Page 70 of Henhouse
He kissed her like he never wanted to stop. Like he still loved her.
Only when the warmth of her tears dampened his nose, did Brayden pull back. He kept his hands on her face, inspecting, wiping at her cheek with his thumb. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“What for?” Hope sniffled, a new wave of nausea rolling through her.It was the cemetery all over again.
“Making you cry.”
Hope chuckled as she stepped away. “I’m afraid I’ll only continue if that was . . . if you don’t . . .”
He took her hand and pulled her back toward him. Her belly rested against his, and his hands found the small of her back. “I don’t want this life without you fully in it. It was stupid to act otherwise.”
Joy seeped in through her pores, but she feared it might all go away.
“You ran away the other night . . .”
“Only to keep from running to you. I truly thought it was better to keep this platonic for Bug. I was desperate to hold on to that, but it’s not better for any of us.” Brayden brought his forehead to meet Hope’s. “You belong in that window.”
“I belong with you.” In this house with a wedding ring and a family that would grow by leaps and bounds until they were as weathered and grey and full of joy as Grams with the breadth of their crazy, adventurous, storybook life.
“Don’t I know it,” Brayden teased. Hope playfully hit him in the chest before he wrapped her in a hug, his cheek to hers.
Hope sunk into the relief, the joy, and—honestly—the pride that swelled in her heart at knowing her words had been enough. They had brought him back to her. She’d have to send Heather a thank you note.
Brayden kissed her again, and this time it was with the patience of knowing they had their whole lives to do it.
34
You did something stupid.”
“And you did something slutty.”
Hope glowered at her cousin. The blush of satisfaction was apparently obvious enough to Effie now that she chose to see it. “It wasn’t slutty, it was a reconciliation.”
Effie lit up. “Veritas?”
“Do you think I’d have sex with him if we weren’t getting back together?”
“I think you’ve been stealing my romance novels for the past three weeks and would have deemed an orgasm a public service at this point whether it made things complicated between you two or not.”
“Effie Rose, two and a half months with that man and you’re as debased as the rest of us.”
Effie rolled her eyes, but Hope noted the shame that clouded around her. “Do you want to talk about the stupid thing you did?”
“Why are you so certain that I did something stupid?”
Hope raised her brows at Effie who lay sprawled like a starfish on a beach towel on the back patio. The sun danced over her already tanned skin and the breeze fluttered the ruffles of her tank top. Effie was effervescent, a sparkling champagne on a hot summer day, effusive in her femininity, elegant, and all things frilly. She was a magnet and had no idea how the easy, wistful way she graced the world drew people to her. Effie was smart and kind and so beautiful that Hope had always harbored a bit of envy toward her younger cousin.
Effie was also prone to overthinking to the point of trapping herself. She, unlike Hope or Louisa or Pamela, thought her way through life instead of feeling it. But it was a different kind of thoughtfulness, not the organized logical brain of Ellen and Tibby, but the frenetic imaginings of a woman that was still looking for a safe place to land.
“You’ve been out here for twenty minutes. If you were sad you’d be baking. If you were happy you’d be baking. Especially given the ball next weekend, but instead, you are starfishing in the sun. That’s symptomatic of an embarrassed Effie. You don’t get embarrassed unless you’ve done something truly stupid.”
“Your baby is never going to be able to lie to you.”
“Good. Now, we were talking about your idiocy, not my family.” She loved how the wordfamilysounded. That it was official. Hope bit her bottom lip replaying her morning with Brayden. An excited shiver ran up her spine.
“That good? Even with—?” Effie scooped her hands over her stomach indicating Hope’s baby bump—though bump seemed inadequate at his stage.
“It was an adjustment but then . . . Effie, I know you’ve always believed in God, but I think I met her today.”
