Page 57 of That: Taylor & Brooks

Parents could hurt you in ways no one else could.

It didn’t matter how grown you were, their disappointment still cut deep.

And the worst part?

Sometimes they didn’t even know they’d done it. This was one of those moments. Her parents had extended grace and comfort to everyone but her. And she just couldn't wrap her head around it.

This led her to seeking it elsewhere. Staying too long. Hanging on to potential. It wasn't her parents fault. She could've left years ago but loyalty was a bitch. She'd fallen into the warped thinking that this was just the wayit was.A rough patch.But that rough patch was now feeling like a full on drought.

She'd stared at her phone for, unsure who to call. She’d scrolled through her contacts, Blake, Paige,Kennedi hovering over each name before moving on. It felt like the night she got stranded all over.

The same fears present, calling them meant explaining everything, admitting how much she’d been holding in. And she just didn’t have the time or patience for that.

It had taken her ten minutes to admit she wanted to call Brooks. Even longer to accept

that he would answer. Because he always did. And wasn’t that the real problem? She been dragging her feet when it came to giving him what he wanted. What he deserved.

When Brooks made love to her, he’d taken a piece of her and tucked it away. She still hadn’t figured out if she even wanted it returned. When she’d finally called him, she’d half-hoped he wouldn’t pick up. Because if Brooks rejected her, it would be easier to pretend she didn’t need him. Didn’t want him. But he had answered.

Now she was, about to board a plane to Denver, because he cared more about her than he did his own feelings. Her running sent her right to his arms. The only place she didn’t have to pretend.

She couldn’t believe she was about to fly across the country to be with him. This was a different kind of life, a different kind of treatment. A man knowing you needed him and making damn sure you got to him. She glanced at her overnight bag, lips curving.

All she wanted was to see him.

To feel Brooks’ arms around her.

To let his touch undo the wreckage her parents had left behind.

Their words still rang in her ears—piercing, unyielding.

“A divorce? Taylor, you made a vow before God. Why didn’t you come to us first?” her mother shrieked coming from the kitchen to look at her.

“I didn’t have to.. I didn’t need what y’all are doing now.”

Her daddy hadn’t even looked at her when she said it.

Just sat in that old leather chair like she’d cursed the family name.

Like her pain was an inconvenience.

“What we’re doing? Excuse me, Taylor, you just waltz in here dropping that on us and expect us not to have questions? We’re just concerned.”

“I expected you to have the questions and be concerned when my husband was getting DUI’s, barely coming home, when he wasn’t able to pick me up from work. You don’t get to have questions a day late and a dollar short.”

Her mom walked off and she didn’t go after her. Her father was shifting.

“Marriage is work, Taylor. You think your mama and I didn’t have hard times?”

“And if you were the one out drinking, jobless, staying out all night?

“If you embarrassed Mama the way Tyree embarrassed me, I wonder, would she still be sitting here?”

She hadn’t meant to raise her voice, but it rose anyway. She was ready to get into it.

“And if she would be I love that for her, but I don’t want that for me. And y’all shouldn’t either.”

Her father’s face hardened.

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