“Yes, but that is more of a hobby,” he answers. I notice Brady is getting exhausted from all of the questions. He isn’t an open book when it comes to his family.

“So, I think I’m going to take a year off next year,” I blurt out to change the subject for Brady’s sake. Let the firing squad direct my way.

“What?” my dad’s upset voice asks.

“Dad, it’s way too late for me to apply for my Master’s. Not to mention, I don’t know where I even want to go to school,” I answer truthfully.

“You can go back to Drayton. I can pull some strings and get them to accept you.” He continues to eat his pie as though he just solved the problem.

“I’m not going back there,” I spat.

“Junior, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” my mom chimes in. “Maybe you could go to Western. I’m sure they will understand why you haven’t applied yet.” She directs her comment to me.

“I don’t want to. I want to take a year off,” I say, standing firm.

“Is this your doing, Brady?” my dad asks him and I gasp. “What? Are you going to follow him and his band around the country, living in some van and getting drunk?”

“Stop it, Dad,” I respond through clenched teeth.

“Ohh…you’re in a band. You just keep getting better and better,” my grandma adds, smiling at Brady. His eyes are on my dad only.

“I promise you, sir, I have nothing to do with this.” Brady removes his hand from my lap.

“What are your plans after graduation?” My dad narrows his eyes at Brady.

“I haven’t decided just yet, but I promise you, my band has nothing to do with it.” Brady’s eyes still haven’t left my dad’s, as though this is a showdown and Brady doesn’t want to show weakness.

“We can discuss these issues later. Can we please just enjoy our Thanksgiving dinner?” my mom requests and everyone quiets down.

After dinner, Brady and I help my mom clean up the dishes and then go for a drive. My mom offers me Theo’s keys but I decline, taking her car. It’s nice to finally be alone with Brady. I drive him around my hometown, seeing Theo everywhere. We stop at an ice cream place and walk over to a pond, cuddling up on a park bench.

“Sorry for my dad today,” I apologize.

“It’s okay, baby. I knew he expected the worst.” He pulls his arms around my shoulder tighter, kissing the top of my head.

“It isn’t right that he said that,” I say.

“He is your dad, Sadie. He just wants what’s best for you. I want that, too.”

We walk back to the car, and Brady drives us back to my parents’ house. I’m happy the lights are off when we pull up. We tiptoe up the stairs and Brady kisses me goodnight at my bedroom door. I’m half afraid he will sneak out in the middle of the night so he doesn’t have to deal with my parents.

Chapter 20

I walk downstairs, rubbing my eyes. I stop at the bottom when I hear voices in my dad’s office. Hovering by the door for a moment, I hear my mom talking with a man who is not my dad. They are discussing Theo’s death. My mom informs him that she wants to change all of the paperwork to my name only, instructing him to combine the two accounts. They start saying their good-byes so I scramble into the kitchen where my grandma is sipping her tea at the table.

“Good morning, Sadie dear,” she says.

“Good morning, Grandma,” I respond.

“Where is that hunk of a boyfriend?” she asks, winking my way.

“I assume he’s still sleeping.” I go to the cabinet to get a mug for my coffee.

“What are you doing down here then?” she jokes.

“Grandma!” I scold her, laughing.

“We have to be respectful, Ida,” Brady’s deep voice declares as he enters, and I grab another mug for him.

“Good morning, beautiful. I missed you last night,” he whispers in my ear before kissing me on my cheek and then sitting down at the table.

“You didn’t have to get dressed on my account,” my grandma jokes.

Brady laughs and joins her at the table, “Good morning, Ida.”

“Good morning, Brady. I’m glad I caught you both before Theo and Maggie come down.” She pushes her tea to the side, waiting for me to join them.

I set Brady’s coffee in front of him and take the seat next to him. “What’s up, Grandma?” I ask.

“Brady, don’t take it personally what Theo did last night. He just wants to protect his family. Hell, if I had a daughter and she came home with you, I would have been scared, too.” She shakes her head, imagining it.

“Grandma, it’s just outward appearances. I know we seem different but...”

“God Sadie, get over that. I could give a shit about that. Who cares about the clothes or hair, but I do think I would like you better with tattoos,” she says and winks at him. “It’s the two of you. There is something there that doesn’t come around often. God knows Theo and Maggie don’t have it. You two have it though. I can’t explain it except to say that when you look at each other, everyone else instantly feels like an outsider, as if you two hold some secret they don’t know about.” She finishes her tea and stands up.

“Don’t let Theo bully you, Brady. I raised him to be a prissy bastard; should have kept him in Detroit,” she says and ventures out of the room.

“Wise Grandma,” Brady says and leans forward.

“Kiss me,” I say and he happily obliges.

My mom comes in a few minutes later, after I hear the front door shut. She makes us all breakfast and my dad joins us a little later. We spend the day lounging around the house until my parents tell me that they want us to join them at the country club for dinner. I insist we will not be going but Brady contradicts me, saying we will. I wish he would stop trying to please them.

We enter the dining room and there are way too many familiar faces here. Brady entwines our hands and I smile up at him. He is always so in tune with my feelings. I was upset he took off his bracelets and combed his hair down tonight while sporting a pair of slacks and a button-down shirt. You would think he was born in this crowd if you didn’t know better but I hate it. I love him the way he is and I don’t want him changing for anyone, especially these people.

My parents work the room, while Brady and I follow behind on the way to our table. I have been coming here for years so I know where we are sitting, but I’m trying to be respectful to my parents. To my amazement, they introduce Brady to every person we come across, but I’m sure it’s because of his new appearance tonight. My grandma talks with a couple of older gentlemen at a table by the front of the room. She already told me she was going to eat there instead of at our table. Her exact words were, ‘Sadie, I’m going to try to get lucky, so I’m sitting here rather than with your boring father.’ I just laughed and walked away. She loves men, even though I know she misses my Grandpa Pat every day.

Relief washes over me when we finally reach the table. Brady scoots my chair out for me before he sits in his own. My dad follows suit with my mom but she doesn’t give him her usual smile, just a curt thank you instead. Something is wrong, but I can’t put my finger on it. My mom has always appeared to be enamored with my dad.

Dinner is filled with long streams of silence. I’m still mad at my dad for last night so I refuse to talk, and therefore barely any conversation is spoken. I feel bad for Brady; he looks uncomfortable while glancing over to me every once in a while. Then the unthinkable happens.

“Brady Carsen, is that you?” a gentleman from two tables over calls out.

Brady turns around and an instant frown appears across his face before he quickly replaces it with a fake smile. “Jack, how are you?” He stands up and holds out his hand.

“I’m great. I thought I recognized you. What on earth are you doing here?” His enthusiasm is refreshing to our table.

“I’m here with my girlfriend and her family,” Brady answers quietly and turns toward our table. “This is my girlfriend, Sadie Miller.” I stand up and shake Jack’s hand. “These are her parents. This is Maggie and I think you know her father, Theo.”