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“She’s back from vacation? I didn’t know.”
“I’m surprised they haven’t been camping outside your door,” Ember murmured. “They’ll want to see Nick, won’t they?”
“I’d guess so.” Brooke frowned, and looked down at the table. She wasn’t ready to have a conversation with them yet. Especially not when she had to tell them the truth about Nick’s father. They were going to go crazy when they found out he was related to Aiden and his family. Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to get the image of her father’s angry red face out of her mind.
There was plenty of time to tell them. Maybe she’d find the guts to do so over the next week.
“There’s no need to look so scared,” Ally told her. “She wasn’t that bad.”
Brooke finished the last of her coffee, feeling the warm liquid slide down her throat. “What’d she say?”
“She wanted to know about your new place, asked me if I’d seen it yet. Whether it was as ‘low rent’ as she was led to believe.”
“Did you give her any answers?”
“I told her you and Nick were doing fine. Then she asked me if I’d noticed something…” Ally lowered her voice, “different about you. Whether you were having some kind of breakdown.”
Well that was a new one. “She thinks I’ve lost it?”
“She can’t understand why you won’t come back home.” Ally shrugged. “I told her you’re happy, and that’s all that mattered.”
“You’re a good friend.” Brooke reached out and squeezed her hand. “When did our parents get so complicated? I swear they’re causing us more trouble now than they did when we were teenagers.”
“Are you sure about that?” Ember winked. “They were pretty difficult when we were younger, too. And so was Ally’s dad. We’ve grown up. We’re strong enough to stand on our own two feet. I don’t think your folks like that much.”
Brooke shot her a smile. “I guess they’ll have to learn to live with it.”
“I know they drive you crazy, but they love you,” Ember said. “They’ll adjust to your new situation.” She shrugged.
“Yeah, I guess.” Brooke closed her eyes and breathed in, tasting the salt in the air. The sound of the ocean echoed the beating of her heart.
“Don’t worry,” Ally said, reaching for her hand. “They’ll come aroun
d. They love you and Nick. But sometimes they forget you have your own lives to live.”
Brooke tried to smile. “Yeah, sure.” They’d only been away for a week but she’d already felt freer than she had in a long time. Now that they were back, she felt a feeling of wistfulness wash over her – the same feeling they used to get as kids when summer started to fade into fall, school started back up, and they had to leave the beach and their school vacations behind.
Things were changing, and her life was moving on whether they liked it or not.
If only she could find the strength to tell them that.
21
Brooke pulled her car into the driveway leading to Aiden’s rented house. Once she turned off the ignition, she leaned forward on the steering wheel to rest her head. Looking down she could see her bare legs stretching forward – her feet still touching the pedals – and the hem of the pink dress she’d taken hours in choosing.
She felt weird. As though she was turning up for a booty call. Not that she’d ever done that before. What would Aiden be expecting? For her to march in and head straight for the bedroom? She wasn’t sure she had the confidence to do that.
Who was she trying to kid? She wasn’t sure she had the confidence to even get out of the car. Her hands were still gripped around the wheel, anchoring her to the stationary car.
Lifting her head up, she saw herself reflected in the glass of the windshield. Glaring at her mirror image, she shook her head, silently berating herself. How had she managed to get so worked up over this? It was supposed to be fun, wasn’t it? A little touching, a little loving, and then she could walk away with her head held high. Aiden would never hurt her – not intentionally. He wasn’t Jamie, he wasn’t any randon guy. He was him.
Her rock; or at least that’s what he’d used to be.
She breathed in, her chest expanding, as she reached for the door knob. Here went nothing. Or something. Damn, she needed to get her confidence back. She was a strong woman – a single mother, a student, a soon-to-be veterinary technician. She could tame wild animals with a few words. Surely she could do this.
Dammit, she wanted to do this. Her face heated up at the thought of what lay ahead.
Within thirty seconds she was knocking at his door. It swung open almost immediately – far too quickly for him to be doing anything other than waiting for her. The thought sobered her up. Maybe she wasn’t the only nervous one.
