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“Next Christmas?” she repeated. “That’s eighteen months away. Will you stay here until it’s ready?” The thought of it made her heart gallop.
He shrugged. “I’m not sure; I go where I’m needed. We’ve got a new development starting in Florida later in the year. I might be sent there.”
She felt her mouth go dry. “You wouldn’t stay here after the hotel is built?” Had she managed to hide the disappointment in her voice? She’d hoped so. “To manage it or something.”
He bit down a smile. “Not any more. I served my time as a manager, but I prefer this end of the job. Planning projects, overseeing them. We have a great team of people who run the hotels and resorts like clockwork. I trust them to do their jobs.”
“I always imagined you’d go into finance or something,” she murmured. “What made you want to do this?” She looked up at Nick, who was staring intently at the dashboard of the digger, listening carefully to the driver. He was so busy up there, he hadn’t looked at her for the past couple of minutes.
Aiden cleared his throat. For the first time, he looked uneasy, as though he couldn’t quite find the words he was looking for. “After we left Angel Sands, I needed a job,” he said quietly. “I started working at a local hotel while I was going to school. It was hard for mom to find anything without references.”
“But she had references,” Brooke said. It felt as though somebody was pouring ice water down the back of her top. “And why did she leave if she had no job lined up?” She frowned. “Mom said Joan had gotten an offer she couldn’t refuse, and that’s why you all left so quickly.”
“What?” His smile dissolved. “They told you we left because she had a new job?”
“Didn’t you?” Her heart was beating a bit too fast. It was like she was on the cusp of something big, waiting for it to hit. She dug her fingernails into her palms to try and ground herself.
His eyes shifted around her face, as though he was searching for something. Whatever it was, he seemed to come up short. He lifted his hand, raking his fingers through his hair, until the strands were going this way and that. The same way they used to when she couldn’t keep her hands off him. “Did you really think we left because she had a new job?” His voice was as gravelly as the shale surrounding them.
Goosebumps broke out on her skin, in spite of the warmth surrounding her. She tried to swallow, but her mouth was too dry. “You left after Daddy found us…” she trailed off. Best not to go into that. “He said your mom decided you needed a new start.”
His laugh was humorless. “And you believed them? You believed I’d leave without even trying to talk to you?”
She lifted her shaking hand to her mouth. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, because you never tried to contact me again. You left…” She shook her head. “And you didn’t come back.”
“Because they fired my mom. And even worse, they accused her of stealing from them. Said they had evidence to take to the police. We had a choice; either we stayed and she faced prosecution, or we left and they’d drop it all.”
She could hear his words, but they weren’t sinking in. “Your mom stole from them?” Her voice wavered. It was hard to imagine Joan doing any such thing.
“No. She didn’t steal a goddamn thing.” He was vehement. “But they had the ability to frame her. They would have done it, too. Anything to make us leave.”
It was as though the whole world was shaking around her, and everything was off-center. “But why would they lie?”
“Mom! Look at me!” Nick shouted from the digger. “I’m scooping up dirt, see? I did that.”
She pulled her gaze from Aiden’s, her mind still as fuzzy as before. “That’s amazing,” she called up to her son. “Look at you. You’re a real builder.” When she looked back at Aiden, his brown eyes were still trained on her, and he looked as confused as she did.
“I’ve no idea why they lied to you, Brooke,” he finally said. “Maybe you should ask them that.”
12
Nick had been antsy all evening, as though he sensed Brooke’s turmoil. She tried to put the bad thoughts out of her mind – unsuccessfully – as they worked their way through their evening routine. After a dinner of grilled cheese sandwiches and soup, wolfed down by Nick, and ignored by Brooke, the two of them walked down the hallway to the bathroom, where she pushed in the plug and started to draw him a bath.
Recently he’d begun to insist she wait outside while he bathed – he was becoming conscious of the differences between their bodies. She still missed sitting next to him while he splashed in the water, making a white beard with the bubbles she’d poured for him. Instead she leaned against the wall, listening through the partially opened door, making sure he was still alive.
By eight o’clock he was exhausted, fatigue making his eyelids heavy and his body floppy. In spite of his protests, he climbed into bed, huffing as she tucked the blankets around him. “I’m not tired,” he said, his voice heavy.
“I know. But I want you to try sleeping anyway, okay? You’ve got school tomorrow.”
And she had somebody she needed to talk with. Two somebodies, actually. And since Cora wasn’t available to come babysit at short notice, this particular conversation was going to have to take place on the deck.
“Today was a good day,” Nick said, letting his head fall back on the pillow. “I like Aiden. He’s cool.”
It was strange how she was seeing the likeness between them more each day. As though by breathing the same air, the Black in Nicholas was coming to the forefront. The dark hair, the strong nose, they even had the same mannerisms. It made her heart clench to look at him.
For so long it had been only her and Nick. From giving birth at the age of nineteen, they’d somehow become a family, in spite of her parents’ anger and the town’s condemnation. He’d been such a good baby – sleeping lots and batting his deep eyes at her, his love for her almost as strong as the emotions she felt for him. Now he was growing up so fast, and she could see hints of the man he would become. And she knew it would be somebody she was going to be proud of.
“He likes you, too,” she told him. Nick’s lips immediately split into a grin. Because Aiden’s opinion of him mattered. Brooke swallowed in spite of her dry mouth, because she was going to need to tell her son the truth soon. She owed him that – they all did.
