I go around the desk, reaching Brooke’s side just as she sits down.
“Really?” Her eyes lift to mine. “Do you think he will just refile?”
I crouch down next to her, resting a hand on her thigh and giving it a squeeze.
“Okay. Thank you.” She hangs up the phone, turning to me with sheer disbelief making her features slack. “Matt dropped the lawsuit.”
“He just dropped it? Out of nowhere?” That doesn’t sound at all like the man I’ve learned to hate. “Does Kirk think he’s up to something?”
“Kirk said he could technically file again if he wants to, but it doesn’t make sense to drop the lawsuit just to file it again.” She rubs her lips together, scooting toward me. “Do you think maybe he just decided it wasn’t worth it?” She sounds so hopeful.
I want to be hopeful too, but this feels too easy. Too out of character for a man who spent years breaking Brooke down so he could control her. Then waited to file a lawsuit, making it seem like a calculated move.
Which means this could be too.
“I think we’ll find out.” I take her hand. “And whatever it is, we’ll deal with it.” I want her to see us as a team. I want herto think of me as her partner. The person she can always count on.
But I know that’s scary for her. Terrifying to consider giving up any of her autonomy.
And I want to be patient—I will be patient—but that patience has been harder to come by since watching her walk down the aisle at Titus and Mariah’s wedding.
Because now all I can think about is what it will take to have her walking down an aisle toward me.
“What in the hell is all this?” I step out onto my porch, looking over the stacks of boxes piled across the planks. Grabbing one, I squint down at the address label, looking for some clue to tell me what all this shit is.
But the boxes aren’t for me.
They’re for Brooke. And they were shipped from California.
“What did you order?” Brooke comes out behind me, brows pinched together as she takes it all in. “Don’t tell me those are pool toys for the twins. We talked about this. You know they aren’t going to be able to swim until next summer.”
Fuck. I was hoping she’d stay inside while I figured out what in the hell to do with all this. I don’t know what’s inside the heavy-duty moving boxes, but if they’re from who I think they’re from, it’s nothing good.
Brooke steps up to one, her eyes going straight to her name before bouncing to the sender’s address. “Oh.” She slowly looks over the collection, her shoulders slumping more and more with each passing second.
She’s been doing so well. Been moving forward by leapsand bounds. There are still days where she’s jumpier than others and times where she struggles to be assertive, but they’re happening less and less.
And if that fucker sets her back, I’m going to take these boxes to California and personally shove each and every one right up his ass.
I’m sure Matt hated having to drop that lawsuit. I bet it drove him out of his mind to give up. I should have expected—and on some level did—that wouldn’t be the end of it.
But I didn’t see a porchful of cardboard boxes filled with unnamed items coming.
Brooke holds out a hand. “Give me your knife.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I shake my head. “You can’t put the shit back in the horse.”
Brooke gives me a hint of a smile. “Words of wisdom from Tobias Bradshaw.” She wiggles her fingers. “And I’m sure. I want to see what’s inside them.”
I don’t know that I do, but I’m certainly not letting her do this on her own.
Instead of giving her my knife, I pull it from where it’s clipped in my pocket, flipping the blade open before grabbing the closest box and slicing through the tape. If he did something fucked-up, like shipping explosives, she’s not going to be the one who loses fingers.
Before opening the flaps, I turn to her. “Step back. Just in case.”
“What do you think is in there?” Instead of doing as I ask, Brooke steps closer, one hand reaching out fast as lightning, gripping one of the sliced open sections and flipping it open. “And why the heck do you think I’m gonna let you deal with it while I stand over in the corner?”
Nothing crazy happens when she yanks at the cardboard, so I move the other side, peering in at the contents.
