But first, before she could move on with her life, there was a special task she had to do. She sat back at her desk and called her mom.
"I wasn't sure I'd ever hear from you again," her mother said hesitantly. "At least not anytime soon."
Mari sighed. "I'm still having a tough time with what happened. But I wanted to tell you something."
"Okay," her mother said.
"I love you."
There was a sniffle on the other end of the phone.
Mari's eyes watered. Her parents hadn't been able to tell her the truth, but they'd also given her a wonderful childhood.
"Darling girl, I love you, too. We should have been honest with you from the beginning. It's, well, there's really no excuse. And we were terrible to have dumped it on you that night. You've always been so independent, it never occurred to either of us that you'd idolized our relationship."
"I did. Daisy and I both did, Mom. You guys seemed so perfect."
Her mother sniffled again. "We were friends. We still are. It took us a long time to figure things out and then even longer to actually admit it. I know that you said you didn't want us in your life anymore, but please know that your father and I love you with all of our hearts."
Mari swallowed the huge lump in her throat. "It's not all your fault, Mom. You did try to tell me, and I've been so selfish, so wrapped up in my own drama, I wasn't ready to listen to anyone about anything the last few months."
"Baby girl, if you'd let us, we would have been there for you. Your sister, your father and myself. We only want you to be happy."
"I know," she said. And she did. Never once through all of this had she doubted her parents loved her. "So, Mom, you know how when I was kid I used to tell you everything? Even stuff you didn't want to hear?"
Her mother laughed. "Uh-oh. What did you do?"
"It's bad, Mom. It's really, really bad."
* * *
THE NEXT WEEKEND, Mari was at the office trying to drown her sorrows in work. It wasn't happening. She still hadn't heard from Brody and wasn't sure if she ever would.
Her phone rang. It was Abbott. "What's up?"
"Where are you?" Abbott asked. "You told me to meet you at your house this morning. We were going to check the plans for the Campbells' kitchen."
She smacked her palm to her forehead. "I came in early to fix the budget for the Morrison job and totally forgot." She'd forced herself to get in her car because she knew she had to stop staring out the living room window at his house.
Where was he? The longer they were apart, the more her heart ached.
"Huh. It looks like your neighbor is home."
She nearly dropped her phone.
"What?"
"Brody's doing something in his garage. He keeps glancing over here."
"What are you doing?"
"Standing outside your front door talking to you."
He was home. And he was looking at her house.
"Abbott, go sit in your car. Whatever you do, do not let him leave. I don't care if you have to block his driveway with your car. Do you hear me? If you love me, you won't let him leave."
"On it," her friend said.
This had to work. Had to.
Almost an hour later, Mari pulled into her driveway and nearly crashed her car into the garage. The brakes screeched as she jerked to a stop. The sold sign mocked her from the front yard.
When did that happen?
Why hadn't Abbott told her?
There had been multiple offers, and she'd asked her agent to take the highest one. But she hadn't expected it to happen so fast.
She glanced around for Abbott's car. Where was her friend? And Brody's garage was shut. Was he home?
Tears burned and threatened to fall down her cheeks. Pushing her way out of the car, she stood and stared at the old Victorian. Sold. She should be happy. The financial burden would be lifted.
But it hurt. Heart-ripping-out-of-her-chest bad. The house she and Brody built would now belong to someone else.
It felt so final. This was it.
The grocery bags in her hands slipped to the ground, while the sobs came fast and easy. She'd screwed up. So much. What if he didn't forgive her? Making him a meal, which had been her big plan, didn't seem like enough.
"Mari? Honey, are you okay?" Brody was beside her. His arm wrapped around her shoulders. "Did something happen? Are you sick?"
He was here. Touching her.
And she couldn't speak. Just shook her head. And then pointed to the sold sign.
He glanced to where she gestured. "Oh. Yeah. I thought you'd be happy about that."
The tears fell again. "No," she managed to say. "Ours."
He smiled. Why did he have to be so wonderful? Why didn't she just let him stay with her? She savored every second she had with him. They could have had a lot more.
"So you're upset that the house sold? Because it was something we did together. We made it a home."
She nodded.
"That's good to know. It makes what I'm about to say a little bit easier."
Whatever it was, she didn't want to hear it. He'd probably been deployed. She might never see him again. Panic tightened in her stomach.
I might never see him again.
He watched her carefully. "I don't know what's going on in that head of yours, but I need you to let me say this. Please."
His smile disappeared.
Whatever it was, it was serious.
"Wait," she said, hiccupping. "Where have you been?"
He cast his eyes down and then back to her face. "My dad has cancer. I've been at MD Anderson in Houston with him while he had some tests."
"Oh, no. Is he all right?" Now she felt like the most selfish jerk in the world. His poor dad.
"He will be. It's a tiny tumor on his liver. The docs think it's benign, but we won't know until they do the surgery."
"Brody, what can I do? If you need someone to stay with him, I can get away from work. My job is a little more flexible than yours. And Abbott can handle the walk-throughs."
He smiled then and caressed her face. "Always trying to take care of everyone. I missed you."
"Brody, I'm so sorry about everything. Most especially, I'm sorry I took it out on you."
"I know," he said carefully. "There's something else I need to say."
She could take it. She deserved whatever he dished out.
"I bought the house for you, Mari. It's my gift to you for showing me what love is. What it can be." He reached for her hand and held it in his.
"You...what? How?"
He shrugged. "Someone who loved me a long time ago left me a gift, and I felt like this was the best way ever to pay it forward."
"You bought the house?" She sounded silly repeating the words, but she couldn't fathom it.
"I can't promise that I won't get transferred. And once I'm back on active duty, I may get deployed. But I do love you. No matter where I am, you will always be in my heart. Even if you tell me to go right now. Still, I'm hoping that for the rest of my life you'll be there. There's no greater joy than seeing your beautiful face every day."
Choked up, Mari leaned into him. "You don't believe in forever."
"No. That's where you're wrong. I didn't believe in forever, but I do now. I just had to find the right woman. A woman who makes forever possible, and honestly Mari, I can't imagine living my life without you."
It was too much. This had to be a dream. It couldn't be real. "But I'm such a wreck, how could you even think about forgiving me?"
He chuckled. "I'm right there with you, same as you. And there's nothing to forgive. If anything, this bump in the road showed me that I will do anything to have you by my side. Please say you'll take this journey with me. I'm not sure what the future holds, but I do know I don't want any part of it if we're not together. We can figure it out as we go along. Please just say yes."
"Yes," she cried. "Yes."
He kissed her then and she wrapped her arms around him.
"Take me home, Marine."
"We are home, babe. As long as you're in my arms, I'm home. I love you."
She kissed him. "I love you. I will follow you wherever you go because you're right, home is wherever we are together."
"I'm going to take you inside that jaw-dropping house and make love to you."
"Brody?"
"Yeah," he said as he scooped her up.
"Since it's our house now, I think we should rechristen all the rooms."
A slow smile crept across his face.
"I really love the way you think."