“Come in, sweetie,” Dawn says when she opens the door. “Let me look at you.” She gives me a quick once-over. “You look beautiful, Stevie.” She pulls me into a warm embrace. “We’re still so shocked about Nana.”
“I don’t think it’s sunk in with me yet,” I truthfully admit.
“Grief is hard.” She squeezes my shoulders before releasing me. “Hugh is in the sunroom waiting for us.”
I follow her to the large room at the side of the house with the stunning views over the lake and the mountains in the distance. Hugh stands and gives me a hug before we all take seats. “The view from this room is breathtaking,” I say, accepting a mug of coffee from Garrick’s father.
“I find solace here,” Hugh says, circling his arm around his wife’s shoulder on the wicker couch. His dark hair is threaded with more gray strands, and the lines around his eyes are more pronounced. What happened with Garrick has taken a toll on him.
“How are the twins?” I ask because I haven’t seen them in months. They didn’t come to the funeral with Hugh and Dawn.
“They are doing as well as can be expected,” Hugh says.
“They miss their big brother,” Dawn adds with a sad smile.
“I know. It’s hard to believe it’s been so long.”
“In some ways, it feels much longer,” Hugh says, “but in other ways, it only feels like a few months.”
There isn’t much I can say to that because it doesn’t feel like a few months to me. It feels like an eternity since I last saw Garrick, but I don’t want to admit that and upset them, so I say nothing.
“What did you want to talk to us about?” Dawn asks after a few awkward moments.
“I need to tell you something, and it’s not easy.” I wet my dry lips and knot my tense fingers.
“You can tell us anything, sweetie. Anything.” Dawn reassures me with her words, and I draw a brave breath, mentally going over the little speech I’ve prepared.
“I love Garrick. He was the best boyfriend, and I will always cherish the time we had together, but it’s been hard for me to hold on these past eight months when I’ve been denied access to him.” Nerves fire at me, and nausea swims up my throat as they both give me their full attention.
Fuck. Why did I feel the need to do this again?
I clear my throat and press on. “I didn’t plan to fall in love again, and I didn’t set out to find anyone else, but Beck came into my life at the perfect moment. He’s been a rock for me. He was, is”—I stumble a little, and I’m sweating profusely under my clothes even though it’s not hot—“my best friend, but lately I’ve realized he’s become so much more.” I squirm on the seat as they look at one another. “What I’m trying to say, really badly, is I love Beck, and he loves me, and we want to be a couple. I’m not here to ask your blessing or anything,” I babble, ad-libbing now, “but I wanted you to know we’re together. And it wasn’t premeditated. A part of me will always love Garrick, but I need to move on.”
Dawn reaches forward and takes my hands. “It’s okay, sweetie. We suspected as much, and we don’t harbor any ill feelings toward you. You can’t remain stationary in your life even though Garrick is.”
“My son would want you to be happy, Stevie. This much I know to be true,” Hugh adds with pain in his eyes. “My ex-wife hasn’t made it easy for you, and I can’t say I’m surprised you found comfort in the arms of another man. You should not feel guilty for it either. We know you have a good heart and you loved our son. The truth is, Garrick isn’t here, but Beck is.”
“He seems like a lovely young man,” Dawn says.
“He is, and he’s been very considerate of Garrick and my feelings for him all along. I don’t want you to think he planned this either.”
“I think I’m a pretty good judge of character,” Dawn says, “and I know he didn’t set out to woo you.”
“Thank you for telling us,” Hugh says.
“We wish you both all the best,” Dawn adds.
“And you’re always welcome here, Stevie.” Hugh reaches out to hug me. “You’re like a daughter to us.”
Tears leak out of my eyes. “You are such good people. It’s no wonder Garrick is so amazing.”
They exchange another look. “We have something we need to tell you as well,” Hugh says as the doorbell rings.
“That will be Hudson,” Dawn says with a smile.
Dawn returns with Hudson a few minutes later. After he says his hellos, he sits down beside me, kissing me on the cheek and squeezing my hand.
“There’s no easy way to broach this subject,” Dawn says after everyone has coffee. No one has touched the sumptuous cookies or cake, and I have a feeling I might regurgitate anything I’ve eaten in a few minutes, so I resist temptation. There’s a distinct tension in the air that is unnerving. “So, we’re just going to be blunt.”
