I feel like I stepped into an alternate universe where someone body-swapped my parents. I give them a small wave and turn on my heels and head toward the front door. I stay in a confused state on the entire drive to Brandon’s house, and maybe he can help me smooth out the thoughts that are swarming around my head.
“Hi, Angel,” he greets me when he opens the door. Despite the August heat that’s barreling through the city, he’s in a long-sleeved Henley with the sleeves pushed up and dark-washed denim jeans with a pair of casual sneakers on his feet.Just my type.
“Hi.” I step forward, wrapping my arms around his waist and pecking him on the lips.
“What’s wrong?” he asks when he pulls back.
My eyes grow in size. “It’s so weird how well you can read me.”
He wraps his arms around my shoulders and walks us back into his condo, but not before I shut the door with my foot. We continue our blind walk into his living room and he lets go so we can sit.
“My parents are home,” I come right out and say it.
Brandon’s eyebrows fly to his hairline. “How long had they been gone?” he asks and twirls a lock of hair around his finger. Just the sensation with the light tugs sends tingles through my body, which in turn soothes me.
“I–I don’t know. A few weeks, maybe a month, if I had to guess?”
“Geez.”
“Yeah. Do you know how confused I was to hear and feel the garage opening?” I ask rhetorically.
“Are you happy they’re back?” Brandon asks after a few seconds of weighted silence.
“Yes? I mean, I don’t know. I kind of hoped they forgot about me and I could leave without seeing them. But on the other hand—” I begin and start tracing Brandon’s lines on the palm of his hand. “That’s bad, isn’t it? Wishing your parents forgot about you?”
“I think it’s good that you’re voicing it.”
My exhale is coated in exhaustion. “But then my mom came into my room and we talked. She apologized for more than just them being gone and checked out.”
“Isn’t that what you always wanted?” he asks.
I lift one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. “You don’t think it’s too little, too late, do you?”
He surveys me like I’m a code he can’t quite figure out. That’s what I like about Brandon. He’s very analytical. He doesn’t make rash decisions. He thinks things through before making his decision. Overall, he’s very thoughtful with what and how he thinks.
“I can’t be the one to answer that for you, Ang. But maybe them being home is a sign that you can have your parents back.”
“Yeah,” I murmur.
“You know, when Emily and her family moved here, her parents were a lot like yours. It’s weird that I’m just now seeing the similarities. However, I wasn’t around for a lot of it, but what James did tell me wasn’t good. They missed a lot of her growing up, missed her recitals, missed her birthdays. Hell, they even missed her high school and college graduation.”
“What?” I ask, shocked, because I had no idea. Although she and I were never close because of the age gaps. But I had been around her enough with Emily and James dating that I’m at a loss for words because I never noticed.
“Yeah.”
“Are they on speaking terms now?”
Brandon nods and I connect the dots as to when they got their relationship back. It’s unfortunate that death has a way of bringing people back together or even tearing them apart.
“I also told my mom that I’m seeing someone and that we’re taking it slow,” I confess.
“Yeah?” He lights up when he asks. “What else did you tell her?”
“Oh, nothing much. Just that you’re making me see color for the first time in years.”
Brandon’s boyish smile sends a signal to my own smile to take over. He leans in, I lean in. Our lips are a breath away from touching when the oven beeps at the same time the doorbell sounds.
“Perfect timing,” he says, still in my space.
