodded.
He stared at me for a long time, as if he was trying to say something with his gaze. “Go somewhere with me.”
I closed my eyes. Didn’t he understand I was angry at him? Didn’t he understand I was sad to be leaving Claire? “I leave in a few hours.”
“I didn’t ask when you leave,” he said. “I asked you to go somewhere with me.”
“No”
“Stop being difficult.”
“I’m not being difficult. I have a plane to catch.”
He cocked his head. “There are plenty of flights out of Vegas. If you miss one, I can get you on the next one.”
“I don’t need you to get me on a flight.”
“Look, I know I deserve all this hostility you’re rocking right now, but I’m gonna ask you again. Brie, will you please go somewhere with me? There’s something I want to show you.”
I heaved a sigh, hating him so much in that moment. Why was he doing this now?
“I’ll give you time to say goodbye to Claire,” he said, standing and turning toward me with her.
I opened my arms to take her, but he didn’t let her go.
“Goodbye, sweet little girl.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead. “Your angel will swoop in just like mine did.”
My stomach lurched, feeling like his words were a lie. Like I was letting her down. Who was going to take her? Who would want her?
Finally, he placed her into my arms. “I’ll be outside.”
I said nothing until he left the nursery. “Well, that was interesting, wasn’t it?” I said to Claire. “Boys are nothing but trouble. I hope you don’t have to learn that the hard way. I hope no one breaks your heart and you’re surrounded by kindness always.” My eyes welled up. “You are going to be very strong. What am I saying? You already are. What you’ve been through is worse than what most adults can endure. Don’t let anything change that. Always be a fighter. Always know you deserve the best life has to offer.” Tears streamed out of my eyes. “Look at Trey. He started out like you and look at him now. You can be and do anything you set your mind to.” I leaned down and kissed her forehead, my tears dripping onto her face. “I will miss you, sweet Claire.”
I walked her over to the nurse so she could place her back into her little bed. Claire’s eyes remained closed as I passed her off, which made it easier. If she’d opened them, I would’ve taken it as her silent plea for me to stay, and I would’ve.
I stared down at her sleeping so soundly, knowing that’s how I wanted to remember her. I turned away and wiped my tears, only to find Trey standing in the window. Most would’ve looked away to give me the privacy I needed, but not Trey. He watched me, his eyes never wavering from mine
. I broke eye contact and walked to the door. Instead of going to him, I walked to Elaine’s office.
She glanced up from her desk at me in the doorway. “You okay?”
I nodded. “You’ll let me know if anyone adopts her?”
She tilted her head in a motherly way which almost brought on more tears. “Of course.”
I nodded, wiping away at my tears. “Thank you for everything, Elaine.” I grabbed the handle of my carry-on luggage I’d stored in her office.
“It’s me who should be thanking you,” she said. “Your friend’s an angel.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Brielle
Trey stood down the hallway, his hands buried in the pockets of his jeans.
I walked toward him, pulling my luggage behind me. I didn’t even bother wiping the tear stains from my cheeks. What was the point? He’d seen my sadness. Hell, he was partially to blame for my sadness. I stopped in front of him, tipping back my head to meet his gaze. “What did you do?”
He stepped forward to hug me.
I stepped back, needing to stand my ground.
He lowered his arms, and I couldn’t miss the hurt emanating from his eyes. He grabbed my carry-on. “I have a car downstairs. We’ll talk in there,” he said before walking toward the elevator with my luggage.
I followed behind, each step away from the nursery more difficult than the last. The elevator dinged once we reached it. Trey grabbed hold of my hand and walked us inside. I tried to release my hand from his, but he held on tighter. I wondered if he thought the strength of his grasp would give me the strength to leave.
Inside the elevator, neither of us spoke. I knew where my thoughts were, but where were his? I wanted him to release my hand now that we’d left the NICU, but he didn’t. Even after we stepped into the lobby, he led me to the exit with my hand in his.
He finally released my hand as we stepped outside into the late afternoon sunlight. I squinted as he grabbed hold of the passenger door handle on a fancy sports car parked at the curb and pulled open the door for me. I stared inside the car, wondering if I was making the right decision by going somewhere with him.
I couldn’t stand there deliberating all day so I did the only thing I could. I climbed inside.
Trey closed my door, placed my belongings in the trunk, then slid into the driver’s seat. He turned to me, a hundred emotions racing across his face, but he said nothing. He switched on the engine, and the car purred to life. He pulled out into city traffic. I expected him to drive toward the Vegas lights, but he drove nowhere near them, opting for endless desert roads.
Nothing but the low purr of the expensive sports car filled the space around us. I said nothing, just gazed out the window as the desolate Nevada scenery blurred by. The sun lowered in the distance leaving an orange glow over the horizon.
“What went down with your dad?” Trey asked, breaking the silence.
“What do you mean?”
“I heard you quit his company.”
“And being his daughter.”
“Yeah?”
“I wanted nothing to do with him after what he did to you.” I finally turned to Trey, knowing what I needed to say. “I’m sorry I told him about your past. At the time, I thought it would help him see you as more of a person and not just a pawn in his ultimatum.”
“You couldn’t have known he’d run to the press,” he said. “I’m just sorry you lost your dad in the process.”
I shrugged. “He was never a real dad. A real dad snuggles with his kid. A real dad paints with his kid even if he hates painting. A real dad puts on a tutu because it will make his kid laugh. Mine never did any of that.”
“I’m sorry.”
I shrugged. “You can’t miss something you never had.”
“Do you miss us?”
I looked back out the window. And, after a long pause, I nodded.
Trey reached over and took my hand. “Then take another chance on me, Brie.”
After everything that went down, could it be that easy?
Trey switched on his blinker and turned into a neighborhood filled with small identical houses. He pulled over in front of a beige house with green shutters.
I stared out at the house, wondering where he’d taken me. My eyes moved over the small house with its tiny yard filled with rocks.
“My mom brought me back here to the first house I lived in,” he explained. “She told me about the room upstairs where she rocked and sang to me after adopting me and bringing me home from the hospital. She told me this neighborhood wasn’t right for me. That this house wasn’t right for me. She said I needed someplace that I could run in a grass backyard and fit a piano in the sitting room. I don’t think they could even afford to move to Tennessee, but they up and moved so I’d have a better life.”
My eyes cut to his, not knowing what he wanted me to say.
“Life takes crazy turns, Brie. It deals us curveballs, and it places people in our lives who we never expected to meet.”
My eyes stayed on his, letting him finish his thought.
“I never planned on you, Brie. But I’m so damn happy you worked your way into my heart. You challenged me and pissed me off and made me feel something for someone other than myself.”
Tears pricked my eyes, but I forced them back with every bit of strength I had.
“You’ve got to know I didn’t mean to hurt you. I just felt…blindsided. It was like the one person I was letting in had turned on me and taken advantage of me opening up.”
“That’s not me,” I said.
He nodded. “I get that now.”
“You should’ve gotten that before.”
“I know.” His tone matched his pained expression. “It kills me that I let you walk out of my life. Because when you left, you took a chunk of my heart I didn’t even know I’d miss. Since my parents died, I’ve needed no one but Z. I didn’t want to need you. But I did. I do.” He released my hand and reached in the back seat, grabbing a manila envelope and handing it to me.
“What is it?”
“Something I should’ve done sooner.”
I unfastened the seal on the envelope and reached inside, pulling out a thick packet of stapled papers. I read the words on the cover sheet and my eyes widened. I was looking at a contract opt-out.
“I wanted to be the one to tell you,” he said.
My eyes snapped to his.
“We didn’t have a termination clause in our contract. We’re done with Artists Limited.”
“But…”
“We’re in the market for a new publicist. And, we want you, if you accept our offer.” He lifted his chin toward the papers in my hand. “It’s in there.”
I flipped through the packet, finding the contract they’d written up and the salary they were offering. It was double what I’d been making. “You can’t be serious?”
“Which part?”
I shook my head, not knowing what to say.
“Is that a no?”
A mixture of sadness and hope bubbled inside of me as I turned to him. “What happens next time? What happens in a month from now when someone says I said something? Will you take their word or mine?”
“What do you want to hear?”
“What do I really want to hear?”
He nodded.
“I really want to hear that you’re helping the hospital. That you know how important it is to draw awareness to the epidemic that plagued you as a child.”
“Done.”
“What?”
“The band already made a million-dollar donation to the hospital.”
My eyes widened.
“And I’m working with Elaine to start a foundation to aid babies born like me and Claire, as well as the adoptive parents who are conflicted about adopting them. We’re going to ensure they receive continued support throughout the life of these children. They won’t just be handed over without the proper services in place to help both the children and their adoptive parents
.”
Tears stung my eyes.
“That’s the biggest problem,” he continued. “These adoptive parents are left unequipped to deal with the effects of drug addiction. They’ll get whatever they need now. Our foundation will make sure of it.”
Tears leaked out of my eyes, flowing freely now.
Trey reached up and tried to wipe them away, but they kept falling. “Stop crying, Brie. You’re scaring me.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because big bad Brie does not cry.”
I laughed through my tears. “They’re happy tears.”
His brows shot up. “Does that mean I’m forgiven?”
I shook my head.
He cupped my cheeks and dropped his forehead to mine. “Cut the shit, Brie. You’re mine. No matter how difficult you’re being right now, you know it’s happening. Me and you.”
“You broke my heart.”
“And I’ll never do it again.”
“I don’t believe you.”
He pulled his forehead back so he could look me in the eyes. “Dammit, Brie. I was pissed at you for taking the rapper’s side over mine, but I got over it. I got over it because I knew deep down I had feelings for you that I couldn’t fight any longer. Don’t you still have feelings for me? Don’t you think I deserve forgiveness too?”
My chest heaved as everything he’d said rushed at me at once.
“You’re going to have to learn to trust me, Brie.”
He wasn’t wrong. I was being a complete hypocrite. “You’re right.”
“Say that again.”
“You’re right. I never should’ve doubted you.”
His brows shot up.
“So, I guess that means we’re even,” I said.
A smile slipped across his face. “You gonna be my girl again, Brie?”
I stared into his hopeful eyes, knowing I couldn’t stay away from him any longer. He wanted one thing in this world, and it was a family. I had a sudden urge to be part of that family. “I—”
He didn’t let me finish. His mouth crashed down on mine. His lips and tongue, mixed with the salt from my tears, made for the perfect kiss. One that carried so many emotions. Regret. Forgiveness. And love. A whole lot of love.
