Brooke
“Thanks for bailing us out.” I smile sweetly at Jake as he opens Lola’s front door.
“Don’t thank me. I didn’t pay your bail.”
“What do you mean you didn’t pay it? Of course you did.”
“Nope.”
“Seriously?” I ask. “But you said…”
Jake puts one hand over my mouth and indicates for me to keep quiet. He looks around to make sure that Hope is still in the cab of Brody’s truck, talking on her cell to Zane, then whispers quietly. “Brody paid it.”
“Brody!” I say, louder than intended.
“Shhhh. Keep your voice down.”
“Brody paid it?” I whisper shout. “There’s no way Brody could have gotten ahold of twenty thousand that quickly and”—Jake steps back as I poke him in the chest—“why are we whispering?”
“Shhhh.”
“Don’t keep shushing me. Just answer the goddamn question!”
“Believe me or not. I went to pay, but Brody had gotten there first. His brother gave him the money. I overheard Brody talking to him. His brother is going to arrange an attorney to see if he can get the charges dropped, which is the reason why I’m whispering. You know how upset Hope gets when her ex is mentioned. Telling her that he bailed her out won’t end well for any of us.”
“Great. Now I suppose I’ll have to thank him,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“Don’t,” Jake says, placing his hand on the small of my back and ushering me through the door. “Brody doesn’t want you to know.”
“He said that?”
“Yeah, when he realized I’d overheard him, he asked me not to tell you.”
“Why?”
“How the fuck should I know? All he said was don’t tell Brooke. I even offered to give him the money, but he refused to take it. Told me he got this.”
“Wow.” I breathe, as I throw myself down on the couch. “Did he say anything else?”
“No.”
“But…”
“Don’t think about it, okay? Just make sure you call Lola to see if you can stay longer, seeing as you’re stuck here until we can get this mess sorted out. I’m going to have to head home in the morning, but I’ll be back as soon as I can. I’ll ask Zane to do some digging into Joely’s background. See if we can find some dirt on her. The attorney that the McAllisters hired should sort you out with the legal side. Now, killer, I think you’ve had enough excitement for one night. Off to bed with you,” he says, kissing the top of my head. “I probably won’t be here when you wake up. I’ll text you when I get home. Okay?”
“Thank you. For everything.”
Jake gives me a small smile, holding out his hand to help me stand. “That’s what friends are for.”
“Did I ever tell you that you’re the best friend a girl could have?” I yawn.
“You forgot to add most handsome after the best.”
“Modest as well.”
“Some girl is going to be lucky to have me.”
“You’ll never settle down,” I say drowsily.
“True.” He nods. “You want me to carry you up?”
“Nah. I’m good. Go and check on Hope.”
“K.”
“Jake.” He leans back through the door. “I hope you find the right girl for you one day. Sorry I wasn’t it.”
“Your heart belongs to someone else, darlin’, knew that from the first time I met you. He’s a lucky guy,” he says before disappearing off to find Hope.
“Yeah. Thanks, Lola, really appreciate it.” Hope looks at me questioningly, and holds out her thumb horizontally, like some old roman emperor waiting to give his decision whether a gladiator would live or die. I shrug my shoulders and try to concentrate on what Lola is saying.
“An extra day or two is all I can offer you, honey.” Lola’s breathy voice echoes down the line. “You know I would if I could, but Momma and Pawpaw are coming to visit. I don’t think I’ll have room.”
I give Hope the thumbs down sign and mouth, try Green Ivy Motel, to her. She makes a face, then heads out of the room with her cell to make the call.
“Did you hear me, hun?”
“What? Oh yeah, sorry, Lo. What was that again?”
She laughs sweetly. “I said I’m really sorry, babe. I would offer you the couch but with my sisters coming as well...Try calling Billy up at the Green Ivy, he might have some room.”
“Hope’s trying him now,” I say just as Hope walks back into the room, shaking her head. “Looks like that’s a no.”
“Well I could try…”
“No, don’t you worry, Lola. You’ve done too much already. Hope and I will work something out. Let us worry about that.”
“Just a shame that Emmerton doesn’t have anywhere else for you to stay.”
“Believe me, if we could, we’d be gone by now.”
“How long do you have to stay?”
“Until we get this sorted. We’re forbidden to leave the town limits unless Joely drops the charges, or we go before the judge.” I sigh. “The snow’s started clearing as well, it would have been a nice drive home.”
“That’s good to hear. I meant the snow, not the fact you’re now a master criminal.”
“I understood.” I laugh. “I guess I’ll see you in a couple of days.”
“Yeah. I know it’s not the best circumstances, but I’m looking forward to seeing you both.”
“Me too.”
“Take care, hun.”
“Bye,” I say, ending the call. I look up to see Hope watching me.
“So I take it from the phone call that we’ll be homeless in a few days?”
“Looks like it.” I take the seat next to her. “What happened with Billy?”
“Apparently, he doesn’t rent out rooms to convicted felons.”
“We haven’t been convicted of anything…yet.”
“I know that. You know that. The whole town knows that, but Billy was adamant.”
“What are we going to do?” I lean my head against Hope’s shoulder, letting out yet another long sigh.
“We could go on the run?”
“Could you imagine the uproar? Cop of the century, Deputy Elderhouse’s daughters disappear with criminal convictions over their heads? Dad would turn over in his grave.”
“Nah.” She chuckles. “Dad would laugh and plan our escape.”
“Yeah. He would,” I say quietly.
We sit in silence for a while until Hope squeezes my hand.
“Brooke?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“I miss them.”
“I do too.”
Hope turns her face toward mine. For a fleeting moment, I’m reminded of the little girl who was once my shadow. Everywhere I went, Hope went too. Everything I did, Hope tried to copy. Every time she was sad, I’d hug her tight as I vowed to protect her from the boogeyman. I see my vulnerable little sister again and I know in that instance that Caden McAllister still has the power to rip her apart.
“What are we going to do?” she asks.
“I don’t know. I wish I did. I wish I had a plan to get us out of this mess.”
Hope settles her head on my shoulder once more. “At least you know that Brody didn’t actually have sex with that skank.”
I let out a huff of annoyance.
“You can forgive him now, right?” My beautiful little sister, always believing in a happily ever after.
“I don’t know, Hope. I don’t think I can.”
“Why not? He’s your one and only, and now you know that you’re his.”
“It doesn’t work like that. He…he might not have…you know, but the thought was there. He would have done it if he hadn’t passed out.”
“He really regrets it.”
“He told you that, huh?”
“No. I can see it from the way he acts, the way he looks at you.”
“Oh, Hope. You always want to see the best in people, don’t you?” I say gently as I run my fingers through her hair. “It…it hurt to think that he’d slept with another woman, really, really hurt, and there’s a part of me that is happy that he didn’t…”
“But?”
“But that doesn’t make up for the way he treated me before that. He split up with me, Hope, because he didn’t want to be with me anymore. Brody wanted to experience life without me in it, and he didn’t give how I felt about that a second thought. He had me going out of my mind with worry for three days. He didn’t even apologize when he eventually turned up. And he didn’t care that I could overhear him as he arranged dates with other women. Do you see, now? It’s not just one single thing, it’s all of it together. I don’t know if I can forgive him.”
“I understand,” she whispers. “More than you know.”
“Oh, honey...”
A knock at the door makes us both jump.
“Who the hell is that?”
“I don’t know, doofus. Why don’t you go find out?”
“You’re nearer.”
“By a few inches,” I deadpan.
Our mystery caller knocks again.
“I’m coming!” I yell, which makes Hope snigger. “Oh grow up.” I laugh, chucking a cushion at her as I get off the couch, and put my hair into a messy bun as I walk to the front door and throw it open.
“What do you…” All I can see is a huge bouquet of flowers and a pair of hands. “Want?”
Brody’s handsome face peeks around the bouquet.
“Hi,” he says.
“Hi,” I reply like an idiot.
“These are for you.” He smiles brightly, pushing the flowers into my arms.
“Thanks?”
“So…Ummm…Are you okay?” he asks, putting his hand behind the back of his neck. He’s nervous.
“Yeah.”
“Can I come in?”
“Now’s not really a good time.”
“It won’t take long. I just want a few minutes of your time.”
“I’m not having sex with you, Brody.”
“What?”
“Won’t take long…”
“Huh?”
I’ll admit that he looks adorable when he’s confused, adorable and hot. Why, oh why, do I still find him attractive?
“Never mind,” I say, placing the flowers on the floor beside me. “Look, what do you want, Brody? I’ve got a million and one things to sort out, like some place to stay…”
“I wanted to apologize. Again.” Silver eyes watch me from underneath dark lashes.
I will not give in. I will not give in.
“Apology accepted. Now don’t you have better things to do?”
“Not really.” He gives me a slow, sexy smile. “I thought we could spend some time together, seeing as you’ve forgiven me and you have to stick around for a while.”
Lord have mercy on my soul.
“Uh, no,” I say, picking the flowers up and shoving them back into his arms. “I said I accepted your apology. Not that I’ve forgiven you. I could try to be the better person and crap like that, but I’m mad at you, Brody McAllister. Really, really mad. So mad that I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive you. And,” I continue as he opens his mouth to speak, “before you say anything, just because you didn’t stick your dick in that skank doesn’t count. You wanted to. You thought about it, so much so that you dropped me faster than a hot potato. Showing up with flowers doesn’t count either. In fact, just go away. I never want to see you again.”
“Awww, come on, Brooke.”
“Awwww, no, Brody.” I counter. “You and I are done.”
“I miss you,” he says quickly, before I can say any more.
“Not my problem.” I fold my arms across my chest.
“Could we”—he gently balances the flowers on the rail that wraps around Lola’s porch—“at least try to be friends?”
“Nope.” I shake my head.
“Just like that, you’re happy to give up over twenty-five years of friendship?” he says defensively, mirroring my stance.
“May I remind you that it was you who ended everything.” I seethe, and step forward to poke him in the chest. “Not me!”
“And I’m trying to say sorry.”
“What can’t you get, Brody? Huh? What will it take to get it into your thick skull that I don’t want to be friends with you?” I ask, poking his chest again. “Why would I want to be friends with someone who hurt me?” Brody uncrosses his arms and grabs my finger mid poke, and pulls me toward him so that our lips crash together. He loops his arms around me, crushing my body to his and thwarting any chance I had of getting away. Not that I want to.
Brody draws his tongue across my lips, seeking entrance. When I refuse, he changes tactics and alternates between pressing soft kisses and gentle bites against my bottom lip until I finally give in and respond to his sweet advances, opening my mouth to his. Tentatively, his tongue sneaks forward to meet mine as though he were kissing me for the first time. If I could think at this moment, I’d wonder why Brody is so hesitant, so unsure. This is something that we have done hundreds, if not thousands, of times before. That train of thought is lost the moment Brody’s tongue touches mine. It’s as though my heart has been made whole again.
Brody takes my moan of pleasure as his cue to deepen the kiss. Our mouths clash furiously together, my hands snake their way down to his butt while he places his hands in my hair, deepening the kiss even more. His touch sends my body into overdrive; my panties grow slick with my arousal as his length hardens against me.
I’m left bereft as he pulls away, placing his forehead against mine.
“Wow.” He laughs quietly, as he kisses the top of my head.
“Yeah.” I agree, winding my hands in his dark hair and pulling him back down to continue that earth-shattering kiss.
Brody lets out a groan as I snake my tongue into his mouth, unconsciously rubbing my body against his erection. I’ve kissed a few guys since Brody and I split up, but none of them felt like this. This feels like home. I’m on the verge of grabbing Brody by the hand and dragging him to bed when I hear a small cough nearby. Dismissing it, Brody and I carry on without a care.
“Excuse me.”
Brody pulls away first, looking confused. “Excuse me what?”
“I didn’t say anything.” I pant.
“Good.” He grins, leaning forward to kiss me again.
“For pity’s sake, Brooke! You do know that you have an audience, right?” Hope’s voice is like cold water on my raging libido, rapidly bringing me back to my senses.
“What in the hell?” I hiss, tearing myself away from the warmth of Brody’s embrace to see that most of the neighborhood is standing outside watching us. “How long have they been there?”
“Long enough for a video to be uploaded to the town’s social media page and get five hundred views.” Hope grins, looking down at her phone. “Oh, it’s seven hundred now.”
Brody raises his hands sheepishly and the people who I’d previously thought of as friends start to applaud and cheer.
Oh. My. God.
Horrified, I push Brody away, stepping back until my back meets the cold wall. This cannot be happening.
“Brooke?” Brody walks toward me, concern filling his silver eyes. “Brooke. Baby. Talk to me.”
“This. This can’t happen.”
“What can’t happen, baby?”
“This,” I repeat, gesturing between us. “Us. We can’t happen again. People can’t think that we’re together again.”
“Why not?”
“Because we’re not together.”
“That kiss told me otherwise.” He has a shit-eating grin on his face. Asshat. That kiss was a mistake.”
“That so?” His grin turns into one of the panty dropping ones that I used to love so much.
Focus, Brooke. Focus. “You’d push me away if I did it again?” I bat his hand away as he tries to get a hold of mine.
“Not so fast, mister.”
“You didn’t say no.”
“One kiss doesn’t mean anything.”
“A kiss we just had does. Come on, admit it, you still love me.”
“You arrogant jerk!” I say, placing my palm on the center of his chest, and shoving him half-heartedly.
The cocky look on his face disappears, something akin to adoration replacing it.
“I still love you, Brooke,” he says softly. “I always have.”
“You dumped me. How many times do I have to keep repeating myself?”
“As”—Brody takes my hand from his chest and brings it up to his mouth, placing a soft kiss on my palm—“many times as I will tell you that I’m sorry. I am, Brooke. I truly am.”
“Hmmmffff.” I grunt, snatching my hand away. This conversation is getting us nowhere.
“I want you back, baby. Tell me what you want me to do, what it will take. I’ll move heaven and earth to prove to you that I won’t hurt you like that again. I’ll earn back the trust you lost in me. I promise. Anything, Brooke. Just tell me what I need to do.”
“Give us a place to stay?” Hope pipes up. Snake. I’d forgotten she was standing there.
“Hope!”
“You owe us,” she continues, ignoring my protest. “Technically you’re to blame for us being stuck here.”
“Aren’t you staying with Lola?” Brody asks, pulling me back toward him as I try to tug my hand away, again.
“She’s got relatives coming to stay in the next few days, there’ll be no room for us in here,” Hope says. “Plus, Billy is getting all snotty about us being arrested, so that’s out,” she adds quickly. “As much as it pains me to ask you for help…quite honestly, you are our only hope.”
“No,” I say at the same time that Brody says yes.
“That’s great.” Hope smiles, clapping her hands together. “I’ll get our things.”
“Wait! Don’t I get a say in this?” I ask, looking between them.
“Do you have any better ideas?” Hope asks.
“I…um…we could get a tent?”
“In this weather? You wouldn’t last two minutes.”
“No.”
“Don’t be so stubborn. It’ll just be for a few weeks at the most. It’s not like you’ll be sharing a bed with him.”
“No.”
“Brooke, we have nowhere else to go.”
Brody scratches his chin thoughtfully. “If I promise not to touch you, would you stay then?”
“Yes. She would.”
“She can speak for herself, thank you.” I give Hope an evil glare.
“Brooke, baby, I know that you’ll be swallowing a lot of that pride, but it doesn’t sound like you have any choice. I’m more than happy for you and Hope to stay with me awhile, and I swear that I won’t touch you unless you want me to.”
I look between Brody and my sister before admitting defeat. “Yeah, okay.”
“Cool!” Hope grins. “I’ll go pack our things.” She disappears through the front door, leaving Brody and me alone.
“Why do I get the feeling that I just made a deal with the devil?” I mutter.
“Brooke?”
I turn to see that Brody is leaning against the porch rail, thumbs hooked in his jean pockets, hair still ruffled from our make out session. He looks like the boy that I fell in love with all those years ago, not the man who broke my heart.
“Brooke?” he repeats.
“Yeah?”
“If...” He lets out a long breath and looks to the sky, avoiding my gaze. “If you mean what you say. That you can’t see us being together because of what I did…” His beautiful gray eyes meet mine. “What I’m trying to say is that if you really believe that…I still want us to be friends.”
“Brody…”
“Listen, I realize now that I don’t want to live my life without you in it, and if friendship is all you are willing to offer, then I’ll take it, Brooke. I’ll take anything you’re willing to give me.”
I walk over to stand next to him, and lean my elbows on the porch rail. My eyes fill up with tears. Our audience has long gone, only Brody and I remain.
“When…” I start to say. Brody turns around so that we’re facing the same way. “When you went missing, I didn’t know what to do. I felt lost, confused, and heartbroken. I thought you’d died and I didn’t know how I was going to make it through the rest of my life without you there.”
“Baby.”
“Please,” I say, holding up my hand. “Let me say what I need to say.” Brody nods his head sadly. “I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep. I nearly went out of my mind with worry that something had happened to you. But then Caden told me the truth. That you didn’t want me anymore.” My voice breaks but I press on. “Then you came home and told me that we were over. Just like that, no warning. I kept asking myself what I had done because I thought we were happy. I thought we were getting married, then just like that, my whole life was turned on its head. My future, that I had been dreaming about since we were little, was gone. I wasn’t going to be your wife or the mother of your children. If I stayed, I would have to stand by and watch as you gave my life to someone else. I’m not strong enough, Brody, I couldn’t watch you give everything I ever wanted to another woman.”
A single tear rolls down my cheek, Brody leans over and gently wipes it away, then cups my face with both his hands.
“I had no idea,” he whispers.
“No. You don’t, and you never will. You didn’t have to listen to the person you love have sex with someone else.”
“I…” He sighs, his eyes searching mine. I know that look, he’s searching for the words to make it right.
“You didn’t. I know that now, but for a whole year I thought you did. In my head, you weren’t mine anymore. What we’d had wasn’t special.”
“It will always be special.”
“No,” I say, breaking away from him, and wrap my arms around my middle. “You’re not getting what I’m trying to say. It was special, Brody. Was.”
“And it can be that way again. Just give me a chance. Please.” I turn my head away from his intense gaze. I don’t want to see the emotions that he’s feeling. I don’t want to acknowledge that he’s hurting too.
“I appreciate you putting us up for a while, it’s really kind of you,” I say, trying to change the subject.
“It’s your home as well.”
“Not anymore, it’s not.” I look up to see that Brody is looking at the floor, hands in his pockets again. He looks lost. “We shouldn’t be with you for long. Jake will sort things out, then we can head back to Scottsdale.”
“That’s where you’ve been?” he says suddenly. “Scottsdale?”
“That’s home.” I give him a small smile.
“It’s not your home, Brooke. Emmerton is.”
“I’ve made a life there, Brody. A good one. It’s not the life I thought I’d be living, but I’m happy.”
“You could be happy here…with me.”
“Maybe I would have, but you kind of nixed that.” I laugh humorlessly. “You forced me to create a new life for myself, Brody. It’s one that doesn’t include you.”
“I don’t want to lose you again, Brooke. I can’t lose you again.” He reaches out, taking a strand of my hair and winds it around his fingers. “I’m not a man of words. I never have been, but I’m not too proud to admit when I’m wrong. And I’m not too proud to say sorry. When you left, it was like all the color in the world had drained away leaving only gray.” He closes his eyes for a moment. “I looked for you, you know? I’m surprised I haven’t been charged for something with the amount of times I’ve gone up to a woman who looked like you.” He gives me a wry smile.
“You looked for me?”
“Yeah, even hired a P.I.”
“Wow,” I say, surprised.
“I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry, and that I love you, but they couldn’t find you,” he says, once again cupping my face in his large hands. “I kept telling myself that you’d moved on. That you’d met someone else. That I’d accept that, as long as you were happy. I’d made peace with that.”
“Brody…” I whisper.
“I lied, Brooke. I lied to you and I lied to myself. I don’t want to see you with anyone else. I don’t want to see another man’s child growing in your belly. I want to put that baby there, and I will. I will make everything right, Brooke. I will give you everything that you ever dreamed of. I will be your husband, the father of your children, the one to wipe away your tears, not the one to cause them. I’m sorry, Brooke, more than I can say. But I need you to understand that you are it for me.”
“Don’t,” I warn.
“Do you know what I dream of at night?”
“No.”
“You. Always you.”
“Please, Brody, don’t do this to me.”
“It’s how I feel.”
“And it’s everything I’ve ever wanted to hear,” I say, taking his hand in mine. “You talk of dreams? You’re not the only one who had them. For months after I left, I would dream of you. Always the same.”
“What was it?” he asks, rubbing his thumb over mine.
“That you would find me, tell me that you made a mistake… It was so real, but every time I woke up, you weren’t there. I can’t trust you not to do the same again, and I won’t have my heart broken like that for a second time. For that, I can’t give you another chance right now. I’m sorry,” I say, letting go of his hand. “I understand if you don’t want us staying with you.”
A light gust of wind reminds me that I’m standing out in nothing but a sweater, jeans, and socks. Somehow Brody has made me forget how cold it is. My body gives an involuntary shudder in protest to the cold. It’s only when Brody places his flannel shirt around me that I realize that I’m probably about to die of hypothermia.
“I want you to stay with me, Brooke.” He smiles, seemingly unaffected by the cold, even though he’s now only wearing a wife beater and jeans.
“Are you sure?”
“Look, it’s not like you two have anywhere else to go.”
“You won’t find it…uncomfortable?”
“Baby, I’ve told you how I feel. What my intentions are. If all you can offer me is friendship, then I’ll take it. Like I said, I don’t want to lose you again, but that won’t stop me from trying to convince you otherwise.”
“You promise not to try anything?” I cross my arms in front of me, giving him what I hope is a stern look. The problem is that I’m shivering so much that the effect has probably been lost.
“I promise not to touch you, unless you ask me to.”
“That’s not what I said, Brody, and you know it.”
“A man can only take so much, Brooke.” He grins. “I can’t promise you that I won’t try to get in your panties, but I won’t touch you until you beg me.”
“I guess I’ll have to take that,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“I’ll have you begging, baby,” he growls. “Don’t you worry about that.”
“You won’t be going anywhere near my panties, McAllister.”
“Want to bet on that, Elderhouse?” he calls as he walks backward down the porch steps.
“Not really, no,” I say under my breath as I watch his tight ass head over to our old house. How am I going to last the next few weeks in the same house as him?
How?