Forgiven Read Free Page B

a little longer. I don’t know how we ever made it days without seeing each other. It’s all I can do to make it hours now. As I try to lengthen our kiss, his hands slide up my torso and rest on my shoulders, gently pushing me back. “We can’t make-out in front of Château Élan all night, you know?”
    I push my bottom lip out and scrunch my nose. “I know,” I pout.
    “There’s Maggie, our realtor, anyway. You ready?”
    I nod my head, “Uh huh. I guess I didn’t realize she was meeting us now.”
    “Yes, we’ll just leave our cars here. It’s gated, remember.”
    He brushes a stray piece of hair from my face. I lean into his touch and close my eyes. “Gated. Yes, I’m good with gated now.”
    “Ah, progress. What made you change your mind?”
    “You. You’re a good salesman. I agree with what you said. Don’t even want to say their names.”
    He leans forward and kisses my forehead. “C’mon, let’s go find us a new house.”

    The realtor, Maggie, looks to be about the same age as what my mother would have been. She’s a heavy-set lady with shoulder length blonde hair and green eyes. There seems to be a particular southern accent unique to Georgia. Bradley doesn’t really have an accent at all, but I recognize immediately that Maggie does as she gets out of her car, shaking Bradley’s hand first, then mine.
    “You must be Gabby. Nice to meet you. I’m Maggie.”
    I think because of my mother when I meet women her age, it fills me with a longing, a yearning. I can’t explain it, but I can already tell that I am going to really like Maggie. She seems so nurturing. I don’t typically feel sorry for myself. I don’t want pity from others, but when I see these women, I can’t help but wonder what if. I wonder what my mom would have been like, if she’d be proud of me, and if she would approve of my recent decisions. I wonder if she’d love Bradley as much as Sam does. I smile and give her hand a gentle squeeze. “I’m Gabby. So nice to meet you, Maggie.”
    “I’ve heard a lot about you. All good things, of course.” She releases my hand and opens the back door. “Because it’s a gated community, we’ll all need to ride in my vehicle.” She extends her arm for us to get into the backseat of the black Mercedes SUV. After Maggie gets into the driver’s seat and fastens her seat belt, she looks up through the rearview mirror at Bradley. “We’re going to go view your top three first.”
    Bradley pulls my hand into his and rubs my thumb as he responds, “Sounds good.”
    Maggie makes small talk while we drive the short distance to the first house. It’s still really surreal that this is my life. I never thought I’d be looking at homes in such an incredible neighborhood. I can’t force back the smile that I know is curving on my lips as we pass through the streets of Château Élan.
    Bradley leans into my side. He gently kisses the side of my head. “You’re awfully quiet, whatcha thinkin’?”
    I whip my head around and stare straight into those big, cobalt blue eyes rimmed in navy. It takes my breath away because it’s like I’m looking into my own soul. Our lips are so close that I can feel his breathing. I give him a quick peck so as to not totally disgust Maggie. “Lots of things. Thinking that I still can’t believe this is my life.”
    He turns his head slowly from side-to-side once so he rubs my nose. “That’s it?”
    “That’s it?” What does he mean by that?
    “Just seems like maybe something else is bothering you.”
    “No.” I glance back out of the window but quickly realize I can’t keep it from him. He can see straight through me. I don’t look back to him. I don’t want to start crying, and I certainly don’t want to talk about it. “I miss my mom,” I whisper.
    Sometimes silence means more than empty words filled with pity and regret. He squeezes my hand, and I know that is his way of saying that I’m not alone. That even though he doesn’t