“Listen, Brandon,” she said, lowering her voice a bit. “I didn’t think I’d ever get a chance to, but now that I have it I want to make sure I apologize.”
He stared at her confused. “For what?”
“Everything that happened in the past. It wasn’t fair that you took the blame for it all when I’d willingly gone along with it. You have no idea . . .” She stopped and smirked. “Well, actually you probably do have a very good idea what it was like to deal with my brothers.”
Brandon couldn’t help but smirk either. “Yeah, I have a pretty good idea.”
“I want you to know I did try to explain to them that it wasn’t all you. I even tried explaining it to Eric, but after everything that happened and given the history they had with you, it was impossible to get them to think objectively. They just weren’t seeing it. As far as they were concerned, no matter what I said, I was being naïve and it was all you.” She rolled her eyes. “I gave up trying to convince them, and after you left, I figured it didn’t matter. Even though that was a long time ago, I’ve always felt bad about it.”
Of course, he’d never tell her how much she’d affected him and for how long. In hindsight, he knew now it wasn’t so much what happened between them but when it happened. The timing couldn’t have been worse. Aside from the horrific incident he’d gone through with Regina, that year was one of the most devastating of his life. Because things had gone down with her that same year, he just always associated her with the worst period of his life. He’d been swept up into that memory, but really, the memory of the first girl he thought he had feelings for and didn’t reciprocate shouldn’t have been so tragic.
He’d since come to another conclusion, and that he would tell her. “I was angry about that for a long time, but you know what? I’m glad things happened the way they did.”
Smiling, he thought about the tattoo on his abdomen, and for one very foolish moment he considered lifting his shirt and showing it to her. He almost had to laugh, knowing that, while seemingly no one appeared to be paying attention to them, if he did, he’d be tackled on the spot.
“Shakespeare said it first, but then a very wise woman said it to me later. ‘What’s past is prologue.’”
Her eyes widened, and she seemed almost embarrassed. “I’m still no good at deciphering poems or whatever things that deep mean.”
“It just means my past set up my present, and I’m presently one very happy man.”
Regina walked up to them suddenly, slipping her hand into his. “And I’m one very happy woman.”
Sofie smiled genuinely. “And I’m very happy for you both.”
A crying baby got Sofia’s attention, and she excused herself. Regina turned to look at him, squeezing his hand and lifting a brow with a smirk. “I was jealous for a moment there when I saw you two chatting alone,” she whispered, poking him in the ribs with her elbow. “You don’t even know how lucky you are I walked up at just the right moment. You would’ve had one crabby brat to deal with for the rest of the night.”
“Crabby brat?” He grinned. “Not my princess,” he said, leaning his forehead against hers. “And trust me. I know just how lucky I am.”
~*~
Regina
“I’d say your family’s excited.” Brandon smiled, kissing Regina as he opened the car door for her.
Regina was still walking on air. She couldn’t believe what a difference a few months made. The first couple of weeks after her dad’s death had been incredibly depressing—something she’d never thought she’d get past. Luckily, she had Brandon to help her through it. With each day that passed the world got a little brighter.
She was even beginning to deal better with knowing Janecia was now also engaged to a man who owned a motorcycle—one she’d been on more than once. Though secretly she knew her dealing better with it had everything to do with the fact that Janecia was pregnant now. Not only had she told Regina there was no way she was getting on a motorcycle while she was pregnant she’d also mentioned Clay had been the one to bring up trading in his “Hog” for a better suited family SUV. It wasn’t a done deal yet, but Regina had her fingers crossed.
She turned to Brandon and took his hand between both of hers then leaned her cheek against it, feeling so blessed to have him in her life. Brandon glanced at her and smiled. “Chocolate for your thoughts.”
“Deal!” she said, smiling big.
“Chocolate-chocolate-chip waffles?” he asked, switching lanes suddenly. “They serve them all day.”
“Yes,” she said quickly with a giggle.
That made her even more excited. She’d never been into carrot cake and that was the kind Bell had gotten for Romero. Regina had barely touched her slice.
“Okay, so let’s have it,” Brandon said. “What’s that dreamy smile about?”
She didn’t want to kill their happy moment, but she wouldn’t lie either. “I truly believe you and I were meant to save each other.” They came to a stop, and he turned to stare at her but said nothing. She immediately felt choked up, but she had to continue. “I never told you this, but that day you found me in my bathroom hysterical, I had every intention of putting that gun against my head. My heart felt so hopelessly broken it literally ached with every beat. But it wasn’t until I heard your cries . . . It wasn’t until I felt how much I’d be hurting you in the process that I instantly regretted having so much as thought of doing something that would devastate you like that.”