Coming in the door leading from the garage, she found the house quiet. She put down her bag and slid off her shoes before going upstairs. Her and Justin’s bedroom was empty and she changed out of her work clothes and into a pair of capris and a t-shirt. It had been beautiful outside all day and she had been waiting the entire day for when she could go outside and enjoy the weather.

She didn’t encounter Justin upstairs or downstairs when she went there. She heard the faint sound of music coming from the backyard and she walked to the kitchen. The door was unlocked and she went to it and stepped outside, blinking at the bright sunlight that hit her eyes. She raised her hand to shield her eyes and looked around the backyard. Her eyes connected to Justin to where he was standing on the small basketball court. She paused and lowered her hand as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight. She bit her lips as she watched him.

Because of the heat, he had taken off his shirt and he was shooting baskets in just a pair of board shorts and running shoes. She wet her lips as she watched his muscles move as he shot the ball at the net and did layups. His skin was brown and a light sheen of sweat had appeared over his body. It looked like he should be in some magazine add.

Although she had found that there were a lot of attractive guys in LA, Justin was definitely high on the list. Besides his appearance, he had a certain presence about him that made him so attractive. And he had a good personality. All of it made her sometimes wonder why he wasn’t married to some glamorous movie star.

As soon as she started walking over to Justin, he noticed her and stopped bouncing the ball on the ground.

“How was work?” he asked as he rested the ball against his hip

Brenna tried not to stare as a drop of sweat ran down his chest. “Um, good. Johnny and I went to look at that new office development.”

Justin’s eyes met hers. “Why did you have to be there? I didn’t think Johnny would get you to go back there after what happened last time.”

“There’s not as much construction anymore.” She saw the still uncertain look on his face. “And I wore a hard hat.”

“I just don’t think that a pregnant woman should be walking around in a construction site,” he mumbled, shooting the ball.

She didn’t say anything but instead watched the ball go through the net with a swoosh. The ball his the ground and Justin leaned down to pick it up. He didn’t seem to be in the best of moods.

“Are you hungry?” she finally asked.

“A bit. Were you going to make something?”

“I can. When did you want to eat?”

He ran his hand over his forehead, wiping away the sweat. “Whenever. I want to shower though.”

“I’ll just start something now.”

He shot the ball at the net once more and then let it bounce to a stop on the ground. He began to walk towards the house and then stopped and turned to look at her when she didn’t follow. “Coming?”

She looked away from his back. “Yeah,” she said softly, walking to catch up to him.

Once they were inside, Justin went upstairs to shower and she stayed in the kitchen. After looking through the freezer, she decided to grill some chicken on the barbeque. She had just gotten the chicken defrosted and the barbeque warmed up when Justin appeared in the kitchen, wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. His hair was still damp from the shower and he smelled of aftershave.

“You’re barbequing?”

“Yeah. I was just about to put it on.”

“I can do it.” He picked up the plate with the chicken on it and the potatoes she had wrapped in foil and then went outside. Alone in the kitchen, she made a salad and then stuck it in the refrigerator. Grabbing the small bowl she had filled with barbeque sauce and a brush, she went to the door and stepped outside. Justin was standing at the barbeque, staring out into the yard.

“Here,” she said when she reached his side.

“Thanks.” He took the bowl and began to spread the sauce across the chicken. “I was just about to come in and get it.”

She stood there beside him and watched him flip the chicken and then spread the sauce on the other side. He put the bowl down and then went back to staring out at the yard. She wanted to ask if he was okay but she almost felt like it wasn’t her place to ask. She still felt like they were strangers a lot of the time and felt like she would be intruding on his privacy by asking.

Justin sighed and then looked at the grill. Beginning to feel a little uncomfortable with the silence, Brenna turned to go back inside. She had only gone a few steps when Justin’s voice stopped her.

“Bren.”

She turned. “Yeah?”

“Can you please not go to any construction sites. It makes me nervous.”

She bit her lip. “Johnny needed me to go.”

“You can explain it to him and he’ll understand. It’s just not safe.”

She didn’t want to argue with him since he looked so set on this. He had that stubborn look on his face that she had come to recognize and it wasn’t worth arguing about it.

“I’ll call him and tell him,” he offered before she could say anything.

She sighed. “I’ll tell him tomorrow, Justin.”

He smiled a bit. “Good. Thanks.”

She turned and went back into the house to set the table. When Justin joined her ten minutes later with the food, he seemed to be in a bit better mood but that didn’t stop the meal from being quiet and a little awkward.

“When do I put the spices in the sauce, Mom?” Justin asked over the phone a few days alter as he stared at the spice rack on the counter.

“Wait until it starts to boil. Then put a teaspoon of oregano and a bit of thyme into it.”

“Okay.” He rested the phone between his ear and shoulder and lifted the lid on a pot so he could stir the pasta. “I hope Bren doesn’t get stuck in traffic on the way home or else this is gonna get cold.”

“Either way I’m sure she’ll appreciate you making dinner like this.”

“Yeah.” He went over to the cupboard and began to get out dishes to set the table with. “Did I tell you how Johnny took Brenna to that construction site?”

“He did?”

“Yeah. I can’t believe Johnny would even suggest her going back there. What if something happened again? Last time she was in a coma and got amnesia.” He rubbed his forehead. “What if there was another accident and something worse happened? What if she lost the baby?” His voice faltered out and he leaned back against he counter.

“Maybe you should talk to Johnny.”

“I did. And I got Brenna to ask him to not take her to anymore construction sites. I just don’t get whey he would take her there in the first place.”

“I’m sure it’s very unlikely that the same thing would happen again. They’ve probably taken more precautions than normal after her accident.”

“It’s just the principle.” He picked up the dishes and began to set the table. “Sometimes it’s just like no one gets it.”

“What did Johnny say when you talked to him?”

“He said he hadn’t been sure if Brenna would be up for it but she didn’t seem to care. But he said he wouldn’t let her go to anymore if I wanted.”

“Well that’s good then.”

“Yeah.” Noticing the sauce was bubbling, he went over to the stove and turned down the heat and then put some of the spices into it.

“How is everything going with the pregnancy? Is Brenna showing yet?”

“I can sometimes tell when she wears just a t-shirt or something. I was talking to Elizabeth and she was saying that when she was pregnant with Brenna, it was four months before she really started to show and she thought Brenna might be the same.”

“That wouldn’t surprise me especially considering how small Brenna is normally. I just hope that doesn’t affect her pregnancy.”

“It could?”

“I’m not a doctor. I’ve just heard that stories can be more difficult on petite, small boned women.”

“Oh…”

“I wouldn’t worry about it, Justin. What do I know anyways. You could always ask your OB doctor.”

“Yeah.”

“How is the pasta doing?”

He reached over and lifted the lid from the pot. “Good. I think it’s getting close to done. Should I put in the garlic bread now?”

“The bread will only take a few minute so wait until you’re almost done.”

“Okay well I’m gonna go, Mom. Brenna should be home in a couple minutes.”

“Alright, Hun. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Sure. Bye, Mom. Love you.”

“Love you too. Bye.”

Justin set the phone down on the counter and then concentrated on finishing the meal. He was just straining the pasta when he heard the garage door open. He left the pasta in the strainer and went into the front hallway to see Brenna coming in the door.

“Hey,” he greeted her, taking her jacket as she took it off.

“Hi. What’s that smell? It smells really good.”

“I made supper for us. It’s almost ready.”

“Do I have time to change?”

“Sure.” He watched her disappear upstairs and then went back to the kitchen. He put the garlic bread in the oven and then mixed the pasta and sauce together in a bowl and set it on the table. While he waited for Brenna, he tried to clean up as best as he could and then lit some candles around the kitchen. It had been windy and rainy all day so he felt the candles suited.

As he was taking the garlic bread from the oven, Brenna appeared, wearing a zip up hoodie and a pair of sweat pants. She had been wearing sweatpants a lot around the house and he figured her old pants were getting a little tight and she wasn’t ready to buy maternity clothes yet.

“You made all this?” she asked, looking at the table.

He laughed. “Don’t look so surprised. I’m not completely helpless in the kitchen, you know.” He smiled when he saw her doubtful look. “And maybe I called my mom and she helped me.”

“It looks really good,” she said.

“Thanks. I hope it takes good too.” He held out his arm to her. “Shall we?”

She blushed and put her hand on his arm. He led her to the table and pulled out her chair for her and then sat down in his own chair.

“How was work?” he asked as she put some pasta on her plate.

“Good.”

“Anything interesting happen?”

“No it was just the usual.”

He nodded and accepted the bowl of pasta from her.

“What did you do today?”

“I had that meeting at Jive. I’m gonna be doing a song for this movie coming out. I’m recording it the next couple days.”

“In LA?”

“Yeah. In a studio really close to WEG.”

“Oh.” She took a drink of her water. “This is really good, Justin.”

He smiled. “Thanks. That means a lot coming from a chef like you.”

She laughed. “Okay.”

As the meal went on, he tried to keep a conversation going. He was getting more and more desperate to have things go back to how they used to be. It didn’t use to take work to carry on a conversation with her. On the other hand, they used to have a lot more to talk about. He was trying to reestablish some of that as best he could so they could at least talk throughout diner. He supposed it was getting a bit better as the days went on. It was almost like when he had gone to Tennessee and they had become such good friends. But he didn’t want to just have a friendship with her. He wanted his marriage and his wife back. It was torture to lay beside her in bed every night and not be able to have any physical contact with her. And he knew he couldn’t try anything because that would just push her away. He was just stuck at this point and didn’t know what to do.

Brenna seemed to loosen up a lot more than usual during dinner, laughing at his jokes and even making some of her own. It was probably one of the best times they had spent together since the accident.

When they were finished eating, Brenna loaded the dishwasher while he filled the sink to wash the pots and pans that wouldn’t fit in the dishwasher. She came to his side and got a towel to dry the dishes once she was done.

“There’s this really interesting documentary on TV tonight,” Brenna said. “It’s on teenage drinking and how it affects you in your twenties. I wanted to see if it was right.”

“You never drank when you were a teenage though.”

“Never?”

“You hardly ever drink. Like you’ll have a glass of wine every once in a while but you won’t get drunk.”

“Oh.”

He smiled. “It’s funny when you do though. I remember this one time when we all went to this club and you got so hammered. You and Kate were both so drunk and you guys were being crazy.” He laughed at the memory. “And then when we were driving home you were talking and talking and then all of a sudden you go, ‘I like this city. It’s blurry’.”

She began to smile. “Are you making that up?”

He laughed and flicked some bubbles over at her. “Yeah right.”

“Hey,” she protested, wiping the bubbles off her cheek.

He smiled and put the last pot in the draining pan. He dried off his hands and looked over at her to see her biting her bottom lip as she ran the towel over the pot.

“You’re going to chap your lips if you keep doing that,” he said, bringing up his hand to touch her lip.

Her head jerked towards him and her teeth released her bottom lip. He found himself staring at her and her cheeks flushed the longer he looked at her. Unconsciously, he moved his thumb to her lower lip and he gently brushed it across the skin. He could hear her breathing increase a bit and her eyelids lowered. When her slightly parted lips closed, in turn giving his thumb the tiniest of a kiss, he took that as a sign and stepped forward. His hand moved to cup her cheek and he waited for her to protest. Brenna’s eyes opened a crack to look at him and then they fluttered shut again. His eyes moved from her closed eyes to her lips and then he licked his own lips. She didn’t open her eyes again, even as he leaned his head down to hers. His lips covered hers and he felt his heart race a bit as he kissed her for the first time in almost two months. It was unexpected and through his mind ran the thought that maybe things could go back to normal after all.