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“It’s so scary. But I knew the trooper that made the arrest. He’s from this area. His mother, Patty, has worked in the diner for years. His father, Mike, is a boat mechanic. River, that’s his brother. He’s a doctor and works with Theo, Daisy’s boyfriend. There is a sister too, Raine. She’s a teacher. Those kids made something of their lives considering their parents didn’t amount to much.”
Ivy sucked her breath in and felt Brooks tense next to her, but she turned her head to look at him and gave him a look to not say anything. “Why are you judging people based on their jobs? It sounds to me they are hard workers and their kids learned a lot from that.”
“Yes, yes,” Gretchen said. “I didn’t mean any harm. Just that those kids turned out better.”
She ground her teeth. “It’s still not very nice,” she said.
“You’re always so sensitive,” Gretchen said, laughing and waving her hand. “I’m just saying is all. And it’s so exciting too. I heard that Brooks knocked the guy out when the gun was waved in his face. Like walked up and just punched him in the face and then arrested him after yanking the gun from his hands.”
Oh my God. If she didn’t know the truth she’d be laughing over the description and how ridiculous it was.
It’s like Brooks was a superhero with a body shield or something that could just walk up to a guy, punch in him the face, and pull a gun—Gretchen didn’t even have the right weapon—out of his hand.
“Not likely,” she said.
“You don’t know that,” Gretchen said.
“Everything gets exaggerated and you know it,” she said. She wanted Gretchen to rattle on so that she could embarrass her. She knew it was petty, but sometimes in life you just had to put people in their place.
“There is always truth to some of it,” Gretchen said, lifting her chin.
She reached her hand for Brooks’s and just threaded their fingers and squeezed it a bit. Maybe some was in frustration.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me to who you’re holding hands with?” Gretchen asked as her eyes dropped. “I thought it was a customer. No one said you were dating anyone. I figured you’d be bragging to everyone about it.”
She burst out laughing. She really couldn’t help it. It was almost the opening she needed at this point.
“Gladly,” she said. “Brooks Scarsdale, this is Gretchen. She says she knows you and your family as you heard, but I guess it’s been a long time since she’s seen you.”
Gretchen’s face flushed. “You were just a child when I saw you in the diner where your mother works.”
“I’ve seen a lot of people there in my life,” he said. “If you’ll excuse us, I’m going to have dinner with my girlfriend while she’s on break.”
Her heart was beating fast for another reason.
He called her his girlfriend.
He didn’t lose his temper as he’d said he had so much in his life. Not even when his family was insulted. She wanted to go up one side and down the other on Gretchen, but she was working and didn’t want to get in trouble. Not that she thought the sisters would be upset. They’d probably join in saying something.
“We can go upstairs and eat,” she said. “I’ll show you my office. And I’m sorry about that.”
She planned to introduce Brooks to everyone after they ate, but when she was walking through the hall between the flower shop and retail store she saw Violet moving past and called out to her.
“Hey,” Violet said. “I’m going to take a guess this is the man Ivy has been bragging about.”
She laughed and hated that Violet used the same word that Gretchen did. But it didn’t mean the same thing coming from a friend. “This is Brooks. Brooks, this is Violet Soren, soon to be Violet Mancini. She’s engaged to Trace Mancini.”
“The writer, right?” he asked.
She’d filled Brooks in on everyone she worked with but figured it went in one ear and out the other. Guess not.
Just because other men she’d dated in the past didn’t listen to her didn’t mean Brooks was like that.
“That’s him,” Violet said. “Nice to meet you, but I’m sure you two want to chat before Ivy finishes up work.”
“Thanks,” she said. “I’ll see you before you leave.”
“Do you want to tell me what that was about with the woman in the store? After the day I had I was going to give her a piece of my mind but then figured by the look in your eyes that you were going to do it.”
