“It’s our secret, Kat.”
Watching that bus pull away from the curb was gut-wrenching. I wanted to run after it, screaming until they let him off. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye. He needed to know I was sorry for being angry.
But it was too late.
Brooks was gone, and he’d taken a piece of my heart with him.
There was nothing left to do but move on, because I knew that I’d lost my chance at finding out what we could have been.
Chapter 5
December 2009
“Merry Christmas, babe.” Branch stood over the bed with a tray full of breakfast and a tiny package wrapped with a large bow on the top.
“Wow, breakfast in bed and I get to open my first gift.” I rubbed my hands together and let him arrange the tray, before he climbed into bed next to me.
“I know we said we weren’t going to go overboard for Christmas this year, but there was something I saw and I knew you had to have it. Go ahead, open it.”
I took a bite of toast before grabbing the small box and shaking it. It didn’t make a sound, so I figured that it would probably be a pair of stud earrings. I’d been hinting that I wanted a real pair to wear in my second hole.
Branch nudged me. “Well, go ahead and open it.”
I ripped open the paper and was holding a small red velvet box. I looked at Branch before opening it and getting the shock of my life. Inside was a very sparkly emerald cut diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds on both sides.
“So, what do you say? Do you still want to be my wife? I think we’ve waited long enough.”
I threw my arms around Branch. “Yes. Oh my goodness, yes, of course I do.” I closed my eyes and tried not to cry, removing the thought of my mother’s ring that had been recovered and given back to me all those years ago when they’d found her remains. In fact, her body was so damaged that her ring was one of the key points in identifying her. I’d promised myself that if I ever got married I would proudly wear the ring that she married my father with.
Now I had been presented this spectacular, very expensive, piece of jewelry and I felt obligated to accept it, no matter how sentimental the other one was.
I placed it on my finger and admired it sparkling against the sunshine coming in our window. “It’s beautiful, Branch. I never expected this.”
He held up my hand and looked at the ring on my finger. “I knew it would fit perfectly. They tried to convince me that you would need it sized. I told them that I knew my girl.”
I kissed him softly on the cheek and looked back at my hand. It was surreal making our engagement official. Of course, for years we’d discussed being married. It was never a matter of if, but more of when.
Granted, it wouldn’t be until we graduated, which was still two years away.
Branch and I had made a home in Salisbury, Maryland. We still went home once a month for dinner at his parents, but our lives were busy. Aside from school, we both worked jobs to pay the bills. In our spare time, we were either studying or sleeping. Even our sex life suffered, not that it was enough to complain about. We had it often, but other couples our age were doing it all of the time, and neither me nor Branch had the energy for that kind of thing.
I put my hand down and looked into Branch’s eyes. “This calls for some extra celebrating, don’t you think?” Without him answering me yet, I climbed into his lap and started rocking my body over his.
Branch groaned and kissed me softly. “I’m at your mercy.”
Of course he was. I had a lot of thanking to do, and we weren’t leaving our bed until he was a very happy fiancé.
After we’d celebrated in bed for the entire morning, we dressed and got ready to spend Christmas at his parents, where we would spend the night instead of making the long drive home. We both liked to have a few glasses of wine and neither of us wanted to get on the road afterwards.
Branch and I stood in the driveway as the car warmed up and flipped a coin for who would drive first. He lost and climbed into the driver’s seat, while I took the co-pilot spot next to him. We were holding hands before we backed out of the driveway, and I’d never felt so excited to share something with the family.
Then my mind went to Brooks.
This would be the second Christmas in a row without him. Since joining the army he’d been away. After boot camp, he was stationed in Texas. Even though he was allowed leave, it always happened when we couldn’t get away. Even though the distance had been good for my and Branch’s relationship, it still hadn’t filled the hole that he’d left in my heart.
For the first whole year I never received any form of communication from him. I still wrote him letters once a week, no matter how trivial the topic was. I just wanted him to know I was thinking about him and that I hoped he was well.