Savage Cinderella

Chapter 17-Going Home

After she hung up the phone, Brinn sat across the round glass table, sipping her juice and staring out the large window at the city below. 

"A penny for your thoughts." Justin quickly revised, "What are you thinking about?"

"The cars crawling past move like a parade of ants on a busy trail.” She smiled and met Justin’s gaze. “I was thinking how familiar it all seems." She stared back out over the city. "Is this where I grew up?"

"Your home is about six miles from here in a neighborhood called Buckhead. Your mother is a doctor at Piedmont Hospital and your father is with the District Attorney’s office on Main Street in the downtown area. He used to be a Senator." He wondered how much she remembered of her parents. 

Brinn seemed hardly to register his words. “My mother was a doctor,” she repeated. “I remember that the smell of eucalyptus and disinfectant clung to her clothes.” She nibbled at her breakfast, a smile of remembrance softening her serious expression. “My father smelled like cinnamon toast and coffee... and newspaper.” She released a slow breath as recognition dawned. "They are out there right now and don't know I'm here." Setting her toast down, she turned her eyes from the city view. "I'd like to call them now."

Without hesitation, Justin dialed his phone and handed it to her.

She paused, holding her breath, then spoke in a shaky voice as a sob broke to the surface. "Hello...Mama, it's me, Brinn. I want to come home." 

There was a long moment of silence through the phone and then a hysterical female voice could be heard from the other end. When he realized that she and her mother were babbling, sobbing, and making little progress, Justin pried the phone from her hand and broke into the conversation.

"Mrs. Hathaway, this is Justin Spencer, the reporter you spoke to a few days ago. Yes, I'll explain everything when I bring Brinn home. What time can you and your husband be ready for us to come over? Okay, we’ll be there shortly. We'll see you then. Good-bye." He hit “end call” and smiled. “She says to give her an hour. You’ll be home soon.”

 Her eyes widened, the pupils darkening the blue to a shade as deep as the ocean.

“What’s wrong? Aren’t you ready to go home?”

“It’s just that...I’m scared. What if...what if they don’t want me? What if...?”

He leaned across the table and took her hand in his. “They want you. Don’t be afraid, Brinn; I’ll be with you.” A single tear rolled heavily down her cheek.

 “Thank you for everything, Justin.”

He brushed the scattered dark strands from her face and stroked her cheek gently, wiping the tear away. “I only want you to be happy.”

She sniffed, wiping the wetness onto the back of her hand, “I think I will be.” 

Taking a napkin from the holder, Justin dried the tears on her face, his own throat closing with emotion. The moment seemed strangely intimate but completely natural. He realized that he’d never been as comfortable with anyone as he was with her. He didn’t have to be perfect. There was no need for pretense. Her unassuming nature was both innocent and ancient, her honesty as plain and simple as a child’s. But she was no child, he thought, as his body responded to the feel of her warm, soft skin under his fingertips. He felt the pull from his toes to his heart, and everything in between. Their eyes met for a very long moment. He stroked her hair, as comforting a gesture to him as it was to her. She accepted him for who he was. For the first time in his life, at that moment, he was good enough.

∞∞∞

Brinn could scarcely contain her excitement for the next half hour. She paced and hummed under her breath. Shannon Hathaway had said that her husband was in court that morning, but that as soon as she could get a message to him, he would be on his way home.