Made to Love (32 page)

Reagan

It had been a year since the day I came back
to Nathan.

A year since Katherine’s accident . . . since
learning my brother was Nathan’s best friend. 

And so much has happened in that year. 

Katherine came out of rehab a completely
different person.  She loved the sun, the beaches, and the change in pace that
California offered and decided to stay after her stint in rehab was officially
over.  She’d quietly filed for divorce from Roger, who true to his word, had
foot the bill for her entire rehab stay.  He’d contested nothing in the
divorce, and Katherine, although still looking the part of Upper East Side
royalty, now volunteered at a variety of alcohol and addiction centers and
chaired several charity events geared around bringing awareness to these awful
issues and helping others make the final step toward seeking treatment.  She
was vibrant and alive, passionate about the work she did, and Nathan had
remarked more than once that this was the woman he’d known during his
childhood.

Nathan and I had flown out several times
those first few months, checking on her progress and then helping her through
the divorce.  Finally, four months ago we’d decided to stay as well.   Nathan
had found an amazing place just off the coast, complete with a small guest home
for Katherine and an extra room for Helen when she visited.  Katherine had
insisted on keeping her own place, but Nathan wasn’t having any of it.  They’d
missed out on so much the years she’d been drinking and were learning how to
truly be mother and son all over again.

I missed Brooke and Jacob terribly, but we
Skyped on the regular.  I met my nephew before we moved, and Jacob had brought
him out when we’d first moved to spend a week.  Jacob’s practice is really
taking off and Brooke seemed to enjoy working there.  Neither had mentioned it,
but there was a certain spark when each of them talked about the other that had
Nathan and me laughing at night over how obvious it was.  I wasn’t sure where
that was going, but it made my heart happy to think that maybe they had found
in each other a way to heal.

I have done some healing of my own in the last
year.  Returning to therapy, and a lot of love and patience from Nathan, has
helped.  I have made peace with my past the best I know how, and have
discovered that laying on the couch with Nathan’s arms wrapped around me,
watching a movie and eating takeout, is one of my favorite pastimes.  I barely
register any anxiety when he holds me, although he still at times will pause
and make sure he’s not holding too tight or doing something I feel
uncomfortable with.  I love him for that. 

Part of making peace with my past is letting
go of the things that are constant reminders.  So while I haven’t completely
gotten rid of them, my mother’s picture and her dress are safely tucked away in
a moving box in our basement, so I didn’t have to be reminded of her every time
I opened my closet.  It was past time for me to move on from those memories and
create new ones of my own. 

Nathan is kept busy with Winston Suites, but
he tries to keep travel to a minimum and I go with him as often as I can. 
Since we’ve moved out here, he has also became a sponsor of a local boys club
and spends time there playing sports or talking with kids there, who just need
some extra love and support.  It is during those times when my heart swells
with so much love that sometimes I feel it will literally burst.

I have been doing free-lance web design work,
and have discovered that adding Elite to my resume has opened doors I never
thought possible.  Nathan has even ‘hired’ me to do some work for the hotel,
and perhaps one day I will even go into business for myself.  But for now, I am
content.

No one has heard from Roger since the divorce
was final, and I know it still hurts Nathan, but he’s learning to deal with
it.  Katherine, too.  Despite the fact that theirs was an arranged marriage,
done so because she’d ended up pregnant with Thomas, and her father had
demanded it, she had in the early years grown to love Roger.  But life with him
hadn’t gone the way she’d hoped, and her alcohol had dulled more than just the
aftermath of Thomas’s death.  They were both healing and learning to turn the
page on that chapter of their lives.

“You ready?”

I turned to see Jacob standing in the
doorway, looking incredibly handsome in his gray suit.

“Absolutely.”  I picked up my flowers, took
his arm, and let him lead me outside past all the guests sitting on the lawn,
past Bailey and James who’d flown in last night, past Helen who gave me a giant
thumbs up, past Katherine who was simultaneously crying and smiling. 

Leading me toward my groom, standing there with
so much love in those green eyes, no doubt already planning for the moment when
he could strip this Versace gown from my body. 

I handed my flowers to Brooke, kissed Jacob’s
cheek and then took Nathan’s hand.  Whatever may come, whatever life brought our
way, we would accept the challenge. . ...........together.

Always and forever.

The End