“No, no bunion , I just don’t want to be rubbed raw. If you need me to reschedule…”
“Sorry. I was thinking.”
“Of Brant?”
It was hopeless, the woman was going to be a talker. “Yeah.”
“I love a good story. Tell me about Brant’s hands.”
Nikki froze. “What? What do you mean, his hands?”
“Or better yet, his body. Explain him through your eyes.”
“But I can’t really see.”
“Exactly. What do you feel?”
Nikki spent the next hour telling Nadine everything: The way his cheeks were rough at night because his beard always grew in too fast. The smell of his skin after a shower. The feel of his chest under the palm of her hand. The way he held her in his arms, gentle, firm, all the ways he held her hand.
And slowly, it was as if she were falling in love with him all over again.
“All right.” Nadine yawned. “I think our time is up. Thank you for the lovely story.”
Nikki blinked and then whispered, “Thank you for helping me remember.”
“Sometimes, we repress the things that hurt most. I know there’s more in there, more hurt, but that’s for you two to work through.”
Nikki wasn’t sure she was going to be able to work the rest of the day; she was emotionally spent.
“Oh!” Nadine clapped her hands together. “Brant told me to give you this.”
“Brant? Brant sent you here?”
“For a massage, yes, but mainly to give you this.”
It was in Braille. Nikki’s fingers trembled as they ran over the card stock. “It’s an invitation.”
“To an early Thanksgiving dinner.”
“Right, but it’s…summer.”
“Brant has it in his head to re-create Thanksgiving dinner, so we’re going to re-create it.”
And suddenly, Nikki realized she wouldn’t survive this seduction, not at all. Because the only Thanksgiving they had ever spent with his family was the day they had told them they were pregnant.
There had been a food fight. Yelling. It had been horrible. She’d left in tears. Brant had sworn to never talk to his grandfather again. And Bentley, his own twin, had taken his grandfather’s side.
Thanksgiving dinner was a reminder of all she’d lost—and it was hard not to struggle with the choking fear that history was about to repeat itself.
“Be brave,” Grandma Nadine whispered.
“Brave,” she repeated.
“You have it in you. All women do. Especially those of us who have lost.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Brant paced in front of the large table. Where was she? Nadine swore up and down she had given Nikki the invitation.
“Stop.” Bentley took a long draw from his drink. “You’re going to wear a hole in the carpet.”
“Bullshit, its hardwood!” Brant fired back, irritated that he was irritated.
Bentley held up his hands, a stupid grin on his face. “My, my, how the mighty have fallen. What was it you said to me a month ago? You’d burn in hell before you let Nadine get her claws into you?”
Brant’s eyes narrowed in on his brother’s arrogant smirk.
Brock joined them, tilting his glass to his mouth. “I could have sworn he told me the same thing.”
“Ganging up on the weak, really?” Cole said as he approached.
“Dickhead,” Brant muttered. “Glad you could make it.”
“I always make time for friends.” He said it to both brothers before looking at Brant and adding, “And assholes, though since our talk it seems like you’ve turned over a new leaf. Even opened a bottle of champagne all by yourself!”
“High five, man, that shit’s hard,” Bentley teased while Brock choked on his drink.
The women were already seated at the table next to Grandfather. They gave him so much attention it was as if they’d adopted him.
Brant checked his watch again. “She’s late.”
Cole rolled his eyes. “She’s blind. It takes a while to get a dress on when your best friend isn’t there to help you fasten it.”
“That’s it.” Brant moved toward him but was held back by a laughing Bentley. “Come on, just one punch.”
Brock glanced between them. “I thought you guys were allies now.”
“Allies. Enemies.” Cole shrugged. “Basically the same thing, right, Brant?”
“Right.” Brant counted to ten. “Besides, you may be the one helping her put the dress on—but I will always be the lucky bastard helping her take it off.”
“I think Brant just won fake Thanksgiving,” Bentley announced, as Nikki made her way into the large banquet room.