Missing (The Brannock Siblings Book 3), page 11
She didn't protest and pulled me along with her, reassuring the older woman as we walked past.
"Everything is fine, but I'm only going to be staying another hour, then I need to go home. This isn't really my thing."
"I completely understand, Ms. Murphy. We're just happy to have you."
Aiden snagged a glass of champagne from a passing waiter and guzzled it down before grinning at me. My girl was tough and even when her sweetness and worry took over, she was still always my Red. Sassy to the core with sweet softness woven throughout.
I stayed by her side over the next little while as she spoke with random people who approached her. By the time the hour was up, she had consumed four glasses of champagne and was leaning against me to try and stay upright. I didn't feel any need to stop her, in fact, I'm pretty sure I was the one who handed her the fourth glass. She needed it if she was going to get through the rest of the night.
She spoke animatedly to one of the other artists attending while I took a healthy glance around the room for the first time. I had only seen two of her paintings so far. The same paintings that I had caught glimpses of in her apartment already. One was a now finished piece with the blue and gray swirls I saw that first night at dinner with her and Lily. The colors moved so gracefully across the canvas with whites and blacks mixed in. You couldn't help but be hypnotized by the movement. The other painting was a sunset, one that I could never hope to see in a million years, at least not from the city. The canvas was huge and full of oranges, reds, and violets. Wherever she got this inspiration from, it was nowhere I had ever been before. The landscape was nothing but mountains and country making the whole image strangely peaceful.
My attention was torn away from the painting when the older woman, Marjorie, the manager of the gallery, stepped in front of us.
"Ms. Murphy, you have sold every piece except one and I was wondering if you were willing to drop your price. We have some interest in it, but…"
Aiden shook her head, obviously not needing to clarify which piece hadn't sold yet and the determination in her eyes told me whatever it was had been something important. Something she wouldn't let go to just anyone.
Marjorie sighed and nodded her head before turning away.
I wrapped my arm around Aiden's waist and pulled her close, my lips brushing over the shell of her ear. "I'll be right back."
She couldn't hide the goose bumps that appeared on her arms, but she just grinned shyly, as if nothing was amiss, and turned back to the woman who hadn't stopped talking in the last few minutes.
I hurried followed Marjorie, keeping one eye on Aiden in case she needed me. When she stopped at a desk in the back of the gallery, she looked upset and stressed.
"Marjorie, can I see the piece that hasn't sold yet?"
She addressed me with a tentative smile, "Of course. I don't know why it's not selling. It's her best work and it isn't even a painting. That girl has a good eye for photography."
I followed her past a partition to another corner of the room where there was only one piece displayed. My breath left me when I caught the first glimpse of the photograph in a simple solid black frame. There was no question as to who was going to purchase the picture.
Me.
Only me.
How she captured the image so perfectly, I couldn't figure out. It was taken on the roof of our building, looking out towards Lake St. Clair. The sun was barely peeking over the horizon and the flare of light made the other colors in the picture seem muted. All of them except the red I had become so infatuated with. Anyone who hadn't memorized the curve of her neck from her chin to her collar bone, or the shape of her lips when she wasn't looking directly at you, would never guess that the woman in the picture was her. Aiden's profile was silhouetted against the morning light, but her red hair, curled into countless messy ringlets, was spread out behind her. Clothed in the white sundress that made her body all the more elegant, she was sitting on the edge of the building, looking out towards the sunrise. It didn't have to be clear in the picture to know the expression on her face. I saw it whenever we were together. Content, but aware that something was missing and making such an effort to ignore it.
She was breath taking in a way no words could fully describe.
"It's beautiful, no?" Marjorie whispered.
I tried to swallow past the lump that had formed in my throat, but it was no use, so I nodded.
"She has set the price where she wants it, but my gallery isn't known for being pricey and all the interest has ended with her number. I've offered to purchase it for permanent display, but Ms. Murphy has refused."
I was right. She wasn't going to sell such an intimate view of her to just anyone.
"I'll take it."
Marjorie gasped, "But…"
"I don't care how much it is, it's mine."
"Sir, I don't know if-"
"Here." I pulled out my wallet and handed her my credit card and my license. "Go fill out whatever you need to ensure I'm the buyer and if anyone ends up offering you more, raise my payment as well."
Her wrinkled hand slowly reached out and took the cards from me. I felt her eyes on my face, but I still couldn't look away from the picture.
"Yes, sir. Um, since you are close to her, would you like me to keep the purchase anonymous?"
"No. If she asks, tell her. She's going to see it hanging up on a wall for the rest of her life anyway."
With that, she smiled and quickly walked back to her desk.
Aiden was probably going to protest. In fact, I knew for a fact she was going to argue with me about this and the thought made me smile like a fool.
I couldn't wait.
***
"Alright, babe. You can do this. Just a few more stairs."
Aiden giggled as she clung to my arm and tried to steady herself on the landing. It had already taken double the time to climb up one set of stairs since the champagne still hadn't left her system.
By the time I returned to her side after Marjorie returned my credit card, she already downed a fifth glass of champagne and sat her cute ass down on the nearest bench where she announced she was staying the rest of the night.
Lily was already gone while Evan and Kristie had left just minutes before. It was up to me to make sure she got home safe and I take my job very seriously.
"I didn't get a chance to talk to your friends. We should invite them over for dinner," she slurred. "I really want to talk to your partner, find out all your deepest darkest secrets."
I held onto her waist and steadied her as we made it to our floor, "All you have to do is ask, Aid. I'll tell you all my secrets."
"Pfft, that's no fun. I'll ask Evan."
"You do that, babe," I chuckled.
Drunk Aiden was extremely entertaining and very vocal about her thoughts. I was an asshole for what I was about to do, but it couldn't be helped. I needed to know what was going on inside that beautiful head if I had any hope of knocking down her walls.
I unlocked my apartment door and helped her over to the couch.
"This isn't my apartment, Gus. Am I staying here tonight?" she hiccupped and wiggled her eyebrows.
I groaned and shook my head at her. If only that was the plan. I couldn't take advantage of her like that. But her loose tongue? Yes.
She plopped down on the couch and laid her head back while I lifted her legs one at a time and removed the shoes that had taunted me all night. Sitting on the coffee table with both of her feet in my lap, I started massaging. It wasn't a conscious thing, it was just… right. My hands and fingers didn't wait for my mind to catch up. I wanted to bring her comfort and I would give any kind I could.
"Oh my God. That feels amazing. Those stupid shoes, I'll never wear them again."
"Don't you dare say such things. Those shoes…" I looked down at her legs and moved my hands up to her ankles. Watching her walk around on those long, smooth, beautiful legs… "You're right. You should put them away for a while."
She giggled and shifted on the couch until her head rested in her hand and she was draped over the cushions. "Why did you come tonight, Gus?"
I stood with her feet still in my hands and sat next to her, sinking down into the cushions beside her. She pulled her feet underneath her and got comfortable, like she was there to stay a while. I never wanted her to leave.
"Lily let me know about the gallery and before you get mad at her you should know that I would have found out on my own."
"How?"
"Kristie. She was planning on going tonight without knowing who you were and they were both planning on asking me to come with them. When Lily texted me, I was the one who invited them."
"I didn't want you there because you make me nervous, especially when you see a side of me that is rooted so deep," she said, her eyes drooping. She would pass out before I got anywhere if I didn't hurry it up.
"Why do I make you nervous?"
She looked up at me from under her lashes before shifting closer to my side until she was pressed against my arm. With her head resting on my shoulder, she gave me the truth. "You make me want things."
"What things?"
"Things I didn't think I could have yet. Things that will force me to choose."
"Choose what?"
She yawned and her body relaxed against me, eyes drooping further as if she was having a hard time keeping them open at all.
"What would you be forced to choose, Aiden?" I pressed.
"I don't want to have to choose between my family and a man. Lily chose the man and look at what happened? He tore her heart out and stomped on it. She chose a man that made her life exciting, made her question everything. She chose a man who ended up wanting the greener grass on the other side. Now she's paying the price. I won't let that happen to me. I need stability, responsibility, someone who won't take unnecessary risks. Someone who won't risk me."
It all made sense now. Why she didn't think it was even possible for us to be together, why she insisted that we could be friends and that's it. It wasn't because I had been such an asshole in the beginning. My life was full of the risks she feared.
She took a deep breath and added, "Lily and Aidy are the most important people in my life. I need a man who isn't going to make me give that up."
"But, Aiden, using a mistake Lily made as a foundation for your own decisions… it's not right."
"Why not?"
Those two words, said once more and hitting me just as hard as the first time, but this time I had the answer. "Because you are setting yourself up to be alone for the rest of your life. You can't live life without taking a risk here and there, that's not living. There is a man who wouldn't make you give up your family, he'll only add to it. No one is perfect, but that's the beauty of it isn't it? Getting through the imperfections together."
"Wow. That's like poetry, Gus."
I laughed and draped my arm over her shoulders, pulling her into me until her head slid down to my chest and her arm laid across my stomach. This is what I pictured having in the very near future. Her softness pressed against me every night, her stubborn temper waiting for me when I got home, and long nights spent doing exactly this. Talking and learning everything there is to know about her, whether she's drunk or sober.
"My mom was the one who said that. She said 'The beauty of life is figuring out how to live it with someone you love more than yourself'."
"Smart woman."
"Yeah. She was."
"Will you tell me about her?"
She was going to pass out before I could even make a dent telling her about the kind of person my mother was.
"My mom was beautiful. Always smiling, always ready to help, and never had a mean thing to say about anyone. She was sweet and loving, but she had a sassy side to her, like you. It made us all laugh whenever Dad was on the other side of it."
She giggled and looked up at me, "She sounds wonderful."
"She was."
"I bet your dad loved her very much."
"He did. Does. Not a day goes by that he doesn't love her more than he did the day before."
"Really?"
I looked down at her, meeting her glazed eyes and knowing now what I had doubted so long ago. I didn't think it was possible for Dad to love Mom any more than he already did. After all, there is only so much a heart can handle. Now? Looking down at Aiden and feeling that burning in my chest, knowing I would do anything for her. I had no more doubts. Not one.
"Yeah."
Aiden closed her eyes and sighed. "How did she do it?"
"Do what?"
"Spend every day waiting for him to come home safe, wondering if that last kiss they shared really would be the last."
I laid my head on the back of the couch and stared at the ceiling. I had no idea how she did it, I just know that they loved each other enough to make anything work. It was just what they always did.
"She loved him more than the idea of living a life without the worry, without him. She had us, too. Three kids who basically worshipped her. She taught us how to love, to fight for it. I really don't think she felt there was any other way."
"What happened to her, Gus?"
I hadn't thought about her death as much as I'd thought about her life. Us remembering her life, the things we did together as a family; that's what she wanted.
"She had cancer. Fought it for a while, but her body just couldn't handle it anymore. She died on my sister's seventeenth birthday."
"That's awful."
"In a way, yes it is. But she wanted us to celebrate her life so, in a sense, we get to celebrate two lives that day. It was hard on Ash for a while and we all still miss her like crazy, but what she gave us… no way we would trade that up."
"Your family seems amazing."
"They are," I grinned. "I miss them."
"Tell me more," she said on another yawn.
"I don't think you can stay awake for it, babe."
"I will. Just keep talking," she muttered. "I like hearing your voice."
So I did. I told her all about my family. The things we did as idiot kids with nothing better to do than get into trouble, the way Con, Luke, and I kept Ash in a bubble, the regrets that weren't really regrets because without them, where would I be? She laughed and commented here and there, staying plastered against me as I ran my fingers over her arm, her back, through her hair.
She stayed quiet when I told her about the nights and days Isabelle Brannock spent worrying about the love of her life. How she distracted herself by pouring every ounce of love she had into her children. How my father always reassured her, never losing patience or feeling smothered, how he made the worry worth it and gave his mother everything he could. How he made her as happy as she made him.
"It's the same thing that Lucas does for Ash. The same things Con does for Emily."
She didn't move, but she held her breath. It was the only sign I had that she wasn't asleep in my arms already.
"The same things I would do…" For you. The unspoken words couldn't have been clearer in the silence that surrounded us.
"What are you doing to me?" she whispered.
"Nothing you haven't already done to me, sweetheart."
Her eyes slowly opened and I couldn't tell if she was still drunk or if the change in her gaze was complete awareness. Either way, I had no way of knowing if she would remember any of this in the morning.
"I'm scared."
I only heard her whispered words because I couldn't take my eyes off of her. I lifted her chin with my finger and bent closer, resting my forehead on hers. "Of what, baby."
"Of falling so deep that I lose myself to a man that might not come home to me. I'd never get myself back."
"I know." I closed my eyes and breathed her in, smelling the sweet scent of her mingled with the scent of champagne and paint. "I know you're scared, but you don't have to be. You don't have to be afraid of losing who you are. Not with me."
She raised her chin, brushing those soft, pink lips against mine. Only giving me the barest taste before her head dropped back to my chest. My heart thundered as I forced myself not to push for more. It was only seconds before she fell asleep, tucked in my arms, completely unaware of how much she just altered my entire world.
Chapter 7
Aiden
Aiden woke with a groan. Her head pounded and her mouth felt like she had spent all night sucking on cotton balls. She opened her eyes and immediately registered that she was definitely, absolutely, without a doubt, not in her own room.
Oh God. Please, don't let it be real.
But it was real. Everything about the entire night had been real and she remembered every single little detail, from the sweet, crisp taste of the last sip of champagne she took to the feel of Gus' lips against hers.
Mortification slid over her entire body like a sludge that would take a lifetime to wipe off. She hadn't wanted to let him in, not like that. She hadn't wanted him to know how truly fucked up her reasoning was for living the way she did.
Now he knew.
He knew her reasons for staying guarded, knew her idea of the perfect man for her was a bunch of bullshit. That she was actually a big fat coward. Her carefully structured wall wasn't so solid after all and she had drunkenly let Gus seep through the cracks.
She rolled onto her back and looked around the dim room. It was all Gus and nothing like the rest of the apartment. It was cozy instead of hard and immaculate. She needed to get working on pieces for the rest of his apartment to make it look like his bedroom. She liked this space. Pictures lined his dresser, his family from the looks of it. His bedspread was a navy blue and the sheets were gray with a navy trim around the edges. Masculine. His nightstand was bare except for his alarm clock and a tall glass of water with two white pills resting next to it.
How she got there was the one thing she didn't remember. She must have fallen asleep on the couch and he carried her in there. Embarrassment skyrocketed and she covered her face with her hands and groaned.
