Remember Love (13 page)

Brenna

I’m speechless
. I don’t know how to respond to John. I know he didn’t mean to hurt me but, oh God, am I in pain. I knew Tucker was hurt, but hearing his dad tell me that I broke his heart tears me apart.

I look at Tucker and mouth
“I’m sorry.” He reaches up and wipes my tears as they fall. I can see emotion building inside him as well. I feel like I owe them all an explanation.  Taking his hand in both of mine, I place them in my lap before I begin talking.

“I didn’t know what my mom had done. I went to the farm after not hearing from Tucker for a couple weeks to find y’all had moved. No one would tell me anything. I was heartbroken
, too. All these years I thought he left because of me. That he didn’t want me anymore. I didn’t know until last weekend what had really happened.”

Tucker squeezes my hand and I search his face for signs that we are okay. I have this fear building inside of me that he’s going to realize I’ve
already caused him enough pain, and he’ll be gone from my life again.

Anna says,
“Brenna, honey, we don’t blame you for anything. John just speaks without thinking sometimes.” Anna shoots John a look. “We know you were hurting just as bad as Tucker was.”

I
face Tucker, needing to say this to him, “I would have never broken my promises to you had I known what really happened then. I’m so sorry that I broke them.”

Tucker’s lips are on mine as soon as those words
come out. He whispers, “I know, baby, it’s okay.” as he pulls away.

John smiles.
“Woowee! I’m gonna have my daughter and some grandbabies before this time next year!” he hoots before slapping the table, smiling ear to ear.

The blood drains
from face as my eyes meet Tucker’s. At first he smiles at his dad’s comment, but it slowly disappears from his face. I see the concern in his eyes but I can’t speak. I have a lump the size of a boulder in my throat.

Babies.
Tucker’s babies.
I place my hand against my flat stomach as this new thought runs through my mind. Until now, I haven’t given much thought to the consequences of our actions… or that we didn’t use any protection…

Tucker sees
my hand on my stomach and he smiles again. I know that no matter what, everything will be okay. He doesn’t seem the least bit upset by the possibility that I could already be pregnant. I’m relieved, and can feel the happiness bubble up inside me again.

The next few hours are filled with laughter as Anna and John recount
so many of our antics from when Tucker and I were young. It’s late when they decide to head home. We say, “Good night.” and after walking with them to their car, Tucker and I clean up the table before heading inside.

“Do you really want me to move in here with you?” I ask as we settle on the couch.

“I’m positive that’s what I want. I thought we could move you up here after your graduation.” He answers without hesitation.

“In that case, I’d love to live here with you.” I smile knowing this is what I want. We are moving in the right direction.

We cuddle on the couch and watch TV for a little while before heading to bed. In between kisses and touches, we strip each other of our clothes, before falling into bed. The night may have taken a bad turn for a little while, but it sure is ending with a beautiful view.

* * *

Tucker

I lay awake listening to Brenna sleep thinking about everything that happened earlier tonight. I’m pushing out the thoughts of tears and sadness for a few minutes. Dad surprised me when he mentioned how heartbroken I was. I couldn’t respond. When she said she would have never broken our promises if she’d known what happened, I know she meant every word. That went a long way in healing the both of us.

Every
minute we missed out on, we’ll make up for with new memories. The only thing that overshadows us is the upcoming talk with her mom. But it’s unavoidable. Brenna’s mom is the only family she has besides her Pa. I want us to move on from this so we can have a good relationship with her, like Brenna has with my parents.

Two more weeks until
Brenna can be here every day. We talked about her moving in before she fell asleep. She’s going to go back to Louisville tomorrow and spend some time with Lexi this week while she waits for her grades to be posted. She said there were girly things she and Lexi needed to do. I’m going down there next weekend to help her pack. I’ll try my hardest to make it a whole week without her.

My mind seems to be stuck on the image of her hand on her stomach
, the same place my hand is now resting. I should probably feel bad that I didn’t think about protection. We were so caught up in the moment that first night; the thought never crossed my mind.

But n
ow, well, now it’s a little too late to worry about it. What’s done is done. I for one will be shouting from the rooftops if she’s pregnant. I hope she’ll be happy about it. I noticed the relief on her face when she saw I wasn’t going to freak out. The possibility of having a piece of the both of us growing inside of her is why I can’t fail. My anticipation grows each second, wondering if she’s already pregnant. How long till we know for sure?

I pull Brenna as close to me as
possible. The feel of her skin pressed against mine isn’t helping me fall asleep. My mind replays us making love before she fell asleep.

We
stripped each other down, taking our time touching and kissing in between each article of clothing that was removed. Hands and mouths explored each other, leaving no place untouched. When Brenna’s mouth got too close to my straining cock, I pulled her up my body and flipped us over so I was on top.

With o
ur fingers laced together, I sank into her warmth. We moved together slowly making love, not wanting to rush the moment. When we both reached the end we were gasping for breath and shaking.

It was another perfect moment
. Another memory to file away and pull out to reflect upon for the rest of our lives. I rub my hand back and forth across her stomach. Sending up a prayer to whoever is listening, if Brenna is pregnant that they watch over her and our unborn child.

Brenna

Leaving Tucker
on Sunday afternoon is harder than I thought it would be. I ended up not getting home till around nine that night. After checking in to tell him I safely made it back to my apartment, I crashed. I spend Monday unpacking my bag and hanging out with Lexi for a little while. Then, of course, I spend about an hour talking to Tucker before bed.

Tuesday
, I found myself washing clothes and browsing the internet for possible teaching openings for me somewhere between Barren and Hart County. On Wednesday, Lexi talked me into going to the salon with her to get a manicure, pedicure and some waxing. Yeah, that wasn’t a lot of fun. I walked funny the rest of the night. Why do I let her talk me into doing such things?

When
Thursday rolls around, Lexi decides she is taking me shopping. She says we need something new to wear for graduation. We spend the better part of the day roaming from one store to the next. As we pass the various small kiosks at the mall. I spot one that sells pocket watches. Lexi and I spend a few minutes scanning before I see the one I want. The tree on the lid matches my pendant almost perfectly. After paying for the watch, we walk over to a different kiosk to have it engraved.

While waiting
for the engraving to finish, my stomach growls, telling me that I need to eat something. The food court isn’t far from the kiosk, so we grab something to snack on while they finish Tucker’s watch. After we sit down I get a creepy feeling, like someone was staring at me. I look around but don’t see anyone, so I shake it off and proceed to eat.

A few minutes later
, I feel it again. What the hell?

“Lexi, do you see
anyone staring at me?”

Lexi looks all around
the room and then back at me. She picks up her food, pretending to take a bite before answering. “There are a couple guys over there by the arcade staring at you.”

Well
, that’s good to know. At least I’m not just paranoid or going crazy. Neither of us looks back in their direction until we finish and leave the table. That’s when I glance toward the arcade. And you could have knocked me over with a feather.

What are the odds that after four years
, Wesley Mitchell ends up in the same mall as me? It can’t be him. There’s no way. I have to look again to make sure, but I don’t want him to see me. I try to give a quick unnoticed glance, and when I do his eyes are fixed on me. Yep, it’s him.

Grabbing onto Lexi’s hand
, I pull her along to the restroom. As soon as we’re inside, I drop all of my stuff on the counter and bend forward at the waist, taking slow deep breaths. This Wesley sighting is completely unexpected. And I have a bad feeling; now that’s he’s seen me, I won’t be leaving this mall without speaking to him.

“Brenna
, what is it?” Lexi asks, concern evident in her voice.

“
Wesley.”

Lexi’s jaw
drops, and her voice is loud. “What?”

“
Shh, Lexi. It was Wesley.”

Lexi
knows some of my history with Wesley, but I haven’t told her everything new I learned from Tucker recently. Not to mention the surprise conversation with Stacy at Tucker’s house. My mind is still processing the news that Wesley lied, manipulated, and said such evil things behind my back, all in the hopes of destroying my future with Tucker. A part of me wants to confront him, but I’m certainly too angry and hurt to speak to him today.

Lexi touches my arm.
“Come on. Let’s go pick up Tucker’s watch and get out of here.”

“Okay
, let me use the bathroom first before we go.”

After I shut the stall door behind me
, I hear some rustling around. I ask Lexi what she was doing she says, “Nothing.” I can tell by the tone of her voice she’s up to something. When I finish and open the stall door, I see Lexi slide her phone into her pocket. I think nothing of it since Lexi is always on her phone, doing something.

After washing
my hands, we exit the bathroom. As soon as we turn the first corner, Wesley’s standing there.

Seriously
! The last thing I want to do is deal with him.

“Been a long time
, Brenna,” Wesley says with a smirk on his face.

“Not long enough
,” I say as we walk past. We don’t make it five steps before he speaks again.

“What
? You haven’t missed me? I’ve missed you.”

I roll my eyes
at Lexi and continue walking. I don’t look over my shoulder for Wesley, but assume he stopped following, since he doesn’t approach us again.

A few minutes later
, with Tucker’s watch in hand, we leave the mall. As Lexi and I place our bags in the back of my Xterra, I get that feeling again, like I’m being watched. I look around and see Wesley a few rows over, staring right at me, but I ignore him. At least it doesn’t come as a shock this time.

When Lexi and I get in
to our seats, I look in my review mirror to check for Wesley once more. Not seeing him, I calmly put the key in the ignition and turn it. I waste no time getting out of the parking lot and on the road back home.

During the ride,
I give Lexi the new details about Wesley, from Tucker and Stacy.

“Brenna
, I think you need to tell Tucker you saw him today.”

“
No. He’s almost two hours away. Why worry him over nothing?” I don’t want Tucker to drop everything and run to me just because Wesley appeared at the mall. There’s no reason to act like it’s such a big deal. It’s just a coincidence. Nothing more.

Maybe if I keep repeating that to myself
, I’ll start to believe it.

When Lexi and I get back home
, we go straight into my apartment. She wants to know everything that’s happened over the past two weekends. So, I start from the beginning.

When I finish, s
he’s adamant that I call Tucker and tell him I saw Wesley at the mall.

And now, after going through the details with Lexi, I wonder if she’s
right. Maybe I was too surprised to think clearly earlier. I text Tucker, since I know he’s still at work.

Brenna: Hey
u’ll never guess who I saw today at the mall?

There
, now I’ll have to tell him when he responds. I show Lexi the text so she knows I really did it. She goes to her apartment, telling me she’ll be back later with some Chinese takeout for dinner.

I’m going to
miss Lexi when I leave college. Maybe I can get her to move with me.