“Uh-huh.” Leroy remembered seeing her playing with his grandkids. It was one of the things that had attracted him to her ... from a distance.
“Anyway, Dirk cheated on her. He had an affair with a girl who’s younger than me. They’re married now, and guess what?”
“What?” He rubbed his chin, not sure if he wanted to hear any more.
“Dirk the jerk and his new bride are about to have a baby. Can you believe that? Bree, I mean Brynna, ran into them just a few weeks ago. That was one reason she went on this crazy camping trip with her teacher friend. Just to get away and not think about stupid Dirk and all that. She’s had a rough go, Dad. I don’t know what all you said to her yesterday, but I bet it broke her heart.”
Leroy felt kind of sick now. “I didn’t mean to hurt her.”
“Well, think about it. She’s had so much hurt in her life. And she was so happy here. Why do you think she took the job? Why do you think she stayed on?”
He shrugged.
“Because she obviously still has feelings for you!” Sophie put a hand under her stomach and raised herself to her feet. “Why on earth would she have done such a crazy thing if she didn’t? Yeah, I’ll admit that it was crazy. But I get it, Dad. And I feel sorry for her.” Her eyes looked glassy. “And I feel sorry for me too. I lost a good friend.” She pulled out a key as she started to cry, then unlocked the front door and went inside.
Leroy felt like a total heel. And, like Sophie, he was now concerned for Brynna. Where had she gone in the taxi? Was she really brokenhearted? And why was her phone turned off?
“Dad!”
He jumped to his feet and rushed into the guest cottage. “What is it?”
“Bree left us letters. One for you and one for me.” Sophie sat down in one of the kitchen chairs, opening an envelope. He took the other and followed suit, reading what seemed like a sincere and heartfelt letter of apology from Brynna. Now he felt like even more of a heel.
“Poor Bree.” Sophie slid her note back into the envelope. “She even wrote in here that Bree wasn’t a fake name. It was her dad’s nickname for her.” She pointed to his letter. “What did she write to you?”
“Mostly an apology and explanation. It pretty much lines up with what you told me.” He blinked to hold back the tears trying to break free. He didn’t want to break down in front of his daughter.
“So, you see, she really wasn’t out to trick us. That wasn’t her intent, anyway.”
“Yeah, I guess not.” He remembered how Judith had tried to portray Brynna as a crazed stalker who boiled bunnies. “But what do we do about it now?”
“Go find her, Dad.” She grabbed his hand. “Bring her back. She belongs here. With us.”
“Oh, honey, even if I could find her, and I’m not sure whereto look, what would I tell her? It’s not like I’m ready to rekindle a romance.”
“But you could get to know her. You could give her a chance and just see what happens.”
“I doubt she’d want to come back.” He waved his letter. “This sounded final to me, Sophie. Pretty cut and dry. She admitted she’d made a mistake and was sorry for it. She seemed determined to leave.”
“Who could blame her after you raked her over the coals?”
He wanted to defend himself, but figured his daughter was right. He had been hard on Brynna. Pretty coldhearted. He slowly stood, then, realizing he still was hungry, he went over to the old-fashioned fridge—just one of the many expensive toys Marcie had insisted were necessary for the guest cottage. He opened it and stared at the neatly stocked shelves. “Hard-boiled eggs?” He took one from the bowl, spinning it on the countertop to see if it really was boiled.
“Dad? You’re raiding her fridge?”
“It’s our fridge, honey.” He started to peel the egg. “And I never had breakfast.”
“Hey, there’s her phone charger.” Sophie pointed to a cord plugged in by the little coffee maker.
“Maybe that’s why she wasn’t answering,” he suggested. “Her phone is probably dead.”
“I hope that’s why.”
He helped himself to some orange juice and popped two slices of whole grain bread into the toaster. “I like Brynna’s taste in food.” He attempted a smile. “Simple but good.”
“You’d likeeverythingabout her, Dad.” Sophie sounded exasperated. “If you’d only get to know her.”
He sighed. “She’s gone, Soph. The sooner you accept this, the better you’ll feel.”
