Chapter 22

Rein

I let myself in when I got to Arlene’s house and called out a friendly hello as I took off my jacket and hung it on the hook beside Brayden’s. He called to me from the kitchen where I found him bent over the stove.

I went to the table and put down the bottle of wine and flowers I had brought with me. Brayden gave me a wry smile as he plucked a spatula from a holder on the counter. “Are you trying to liquor me up tonight?”

“Am I that transparent?” I teased.

“Corkscrew is in that drawer by the fridge, and the wine glasses are in the cupboard above,” Brayden said, keeping his eyes on the massive pan gently sizzling in front of him.

I followed his directions and set about opening the wine. I poured us each a glass and brought him his as he flipped something over in the pan. When I got closer, I saw what he was slaving over: grilled cheese sandwiches.

I lifted my wine to my lips and took a sip so he wouldn’t catch me grinning in amusement.

“I know it’s nothing fancy, but they’re Bella’s favorite. I’m still adjusting to this whole no meat thing with her.”

“I love grilled cheese,” I said. I pressed my hip to the counter and leaned in to press a kiss to his cheek. “Can I go see your mom?”

He looked over at me. “Yeah. She might be sleeping, but she’d be happy to see you. She knows you were coming over.”

“Okay, I’ll be back in a bit.”

He didn’t say anything as I stepped out of the kitchen and down the hall to Arlene’s bedroom. Her door was open by a few inches, and warm light streamed out into the hallway. I knocked gently and she called for me to come in.

“It’s Rein,” I said, just in case she was expecting Brayden. She also might not want me popping into her room.

“Oh, please come in, dear,” she said.

I pushed open the door and emerged in a room that I could only describe as the room of a grandmother in the seventies. The walls were a particularly unpleasant shade of blush pink, and everything in the room was floral and cream. Despite hating the color, I found it a strangely welcoming space.

Arlene was lying in the bed and was slightly propped up by two fluffy pillows. Her pink comforter was pulled up to her waist, and her hands were clasped along her stomach. The set of pajamas she wore matched the floral-patterned sofa in her living room.

She looked unwell.

Her body was frail and weak—so much more so than the last time I saw her just weeks ago that it shocked me.

“Cancer, it seems,” Arlene said softly, “is a fast forward button on aging.”

I stopped at the foot of her bed and clasped my hands in front of myself. I couldn’t think of a thing to say back to her, so I remained mute, waiting for her to carry on as I knew she would. Brayden’s mother had always been the sort to lead or steer a conversation in the direction she wanted. I wouldn’t deviate her from her course.

“I’m glad I have been able to become an old woman with my son and granddaughter at my side. There are much worse things in life than this.” Arlene patted the bed beside her. “Come. Sit. I want to speak with you.”

I stepped around the foot of the bed and lowered myself to the open spot beside her. She barely took up any space on the bed anymore.

Somehow, despite how sick she was, she still managed to smile at me the same way she did when I was just a teenage girl knocking on the door on her back deck, looking for Brayden. She had welcomed me warmly then with the same smile she wore now.

“Brayden is going to miss you,” I blurted out. I gasped at my own forwardness and leaned away from her, covering my mouth with one hand. “I’m sorry. That was rude. I didn’t mean—”

“I’m happy to hear it. I’ve missed him for ten years.”

“He’s sorry for that, you know?”

Arlene’s smile ebbed away, and she began fidgeting with the edge of her blanket. “He shouldn’t be. He did well for himself. He created the life he wanted. What more could a mother wish for her child?”

I put my hand on her fidgeting ones. She fell still. “That he would be happy right where he was. Where she was.”

Arlene startled me with soft laughter. “You and I were dealt the same hand, weren’t we?”

There was no point in playing coy now. She was calling me out. “We were.”

Arlene shifted against her pillows. Her hands were cool beneath mine, and she rearranged them to clasp my fingers. “I think he already knows it, but in case he doesn’t and in case he acts like the fool we both know he can be, he’s going to need you.” She squeezed my hands with strength I didn’t expect her to have. “Will you take care of him for me?”

I swallowed back the ache in my throat and nodded. “I will.”

“No need to be so serious,” Arlene said. “It doesn’t suit you.”

I nodded again, knowing my words would fall flat.

“I’m glad you and Brayden have found each other again. I would have hated to die thinking the two of you might never be anything to one another.”

I smiled. “Me too.”

Telling her anything different would have been cruel. I didn’t know for sure what would become of Brayden and me when she left us, but a small logical voice in the back of my head told me I should prepare to be abandoned again. I should ready myself for heartbreak.