TRUTH (12 page)

By the time Stephan returned, there were tears in my eyes. He noticed immediately, of course, and gathered me into his arms.
 

“What’s wrong?” he asked, tucking my head against his chest.
 

I instantly felt better. The anxiety that had been plaguing me fell away, and I was left with a warm, tingly feeling.
 

“Is everything all right?” I jumped a little when I heard Dr. Cooper’s voice behind Stephan.
 

Instead of answering Dr. Cooper, Stephan tilted my face up to look at me, brushing the tears that had fallen off my cheeks. He just stared, and I realized he was waiting for me to answer his question. “I’m okay.”

He continued to look at me as if searching for something. I knew I’d have to tell him what had been bothering me, but I didn’t want to say anything in front of Dr. Cooper. He already didn’t like me much. I didn’t want to give him any more reasons to think Stephan shouldn’t be with me.
 

After a long pause, Stephan nodded and then turned to address his uncle. “Everything’s fine. Did you need something?”

“I was going to grab lunch before heading back to the office this afternoon, and wanted to know if you two would like to join me.”

“Thank you for the offer, but we’ve already got plans for this afternoon,” Stephan said, continuing to rub his hands up and down my back.
 

The two exchanged a few more words, but I wasn’t paying attention to them. All I wanted was for Dr. Cooper to leave already so Stephan and I could be together.

Chapter 9

Stephan

The only thing on my mind was getting Brianna out of my office so we could talk. Even though she said she was okay, I knew something was on her mind. One thing I’d learned about her over the last two months was that emotional worries tended to do more damage to her than physical ones. Whatever this was, she needed to talk about it. Doing so here, however, wasn’t a good idea.

My uncle following me out of the meeting and finding me holding a crying Brianna in my office only complicated things further. I was beginning to think Richard had some sort of radar where she and I were concerned. It wasn’t helping his opinion of the situation, nor was it helping Brianna’s comfort level with him.
 

As quickly as I could, I gathered Brianna’s things back into her bag and got us out of there. Jamie waved good-bye to Brianna as we stepped onto the elevator, and while Brianna responded, she seemed reluctant. It made me wonder if something had happened between the two. Jamie had been my assistant since I’d taken over The Coleman Foundation. She was efficient and reliable. I’d never had a problem with her. However, Brianna’s response to her had changed. Something had happened.

“What would you like for lunch, Brianna?”

She looked up at me, her blue eyes wide.
 

I waited. What we had for lunch wasn’t all that important to me. It had to be portable, that was all.

Her lips pressed together hard, and she glanced down. She was thinking.

“Cheeseburger?”

In all the time Brianna had been with me, I realized we’d only ever indulged in a simple burger once, when I’d taken her to the zoo. That seemed like a lifetime ago. So much had changed. In college, I’d practically lived on cheeseburgers. They were fast, could be eaten on the run and, as long as you bought it at a decent place, tasted good.

“Cheeseburgers it is,” I said, helping her into the car.
 

We drove to a restaurant near Minnehaha Park. I’d heard they had good burgers. It was time I found out what all the fuss was about.
 

It was almost noon, and the restaurant was busy. Brianna held tight to my hand as we entered, and I pulled her close to my side. A man greeted us and handed me a menu to look over. They had a whole page of different types of burgers. Everything from a simple cheeseburger with all the usual toppings, to something they called a Garbage Burger with an egg on it.
 

“They have a lot to choose from, Brianna. What kind of cheeseburger would you like?”

She pointed to the classic cheeseburger at the top of the page. I had no idea if she’d even read the rest, but if that was what she wanted, then that was what she would get. I went for something a little more adventurous, a chipotle burger with jalapenos.
 

With our orders in, we walked over to the long bench along the wall and waited. Brianna kept looking around at all the people. I knew she was nervous, but she was going to have to get used to being around people to some degree. At least this way I knew she was safe. I had no idea if she’d be ready to go to school in the fall, but I wanted her to try. She needed to have some independence, some schooling she could use out in the world, even if she never used it.
 

About fifteen minutes later, the man approached us again, this time carrying two bags. Brianna cringed and stepped closer to me. I gave her fingers a squeeze before releasing my hold on her and taking the bags from the restaurant employee. She stayed glued to my side, rigid, until the man walked back behind the host podium.
 

“Number?” I leaned down to whisper in her ear.

“F-four.”

Shifting the bags to one hand, I made her look at me. “Only four?”

She pressed her lips together and nodded.
 

I pulled her into my arms briefly, and kissed her. “Let’s go before our food gets cold.”

The ride to the park was quiet. Brianna looked out the window. It was a beautiful day, and there were quite a few people out enjoying it. I knew the park wouldn’t be any different.
 

I made sure to park as close to where we were going as possible. Thankfully, there were parking areas inside the park itself, not just on the perimeter. Brianna was still unpredictable around people, and if we needed to leave quickly, I didn’t want to have to walk three blocks to reach the car.

She didn’t say anything as I threw my suit jacket in the backseat and then grabbed the food and the blanket I kept in the trunk. I helped her out of the vehicle, balancing the food and the blanket in one arm, and laced our fingers together. It was a gorgeous spring day in Minneapolis, and I wanted to share it with her. I also thought it would be good for her to be around people in what I hoped was a less-threatening environment.

I found a spot not far from the wading pond. We were close to the Mississippi River—I could hear the sound of flowing water in the distance—but it was out of view. If things went well, maybe we’d walk down to where we could see it after we ate.
 

First things first, however. I gave her hand a squeeze before releasing it and set the food down on the grass near the base of a large maple tree. Looking over the area, it looked level enough, and I spread out the blanket. She stood watching with her hands balled into fists at her side.
 

After straightening the blanket, I motioned for her to join me. She hurried over to sit down. I smiled and handed her the container with her sandwich.
 

We sat in silence for a while, eating. Brianna hadn’t relaxed. She would take a bite of her sandwich and then glance up, her eyes darting from side to side at all the people around us. The nearest person was over twenty feet away. I didn’t understand what had her so nervous unless it was the openness of the environment itself.
 

I sighed and reached for her, situating her between my legs, her back against my chest. As soon as we made contact, the tension began to release from her muscles. Even though I loved that my touch calmed her, Brianna needed to find strength within herself as well.

“Close your eyes,” I whispered in her ear.

It took her only a moment’s pause before she complied.
 

“Good girl,” I said, placing a kiss on her shoulder. “Now tell me what you hear.”

“People.”

I smiled. Such a simple answer, but not what I was looking for. Lily had told me what happened the other day while I was at the office. Although Brianna had managed to find her way back to the present without me, it had taken nearly twenty minutes. Lily had been frightened seeing Brianna like that, completely unaware of her surroundings. I’d taken the time while I was working from home on Thursday to do some research.
 

“What about the people? What do you hear them doing?”

She was quiet for several very long minutes. I watched as she scrunched up her nose, pressed her lips together, and tilted her head. It was extremely cute, and the urge to kiss her surfaced, but I forced myself to remain still and allow her to follow through on the exercise.

“Kids . . . splashing in water. A woman . . . laughing. Someone running?”

She paused.

“Anything else?”

“Dogs barking.” She smiled. “They sound happy.”

I wrapped her in my arms and held her close, my nose skimming along her neck to her ear. “Very good. And do any of those things sound like they are going to cause you harm?”

“No.” Her response was quiet, barely even a sound at all. Of course, that probably had something to do with my mouth on her neck and my hand creeping up her bare thigh. I’d wanted to distract her, and I was pleased to have accomplished my goal.

“Open your eyes, Brianna.”
 

She opened her eyes and blinked against the sunlight.
 

“Do you see the people now? They are still doing all the things you heard. Just because you can see them doesn’t make them any more frightening.”

She didn’t respond, but I knew she’d heard as she looked around again. I could almost see her mind working through the new concept. Just like with the cane, she had to learn that it wasn’t the thing—or in this case, people—that were the danger. It was the who, the person themselves.
 

“When you feel frightened by a situation, I want you to stop and listen. Concentrate on what is around you, what’s happening in the here and now, not the past, and decide if it’s truly a danger.”

Brianna nodded and sank back against my chest. I tightened my hold on her and kissed the exposed skin on her neck where her hair had fallen to the side.
 

Although everything felt right for the moment, I knew we needed to talk. I took her hand in mine, rubbing my thumb over her fingers. “Tell me what upset you earlier in my office. Did something happen while I was gone?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Why where you crying?”

“I was . . . I don’t know,” she whispered.

Turning her around in my arms so I could see her face, I tilted her chin up so I could look in her eyes. “Yes, you do. What was going through that head of yours?”

“Jamie.”

“My assistant? What about her?”

Brianna pressed her lips together for a long moment. “She’s pretty.”

I tilted my head to the side and appraised her. “Yes. Jamie is attractive. What does that . . .”
 

I paused, and she looked down. Was she really jealous?
 

For several minutes, I watched her and tried to digest the information she’d just hit me with. Never in a million years would it have crossed my mind that Brianna would be jealous of Jamie, but it did explain the difference in Brianna’s reaction to Jamie from when we’d arrived to when we’d left.
 

Cupping her face with my hand, I massaged her cheek with my thumb. “Brianna, you never have to be jealous when it comes to other women. I promise you that. I . . .” The words died in my throat. She wasn’t ready. “I care about you. A lot. I said once that I’d be here until you ordered me away, and I meant it. I’m not going anywhere. Not unless it’s what you want.”

She looked up, tears in her eyes again. This time, however, I knew they weren’t because of distress.
 

Leaning down, I captured her lips with mine, sucking first her bottom lip, then her top into my mouth. It was a slow kiss, one meant to show her the depth of my feelings. When we finally broke apart, I brushed the remaining moisture from her cheeks and smiled. She smiled back.

For the next hour, we sat on the blanket, ate the rest of our cheeseburgers, and people watched. By the time we walked over to the water, she was much calmer than she’d been when we’d entered the park. Brianna was amazing, and she constantly made me so proud of her I could barely contain it. She was brave beyond what any person should have to be. It made my love for her increase with every passing day. I couldn’t imagine my life without her.

She was bracketed by my arms as we stood in front of the railing, looking out at the river. Although I couldn’t see her face very well from this angle, I could tell she was smiling. A warmth grew in my chest at seeing her so happy. I felt like I was floating, and I didn’t want to come down, ever.

As I rested my chin on top of Brianna’s head, completely content, the sound of laughter nearby drew my attention. Some thirty or so feet away was a group of four playing Frisbee—two guys and two girls. They didn’t look much older than Brianna, and I wondered if, had it not been for what had happened, that could have been her playing out in the sun on a spring day with her friends, not seeming to have a care in the world beyond catching the Frisbee being tossed their way.