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Brody and Sarah made their way back to the house. The rain slowed, but they were soaked. Once they hit the porch, Rod and Miranda came out of the house to meet them.
Miranda looked at Sarah and said, “You look like a drowned rat. What the hell? Let’s get you inside and dried off.”
The two women went into the house leaving Brody to face off with Rod.
“My wife went soft on you. That’s unlike her. Especially when it comes to Bella, Trent, and Sarah. I’m not going to go as easy. What are your intentions with her? I will not stand by and be fooled again, letting her be hurt.”
Brody stood his ground. “My intentions are whatever she wants from me. I want it all. I want her, Bella, a life together. I know it seems soon, but I would do it all tomorrow if she’d let me. But I know she needs time. Time for the divorce to be final and time to know what she wants now. My hope is that whatever she decides, I’m part of that decision.”
Rod stood tall and said, “What if she decides you’re not what she wants? Will you leave her alone?”
Brody hung his head, “Yes. If that’s what she wants. It will destroy me, but I don’t want to hurt her. I want her to be happy. If her happiness comes from being away from me, then I will accept that and walk away.”
Rod looked down at his feet, then looked back at Brody. “Did Trent suffer? I need to know. I need to know he didn’t suffer. That boy meant so much to me. I watched him grow and it broke something inside of me not being able to interact with him. It broke Miranda losing him, and Sarah.”
Brody put his hand on Rod’s shoulder and said, “I relive that day over in my head every damn day. One minute we were laughing and joking, the next he’s telling me to take care of her, and pushing me so I couldn’t stop him. I watched him rush the bomber and yell ‘Oorah!’, then the explosion. When I got back up after the blast, I looked over the embankment and I knew he was gone. It was instant.”
Rod let his head hang for a moment and said, “I wanted to be there for him. I wanted to be a part of his life, but instead he didn’t know me. He knew of me, but-”
Brody squeezed his shoulder. “You were the man with Miranda. He knew of you, yes, but he also knew that she needed you and you made her soul happy. He talked about you. He hoped that she found her way to you, and if not, he wanted to push that along, too. He told me that he remembered how sad Miranda always was and that one night the sadness started to fade. It was always there, but it was fading. He always said it was because of the man they called ‘Hot Lips’.”
Rod threw his head back and met Brody’s eyes, then cracked up laughing. “Oh my God. I’d almost forgotten about that. I can’t believe Trent remembered that.”
Brody and Rod sat outside on the porch and talked. Rod filled him in on the Hot lips story and they talked, trading stories and memories of Trent.
********
Sarah and Miranda went up to her room and Sarah peeled out of her wet clothes, wrapping herself in a towel from the bathroom. When she walked back into her room, Miranda sat watching her.
“I had an orgasm.” Sarah slapped her forehead.
Miranda grinned, “Say what now?”
Sarah looked at her best friend and said, “You heard me.”
Miranda laughed and said, “Yes. I want to know more. Tell me!”
Sarah sunk down on the bed and looked at the floor. “I’ve never had one like that. I mean, half the time I didn’t even have one with Ted when we had sex. I thought it was me. But tonight, I had one from Brody kissing me and rubbing up against me. Holy shit! It’s not me.”
Miranda laughed, “I could’ve told you that. What are you doing, Sarah?”
Sarah turned and looked at her friend, “I don’t know. I honestly don’t know. I’m acting without thinking. I’m doing what I feel and I’m-”
Miranda looked at her, “You’re what?”
Sarah smiled and said, “I’m living life in full color. I’m not thinking, Miranda. I don’t know what is next, but I know I want what I have right in front of me. I want what I felt tonight all the time. I want to feel safe, warm, protected, and loved. I want-”
Sarah met Miranda’s eyes and said, “Brody.”
Miranda put her hand on Sarah’s face, “Do you want Brody because you think that’s what Trent wants for you? Or do you want Brody to get back at Ted?”
Sarah shook her head no. “That’s just it, Miranda. I have no idea how to make this work or if it will, but I know I want it. We talked about Trent tonight, but we talked mostly about how Brody felt about me. About the day we met and since, getting to know one another. It wasn’t about Trent. As far as getting back at Ted, not even a thought. I could care less what Ted thinks about it. I only care about what is between Brody and me. It’s like forces just pulled us together. If we weren’t supposed to be, then why throw us together like this? I mean, how could he possibly know I’d end up here? There are too many things that could be coincidence or fate even, to walk away. I don’t even know if I can at this point. I know I don’t want to.”
Miranda looked at her friend, “You know you’re going to have to figure this all out at some point, right?”
Sarah nodded at her. “I know. But right now, I want to enjoy what we have and what is building. I also need to get my daughter home from the hospital and plan a birthday party for her.”
Miranda smiled, “Make that two birthday parties, only I’ll take care of the other one.” Miranda winked at her and Sarah only laughed.
“Sarah, I’m worried about you, but I am your friend. I’ll always stand beside you and help you in any way I can.”
Sarah looked at her friend and said, “Don’t worry about me, Miranda, I’ll be fine. I just need some time to figure it all out.”
Miranda stood up to leave the room, “I’m worried I’m going to lose my best friend. I don’t know what I’ll do without you in Wellsprings.”
Before Sarah could react to that, Miranda moved out of the room and back down to the porch.
Sarah changed into a dry tee shirt and shorts, then moved to her dresser to brush out her hair.
Her phone rang on the nightstand, and she went to pick it up.
“Hello, Ted.”
“What is going on there, Sarah? Why aren’t you with Bella?”
“Don’t you question me. You are not here. You didn’t even come here to see if she was okay. You have no right to question me.”
“Stop, Sarah! You have no idea of the responsibilities I have here.”
“Responsibilities, Ted? Seriously? You want to talk about responsibilities. How about when I was raising our son myself and had to work, plus try and find time to make it to all of Trent’s games. Or how about all the times I stayed up all night with him when he was sick, and then still had to go to work in the morning. Oh, I know, Ted, how about all the times I’ve had to take care of cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, getting Bella to school, managing her appointments, assignments, and still be available to fuck you when you decided to come home. Responsibilities, Ted, I’ll give you your fucking responsibilities. Your daughter was hurt! You didn’t show up! You thought only of yourself! AGAIN!”
“What the hell, Sarah? What is going on with you? Is it this, Brody? Did he tell you he’s the reason our Trent didn’t come home?”
“Stop it, Ted. Trent didn’t come home because he sacrificed himself to save his brothers, including Brody. That is not Brody’s fault. It’s no one’s fault but the man who strapped a bomb to his chest and tried to cause harm to the United States Marine Corp. In which MY son was a part of. MY son. The one I raised. Don’t throw shit in my face, Ted, because I can do this all night. Why did you call?”
“Sarah,”
“No, Ted. Why did you call me? Because a man answered my phone? Because you gave up your right to give a shit when you handed me divorce papers. Why. Did. You. Call?”
“I called because the divorce went through. We need to have a meeting with the judge, and I can set that up as a video conference. I just need to know when you’re available.”
Sarah sighed, “Bella’s birthday is in two weeks. Do you think you can manage to come here for her birthday? I’m going to put together a party for her. We could do it before the party.”
“I don’t want to do this on her birthday.”
“You don’t get to choose Ted. You wanted this, it’s over, and now it needs to be finalized. We both need to move on with our lives.”
“So now you want to move on with this Brody guy?”
“Seriously, Ted? That is none of your concern. You. Left. Me. But to be clear, I’m done. Our marriage has been over for a long time. Not because of me, but because of you. You shut me out. You pushed me away and made me realize that I deserved better. Now it’s time for me to have my better.”
Ted mumbled, “Shit.” Then, there was a pause before he said, “You're right. Text me the information for the party. I’ll set up the appointment for the video conference. I know I’ve said it before, but I’m sorry, Sarah.”
Sarah paused for a moment, then said, “I’m not, Ted. We had our time. We tried. I had two beautiful children and I was faithful to you for many years. I believed in us until there was nothing left to believe in. But I’m okay. I am still standing on my two feet, and I know that my life is going the direction it needs to. So don’t be sorry, Ted. Just be grateful that we had the time we did and knew it was time to move on.”
Ted said, “I’m going to go, Sarah. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Good-bye, Ted.”
