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Brooke
Wiping at my tears, I headed back toward Caleb’s house, but once I parked in the driveway, I thought better of going inside. Nothing said quality family time like Aunt Brooke walking in while crying her eyes out. I contemplated my options. It was tempting to drive back to my condo in Laguna Beach, but given traffic, it would take hours. I was in no mood to get stuck in gridlock.
I could always rent a hotel room tonight in order to throw a proper pity party. I had my overnight bag in the trunk since I’d originally planned on staying with Lucas tonight. Dammit, thinking about him caused a fresh wave of tears. He’d been lashing out, but then I’d done the same. The look on his face when I’d brought up his fear of abandonment would haunt me forever.
I dried my eyes with the backs of my hands and took in a deep breath. I’d just brought out my phone to search for nearby hotels when my brother appeared in front of my car. He must’ve heard me pull in.
He walked over to the passenger side, opened it, and slid in.
“Guess you’re wondering what I’m doing in your driveway?”
“Nope. Got a call from our father about our mother being upset she couldn’t successfully blackmail you into coming back to work for her, so I figured it might have something to do with that.”
His dry delivery made me laugh. Even more laughable was the fact our mother hadn’t called Caleb directly, nor had our father called me. It’s like the two of them had decided at an early age which kid they dealt with, from career paths to communication. “Our parents suck.”
“Won’t argue with you. The fact he thought I’d help you see reason is proof how out of touch they are.” He took my hand over the center console. “I know you had your heart set on San Francisco. I’m sorry.”
I squeezed, appreciating his support. “Maybe my heart was just set on having a fresh start.”
“You’ll find it somewhere else.”
“Yeah, I will.” It occurred to me a fresh start would have to take place somewhere other than LA. As much as I hoped to make this decision for my professional life only, a clean break was needed away from Lucas too. Perhaps I would’ve felt differently if I was in love with the job and the practice, but I wasn’t. Dr. Marshall was more interested in making money than he was in investing in his doctors and patients, and frankly I’d had enough shitty bosses.
“Everything okay with Lucas?”
“It’s fine,” I fibbed, not wanting to drag my brother into having to take sides. Besides, Lucas was a good person, he just wasn’t my person.
“You’re almost as bad of a liar as Daisy.”
“I can’t imagine her ever lying.”
“To be fair, it’s typically about my cooking or something else she doesn’t want to hurt my feelings about. It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me.”
I wasn’t ready to tell anyone I’d committed the cardinal sin of falling for a man who’d explicitly warned me not to.
“What will you do next?”
I pulled the bottle of wine from my back seat. “Drink. Make nachos, eat melted ice cream.”
He grinned. “It isn’t your worst idea.”
My laughter came easily now. Caleb and I might not have been close growing up, but we were making up for it in our adult years. “True.”
“Come on inside. I’ll get the wineglasses, make you nachos, re-freeze your ice cream, and then we’ll plot out your world domination.”
Sounded like the perfect plan.
The next morning I got an early start, heading into the clinic first thing before my appointments. Last night I’d done a lot of thinking about what I wanted my future to look like and, more importantly, what I didn’t.
“Come on in,” Dr. Marshall called out when I knocked on his office door.
I walked inside but realized Dr. Marshall wasn’t alone. “I can come back.”
“No, no, it’s good timing, Dr. Morrison, as I want you to meet Dr. Redmond.”
An older gentleman with impeccable silver hair and an enameled smile stood up from the visitor’s chair. “Lovely to meet you. I hear good things about you, Dr. Morrison.”
There was charm, then there was schmooze. Dr. Redmond was all schmooze. “Nice to meet you too.”
