Chapter 38: Can He Handle the Truth?


    Trent was already there when Bree arrived at the meeting location. She took her time walking over, not


    because she was puzzled about what she was going to say but because she was studying him. The


    sun was almost directly overhead. It picked up the golden highlights in his hair and reflected them like a


    halo around his head. His skin was more bronze now than it had ever been in all the years she’d known


    him, probably from so much beach time. His eyes were the color of the sea, and the way he worried his


    hand against his set jaw, he looked so handsome she could hardly handle looking at him, but she also


    couldn’t pull away.


    How could she lose him forever? He’d never truly been hers, but for all of these years, she’d always


    assumed, somewhere, in the back of her mind, they’d figure out a way to be together. Now, he was


    getting married tomorrow to someone who not only didn’t deserve him, she didn’t deserve anyone--


    unless there was someone in this world as evil and self-absorbed as she was, and that was hard to


    imagine.


    Trent saw Breeing and raised a hand to her. She tried to smile and wave back, but her emotions


    were about to choke her up, and she didn’t have the heart to be too friendly. She sat down next to him,


    her hand merely inches from his, and stared out at the ocean.


    It reminded her of a time when they were younger, when they’d gone to the movies with a bunch of


    friends. That wasn’t the memorable part--they did that all the time--but they had sat next to each other


    that night. It was a scary movie, and every time a jump scare caused the audience to leap in their


    seats, her hand inched closer to Trent’s until she was actually holding his hand in hers. There wasn’t


    necessarily anything romantic about the death grip she had on his fingers, but it was still holding his


    hand, and she wished she could reach over and take it now.


    Eventually, she set those thoughts aside and got on with it. “Thanks foring to meet me. It must''ve


    been hard for you to get away.”


    “It wasn’t easy, but it''s all right. What’s wrong, Bree? Your tone before was worrisome. Monica said that


    she didn’t see you at the brunch.”


    “I overheard her talking to Hannah and rice in the bathroom. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I heard


    her nevertheless.” She dropped her head and focused on herp.


    “What… was she saying?”


    With a deep breath, Bree shrugged and said, “She was making fun of me.” She nced at him, and his


    eyebrows were arched as he tried to process what she was saying. “Normally, I wouldn’t care, but she


    was being particrly ugly about it. I thought, when I took this job, that I was going to be singing for a


    fan, but Trent… Monica’s not a fan of anyone but herself.”


    He held her gaze for a second and then focused on the ocean. “I won’t ask you to repeat what she


    said. I’m sorry, Bree. She can be like that sometimes.” He swallowed hard. “A lot of times. You don’t


    deserve that.”


    “You don’t deserve that.” Bree emphasized the “you” so he’d get what she was implying. “I don’t


    understand, Trent. Unless you’ve changed a lot in thest few years, and I don''t think you have, what


    Property ? 2024 N0(v)elDrama.Org.


    the hell are you doing with her?”


    “It’s really hard for me to exin, Bree.”


    “Try me. I’ve got time.” She knew she was being demanding when it wasn’t her ce to be so. It wasn’t


    her business.


    He ran a hand through his hair and said, “I… wanted someone who wouldn’t remind me of you. And for


    the most part, she doesn’t. But… she does have her good points. I know you’re having trouble seeing


    them, but most of the time, it’s easier to see them than it is at the moment.”


    “Why did you want someone who didn’t remind you of me?” Her voice was soft and there was


    hesitancy in her tone.


    “Because… by the time I met her, I thought you and I would never be together, and I was tired of


    thinking about you. So… I went out with her when she asked. I let her call me her boyfriend. And I


    already exined how we got engaged.”


    “All of that because we didn’t connect after… the cabin?” She wanted to say “the kiss” but saying it


    might be too much. She might lean over and press her lips to his right now, and whether she liked it or


    not, he was still engaged.


    “Not exactly, Bree. I couldn’t tell what was happening between us. All I knew was that I’d been in love


    with you for as long as I could remember, and it hurt too much to continue to pretend I didn’t love you.


    So I tried to find someone else I could love, someone who wasn’t into music or sweet natured and kind.


    Someone who didn’t go out of her way to make sure everyone else in the room was taken care of.”


    Now, she was staring at him with her eyebrows arched. “You did a great job.”


    He snickered. “Yeah, thanks. In some ways, she does remind me of you, still, though. You’re both


    driven, smart, sophisticated, beautiful. But… it turns out I didn’t have to be reminded of you to still think


    about you. I never stopped doing that.”


    Bree had the opening she’d been looking for. It might be possible for her to get Trent to break up with


    Monica without even mentioning Hank. “Do… you love her?”


    Trent answered too quickly for her liking. “I do love her.”


    “So… you don’t love me.” She resolved herself to that fact, which wasn’t hard. She’d alreadye to


    that conclusion as soon as she’d seen him outside the first dinner earlier that week.


    “I didn’t say that.”


    She stared at him for a moment. Should she ask him? Bare her heart to him? Or just… let him go?


    With a deep breath, Bree drew in the salty ocean air and let it go slowly. “If I said right now that I want


    to be with you, that I’d do whatever it takes to make it work, would you call it off with her?”


    Trent’s eyes turned down at the corner and a pained look overcame him. “Are you seriously asking me


    that right now, Bree? Do you have any idea how hard it would be for me to do that? She’s put so much


    nning into this. And even if it seems like she doesn’t love anyone but herself, I do think she loves


    me. She has ns, and I’m part of them. I can’t imagine doing that to her right now, in front of her


    friends and family. She’d be humiliated. My family would be embarrassed. Bree… if you’re actually


    considering saying something like that, please, make sure you mean it. Would you give up your career


    for me? Your music?”


    “Would I have to?” she asked, turning to him with a furrowed forehead.


    “I’m just saying, if you did have to, would you?”


    She knew in her heart that she would. As much as she loved music, and as great as her career was


    going, she would do anything to be with him. Except for tell the truth if it was going to break his heart.


    “What if… what if you found out she doesn’t love you as much as you think?”


    “What are you talking about, Bree?” His tone was guarded, and Bree felt her insides tighten. It was now


    or never. She could tell him the truth, show him the pictures and the videos, or pretend like it was a


    hypothetical question.


    Seagulls circled overhead, calling to each other and enjoying the summer breeze. Children sshed in


    the waves not far from them, and the surf rolled in across the sand. Bree looked at Trent, really looked


    at him. She had such an important decision to make, but telling him would break his heart for certain,


    whereas keeping the information to herself could allow him to have a long marriage to Monica. Maybe


    she wouldn’t cheat on him anymore. Maybe she would, and he’d never know. Was it Bree’s ce to tell


    him the truth?


    His hand covered hers in the sand, and all of the feelings she’d been bottling up inside for so many


    years bubbled to the surface. She was a sixteen year old kid in the movie theater again, a seventeen


    year old crying in the parking lot at a high school dance, a twenty-one year old leaving a cabin after a


    horrible break up.


    He was her lifeline, her best friend, the guy she’d been dying to be with for as long as she’d been


    interested in boys. Her thoughts flew forward through time. She saw her own engagement, wedding,


    birth of her first child, so many images of what her life could be with him in it.


    “Bree, what did you mean what if Monica doesn’t love me as much as I think?”


    Bree looked up at the sky, turned to Trent, and said what she thought was best for both of them,


    praying she didn’t end up ruining everything for everyone.