My Favorite Souvenir(50)

I carried the basket of folded clothes over to the corner of the room. “Never once did I worry about that. I had an innate sense that I was safe with Milo. He never even tried anything. Honestly, aside from that amazing kiss at the very end, he was the perfect gentleman.” I chuckled, thinking about some of my own behavior. “I was by far the more aggressive one at times. It was hard to hide my attraction to him.”

“I still have chills about what you told me—when the psychic brought his old girlfriend through.”

That reminded me. “Oh. One part I forgot to tell you. Zoe, the dead girlfriend, apparently mentioned hazelnuts to try to give the psychic a clue about something. Pretty sure she was referring to me—Hazel. But even then, I didn’t tell him my name.”

Her jaw dropped. “So amazing. Wow.”

“The whole experience was amazing.” I plopped down on the corner of the bed and sighed. “But now, being home is…strange. I almost feel like I belonged out there on the road with Milo. I’m like a fish out of water on my own turf, even though things have actually been better than ever here—on the surface, at least.”

“How so?”

I bit my bottom lip. “Well, that’s the other thing I haven’t mentioned yet. On top of everything that happened, Brady has been trying to get me to forgive him.”

Her eyes widened. “Whoa. What?”

“Yeah. He wants to get back together, says he really regrets canceling the wedding.”

She leaned in. “What did you say?”

“I’ve agreed to spend time with him, but made no promises. I’m open to seeing where things go, but if I’m being honest, a part of me is still with Milo. I feel like only half of me is here. That half of me has some feelings for Brady, but it’s just so complicated.”

“You’re not considering giving up what you and Brady had for some guy you don’t even know?”

Her reaction surprised me. She’s defending Brady?

“Brady left me. Are you forgetting that?”

“Yeah, but he’s come around. He came to his senses. I have no doubt Brady loves you. He takes the covenant of marriage seriously. If only all men were like that. Better to express doubt before getting married than after. Ultimately he’s decided he can’t live without you. It’s not necessarily a bad thing that he fully thought through the idea of marriage first.”

I sighed. “I know he never meant to hurt me. But he’s going to have a long road to travel before I trust him again.”

“That’s understandable.” She paused. “But you will take him back, right?”

My eyes narrowed. “I thought you were all gung-ho about my three-month meet-up with Milo a little while ago.”

“That was before I knew Brady wanted to fix things.” She paused to really look at me. “Hazel, Brady is a great guy. He loves you. Don’t fuck things up with him over some drifter you had a fun time with.”

Drifter?

Wow. I was actually offended on Milo’s behalf. She hadn’t heard anything I’d said about him over the past hour.

I raised my voice. “Milo is no more a drifter than I am.”

“Okay, but you don’t even know this guy’s name. If you continue to obsess over him, eventually you’re going to have to tell Brady—and then what? You’ll lose him.”

“Brady threw me away, Felicity. If he can’t accept something that happened in the aftermath of his dumping me, that’s his problem. Are you forgetting he left me?”

“Yeah, well, he’s trying to rectify that. Give him a chance. Don’t make a mistake you’ll regret for the rest of your life.”

Felicity’s one-sided attitude aggravated me. I crossed my arms. “I have to say, I’m a bit surprised you’re so supportive of Brady. You were the first to curse his name when he broke things off.”

“Yeah, well, I was mad. But now that I see how he’s handling things, I have to be honest with you. I think you’d be making a mistake in not taking him back. This guy you met doesn’t sound like he has his shit together. I know you have an adventurous spirit, but when it comes down to it, stability is what you need. I mean, don’t you want to have kids someday?”

I stared off. I wasn’t sure what I wanted anymore. But though I may not have agreed with her advice, she’d certainly given me a lot to think about.





Chapter 16




* * *



Hazel



Brady had asked if I wanted to meet him at a bar in the city Friday night. He had business downtown, so he was already in the area. I’d have to take the train in after my shoot.

It had been a while since I’d ventured out of Connecticut, so I figured it would do me some good. After all, any time I could hang out with Brady without having to be alone with him was a good thing. Even though he’d been great about not making any moves on me physically, I always worried about how I would handle things if we were alone and he tried something. That was bound to happen at some point if we continued hanging out as “friends.”

I’d given him no indication as to whether I would be taking him back. It would have been irresponsible to lead him on, since I was still figuring out what I wanted. I’d remembered how much there was to experience in the world, and I wasn’t ready to close the door on a more adventurous future than currently lay before me. Like a future with Milo. It wouldn’t be risk-free, but it would certainly bring an excitement I didn’t have now.