Chapter Three

EVERLEIGH KNEW THIS DAY would come, the day when she will actually have to rely on people for help; not something she does very often. But as she steps from the title company’s office in Asheville, new keys in hand, she is at a loss on how to go about unloading the packed boxes of her apartment and moving them to her home. She only owns a two-door coupe and knows that she can only fit one or two boxes into the tiny compartments.

The pharmacy is opening late today so she could make it to her closing appointment and she hates that she needs to head straight there. She would much rather start packing up her apartment and begin unloading her life in her new house.

Just as she steps away from the sidewalk and steers towards the parking lot she runs into a wall of muscle causing a recognizable scent to burn her nostrils.

No, not today, she thinks to herself as she looks into the chambray colored eyes of the last person she wants to run into.

“Hello, V,” he begins, resting his free hand on her shoulder to steady her movements while the other holds a stack of folders.

“Hi, Rich. And please don’t call me V,” she insists as she steps from his grasp, the feel of his fingers on her body causing her stomach to churn in disgust and a note of fear.

“I’m sorry,” he confesses holding his hand in the air as if he had forgotten; had forgotten everything he put her through, forgotten the pain he inflicted on her, forgotten that he is the reason she is the way she is.

Stepping to the side, Everleigh tries to step around him, but he snakes his arm out and grips her bicep with a strength she had been all too familiar with.

“Let go of me now,” she orders as she jerks her arm, but his hold doesn’t lessen.

“Come on, I just want to talk. You always turn the other way when you see me in town.”

Yanking harder she finally frees herself and spins on her heels to face him as she seethes in anger.

“I turn the other way because I want nothing to do with you. You ruined my life, Rich.”

“I didn’t ruin anything, V. I fixed both of our lives. No need to hold it against me.”

She can feel the rage building inside and knows that if she doesn’t get into her car soon then she is likely to explode.

“You are scum and I hate everything about you. So just leave me alone, Rich,” she shouts before heading towards her vehicle.

“I still think about you, V. No one else has ever measured up.”

As she tilts her body into her car she sends out her last words.

“I don’t think about you at all.”

Her tires squeal as she accelerates harder than necessary, but Everleigh can feel the panic setting in. She has spent eight years turning the other way when Rich popped up in her life, so many things that she missed because of him being too close. Her family thought that they had suffered a bad break up, and they had, but it was everything leading up to the breakup that had morphed her world. But turning around every time he is near means that he still holds that piece of control over her, that control he craves, and until she finds it in herself to break free from it she will always be under his hand.

She pulls off at a gas station just outside Asheville and leans against the headrest to catch her breath. She had needed to get out of the city and fast, her body practically driving the car based on muscle memory.

Knowing what she needs she steps from the car and enters the convenience store with two things on her mind – sour gummy worms and a Dr. Pepper. Everleigh likes to think she is health conscious, but sometimes when she has had a bad day these two items, clutched tightly to her chest, are her only relief. Some people went to their friends Ben and Jerry, she always relies on the Dr.

Back in her car she opens the packages and lets one of the worms dangle from her fingers before plopping it into her mouth. The mix of sweet and sour instantly hit her palate and she sighs in ecstasy. She takes a sip of her caffeinated beverage of choice and puts the car back into drive and heads back home.

“Hey, Tamara,” she calls out to her technician. “Can you get me Doc Nelson’s son’s number? I need to see if he can work the pharmacy on Friday and Monday to cover for me.”

“Sure, boss lady.”

Her eager employee starts filtering through the Rolodex, searching for the requested number and Everleigh takes a chance to read through some emails on the computer. She always has found it funny how people come through Carson and think that they're back wooded rednecks and not technologically savvy, but it is so far from the truth. Her brother Jameson has been building and selling software applications since he was eleven. She’s pretty sure he even hacked the school account and changed some report card grades. Unsurprisingly he is gearing up to launch his own company of software and security development next door above the pediatric clinic.

Which reminds her that her husband, for all intents and purposes, has yet to sign the annulment papers. She emails her lawyer, letting her know that the papers still reside with Brooks, but that she will follow up with him as soon as possible.

That man just infuriates her further after her morning run in with Rich.

Brooks probably burned the papers so he can’t return them, she ponders as she asks her lawyer for an additional copy, just in case.

“Here you go, boss lady,” Tamara exclaims as she waves the card wildly in the air as if she’s won a game of bingo.

“Tamara, how many times have we talked about you calling by my first name?”

“Um…,” she begins to calculate, tapping her wildly painted fingernail on her chin. “Forty-seven times. Not including just now.”

“Good, so let’s start practicing now.”

“Yes, ma’am, Ms. Everleigh.”

Smiling brightly Everleigh looks up from her computer and assures, “Good job. See, isn’t that a little better?”

“Whatever you say, Ms. Everleigh. Pro RX Robotics left a message and said they can install the device in two weeks and offer three days of onsite training. Would you like me to call them back and confirm?”

“That would be great, Tamara. Thank you. I’m going to get started on these prescriptions in the workflow queue.”

The two work in silence, the only interruptions being the occasional patients and the phone. Tuesdays are the slower of their days in the pharmacy and Everleigh purposefully schedules her appointments around it.

Before close, Everleigh shuts down the pharmacy, and she and Tamara package up prescriptions that will go out on the Wednesday home deliveries, a service that is slowly dying at pharmacies across the country, but it gives a high school kid a job and keeps the older residents in Carson happy.

She watches from the back of the warehouse as Tamara steps into her boyfriend’s car before locking up her shop and heading up to her apartment. Her heavy bag slides from her shoulder and clangs loudly on the hardwood floors as Everleigh steps through the door. The kitchen calls her name just as her stomach growls loudly and she tosses a frozen dinner from her freezer into the microwave.

She takes a seat on her small loveseat and sighs as she grabs her tablet from the end table and begins to order some furniture for her new place as the wheezing from her microwave lulls in the background. Fifteen minutes later she has a bedroom and living room set scheduled to be delivered to her new house on Friday. Her excitement boils over and she grabs the keys to her new place and contemplates her next move.

Food long forgotten, Everleigh shuffles an oversized and overfilled box in her arms as she works to unlock the front door to her new house with her squished hands. She hesitates for a moment as she notices that the lock doesn’t engage, then she slowly opens the door into the darkened space.

She takes a few steps into the foyer wondering if the house was left unlocked by the previous owner before the lights shine brightly and a group jumps up and down in her living room causing her to drop the large box at her feet in alarm.

“Surprise!” the group shouts as she takes note of her siblings and their significant others offering words of congratulations in her direction.

Though it flutters violently, her heart soars as it fills with the love pouring out of the room.

“How did you all get in here?”

Austin bashfully holds up his hand, a look she’s never seen on her brother, and explains that he had Dylan pick the lock to get everyone in. He knew she wouldn’t be able to resist the pull to go to the house today.

“We’re all so excited for you, sweetie,” her mother Amy claims. “Now, I brought some food for all of us to snack on and thought that you could give us a small tour?”

“I’d be happy to. Let me grab something to eat first. I kind of left my dinner in the microwave in my hurry to get here.” The group all congregate towards the kitchen as Everleigh points out some of her favorite details. “Can any of you help me move things in this weekend? I’m ordering most things, but I need a truck to help grab the things out of the apartment.”

They all agree to help and as she shows them around the first and second floors she actually feels a sense of loss. Everyone trailing behind her is with their someone, their other half. Even Jameson strolls the grounds with his best friend Norah, home for a week before she starts her summer internship. Her mother must notice her mood change because she sidles up next to her as she shows them the fourth bedroom.

“Is something wrong, sweetie?”

Faking a smile, Everleigh rotates herself to look at her mother wishing she could crawl back into herself.

“I’m fine, Mom. All of the excitement of the day must be taking its toll on me.”

“Well, we’ll go and let you get some rest. I love the house. It really suits you.”

And just like that, her mother ushers everyone from the house, leaving her to her thoughts. She wonders how she would have felt if Brooks had been here to congratulate her, to make her feel as if she is a member of the group instead of standing on the outskirts as she has most of her life. She can’t argue that he seems to know what she needs typically before she or anyone else can realize.

Brooks? Who am I kidding? She ruminates, closing her eyes in frustration.

Everleigh knows that if Brooks had been here he would have taken over the walkthrough and she would have been angered all over again.

With a final glance in the room she plans to make her master bedroom, she strolls down the stairs, shuts off all of the lights, and walks out of the front door.

Dream house secure, she travels back to her apartment surrounded by the darkness of the summer night. As she arrives back into her parking spot she notices a dark shadow hanging around the entrance to her stairwell. Carson is a town with very little crime, but with the bar right across the street, it’s not uncommon to have drunk stragglers walking through the alleys. Everleigh opens her glove box, grabs her small can of pepper spray, and double checks that her small handgun is secured but accessible in her purse.

She slowly exits the car, making as much noise as possible in the hopes to startle the would-be assailant, but the figure doesn’t budge. As she gets closer she notices that the person is leaning against the brick wall as if waiting for her specifically.

“Shit,” she murmurs to herself, not in the mood to have to defend herself against an attacker, and grips her spray can tighter.

As she approaches, the gravel crackling beneath her feet, the figure finally looks in her direction and suggests, “You really should get this outer light fixed.”

Jumping back slightly, Everleigh is a bit astonished to find Brooks outside her building waiting for her.

“You scared me half to death! What are you doing here?”

“Can I come inside?” he insists, ignoring her completely.

She exhales a puff of air and then allows him to open the stairwell door as she guides him into her apartment. With his back turned to her she can’t see as he takes in her small space, most of it barren and stacked haphazardly into boxes along the hallway. At first, she begins to feel embarrassment, then realizes that she is being silly since she is in the process of moving.

“Can I get you anything? How long were you waiting outside?” she interrogates as she scoots past him heading towards her kitchen.  She opens the microwave and removes the offending food she had cooked earlier and then showcases the interior of her refrigerator. “I have water, soda, a few beers, a bottle of wine…” Everleigh explains but trails off when she realizes that Brooks has stepped towards her, closing the space between them.

“I’m fine and I waited about thirty minutes. Thank you for asking.”

With a nod, she grabs the Riesling from the door of her fridge and proceeds to pour a glass before dragging her attention back to the man crowding her. Everleigh takes a sip of the liquid; the cool, dry wine coating her tongue in bits of flower and fruit then she rests her backside against the countertop, placing her glass beside her.

“So, what brings you by? You certainly don’t live in the neighborhood.”

The sound of his breath escaping through his lips in a deep huff does something that melts her insides; she can even smell this hint of his shampoo when he strikes his hand through his hair. Her tiny apartment, once filled with fragrant blooms, is now shrouded in the scent of Brooks.

“I was invited to your surprise welcoming today, but I assumed you wouldn’t have wanted me there. I didn’t want to put a damper on your day, so I opted to bow out and work on some patient files after hours. I came here as a chance that’s all, I had only planned on waiting a few more minutes.” A gleam shines in his eye and it’s only then that she watches him slide his bag from off his shoulders and retrieves a bottle of Champagne from its depths. “This is for you, to welcome you to your new place.”

The bottle clinks as he rests it on the countertop, the glass against the stone sounding like a tinkle of a bell.

“That is very nice of you, Brooks. I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything. I just want you to know that I’m not all bad.”

Everleigh pauses for a moment and lets his words sweep across her.

“I know that you’re not,” she whispers.

“Also, I just wanted to give you a heads up that I have a medical conference I’ll be attending for the rest of the week. I leave tomorrow. In case you want to miss me or anything,” he includes with that sexy smirk she can’t ever seem to get enough of.

A giggle escapes from her chest and she catches herself before it bursts into a full out laugh.

“I’m sure I won’t even notice that you’re gone. It will be like every other day,” she counters with a grin of her own.

They smile at each other for a minute, time halting, silence prevailing, just the two of them lost in a moment.

Their eyes never leaving the focus of each other as Brooks struts towards her and places his hand on her jaw, inclining her face to meet his where he rests his lips against hers in a chaste kiss.

Before she can register the press of his mouth he pulls back and kisses her forehead, his whisper caressing her skin, “Congratulations, sweetheart.”

In a flash he turns around and exits her apartment, leaving her confused, cherished, and wanting. Something about this man calls to her and makes her rethink her reasons to shy away from everyone.

Everleigh takes a large gulp, finishing the wine in her glass and then makes her way back to her tablet to finish the book she had been reading earlier. If she can’t get a hold of her own life she might as well lose herself in someone else’s fairytale.

The weekend of the move to the new house comes in a flash. Before she knows it, she walks around her space into almost completely decorated rooms. She has found room ideas online and purchased many of the items that will retain the character of the house but give her the rustic farmhouse look that she loves so dearly. For the most part, the house is exactly what she pictured.

Her family has helped sort, pack, move, and then unpack her items and everyone works like a well-oiled machine, all thanks to Austin and her father corralling everyone and designating tasks. She finds it strange, but it works and it gets her moved into the place quickly.

Tamara and her boyfriend will be taking up residence in her old apartment in two months when their current lease is up, which gave Everleigh the relief of not having to search for new tenants.

Finally, ushering her family from her house, sending the boxes of pizza home with each of them, she takes a moment to relax and let it all sink in. This is her house, her dream, and no one can take it away from her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spots one final box resting beside the staircase and she pops the cover to inspect the contents. Inside she finds books, her books. The paperback romances she began collecting a year ago. Some are signed, some are bookmarked at her favorite spots, but they ware some of her most cherished possessions.

“I know where you belong,” she announces as she hefts the large box into her grasp, struggling to carry the heavy square up the two flights of stairs.

Once on the third floor, she slides the box across the wooden planks as she stands on the fifth step from the top and then finishes climbing the stairs.

“Oh my gosh,” she cries as she takes in the office her mother was in charge of unpacking.

The bookshelves stand empty, awaiting the arrivals of her precious collection, and a wooden desk in a gray driftwood stain stands across from it with her laptop resting on the top. But what catches her attention sits under the windowsill. A large cushioned armchair, perfect for curling up and reading, rests in the exceptional spot.

As she looks closer, walking across the room, she notices a small note resting on the chair.

 

For you, Everleigh, so that you always have a place to remember your dreams.

My Love,

Brooks

 

She reads it over three times before she lets the words descend into her heart.

She knows it just as well as she knows how to tie her shoes, he has broken through, he did what no one else even attempted, he made her fall for him.

And that thought shatters her dreams all over again.

 

***

 

THE DARKENED ROOM PUTS him at ease as the whispered breathes surrounding him fill his ears with secrets and longing.  Brooks rests back in his chair taking in the people milling around him; each lost in their own world, each desiring something from another.

The medical profession is a strange one, colleagues always trying to top another or using whatever connections they have to get something for free. Today the group is discussing the controversial topic of vaccinations and Brooks has completely zoned out. He is far more interested in learning about new items on the autism spectrum than listening to physicians argue one way or the other on the merit of vaccinations.

A woman passes by his table, her svelte figure in a bright red business suit catching his attention because he is a man after all, but his focus remains on the blond hair twisted neatly on the back of her head.

Damn, he misses Everleigh. For the past three days, he has worked his damnedest to keep her from his mind, but nothing has worked. Not gym sessions in the early light or drinks late into the evening. Nothing. He had hoped to hear from her about the present he had delivered to her house today, but his phone has been silent.

Maybe she’ll thank me when I get home. Naked. In my bed, he muses, groaning slightly at the mental image portraying in his mind, startling the older woman sitting next to him.

He shifts just a tad, hoping to mask his growing erection and explains that he is tired of the topic presented. The woman doesn’t look like she’s convinced 100%, but she nods and turns her attention back to the stage.

Finally, the morning conference dismisses and Brooks opts to head to a local sports bar for lunch instead of corralling with the rest of the crowd at the luncheon. He rests against a wall in the hallway, pulls out his phone and searches for the closest bar when the woman he noticed before slithers up beside him.

“Dr. McCafferty?” she asks. “I was told I could find you here.”

Brooks peeks up from his phone and gazes at the gorgeous woman before him. A woman that normally he would immediately try to lure into his bed, but with Everleigh having cast her spell on him he simply looks at her in confusion.

“That’s me. Can I help you?”

“I’m Charleston Rae Vaughn and I have a proposition for you,” she says nonsensically.

A few other practitioners gather closer to them, whether trying to be nosy or simply intrigued by the woman before him, and Brooks offers that they move their conversation to lunch.

They enter the crowded sports bar across the street and opt for a high-top table in the corner of the room. A waitress immediately comes over to take their order and returns with their beers moments later. This woman sitting across from him is an enigma and he wants to try to figure her out as she takes a large gulp of her beer. He admires her sleek neck as her head tilts back knowing that many of the men in the bar would be honored to press their lips against her soft skin, but not him. He can’t help but notice that she doesn’t have the small freckle on her neck, right below her ear, which he loved to press his lips against. She isn’t his wife.

“Ms. Vaughn, excuse me for being rude. I have no clue who you are, but you seem to know who I am. How is that?”

She takes her napkin and presses it against her mouth, gently wiping away the residue from her beer and then drops it on her lap as she leans into the table, crossing her arms against the darkened wood. The waitress returns with their ordered burgers and Charleston leaves hers untouched.

“You treated my sister’s son in Atlanta and she spoke very highly of you, said that you had a perfect bedside manner.”

“Well, I’ve always strived to be the best.”

“Great, because today I come to you with a proposal I don’t think you can turn down.”

“I’m listening,” he assures as he takes a bite of his heaping pound of beef.

“I’m a producer of one of the largest morning shows in the country and we are looking for a physician to take over the medical segments. These segments are targeted to the stay-at-home mothers with children, but you may also be asked to pass along useful medical tips to all viewers. You’re a good-looking guy; the mothers will eat you up.”

“Thank you for the compliment, but what’s the catch? I have a practice I need to run.”

“The segments are once a week and are filmed live out of New York City. We would need to do a few test segments, but I believe you’ll ace those. If you pull in enough draw we can renegotiate to filming your segments at your own facility and have a crew on site. This is what I am offering you, Dr. McCafferty.”

“I won’t lie, Ms. Vaughn, I am intrigued,” he confesses as he leans back against his chair, resting his hands on his abdomen.

Brooks thinks back to the few times he was on camera during his time with the MLB and remembers how much he loved it. This is an opportunity he doesn’t think he’ll be able to pass up.

“I did research on you, you know. Do you miss it?” she asks as she finally takes a bite of her food quickly cooling on the table.

Did he miss baseball? Or did he miss the notoriety that came with it? Medicine has always been his calling, but baseball ensured that he would be able to take care of his grandmother. Too bad that his plans never seemed to go the way he wanted, he muses.

“Do I miss baseball? Sure, it was all I had known for most of my life, it was all I was good at. It’s crazy to think how quickly our plans can change. I had loved science in school and lucked out to major in pre-med when I had gone to college. The rest is history.”

“Well, our fans will surely be interested to know that you’re an ex-baseball player. Our sports network is one of the top cable networks, five years running.”

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you. I strive to choose the best people for our teams and I want you to join us. So, what do you think?” she queries as she takes the final bite of the burger.

“I’ll need you to send a contract to my lawyer to review and then I need to go over everything with someone.”

“Who? Your grandmother?” she asks with a bit of alarm swirling in her eyes, fear that he is going to back out.

“No. My wife.”

The conference drones on for the afternoon and Brooks is far too excited as he hits the pillow that night, but his mind swirls with the proposal fresh in his mind and how this might affect his desire to fix his relationship with Everleigh. Just as he thinks that they’re moving forward, this bomb drops into his lap. He needs to talk through it with her, get her to confess her feelings before he can move forward, with or without her. And he truly hopes he can move forward with her by his side or all of it would mean nothing.

It seems like all of the disappointment in his life has led him to this place, this moment with her and he doesn’t want to risk the chance of her slipping through his fingers. Hopefully, she’ll come around and discover she wants him just as much as he wants her. Or else he is heading towards the biggest disappointment of them all - a lifetime alone.

The plane ride is long and arduous, but the passengers seated on both sides of him leave him in peace as he reads through a medical journal. Finally, the plane touches down and he quickly hurries out of his seat and through the terminal, anxiously waiting to see his wife.

His leg bounces to the beat of the song belting through the speakers of his car as he hurries home to Carson. His stomach churns like the pulsations of a washing machine as he nervously awaits seeing Everleigh. Brooks has only been gone a total of five days, but he misses her. He misses her anger and her pride. He misses the way she will secretly smile after every jab she gives or the way she will laugh loudly and openly at his attempts at humor. And most of all he misses the way she feels in his arms, the way she will let down her guard, if only for a moment, and let herself collapse into his secure hold. He misses the Everleigh that she doesn’t show to others, the secret side of her that only escapes when she allows it. That part of her that only he has bared witness to.

The car whizzes through one of two stoplights in town as he makes his way down Main Street, his destination sitting on the opposite end of the trek. It is around two in the afternoon on Monday, one of her busy days, so he hopes he can catch her at a good time. Though Brooks knows he’d be just as pleased to see her face on the other side of the counter for just a moment.

He parks his car along the street, finding a spot in front of the fabric store that also now houses part of Everleigh’s sister Cassidy’s retail outlet for her design brand. He heard a rumor that she secretly built a music studio on the upper floor for her fiancé and they had some major bands coming into town to create their albums and demos. It always makes him laugh when he describes Carson, North Carolina to people. A look of bewilderment seems to cross their face at the name of celebrities living in the town along with the string of suspicious activity that occurred in the past year that most of them could find on an internet search. He is happy in the town like everyone else and proud to call it home.

Brooks trails down the sidewalk, waving at the people he passes and those that honk as they drive past. He finally makes it to the pharmacy where he peers into the large pane window and watches as Tamara rings up a customer at the register while talking animatedly with her hands, excitement ringing through her motions.

A bell hums as he steps through the door and Tamara looks up at him, winking overzealously, causing the man at the register to turn around and stare in his direction before grabbing the white paper bag containing his medication and moving to the exit.

“Hello there, Dr. McCafferty,” she begins but Brooks’ attention is to the young man standing behind the pharmacy counter with a medicine vial in his grasp.

“Who are you?” he asks with no preamble, the threatening tone causing Tamara’s eyes to widen in surprise.

Brooks wonders if the man has a death wish or has balls of steel because he steps from around the corner and extends a hand in greeting.

“Hello, Dr. McCafferty. I’m Evan Nelson, a friend of Everleigh’s. We go way back,” he adds with a twist of his hand, tightening his grip.

Well, if this man wants a challenge I can give him one, Brooks says to himself, the chuckle vibrating internally through his bones.

“I’m Brooks McCafferty, and this is the first I’ve heard of you, Evan. My wife hasn’t mentioned you before,” Brooks spouts as he adjusts his arm and grips their joined hands tighter, the other man flinching in pain.

“Wife?” Evan and Tamara question simultaneously.

“This explains so much,” Tamara whispers as if she has just discovered the greatest secret to the human race.

“Look, man,” Evan begins as he pulls away from Brooks and steps back around the pharmacist counter. “I didn’t mean anything by it, I consider Everleigh a friend and my dad asked me to keep an eye out for her whenever I fill in. Didn’t mean any harm.”

“It’s fine,” Brooks adds as he turns his attention back to the open-mouthed woman beside him.

“Tamara, you can’t say anything. She doesn’t want anyone to know. And I’ll do as she wishes.”

“Of course, Dr. McCafferty. I would do anything for her. You all make a cute couple now that I think about it.”

Listening to her words he isn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth and decides to use whatever leverage he can with Everleigh.

“Actually, she seems to be hell-bent on having our marriage annulled. I could use whatever help you can to get her to rethink her decision. I really like her.”

“Do you love her, Dr. McCafferty?”

Does he love her? he ponders.

“I’m sorry you don’t need to answer that. It’s between the both of you. But I do love Ms. Everleigh. She took a chance on me and I owe her, and I think she deserves to be loved like the rest of us. So, I’ll do my best to help you, doc.”

“I’d appreciate that, Tamara. Do you know when she’ll be back? I didn’t realize that she was going to take today off from work.”

“Well, here is my first job in helping you. Ms. Connelly, or should I say, Mrs. McCafferty, is sick. She called Evan early this morning, like 2 a.m., and asked him to cover for her today and possibly tomorrow. She said it was some twenty-four-hour bug. If I didn’t know she had been on the rag last week I would have asked her if she was pregnant, but then I may also be without a job, and I like my job, doc.,” she drones.

“Tamara, so you’re saying Everleigh is home sick with a stomach bug?”

She nods her head and Brooks thanks her before heading out the door and towards the market in town. Today is the day he proves to her how much he cares.

“Open the door, Everleigh,” Brooks shouts as he knocks on the door a third time.

He listens closely but doesn’t hear any movement on the other side. Annoyed, he drops the bag on the porch and makes his way to the back of the house where there is another entrance as well as a few low-lying windows he may be able to jimmy open. Luckily, he doesn’t need to do any of those things as he finds an open window leading to the downstairs bathroom.

Jackpot.

He hefts himself through the window, trying to make as little noise as possible because he knows her. If she so much as suspects him to be an intruder she will shoot his brains out. Of course, she may do it anyway when she sees him in her house.

He steps out of the bathroom and looks down the hall, and realizing that the coast is clear, steps towards the front door and opens it to retrieve the bag he left waiting.

With the chicken broth and crackers in hand, Brooks moves back towards the kitchen and finds a pan to heat up something she may be able to keep down when she is feeling better. While he waits for it to warm he goes in search of her.

Taking the steps two at a time he comes to stand in front of the master bedroom. The door creaks as he pushes it open but he doesn’t find her resting on the bed, but the smell of sickness permeates his nose, making his stomach roll.

Brooks starts to think that maybe she isn’t home as no noise comes from the room until he begins to turn around and a noise coming from around the corner hums in his ear. Stepping towards the bathroom he takes in the dark space and flicks on the light where a groan sounds down at his feet.

His heart breaks at the vision before him. She lies on the cool tile floor, her head resting on one extended arm where the other rests tightly against her stomach.

“Oh, baby,” he whispers just as she groans once more before pitching forward, grasping the sides of the toilet, and emptying out her barren stomach.

His hand reaches out and rubs her back as she crouches over the throne. Her heaves lessen after a minute and she turns her gaze towards him.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to take care of you, beautiful.”

She chuckles once before groaning as her stomach protests, but fortunately, the contents stay put.

“I feel anything but beautiful today.”

“Didn’t your mother ever teach you that beauty is in the eye of the beholder?”

“Well, you must be blind, so…” she jokes before resting her head back on her arm.

“Do you think you’re going to be sick again?”

She shakes her head and then Brooks stands. Crouching beside her he stuffs his hand beneath her knees and the other around her back, lifting her into his arms.

“What are you doing? You need to leave. I don’t want to get you sick.”

As he gently places her on the bed she laughs at her claim.

“Sweetheart, I’m a doctor. I don’t get sick. I’ve been exposed to almost everything at this point.”

The corner of his lips hurt as his smile widens and she grunts and closes her eyes, turning her body onto its side and curling into a ball.

Grabbing the trashcan from the bathroom he places it beside her bed in case she gets sick again.

“I’m here to take care of you. When you’re up for it I brought some broth to settle your stomach,” he explains as he strokes the back of his hand down her cheek.

“Brooks?” she whispers, cracking her eyes open a smidgen, so he can barely make out the color of her irises.

“Yeah?”

“You came to take care of me, even though I’m a bitch to you.”

“You’re not a bitch. And of course, I did. I want to take care of you all of the time. Besides, if you don’t get better who is going to be angry at me twenty-four seven?”

Everleigh giggles again as she snuggles further into her pillows.

“It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.”

Leaving her to rest up he moves to leave the room. Just as he closes the door he hears her whisper, and it instantly melts his heart.

“Thank you.”