Brighton

 

“It’s so strange being back here.” Nicole furrowed her brow as she looked around the apartment.

“I know,” I agreed.

“Maybe we could redecorate,” she said thoughtfully. “Get ready for the baby.”

“Sure.” I slumped further into the couch.

I didn’t know how we were going to do that since Ryland had moved all of my stuff down here. He’d set up my sewing room in the spare bedroom, erasing all parts of me from his own apartment. I couldn’t even go in there. I didn’t know how I was supposed to set up a nursery.

“Brighton?” Nicole placed her hand on my arm. “Are you okay? I hate seeing you like this.”

“I’m fine.” I smiled weakly.

“You’re not fine,” she protested. “Please don’t be sad. What can I do to cheer you up?”

“You could call Matt and make up with him,” I teased.

Her face soured, and she shook her head.

“That’s what I thought.”

“Will you look at us?” she snorted. “A couple of sad sacks moping around because of the bastard men in our lives. We need to get a grip.”

“Fair point.” I laughed.

“We should do something fun today. Let’s go shopping for the baby. This is supposed to be a happy time for you.”

“I don’t have any money,” I argued.

“That isn’t true,” she smirked. “You have Ryland’s card. And I do remember him telling you to use it. C’mon, you could shop for years and still not even put a dent in his bank balance. This is for the baby. We need to get prepared. Do you even know how much stuff babies need?”

I shrugged because I knew she was right. I still hadn’t bought anything yet. And it did sound kind of fun.

“Alright,” I relented. “But let’s not go too crazy.”

 

 

Nicole was right. Babies needed a lot of stuff.

It was hard to tell what was actually necessary, and what wasn’t. But Nicole had no problem throwing whatever she thought might be slightly useful into our shopping cart.

“Have you thought of a theme yet?” she asked, staring at some different wallpaper trims in bright colors.

“No.” I shook my head. “I wanted to wait and see what I’m having first.”

She pouted. “That isn’t until next week, maybe. If they can tell.”

Next week. God, that was surreal. I couldn’t believe how fast it had gone. I wondered if Ryland would want to know. We hadn’t even discussed it. We hadn’t discussed much of anything since I’d moved back two weeks ago.

Every day, he sent me exactly one text to check in with me and see how I was doing. He told me if I needed anything at all, I was to contact him right away. But I hadn’t thought of anything that sounded like a good enough reason to bother him.

It hurt because as much as I loved Nicole, I wanted Ryland to be the one to do these things with me. It was silly and unrealistic, but suddenly my shopping trip didn’t seem all that fun anymore.

“Maybe we could just do something yellow,” Nicole continued.

“I’m really tired,” I blurted. “I think I’m all shopped out for one day.”

“Really?” she asked.

I nodded.

“Okay, I’m sorry Brighton. You’re right, we still have plenty of time. Let’s go home, and you can take a nap.”

 

***

 

I spent the entire weekend sewing while Nicole moped around the apartment and scrubbed every surface she could find. She was full of anxious energy again, and I didn’t know what had been going on with her.

I thought maybe she was nervous about looking for a new job, but it could also be because she and Matt still weren’t speaking. It was a subject I wanted to revisit, and tonight, I had every intention of doing just that.

I’d gone to her favorite bakery and bought her a dozen cupcakes, fully intending to do nothing but binge on sugar and make her pour her heart out. But when she breezed into the apartment looking relaxed and happy, I was a little surprised. She set to work, laying out a truck load of takeout food on the counter.

“I ordered just about everything on the menu,” she stated. “So help yourself to whatever you want.”

She wasn’t making eye contact with me, and I knew something was up.

“Nicole?”

“Yeah?” she asked absently, bending down to look through the cupboard as though she had lost something.

I walked around the counter and shut the cupboard, forcing her to look up at me as I crossed my arms.

“What’s going on?”

“What do you mean?” she blinked.

Now that I was closer, I could see that her eyes were swollen and puffy, but she had a smile on her face that was the polar opposite.

“Nicole… I can see you’ve been crying,” I said carefully. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“Sheesh, I can’t get anything past you,” she muttered as she stood up and leaned against the counter.

“Blame it on the men in my life,” I retorted.

“I planned to tell you all of this after dinner,” she said. “But I met Ryland for coffee today.”

“You did?”

That familiar space in my chest hollowed a little more at the thought of him. I’d been doing so good at keeping him off my mind, but the simple mention of his name was enough to almost topple my resolve again.

“He’s been messaging me for a while about it,” she said. “And I decided to go see what he wanted. Despite everything that’s happened, he’s still like a brother to me…”

“You don’t have to justify why you went,” I assured her. “I know you care about him, Nicole. I want you two to be friends, nothing would make me happier.”

“Well honestly, I was pretty much expecting the entire conversation to be about you,” she said. “I thought he was going to try to get me to talk to you or something. But it wasn’t about that at all.”

“What was it about?” I asked curiously.

“It was about Jackson.” She leaned against the counter and stared off into the distance for a moment. “Ryland told me that it was time for me to live my life. To be happy.”

Warmth filled my heart when I realized what she was saying. Ryland had finally absolved her of her guilt over moving on.

“That’s really amazing, Nicole.” I smiled for her. “You deserve it.”

“That isn’t all.” She rifled through her purse and pulled out a check. “He gave me this too.”

I stared at the check addressed to Nicole with more zeros than I could count, trying to understand what it meant.

“He sold the house on Belvedere Island,” she explained. “And he said that Jackson would have wanted me to have the money.”

“He sold it?” I repeated, tears brimming my eyes. “But… that was where he grew up. It was the only thing he had left…”

“That’s what I said.” Nicole shrugged. “But Ryland said it wasn’t home anymore. That without his family, it doesn’t feel right, and it never will.”

Shock resonated through my entire body at his decision. I could only imagine how difficult that must have been for him, and I wondered how he was handling it.

“Did he…” I cleared my throat and tried to wash away my emotion. “Did he look okay?”

“He looked… different,” she answered.

“Different, how?”

“I don’t know, he seemed kind of… defeated.”

“Oh.”

“He asked me to give you something too.” She pulled another envelope from her purse.

I took it between my shaky hands and tore off the seal, hoping it was a letter. Some kind of communication from him other than a text. I hoped he was getting better and that his anger really was gone. But did that mean he was moving on from me too?

I was disappointed when I shook out the contents and found another check. It was for twenty million dollars, and it was addressed to Sophia’s Shoes. My legs wobbled a bit, and I had to grip the counter to keep from falling over as I read through the paperwork.

It was a donation to the charity which stipulated that 50% of the monies would be deposited into my own personal account in order for me to run the foundation full time.

Nicole peeked over my shoulder and gasped as she saw the amount.

“Oh my God,” she whispered. “That’s…”

“Crazy?” I finished for her, setting the check down on the counter. “I can’t accept that.”

“Why not?” she asked. “It’s for the foundation. He obviously wants you to run it. And he probably wants you to feel like you have a steady income, Brighton. You’re having a baby.”

“Do you think that’s why?” I blinked up at her. “He’s paying me off?”

“What?” Her eyes widened. “Of course not. Where would you get that idea?”

I didn’t get to answer because there was a knock at the door.  Nicole almost looked embarrassed as she moved to open it.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I invited Matt.”

I smiled at the blush on her cheeks. “Of course not.”

“Hey, Brighton.” He gave me a hug as he sauntered inside. “Nice to see you again. I can see the baby’s getting bigger.”

“It is.” I smiled and patted my bump.

“Well, I don’t know about you ladies, but I’m starving.”

“C’mon, grab a plate,” Nicole urged. “You’re eating for two now.”

 

***

 

We were sitting on the sofa watching TV, and I couldn’t help but notice that Matt and Nicole were getting closer and closer as the evening went on.

He’d wrapped his arm around her twenty minutes ago, and now they were even holding hands. It was the most adorable thing I’d ever seen, but at the same time, it was making the emptiness in my chest ache.

I was about to excuse myself to bed when the doorbell rang again, and I shot Nicole a questioning glance. “Are you expecting anyone else tonight?”

“No.” She frowned.

I padded towards the door and looked through the keyhole, glimpsing a woman dressed in a nurse’s uniform.

I opened the door a crack and returned her cheerful smile. “Can I help you?”

“Are you Miss Valentine?” she asked.

“Uh… yeah?”

“My name is Emma Charles. I’m here to be your nurse.” She said it in a way that I’m sure sounded perfectly reasonable, but I just stared at her in confusion.

“Excuse me?”

“Do you mind if I come in?” she gestured towards the apartment. “Mr. Bennett sent me.”

“Okay, sure. Sorry.”

She came in with a medical bag and took a seat as she started to explain. Matt and Nicole joined me in the kitchen and listened in.

“Mr. Bennett has hired me to be your round the clock nurse and baby consultant. I’m here to help you with whatever you need, whether it’s assisting with meal preparation, cleaning, or any medical emergencies that should arise.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I protested.

“I’m really not.” She frowned. “I’m highly qualified for this job, Miss Valentine. If you’d like me to provide credentials…”

“I’m sure that you are,” I said apologetically. “But the thing is, I don’t need a nurse or a consultant.”

“But I’ve already been paid,” she argued. “A lot of money. Mr. Bennett wants to ensure you and his baby have the very best care. I’m here to help you.”

She said it as though I didn’t understand what her role was, but it was perfectly clear. Ryland had hired someone to wait on me hand and foot. Again, another gesture that I’m sure seemed perfectly logical to him.

I decided to try for another tactic, one that wouldn’t hurt her feelings.

“Look, I really appreciate your offer of services. But as you can see, the apartment is already quite full, and there’s really not room…”

“I can sleep anywhere,” she volunteered. “A sofa will do. And once Mr. Bennett has finished up the arrangements for the new apartment, I’ll have my own room…”

New apartment? I glanced at Nicole, and she shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe it’s not such a bad idea,” she said. “You could use a little help, Brighton. You’ve been really busy with the charity stuff lately, and you look tired all the time.”

“Really, Nicole?” I squeaked.

Matt chuckled and pulled her to his side. “If you aren’t happy with the arrangement, Brighton, maybe you should take it up with Ryland?”

“Oh he’d like that, wouldn’t he?” I grumbled.

The poor nurse looked like she had no idea what she’d gotten herself into.

“Why don’t you relax and dish yourself up a plate of food,” I told her. “I’m going to speak to Mr. Bennett myself.”