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“Please, Brooks.”
Brooks cleared his throat. “Tom,” he stammered.
“Come on, Brooks, you can do better than that.”
Brooks crept closer. “Father.”
I threw him a crusty look, then softened it once I registered the fear in Brooks’s eyes. “Brooks,” I whispered, “I’m not going to pretend I understand what you went through or how you feel, but try to remember the man who came to every track meet and debate and cheered louder than anyone. The man who paid for every bit of your higher education, even though you loathed him. The man who gets tears in his eyes every time he talks about you. He loves you, and I know deep down you love him, or you wouldn’t have even bothered coming here.”
I reached out my free hand. “I’ll help you.”
Brooks reluctantly took a few steps toward me. “Grace . . .”
“I know. Forgiveness is a beast, and it scares me half to death. But we used to be able to conquer anything together,” my voice cracked. “We can do this too.”
Brooks gripped my hand and knelt near me. Tears pooled in his eyes. He swallowed hard. “Daddy, it’s Brooks.” He smiled up at me. “And Grace.” He rested his hand over mine and his daddy’s.
With Brooks’s touch, Tom squeezed my hand. Joy pulsed through me, and tears poured down my cheeks. I knew it wasn’t inevitable that Tom would recover, but it was a step in the right direction. I was so happy I lost myself. Without thinking, I grabbed Brooks’s stubbled cheeks and pressed my lips against his. Oh. Wow. Like, snap, crackle, pop, wow. It felt like I had found the missing key to the lock I’d been trying to open for years. I should have backed away. Or he should have. But neither one of us made a move. Thankfully, my head kicked in and reminded me he was dating Morgan. Yet I only moved an inch, allowing us to share the same breaths. “Thank you,” I whispered.
“You’re welcome.” He leaned away, his eyes blinking rapidly.
“I’m sorry. Sometimes I get carried away. But, I mean, friends kiss, right?” I spit out in a rush, sounding foolish again.
“Are we friends, Grace?” he asked, pleading.
My head was telling me to say no, but my heart—my heart had other ideas. “Um . . . yes.”Chapter ElevenI fidgeted with the sleeves on my sundress, pulling them onto and then down below my shoulders while I peeked out my window at the scene next door. Brooks was playing football with his nephews on the front lawn of his daddy’s house. To my knowledge, he hadn’t entered the house yet, but I supposed this was a good start.
Daddy came and stood next to me. “You look beautiful.”
“Thanks, Daddy.” I kept my eyes on the man I had kissed a week ago. So much had happened since then. Tom had woken up and was out of the ICU but was still being monitored closely. He had a long road ahead of him, but his prognosis was good. He had no memory of the incident and was honestly quite incensed they were making him stay in the hospital, even though he was having a hard time remembering some words and he couldn’t walk by himself to the bathroom. On top of that, he was having surgery in a few days to have a cardioverter-defibrillator implanted in his heart to correct an arrhythmia.
While Tom’s heart was on the mend, mine was calling out for Brooks. It didn’t help when he was behaving so adorably with his nephews, chasing them around the yard and letting them tackle him. I would have loved to get in on that action, but duty called.
“I should probably get going or I’m going to be late for my date.” It felt weird going out at a time like this, but June was keeping Tom company tonight. Tom was thrilled. I wasn’t sure if anything would come of it, but June seemed determined to make amends and bring her family together.
Daddy gave me a knowing smile. “You don’t seem all that excited for it.”
I stepped away from the window and smoothed my unruly hair that was making me look like a wannabe eighties music video star. “I’m sure it will be fun.”
Daddy rested his hand on my cheek. “You deserve the break. You’ve been amazing these past couple of weeks, which is no surprise.”
“You’re biased.”
“No, my dear, I’m truthful. I don’t think Tom would be here if it weren’t for you. He told me he could hear your voice in his head yelling at him to wake up and fight.”
I smiled. “As much as I would love to take credit, I think it has more to do with his family.”
Daddy patted my cheek. “You are his family.”
That brought a tear to my eye. “Don’t go messing up my makeup now. You never know, I could be meeting your future son-in-law tonight, and I want to make a good impression.”
