Brooke gasps, the sound as dramatic as the widening of her eyes. “Blasphemy.” She shakes her head, picking up her coffee to take a sip. “And here you claimed you were a changed man.”
I have enjoyed taking care of Brooke. Feeding her. Providing for her. I like having her in my house. In my bed. In my clothes.
But I love laughing with her. Always have. I love that she teases me. That I can tease her back. And in this minute, I can see the spark of what brought us together the first time around is still burning. It doesn’t matter what she’s been through. Doesn’t matter how long it takes for her to find the other side.
I’ll be with her every step of the way, waiting until she’s ready.
I grin as I scoop up my first bite. “If making you homemade breakfast instead of throwing a pack of toaster pastries at you doesn’t show how different I am, I don’t know what will.”
Brooke has her comeback ready and primed. I can see it in the sparkle of her eyes. But I don’t get to hear it, because some asshat chooses this specific moment to ring my doorbell.
She swivels in her seat, looking toward the door. “Do you think Titus brought us more cake?”
“I do not. I think we got all the cake we’re ever going to get.” Scooting out my chair, I make a mental note to stop at the grocery next time I’m in town and get the ingredients to bake a cake. I don't know how to make Mariah’s caramel cake, but I’m fairly confident I can come up with something decent enough to lure Brooke back. “Give me just a sec.”
It’s early on a Saturday morning. Everyone but Titus isprobably still in bed, so I assume I’m going to see my oldest brother’s face when I open the door.
But it’s not. And the face smiling up at me is about the worst sight I can imagine.
“Good morning, honey.” My mother reaches up, patting the center of my chest before shoving me out of the way as she comes into my house. “How is everything going?”
I don’t quite know how to answer that—nor do I want to—so I stay quiet, gritting my teeth as I follow behind her. I don’t have any way to warn Brooke, so all I can do is give her an apologetic look as my mother comes right at her, one hand primed and ready to feel her forehead.
“You poor thing.” After checking Brooke’s temperature with her maternal thermometer, she rests a palm on her cheek. “You look like you feel miserable.”
“I feel better today than I did yesterday.” She inhales. “I can breathe through my nose now, so that’s a plus.”
“It is.” My mother pats Brooke’s bare knee. “The flu is such a miserable thing, but I’m so glad you’re being well taken care of here at Toby’s house. Especially since we can’t expose Ted to anything like that. We’ll have to wait until we’re sure you’re not contagious before you come back to the big house.” My mother leans close, voice low. “He has very sensitive lungs.”
That is absolute bullshit. My dad runs five miles on the treadmill every other day, and more than keeps up with us when we have to clear brush or mend fencing.
I’m not going to call her out on it though. Because my mom’s bullshit is working in my favor.
“Oh.” Brooke gives her a tight smile. “Yeah. I definitely don’t want to give this to Ted. I would feel just awful.”
“Of course you would.” My mom gives Brooke’s hand a squeeze. “Because you are a kind soul.” She turns to where I’mstanding behind her, feeling leery about the extent of her motivations.
I love my mom. If she had even a glimmer of something to do with Brooke coming here, I will even admit I owe her one. But there is no way in hell I’m gonna let her try to make Brooke move faster than she wants to go. I get Deidre Bradshaw wants all the grandbabies, but she’s going to have to get over herself and take what she gets.
And she’s not getting shit from me. Not until Brooke says she does.
That’s the only way she was ever going to get what she wanted anyway. Because I figured out a hell of a long time ago—but also not soon enough—that Brooke is it for me. Always has been.
Always will be.
It didn’t matter where she went, or who she was with. What she was doing or how much distance was between us. No one I met ever came close to touching what I felt for her.
I’d come to terms with that eventually. Faced the fact that I was going to be alone for the rest of my life, and worked through the fallout that came with it.
But that might not be the case anymore. And I’m not gonna let anyone—myself and my mother included—fuck it up for me.
“If you’re so worried about Dad’s lungs, you should probably get out of here so you don’t take the flu home to him.”
I smile as my mom’s eyes snap to my face. She wasn’t expecting me to use her own false claims against her, but I have no problem doing it. She’s the one who created this fraudulent situation, and now she has to live with it.
Thankfully, I get to live with it too.
Putting one arm around my mother's shoulders, I lead hertoward the door. “Why don’t you go ahead and pack up all Brooke’s stuff, so she doesn’t have to do without anything while she’s here. Leave it out on the porch and I’ll come grab it a little later on.”
