Out Of The Friend Zone (33 page)

"I'm sorry if I'm a little untrusting, but I've heard that one before, plenty of times." Brynn said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"We truly were trying to plan a shower for you, Brynn," Rylee pleaded.

"I have no doubt about that Rylee, but why did you need to talk to him for so long? Why did you feel the need to plan it? You barely know me, and you're doing something that should be reserved for one of my best friends? It just seems like there is a little more to it, like you are trying to get a little closer to Chandler, get on his good side," she said, voicing her suspicions.

"Brynn, if I really wanted Chandler, I would have tried to get him a long time ago. That ship has sailed, and there was no one on the boat." She paused. "I know that it seems weird I wanted to throw a shower for you, but when you hear why, you'll understand. Just give me a chance to explain."

"I'm listening. It's not like I can exactly get up and leave," she said, reminding Rylee just how bad the accident was, and that she was the reason Brynn left so hurt and angry that day.

Rylee nodded. "I know what it's like not to have family. My parents died at a young age, and I was an only child. I guess I always hoped that if I had a baby, someone would do something like this for me."

She cleared her throat. "You see, I look at Chandler not only as a boss, but also as family. He's like a brother to me. When I watched everything he went through with Brooklyn, it nearly killed me. Not only was he not happy with her before they got pregnant, but when she died, he just turned off emotionally. Now I see the light back in his eyes, the fire that was gone for so long. And I just can't help but want to be close to the person who did that for him."

Rylee started to tear up. "I guess in a way, I look up to you...so many people have tried to get Chandler to live again, and the only one who achieved that was you. You did something really special, and I just wanted to give something special back to you."

Brynn too was getting misty eyed. "I'm nothing special Rylee. Look at what an idiot I was when I accused you of wanting Chandler."

Rylee laughed. "Hey, if I had someone like him, I'd want him all to myself too. He's a wonderful man. But just because I recognize that doesn't mean I want him to be
my
wonderful man." She wiped the tears from her cheeks. "So, am I forgiven?"

"Only if I am," Brynn said.

The two women laughed and hugged, completely unaware of the man watching them with a relieved smile on his face.

T
he days and weeks wore on endlessly for Brynn, with nothing more to do than lie on the couch, read, and watch TV. There was only so much she could read, so much that she could watch on TV, until it didn't hold her attention anymore. From her position on the couch, Brynn could see out into the back yard, where she longed to be running and playing with the kids. Instead, she was confined to the couch that she loved so much in the store, but now detested. She felt like she was going stir crazy, and seriously wondered if anyone ever died from such a serious case of 'cabin fever'. If they had, she was the next to go, for sure.

The highlight of her days included walking to the bathroom on her own and visiting her doctor. As hard as Chandler tried to cheer Brynn up, nothing did the trick like the doctor giving her the go-ahead to start moving around, as long as she didn't overdo it. As soon as the words were out of the doctor's mouth, the sparkle immediately came back to Brynn's eyes. She looked as though she was going to jump off the exam room table and crush the doctor in a big bear hug.

That night, Chandler took Brynn out to celebrate. Knowing they still needed to be cautious, and not push Brynn too hard, Chandler was careful in choosing the restaurant. He didn't want to keep Brynn out for too long, as he was sure she was going to get tired easily, after having not moved much in the past six weeks. It also didn't help that Brynn was just over five months pregnant now, and growing quite large.

Brynn was tickled she was finally able to get off the couch and out of the house for a while. Though the food was good at dinner, the atmosphere and the people watching were much better. She felt refreshed, rejuvenated, and carefree. Though she knew that being on bed rest was vital to the health of her unborn baby, she didn't think she would have been able to handle much more of it if the doctor hadn't set her free that day.

By the time Chandler took her back to their house, she was definitely feeling exhaustion sweeping over her. Before her head even hit the down-filled pillow, Brynn was sound asleep.

Over the next couple of weeks, Brynn slowly regained her strength. Chandler still wouldn't let her do any work around the house, but secretly she didn't mind. She quite enjoyed having someone come in to clean, after having done it all herself since her teen years.

One Saturday afternoon, there was a knock on the door. Since the kids were at a birthday party and Chandler was putting in some overtime at the office, Brynn got up to answer it, wondering who it could be. When the door opened, there was a large bouquet of flowers.

"Delivery for Brynn Chase," the man holding the flowers told her.

"That's me. Thanks!" she said, as she grabbed the flowers and closed the door.

"Well, this is a surprise," she said out loud, talking to herself as usual. She walked into the kitchen and put the large vase on the counter, searching out the card. She finally found it, buried behind some large irises.

Brynn, come to the Country Cafe. Sit down at the counter and order yourself a tall strawberry milkshake.

Her eyes narrowed as she looked at it questioningly, but then she grabbed her coat, her purse, and the keys to her new Toyota Highlander.

Brynn walked into the Country Cafe and took a seat at the empty counter. "Excuse me, could I please get a strawberry milkshake?" she asked the passing waitress.

"Sure Brynn, I'll get it for you," the waitress said.

Brynn's eyes narrowed as she watched the woman walk away. She started wracking her brain, trying to figure out where she knew the woman from. Her face didn't look at all familiar, but she had to have known her, since she knew Brynn's name.

The waitress walked back, and set the frosty glass in front of Brynn. Before she could walk away again, Brynn decided to ask if she had met her before.

"I'm sorry, but I have been so forgetful lately. Can you tell me where we've met before?"

"We've never met," the woman said with a smile and walked away, leaving Brynn even more puzzled.

Mulling it over in her mind, Brynn attacked the strawberry shake sitting in front of her and looked around the cafe for Chandler. She started to take a few sips, letting the flavor invigorate her mouth, but soon that wasn't enough. A few slow sips turned into a few giant gulps.

As soon as the milkshake was finished, the waitress walked back by Brynn and smoothly slid the bill on the table, face down. Brynn was annoyed by this...What if she wanted something to eat? What if Chandler wanted something when he got there...if he ever got there?

Brynn turned the bill over, giving in and getting ready to pay. Instead of having her total, there was a poem. A cheesy, poor excuse for a poem, but cute anyway.

The bill is paid, I've been delayed.

Meet me at the zoo, by the bird that asks, "Who?"

Brynn shook her head and left the cafe with the poem in hand. Driving over to the zoo, Brynn couldn't help but laugh at how corny Chandler was. However, she was really excited to see the owl exhibit. A lot of people had been talking about it lately, and when the kids went to see it on a school field trip, they had talked about it non-stop for days.

She got out of her SUV, paid her admission and walked towards the owl habitat. As she got closer, she noticed a group of people surrounding a clown that was handing out balloons. She thought it was odd. She had never seen a clown at that zoo before. She approached hesitantly, and watched the crowd of people walk off to the next exhibit. She leaned on the rail, watching the owls and was startled when she felt a tap on her shoulder. The clown had one balloon left, and after handing it to Brynn, he walked away.

Brynn couldn't get over all the weird things that had happened that day. All she wanted to do now was find Chandler, and head home to relax. The wind started to pick up, and blew the balloon around in the air. As the balloon shook in the wind, Brynn heard and felt something rattling inside of it. She yanked the string down, and caught the balloon so that she could see what was rattling.

Looking inside the transparent balloon, Brynn saw a piece of paper, folded in the way that she used to fold notes in high school. She knew that she'd need to pop the balloon to get the note out, but didn't want to jump on it and scare the owls. Instead, she worked at getting the knot loose to let the air out. Thankful for her semi-long nails, she finally got the knot open. She let the air out slowly, then pried the note out.

She slowly walked back to her car as she read the note, careful not to bump into anything or anyone.

I guess I wasn't there either, was I? How about I take you out to dinner to make it up to you. Meet me at Nulli's Restaurant, and I'll apologize.

Italian food did sound good to her, and even though she had just downed a big milkshake, the baby was still hungry. She got back into her SUV for what seemed like the millionth time that day and headed to her favorite restaurant.

She cruised through the parking lot when she got there, but didn't see his SUV anywhere. If she had been paying attention to anything other than looking for his vehicle, she would have noticed a lot of other familiar cars.

When she walked into the restaurant, she was greeted by a maitre'd with a fake Italian accent. "Ah, Miss Brynn, we have been waiting for you," he said, taking her arm and leading her through the dining room.

With each table passed, Brynn wondered when he was going to let her sit. Instead, he kept walking past all the tables and into another room. As soon as he opened the door to the dark room, Brynn saw the flicker of candles. "Surprise!" was yelled in unison by many different voices. As soon as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Brynn was able to make out the faces of all her friends and soon-to-be family.

Brynn stood there in shock, her mouth wide open. She didn't move until Chandler came up and gave her a hug. "They surprised me too, about fifteen minutes before you," he whispered in her ear.

One by one, dim lights were turned on, revealing signs that said "Baby Shower" on one wall, and "Wedding Shower" on the other wall. Brynn looked around the room and saw both Nyla and Rylee standing together, looking so proud of themselves.

"So you didn't send me flowers, or take me on the wild goose chase?" she asked, turning to Chandler.

"I have no clue what you're talking about, so I'm going to assume that's a no," Chandler told her with a smile, letting her know that this time, he was actually innocent. "It sounds like it'll be a great story when you tell me about it, though."

"So, how did they get you here?" Brynn asked.

"Rylee said she had scheduled a client meeting, and this was the only time he could meet with me. I came here under the impression that I had work to do. I thought it was a little funny when she insisted that she had to come to the meeting too, and that I ride over there with her, and leave my SUV at the office," Chandler said with a smile.