Author's Chapter Notes:
Thank you so much for all your wonderful reviews and words of encouragement. They really do motivate and help me get the chps done faster for you. I want to give a special thanks to AJBrianFan for pimping my fics out lol. Hope everyone enjoys this one. :)
“Who was that?” Alex finally asked again once they were out of sight of his house and the stranger.
Brielle sighed and rubbed her forehead then peeked into the side view mirror. “Is he following us?”
Alex checked behind them. “No, you’re safe. Who the fuck was that?”
“Shit,” she sighed and finally righted herself in the seat, “I feel like I’m in a really bad version of This Is Your Life. You know, that little skit from Sesame Street.”
He chuckled at that. “What’s going on? Who was that?”
“Ugh, that was my ex; Eric Talbot. I never thought I would see him again.”
“Your ex?”
“Yes,” she frowned and adjusted her seatbelt, “I can’t believe he’s here. What is he doing here?”
“Is he an ex from New York?”
“No, he’s my last boyfriend. We broke up when I moved to New York.”
Alex blinked some. “So, he’s from Virginia?”
“Yeah, we dated for three years, but went our separate ways after graduation because I wanted to go to New York and he wanted to go to Vanderbilt.”
“And now he’s here in California.”
“Yes, and I have a sneaky suspicion it has something to do with my parents.” Her face became stony.
Alex studied her then looked back to the road. “Your parents called your ex to come out here?”
“Who else would it be? He doesn’t know where I am and what a coincidence that both my parents and my ex show up within a few days of each other.”
“Why would they call him?”
Brielle shrugged. “Maybe they think he’ll be able to convince me to make up with them.”
“Boy, your parents sure seem desperate.”
She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. “I’m sorry I freaked out like that; he was just the last person I was expecting to see and it just kind of…freaked me out.”
“Hey, it’s okay,” Alex looked her way, “I understand.”
“Good, thank you.”
He smiled and reached over, lacing their fingers together. “The question now is…what do we do? We can’t just drive around all day and who knows how long he’s going to sit there.”
Brielle frowned then chuckled. “He’s probably thinking ‘what the eff’.”
“He’s got to know you recognized him.”
“I’m hoping he didn’t see me. We can always pretend like you forgot something.”
Alex laughed low. “How ‘bout I call my mom and see if she’s home, see if he buzzed her from the gate.” When Brielle nodded, Alex slipped his blue tooth on and instructed his phone to dial his mother.
“Hello?” Denise picked up after a few rings.
“Hey, Mom.” Alex glanced over to Brielle then back to the road.
“Alex, honey, are you alright? Is Brielle okay?”
“Yeah, we’re fine, Mom. We just wanted to get out of the house for a bit.”
“So Brielle is with you?”
“Of course she is.” He nodded and shifted his eyes to his companion. “What’s going on?”
“I was just worried, is all. I come home to find tuna salad and broken dinner plate splattered all over the floor and both of you are gone.”
Alex winced some. “Oh, I’m sorry about the mess, we were gonna clean it up soon as we got back.”
“Well, I already did that. I was worried something had happened to Brielle or the baby and you two had to rush off.”
“No, we’re both okay. We just went to the beach and then had dinner.”
Denise sighed. “Good.” A pause. “Oh! There was a gentleman earlier that buzzed at the gate. He was asking to speak with Brielle.”
And there it was. He looked to Brielle. “Did he say who he was?”
“Um, Eric somebody...I can’t remember his last name. But he said he was a friend from back in the day. I told him that she wasn’t available at the moment and he said he’d wait. After what happened with her parents, I didn’t want to just let him into the house.”
“No, you did the right thing,” her son agreed. “We’re actually on our way home right now.”
“Oh good. I think he’s waiting outside the gate. He seemed rather intent on seeing Brielle; which worries me slightly.”
“It does sound a bit fishy, but we’ll be home and find out what he wants. Thanks, Mom.”
“You’re welcome, son. I’ll see you both in a bit.”
He nodded and said his goodbyes then pulled the blue tooth from his ear and dropped it in the console between the two seats. “She said he was at the house looking for you and when you weren’t there, he told my mom he’d wait. She said he was intent on seeing you.”
Brielle made a face. “Great, I bet he’s gonna try to convince me to make up with my parents.”
“Why would they ask him to help them?”
“I have no idea; maybe they think he’ll have a better chance of getting through to me or making me see it from their point of view.”
Alex frowned. “You really think he’d go along with that?”
She shrugged and rubbed her forehead. “I don’t know, but I guess we’ll find out.”
“Looks that way,” he agreed, slowing for a stop sign then turning in the direction that would take them back to the house.
It didn’t take too long to return back to his place and Brielle felt her nerves growing the closer they got. “I’m getting nervous,” she admitted to Alex as they came over the hill and the drive came into view. And there, in the same place it’d been when they had left, was the dark sedan. “He’s still here.”
“He must be one stubborn son of a bitch.”
She chuckled low. “You’re pretty stubborn yourself.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He sent her a smirky grin then slowed before his drive and lowered the window. Eric was once again climbing from the car as Alex slowed the SUV to a stop and the two men made eye contact. “You’re Eric Talbot?” He questioned the younger man.
Eric nodded. “I am. I’m waiting for Brielle; it’s really important that I talk to her.”
Alex looked over to the blonde then back to Eric. “Alright, follow me into the drive. We can talk inside.”
The sandy-haired man nodded and thanked him then slipped back into the vehicle.
“What do you make of that?” Alex questioned as he turned into the drive and pushed the button that would open the large gates.
Brielle glanced behind them. “I have no idea.” She blinked. “Oh my gosh, you think something happened to my parents?”
“I…” his brow creased, “...don’t know. Wouldn’t someone else contact you? Like the police or something?”
She sighed. “I suppose you’re right.”
“I’m sure your parents are just fine.” He pulled up in front of the garage and put the SUV into park.
Brielle nodded then peeked back to see Eric pulling his car up behind theirs. Taking a breath, she slowly undid her seatbelt then gathered her bag. “Alright, here goes nothing.”
“You’re gonna be just fine.” Alex reached over and squeezed her arm then slipped from the vehicle and came around to his side. He opened her door and helped her out then they both turned to see Eric approaching.
“Hey,” he greeted them, slipping the sunglasses from his face. His hazel eyes landed on Brielle and something flickered in them. “It’s been a long time.”
She nodded and smoothed her shirt some in an effort to keep her hands busy. “It has been.” A pause. “How are ya?”
“I’m doing good.” His eyes studied her. “How are you?”
She shrugged. “I can’t complain. Things are going well.”
“That’s great.” He offered up a charming smile and Brielle remembered how he had a way of always making her feel better about things.
“So, um…Eric, this is Alex…Alex, this is Eric.” She shook her head of any reminiscing and introduced the two men.
They shook hands then Alex stepped back and motioned toward the house. “Shall we go inside?”
Brielle nodded. “Yes, let’s do that.” She tucked some hair behind her ear and looked over to her ex boyfriend. “What’s this about?”
Eric shoved his hands into his pockets and sighed some. “Your parents.”
“I knew it!” She frowned and stomped her foot. “I knew it! They’re convinced you to come out here and talk me into making peace, haven’t they?”
He blinked at her mini explosion then motioned toward the house. “Let’s go inside. I’ll explain everything.”
“That’s a good idea. C’mon, Brie.” Alex captured her hand in his and led the way up the walk to the porch. He quickly unlocked the front door and allowed his two guests to move past him and inside then followed them in and closed the door behind him. “We can talk in the living room.”
Together, the three of them moved on through the foyer then down into the living room. Eric glanced around at all the décor, looking rather impressed. “This is a nice house.”
“Thank you.” Alex sank down onto the sofa, patting the spot next to him for Brielle. She joined him and Eric took the seat across from theirs. “So, what’s this all about?”
Eric looked between the two then focused his gaze on the blonde. She still looked as beautiful as she had the last day he’d seen her. Only this time, she wasn’t in tears at their parting and her eyes were livelier and her cheeks rosy. “Um, well it’s about your parents.”
She frowned. “They’ve put you up to talking to me, haven’t they? They aren’t getting anywhere so they have to call in reinforcements.”
“Um, kind of, but not exactly.”
“Then what is it?”
He sighed some. “Your parents had contacted me and asked me to talk to you,” he held up a hand when she opened her mouth to cut him off, “but, that’s not why I’m here.”
“Oh,” she sat back in her spot, “then why are you here?”
Eric fiddled with the sunglasses he’d removed earlier. “I felt like someone needed to tell you the truth. And I just couldn’t do what your parents asked me to.”
Alex frowned. “What did they ask you to do?”
He sighed. “They wanted me to help convince Brie to come back home with them.”
“I knew it!” She hissed, her hands curling into fists.
Alex reached over and massaged the back of her neck. “Why do they suddenly want her back in their life?”
Eric looked between the two and wet his bottom lip. “They’ve been trying to find her for awhile now and when news got out about…” he motioned toward her middle region, “the baby and where you were, they had a private detective get Alex’s address, then flew out here.”
“So they weren’t lying about that.” She shifted her eyes toward Alex then back to Eric. “But why did they do that?”
He shifted uncomfortably and rubbed his shoulder. “Brielle, about a year ago, your grandfather passed away.”
“Wh…what?”
He nodded and took a little breath before continuing, “He had lung cancer and by the time they realized it, it was too late to really do anything. And you know how stubborn he was; he didn’t want any kind of treatment.”
“My God.” She felt her face paling and grabbed for Alex’s leg. “They…they never told me.”
“They didn’t want you to know until they had mended things between you two.”
“But why? Why would they do that?” Tears began to fill her eyes.
Alex frowned and slipped his arm around her, pulling her to his side. “I’m sorry, baby,” he soothed as he held her close. His dark eyes turned to the visitor. “Are they playing some kind of game?”
Eric sighed at that and slouched in his seat. It’d taken some strength not to reach over and comfort Brielle when he’d seen the tears. “I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you all this, Brie, but I just couldn’t sit by knowing what was happening. They wanted me to talk you into coming back home with them and they think that’s what I’m doing, but it’s not.” He watched her. “I have to tell you the truth.”
“What’s the truth?” She sniffed out, wiping at her cheeks with her hands, until Alex leaned and grabbed her a tissue from the box on the table.
He fiddled with the arms of the sunglasses. “When your grandfather passed away, he left you some money; a lot of money, in fact. No one even knew he had a fortune like he did.”
She paused. “What?”
“Yeah, you’d always been his favorite grandchild and he admired your determination to seek out your dreams, so he left you everything he had.”
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “How…how much was that?”
“Well, after taxes and paying off all the medical bills and funeral costs; a little over 800,000 dollars.”
“Eight…eight hundred thousand dollars?” She could barely get the words out and thought her eyes were going to roll right out of her head.
Beside her, Alex’s frown grew. “And now they want her to come back home so they can cash in on some of that, right?”
Eric nodded. “Pretty much. They feel if they can get her back and mend things between you two, then they’ll be able to use the money too.”
“Like hell they will.” Her eyes darkened despite the tears. “I can’t believe this! I told you they wanted something!”
Alex winced at the hatred in her voice and took her hands. “I know you did, baby.”
She pulled away from him and rose to her feet. “This is bullshit! Who do they think they are?” Giving an angry growl, she started from the room. “What hotel are they staying at?”
Both Alex and Eric were on her heels. “What are you gonna go do? Go tell ‘em off?”
Brielle put her handbag around her body and turned to Alex. “That’s exactly what I’m gonna do. Tell ‘em to go back to Virginia; I don’t need them, nor do I want them.”
“What about your grandfather’s money?” Eric spoke up.
She stilled. “He really left me all that money?”
He nodded. “He did. It’s in an account waiting for you. All you have to do is contact the lawyer and sign some papers.”
“What do we do about my parents?” She sighed and looked between the two men.
“Tell ‘em to go suck an egg; they aren’t getting a dime.”
Brielle cracked a smile and Alex smirked. “I wouldn’t even know what to do with all that money.”
Alex slipped his arm around her. “Whatever you want; it’s your money.”
“Yeah, my money.” She sighed some then pulled from Alex and grabbed his car keys from the table. “Can we still go see my parents? I want to send them on their way and crush their hopes of getting their hands on that cash at my expense.”
He swiped his keys from her hand. “Whatever gets ‘em out of here.”
“Thank you.” Then she turned to Eric. “I really appreciate you coming out here and telling me the truth. There’s no telling what would have happened had you not.”
He shrugged some. “I couldn’t let them lie to you like that. You’re a special person, Brielle.” His tone softened, “I miss you, but I hope you’re happy with what you’re doing.”
“I’m getting there, Eric.” She crossed the room and enveloped him in a hug, inhaling his aftershave and it sending memories flooding back over her. “You take care of yourself.”
“I’m gonna try.” He returned the hug then pulled back. “Follow me outside and I’ll get the hotel info from my car. It’s on a post it.”
“Sure thing, man.” Alex grabbed up his hat and tugged it on his head. “Let’s do this.”
~*~*~*~*~
Hours after Brielle had finally faced her parents again, she was lying on the sofa in the den, staring at the blank television. It’d been quiet and she’d slipped into the room just needing a place to clear her head and relax for a bit. The scene at the hotel had been ugly and Brielle had finally unleashed her feelings, no holds barred. Her mother had handed it right back at her though with her own ugly words and it had been Brielle’s father and Alex that had separated the two women. It hadn’t turned physical, but if things had kept up, it looked like it was heading that way.
Her mother couldn’t believe that her grandfather (her mom’s dad) was leaving all his money to Brielle. His granddaughter had taken off on them as soon as she could and hadn’t been there during his worst times. It had been Chloe who had catered to him and his illness, Chloe who had dressed him and fed him and helped change his bedpan and sheets once his sickness had grown progressively worse. And her father had forgotten all that she’d done and passed her inheritance on to Brielle. She was furious at her father, but he wasn’t there so she took it out on Brielle.
Brielle’s father had tried to apologize, but the blonde wasn’t having it. She told them both to pack up their things and get on their way. There was nothing in LA for either of them and she had no intentions of contacting them ever. Her parents were dead to her and she hoped they’d finally acknowledge it.
Then she’d come back to Alex’s and taken a long, hot shower to relax her muscles and her stress and now here she was, lying on a sofa in an empty room in the dark.
“Hey, there you are.”
Shifting her head some to see the door, she watched as Alex let himself into the room and shut the door behind him. “Hey.”
“What are you doing in the dark?” He reached and switched on a lamp, a warm glow filling the room, but leaving shadows throughout.
“I just wanted some quiet.”
“You alright?” He joined her on the couch and shifted her legs so he could sit then laid them over his lap.
“Yeah, just thinking about earlier.”
“I’m sorry that happened.”
Her eyes met his and she offered up a faint smile. “It’s not your fault, but I appreciate it.”
“I think you did the right thing.” He reached and began to massage her feet.
“You think so? Part of me thinks I shouldn’t have let things end that way. What if something horrible happens to them and our last words were out of anger and spite?”
Alex shrugged some, rubbing along the heel of her foot. “You can’t let yourself think that way. Yes, they’re your parents, but you can’t hold onto things that can poison you, sometimes the best thing to do is let it go.”
She sighed and picked at the sofa cushion. “You think we’ll ever make up?”
“Maybe one day, but for now, the best thing is for both of you to step back from each other. There’s a lot of hurt and anger there and it only festers and gets worse the more you talk about it. Let your mother work through her issues and you work through yours; one day you two could come back together again.”
Brielle listened to his words and nodded her head. “You’re right.”
“I know I am.” He smirked and tickled the bottom of her foot very lightly.
“Hey!” She laughed and tried to jerk her feet away, but he held her ankle tightly. “Massage them don’t tickle them.”
Alex chuckled then lifted her foot and kissed the top of it. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself.”
“S’okay.” She sighed happily and lifted an arm above her head, just watching him. “What do you think I should do with the money?”
He tilted his head. “You could do a lot with that much money. You could buy yourself a nice set of wheels, get a whole new wardrobe, buy lots of baby stuff, put some away for a rainy day and still have plenty left over.”
“I could get my own place.” She sat up at that thought. “Then you would have your home back and we’d both have our space.”
Alex frowned then quickly pushed it away. “You’re not taking up my space.”
“Yeah, but you’re a guy and you just broke up with your girl, don’t you wanna go do those guy things? Hang with the boys, have obnoxious parties, flirt with the ladies.”
“Is that what you think I should be doing?”
She sighed some and studied him. “I don’t know. But why would you want me to stay here? Eventually you’re going to find another woman and I’ll only be in the way again.”
“Baby, you’re never in the way.” He frowned again. Moving out was the last thing he wanted Brielle to do. He would be perfectly content to have her stay. There wasn’t another woman and he didn’t think there would be, when at the moment he loved her.
“I just feel like you need your space and I need mine. Besides, we’d already agreed I was gonna get my own place once I got the money. Well,” she shrugged, “I have the money.”
He watched her, massaging along the ball of her foot. That was true; they had said that, but he didn’t want her to go. “I guess I wasn’t expecting it to be this soon.”
“Well, I don’t have the money yet.” She nudged him with her free foot and settled back down against the couch. “But soon. Tomorrow, I’ll call the lawyer from the business card Eric gave me. And I can pay you back.”
“You’re not paying me back.” He squeezed her toe. “And if you argue with me I’ll tickle your foot.”
“Okay, okay,” she giggled low and wiggled her toes, “I won’t pay you back.”
“Good.” He sighed some and they both fell silent. Brielle thinking about the windfall she’d come into and Alex realizing he didn’t want to lose her. He couldn’t hold her back, but he wasn’t ready to let her go yet.
“What’re you thinking about?” Her soft voice cut through his thoughts and he turned his eyes back to her.
“Just about today; it’s been an emotional one.”
“That it has.” She nodded in agreement. “How are you doing after everything with Renee?”
He sighed and leaned his head back. “Relieved. She was so mad at me, but I can’t let it get to me. Our relationship was nothing like I thought it had been.”
“Took awhile for you to see that; but I’m glad you did before you ended up married. Then it’d be a real mess.”
“Heh, you can say that again.” He squeezed her ankle. “Thank you for being so supportive.”
“How can I not be? You’ve done so much for me and support me. I’m just repaying the favor.”
Her smile made him want to pull her into his arms. He smoothed his hand along her leg. “Do you think everything happens for a reason?”
“Like, there’s a purpose and a direct path we go down?”
“Something like that.”
She tilted her head and thought it over. “Maybe. If I’d never gone to New York and ended up nearly homeless then I’d never have met you. And if you’d never met me, then you might never have seen Renee’s true colors and ended up in a bad marriage.”
“I think you’re right.”
Brielle shifted up on her elbows. “You just can’t let her get in the way of you and that baby. Or let her bad attitude get in the way of your time with the child.”
“I don’t plan to.” He shook his head and frowned. “I don’t want things to get ugly, but I have a feeling they will. And I’m gonna do everything I can to make sure it’s a fair custody agreement.”
“I’m sure you will.”
He nodded some then slouched a bit more on the sofa, resting her legs across his abdomen. “What a day.”
“Yes, it has been.”
“You know, I was thinking, since you missed your grandfather’s funeral and what not, maybe you’d like to go back to Virginia and see the gravesite.”
She arched a brow at him. “Back to the town where my parents will be?”
Alex chuckled low. “I’ll be with you and we won’t stop at your parents place. We can get a hotel room and go right to the cemetery. Avoid them at all costs.”
Brielle mulled it over. “I think I’d like that. And he left me his entire fortune, I should go thank him and tell him goodbye.”
He nodded. “I’ll look into some tickets and maybe we can go sometime after New Years.”
“By then I’ll probably be able to buy my own ticket.”
He squeezed her ankle again. “You might be able to, but I won’t let you.”
She eyed him in a cute manner. “I can tell I’m going to have a hard time convincing you to let me spend my own money.”
He chuckled at that. “I told you I was going to take care of you, and I’m planning on sticking to my word.”
“Even if I have my own money?”
He nodded and smoothed a hand along her leg. “Even if you have your own money. I just feel like I should be the one taking care of you and our baby.”
Her eyes roamed his face. “You make it sound like we’re a couple.”
Alex wet his bottom lip and realized his heart was starting to beat faster. “Well, …we are having a baby together.”
Her eyes widened some. “Are,” she paused then started again, “Are you saying you want to be a couple?”
“I…” he swallowed hard, “um…I just…ended a relationship.”
“Of course you did,” she spoke up before he could continue what he wanted to say. “So, it’d be a really bad idea to dive right into another one. Besides, we both have too much going on to worry about a relationship.”
Alex felt his hopes crumbling. “Right, of course.”
“Right,” she agreed, sounding less than sure. “Besides, the relationship we have between us works really well; why mess up a good thing?”
He sighed and knew his hopes had been dashed. She obviously wasn’t interested in him the same way he was with her. When had that changed? He’d been pretty sure she had some feelings for him other than friendship, but maybe he had been kidding himself. After all, it might ruin a good thing. And who wants to do that? Even if it does makes things better.
