Chapter 15

15

C andace crutched her way down the hallway until she came to Brent’s door. It was already 9 p.m., and she had avoided him the entire day. Now she knew they needed to talk before they left tomorrow. An announcement had been made that the roads were officially clear as of a few hours ago.

Candace’s company had been asking when she was coming back into work, so she told them she would be in the day after tomorrow. She planned to leave shortly after breakfast. Despite it being a longer vacation than she originally expected, and despite her injury, she loved every second. Spending time with Brent made the trip much more fun than it would have been otherwise.

If she had attempted to hang out with Jessica and Travis the entire time, she would have felt like the third wheel. Since none of their other friends had made it before the storm hit, she didn’t have anyone else to spend time with. Brent had changed everything. Her view of him completely changed in the past week, and she was crazy to think that there was anything wrong with it.

Even if he had stood her up, eleven years had passed since they were in college. She certainly wasn’t the same person back then, and he clearly wasn’t either. They had both been through an unimaginable amount of pain during that time. And despite her not knowing what he’d been through, she should have expected he was a different person as well.

She kicked herself over being unable to see that he had changed. It took being in forced proximity for her to finally realize it. She only wished she had given him a chance sooner.

She raised her hand and knocked on the door. When no one came, she knocked louder. Still, he didn’t come. She looked both ways down the hallway and was about the knock again when Jan pulled her door open a few doors down.

“Candace, is that you?”

“Hi Jan. I was just trying to get ahold of Brent.”

“Oh honey, he left.”

Candace clumsily turned around on her crutches until she was facing Jan. “He left?”

She nodded. “When they announced the roads were open. He said he needed to head back for work. I figured he told you.”

Candace shook her head. “No. He didn’t tell me.”

The look of pity on Jan’s face was too much. “Do you want me to call him? He just left a little bit ago. Maybe I can catch him before he gets too far.” She turned to go back into her room.

“No!” Candace shouted. Jan startled and turned back to face her. “I mean. It’s fine. I’m sure he just forgot to say something since he was so eager to leave. It’s okay.”

“Are you sure?”

Candace nodded. “I’m sure. I’ll chat with him some other time.” She turned to crutch back toward her room.

“Okay, hun. Have a good night.”

“You as well,” Candace called back, with tears threatening to spill.

She bit her lip as she made her way back to her room. She couldn’t get there fast enough. As soon as her door was open, she got inside and closed it behind her, letting only a single tear fall down her cheek.

He didn’t say goodbye. He must hate her.

The implications of it hit her full force. She finally realized what a great person he was. He showed her how sweet he could be; taking care of her while she was injured and giving up his own fun time on the mountain to hang out with her.

And she blew it.

What did you do?

The announcement for the roads clearing had Brent packing his bags in a hurry. Apparently, his boss had someone monitoring the roads so he could inform Brent to get back home immediately or lose his job.

He almost told his boss to get fucked, but knew it would end poorly. He needed to think things through before risking his job in a bout of anger.

But who did that? Monitor the roads where an employee is snowed-in to demand they get home immediately.

It was some serious horse shit Brent was not in the mood to deal with on top of Candace treating him like he had been nothing.

After everything, that stung the most, and his pride had him driving out of Wintervale as quickly as he could without a second glance. It wasn’t until he was halfway home that he realized he hadn’t even said goodbye to her. He cursed himself for letting his work get the best of him and running him out of there so quickly.

Even if Candace didn’t see him as anything more than her sister’s brother-in-law, he should have said goodbye for his own sake. He cared about her. He cared about her a whole hell of a lot, and even if she hadn’t felt the same way, he wanted the closure for himself.

The drive back to Boise was long and excruciating. He white-knuckled it over the passes, half expecting to end up in a ditch from the icy roads. Just because the roads had been cleared of trees and snow, didn’t mean they were drivable.

He thought back to Candace and her attempting to get home with a bum ankle and frowned. He hadn’t even considered it.

“Shit,” he muttered.

He pulled open his calling list on the dashboard screen of his car and navigated to Travis’s phone number.

It rang only a few times before his brother’s voice came through the car speakers.

“Make it home all right?”

Brent let out a frustrated sigh. “No. The roads are icy as hell. I still have another hour at least. I’m calling because I’m wondering how Candace is getting home.”

Travis remained silent for a moment. “Candace?”

“Yeah. You know. Your sister-in-law. The one with the ankle injury.”

Travis chuckled. “Dude, don’t take your anger out on me. Jessica is driving Candace home tomorrow, and I’ll follow behind in our car. I’m only wondering why you’re asking.”

“It’s the decent thing to do.”

“Right, man. If that’s what you want to call it.”

Brent let out a sigh. “I just didn’t want her to drive home alone. She acts like she’s fine, but she isn’t.”

“We’re all aware of her injuries. Don’t worry. We have it covered.”

Brent heard a door close over the phone line.

“So why don’t you tell me how you really feel?” Travis said.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve always had a thing for Candace. I can see it. Did this trip help that along at all?”

Brent rarely discussed his feelings with Travis. It wasn’t like there had ever been a woman he had dated long enough to discuss with anyone. With Travis being so much younger than him, they didn’t really talk women, so this was new for him.

“I thought it did. But at breakfast, she made a comment about not wanting you all to know about us.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah. Ouch. I know this is going to make me sound like a girl, but it made me feel used. We were finally making progress, and then I became a secret for her.”

Brent gripped the steering wheel as the conversation he had had with Candace came back to mind. She had been adamant to make sure no one knew about them and was upset that he had admitted she had been in his room that morning.

Why was it such a big deal if their siblings knew? But why did it bother him if she wanted to keep it a secret a little longer? He knew that their families getting involved could complicate matters. What if things didn’t work out, and it was awkward? That was likely what had been crossing her mind.

But he wanted everyone to know. He had wanted Candace since the day he met her in college. Even if he hadn’t realized she was the same person Jessica introduced him to so many years later, he had still wanted her. There was a connection between them he had felt and knew she felt it too, even if she denied it for so long.

As if he had said all that out loud, Travis replied.

“Maybe she’s scared about the fallout if things don’t work. You live in two different states.”

Brent turned off the highway into Boise, finally unclenching the steering wheel and relaxing his shoulders as he navigated the familiar streets toward his home.

“Yeah. Look, can you do me a favor and message me when you all get home safely?”

“I can do that. I’ll let you know when Candace is delivered safely at home.”

Brent could hear the smile in Travis’s voice and rolled his eyes.

“Thanks, bro.”

“No problem.” Travis was silent for a beat before adding, “Call her. That’s the only way to patch things. Talk it out and don’t let it build up into more than it needs to be.”

They said goodbye as Brent pulled into his driveway and maneuvered the car into his garage. He shut it off and leaned back in his seat, letting out a sigh.