Page 104 of Smitty

“Wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t.”

“Okay.” Brayden took the key. “We’ll go by there tonight.”

“Good deal.”

“Thanks, Prez.”

“Don’t thank me yet.” He nodded toward Anslee and me. “They’ll get the final say.”

“You’re right.” Brayden smiled. “They will.”

An hour later, after an unbelievably good cheeseburger, two helpings of potato salad, and the best banana pudding I’d ever had, we climbed into my SUV and started across town.

We’d barely made it through the front gate when Anslee dozed off. She looked so innocent and sweet with her little head tucked against the side of her car seat. I loved her so much, and I couldn’t imagine my life without her. It was a thought that had me turning to Brayden and asking, “Have you ever thought about reaching out to your folks?”

He turned to me with a surprised look and asked, “Where the hell did that come from?”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I’ve just been thinking… I look at Anslee, and I can’t imagine how I’d survive it if something happened to her.”

“It would be rough. I don’t know if I’d have it in me.”

“Exactly. That’s what I’m saying.” I lowered my voice and hoped he understood when I said, “Your parents had to do it twice.”

“But they didn’t.” Brayden’s brows furrowed. “I’m still here.”

“Yes, but you’re not in their life anymore.”

“They gave me no reason to be,” he snapped.

“I know… They should’ve seen that Aiden’s death affected you just as much as it did them.” I could tell he was getting frustrated and wondered if I’d made a mistake bringing it up. “I wonder if they couldn’t get past their own pain to see what you were going through and how they treated you made you hurt even more. Whatever it might’ve been, it cost them a second son.”

“It was both.” Brayden didn’t try to hide the anguish in his voice as he said, “After Aiden died, it was like we were all living in a house full of ghosts. Every room had reminders of him… Hell, they looked at me and saw everything they’d lost instead of the son they still had.”

“I know that had to be hard.”

“It was impossible… I tried, Brooke. I really did, but nothing I did was enough. If I laughed, they acted like I’d forgotten him… I hadn’t.” He tightened his grip on the steering wheel as he added, “He was there with every damn breath I took, and it damn near killed me. But no one noticed my pain. They were too busy drowning in their own to even notice.”

I reached over and placed my hand on his thigh. “I’m not saying you shouldn’t have left. You did what you had to do.”

“So, why bring all this up?”

“Because you aren’t the same boy who left all those years ago.” Silence settled between us for a long moment, and then I added, “People change… Time gives them a way of seeing things in a way that they didn’t before, and sometimes the pain gets a little easier to bear.”

“Or sometimes the pain just grows.”

“Maybe.” I glanced back at our daughter as I said, “But if Anslee disappeared from my life because I’d failed her… I would pray every day for a chance to make it right.”

“You think they deserve that chance?”

“That’s not up to me. But maybe it’s something you should think about.”

“The social worker in you has got some wishful thinking going on.”

“No, the woman who loves you most has some wishful thinking.” I gave his thigh a gentle squeeze. “I don’t want there to come a day when you wonder what if.”

Before he could respond, we turned into a long driveway, and my breath caught when I saw a beautiful home sitting beneath a canopy of old oak trees. It had a wrap-around front porch with a swing and tall windows. And even though it was dark, I could still see that it had a beautiful view of the lake.

“This is it?”