The night didn’t end there. Brennan stayed. He got to know my friends. He answered questions he didn’t have to answer without getting defensive. He owned up to what he’d done wrong. He never once asked me to smooth things over.
By the end of the night, each of them told me he was now acceptable. After I shared that, he pledged, “I’ll work toward awesome.”
His devotion means everything to me. Still, I knew the girls saw what I see every day—a man doing the work. So their approval might still come wrapped in snark, but it’s real.
They’re the best friends a woman can have and they encouraged me to go after Brielle now that she’d given me that opening.
I filed charges because of the public slander. Not because I wanted revenge but because I wanted a record against Brielle. A definitive report that says what she did to me wasn’t gossip.
It was a crime.
Then I filed a civil suit against her.
Brielle tried to fight it at first—forgetting about the news media coverage the night of the gala. Fortunately, one of them caught her on tape. Now her attorney keeps calling. They want me to drop the charges. Settle quietly. Avoid “further reputational damage.”
It’s ironic. They’re worried aboutherreputation after everything she tried to do to mine.
Then there was Brennan’s family.
I’d braced myself for our first call with them to be riddled with awkward silences and uncomfortable memories. Instead, I’d found warmth. His mother was so overjoyed to see me, she had tears in her eyes. His father—an older version of Brennan—looked at his son with pride, it was emotional for all of us.
Brennan tilts his tablet. Suddenly his parents fill the screen. His mother gasps like she’s just been handed a gift she didn’t expect. “Oh, Amy,” she says, pressing a hand to her chest. “It’s so good to see you again.”
His mother leans over to hog the camera view, smiling wide. “Brennan’s been so much happier the last few times we’ve talked. I hoped it had something to do with you.”
Their warmth envelops me, even through the digital bytes bridging us across oceans. I reach for a tissue at the samemoment Brennan’s mother does. The shared instinct makes us both laugh even as it loosens something in my chest.
“You’re miles away,” Brennan says, glancing over at me as he pulls into his driveway.
I hadn’t even noticed we’d arrived. “Sorry.”
“What’s going on in that head of yours?” he asks, killing the engine.
I hesitate for half a second then decide there’s no reason to hold it back. “Our future,” I say.
The words feel right. Solid. Filled with hope.
Brennan stills for a second before smiling. He reaches across the console to open the glove compartment. He retrieves a white envelope he had stashed in there. “Funny. I’ve been giving that some thought, too.”
I squeeze his thigh. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
We get out of the truck. Instead of heading inside, he pulls me close against his body before handing me the envelope.
I look at him with curiosity before asking, “What’s this?”
“Open it.”
I do. I then almost drop it.
It’s a printed confirmation of two first class airline tickets. Round trip. Destination, Dublin.
My world tilts. “Ireland? You want to take me to Ireland?”
Brennan nods. “I thought…summer. No schedules. Just us and you getting to spend time with my parents.”
My throat tightens. “When?”
