Chapter 27: Going Home

Dad and I left the hospital around noon. I clutched a sonogram picture in my hand as we headed to the car. My mind was a whirlwind.

The scent of peonies from the flower bed near the entrance wafted over me, and I couldn’t help but smile. My mom had always grown them in our garden. They were my favorite because of her.

I felt her presence with me.

“Dad,” I said softly as I climbed into the car. “I’m going to book a flight for tomorrow.”

Dad nodded and started the car. “I know.”

Once we got home, I dashed up the stairs to my room and tucked the sonogram picture into my purse. I dragged my suitcase out of the closet and started packing.

After a while, I sat on my bed and pulled out my phone.

Grace

Brennan, I’ll be in New York tomorrow. I think we should catch up.

I stared at the unsent text for a good three minutes before deleting it. It was too late for a casual catch-up. I needed to face him and tell him. Everything else could wait.

Instead, I texted Belle and asked her to pick me up from the airport. She was so thrilled that she offered me a place to stay before I even asked.

***

The next morning, when Dad dropped me off at the airport, I felt more at peace with leaving than I ever had. He’d found a way to cope, and he was doing well. I hugged him tightly, and he promised to visit soon.

The flight was dull and uneventful, but the moment we landed in New York, everything changed. I stepped off the plane and into the bustling airport, the noise and chaos making me smile.

New York was my city, my second home.

“Grace!” Belle’s voice rang out above the noise. I spotted her and made my way through the crowd. She enveloped me in a tight hug.

“Please tell me this is permanent?”

I grinned. “Depends. Is the offer to stay with you until I find a place still on the table?”

Belle pulled back and looked at me with wide eyes and a huge smile. “Yes, a thousand times yes!”

I laughed and shook my head. “I missed you!”

“I missed you too. Come on, let’s get out of here.”

We navigated through the airport and finally made it to the parking lot. Belle loaded my suitcase into her car, and we headed toward her apartment.

“Can you drop me off at work?” I paused, remembering I no longer worked there. “At Wolf Industries.”

Belle smiled and changed lanes. “Of course. You want me to wait?”

I shook my head. “I’ll take the subway.”

As we approached the high-rise, Belle pulled over, and I got out. I waved at her, and she drove off. I turned to face the building in front of me.

Just a few years ago, Brennan and I had stood on this very sidewalk, looking at his future, wondering what lay ahead.

I placed my hand over my stomach and took a deep breath. Now I was carrying a part of his future, if he wanted it…and I was more than a little scared.

I forced myself to walk toward the building—and toward Brennan.

I swiped my purse against the card reader and smiled when it worked. He hadn’t deactivated my security pass.

As the elevator ascended to the top floor, I leaned against the cool metal wall. A wave of nausea hit me as the door opened, and I wasn’t sure if it was nerves or hormones.

I stepped out into the corridor and approached the reception desk. Lucy, the receptionist, greeted me with a smile.

“Grace!” She beamed. “Are you back?”

I shook my head. “I just need to see Mr. Wolf.”

“He’s in his office.” She smiled. “Should I call his PA?”

I shook my head again. I couldn’t give him the chance to refuse to see me. I walked toward his office before Lucy could say anything else.

I pushed the door open and glanced at the desk that used to be mine. His temp PA, the same one who’d been there when I left, was typing on the computer.

He still had the same temp. It warmed my heart, for some reason.

“Ms. Reynolds!” she exclaimed. “We weren’t expecting you.”

“No, it’s a surprise visit,” I replied dryly.

“I’m afraid Brennan is swamped with meetings today. I can fit—” She stopped, her gaze shifting to something behind me.

“It’s fine. Cancel my 2 p.m. Grace. Please.”

I smiled nervously and turned to face Brennan. He avoided my gaze, looking anywhere but at me. I took a deep breath and walked into his office.

“You’re here,” he said quietly. “Why?”

His tone was curt; he sounded annoyed. I couldn’t blame him. I’d run away from him. He’d told me he loved me, and I’d responded by disappearing.

“We need to talk,” I said.

“We needed to talk a few weeks ago,” he retorted. “We needed to talk before you just left. It’s too late for talking.”

My heart dropped. I took a deep breath and forced myself to look at him, pleading with my eyes for him to look back at me.

When he finally did, I saw a flash of pain in his eyes before he looked away again.

“I’m too late, aren’t I?” I whispered.

Brennan looked back at me and frowned. “Too late for what.”

My heart started to race. I felt a warmth radiating from his eyes. I wanted to smile, but I was too scared to get ahead of myself. Instead, my breathing quickened.

“For us.”

Brennan’s mouth twitched, and he leaned back in his chair, resting his head against the backrest.

“There wasn’t supposed to be an ‘us,’” he shot back.

“I didn’t say…” I stopped, searching for words. “Brennan, everything you felt, I felt it too. I ~still~ feel it.”

Once the words were out, there was no taking them back. I’d returned to tell him the truth, to tell him I was pregnant. But right now, I was struggling to even make sense.

“Grace. This isn’t the place for this,” he said softly.

“Okay,” I whispered back. “Then where?”

“I’ll come get you after work. Text me your address,” Brennan said, sliding his chair back toward his desk. “Grace. It’s good to see you, but you should’ve called first.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded, standing up and making my escape from the lobby and my old office.

Once I was in the elevator, I gasped, wrapping my arms around myself. Overwhelmed with nausea, I wanted to crumble to the floor, but I forced myself to hold it together.

Once I was on the subway, I texted Brennan Belle’s address. She let me in and guided me to her couch.

“So, how’d it go?”

I shrugged. We’d barely spoken, nothing was resolved, and I hadn’t told Brennan about the baby. Tears welled up in my eyes.

I’d waited too long. This wasn’t some romantic comedy where everything magically worked out, this was real life.

“Too soon to tell. He’s coming to get me after work so we can really talk. He wasn’t thrilled I just showed up.”

Belle gave me a sympathetic smile. She got up and walked out of the living room and into the kitchen.

“This calls for wine!”

I shook my head. “I can’t.”

“A glass to calm the nerves before Brennan arrives?” She grinned. “Come on, it’s a weeknight, but we don’t have work tomorrow.”

“No, I’m okay, I promise.” I shifted uncomfortably. “I’d love some OJ though.”

Belle grabbed a bottle of wine and a fresh bottle of OJ from the fridge. She set them both on the table and looked at me.

Her eyes narrowed and she chewed on her lip before disappearing back into the kitchen for a moment and returning with a wine glass.

She filled her glass almost to the top and then walked back into the living room with it and the OJ.

“Holy shit,” she murmured, handing me the drink as she sat down. “You’re pregnant.”

I had planned to tell Brennan first, but the meeting in the office hadn’t gone as planned, and now Belle had figured it out. I nodded and opened the orange juice.

“Wait, you are?” Belle lifted her wine glass to her lips and downed the whole thing. She set the glass on the table and reached for my hand.

“Grace. You’re having a baby?”

“Yes,” I whispered. “I meant to tell Brennan, but I just…I froze.”

“You have to tell him,” she said gently.

“I know. I will,” I replied. “But if he doesn’t want anything to do with me or the baby, can I count on… ” I stopped, overcome with emotion, and Belle pulled me into a hug.

“Of course, Grace,” she murmured. “But Brennan loves you, and he’ll love the baby you both made.”

“I hope you’re right,” I replied.