Brooke
“Brooke, it’s Christmas Eve and the snow is really heavy. It’s not safe to drive.”
“I need to get as far away from that jerk as possible.” Clothes whizz past Hope’s face as I sling them into my suitcase.
“I take it that your reunion didn’t go well.”
“He’s an arrogant piece of shit,” I yell from Lola’s en suite bathroom. “What the hell did I ever see in him?”
“A big dick?” she yells back before bursting into laughter.
“Not funny, Hope, and not helping,” I singsong as I bustle back into the bedroom like Mary Poppins on speed, only to find Hope taking my clothes back out of the suitcase and putting them away in the empty drawer that Lola had kindly cleared for me. “What the hell are you doing?”
“You can’t go out in that weather,” Hope says calmly.
“I’m not staying here. Not with that bastard next door.”
“Just sleep on it and make your mind up in the morning.”
“Fat chance. I’m going now, Hope.”
“I don’t think so. For one, the car won’t start.”
“Oh, Jesus H. Christ. You’re kidding, right?”
“Nope.”
“Well that’s just great. When the hell did you find that out?”
“When I was sitting here twiddling my thumbs while you and Brody did whatever you needed to do. I thought I’d move it into the garage. Went out there and it wouldn’t start.”
“The universe hates me. It fucking hates me.”
“I could ask Brody to check it over, if that helps?” Her innocent tone doesn’t match the evil amusement that dances in her eyes.
“Shall we call Judy and see if Caden’s home? I’m sure he’d like to help.” Two can play at that game. At the mention of Cade’s name, the amusement on Hope’s face disappears.
“Please do,” she says coolly. “Oh, by the way, Jake called your cell and he said to tell you that he’s on his way.”
“Wait…what? What do you mean exactly by ‘He’s on his way’?”
“That’s all he said.” She grins, paying more attention to her nails than to me.
“Oh God.”
“He said he should be here later.”
“Jake can’t just invite himself here.”
“He didn’t invite himself. I invited him, Lola said it would be fine.”
“And you didn’t think to mention this to me?”
“I knew you’d freak out at the mere thought of Brody and Jake meeting.”
“No shit! Hope, they can’t meet. They just can’t. What would I say? ‘Jake, Brody, Brody, Jake. Jake, Brody’s the man who broke my heart. Brody, Jake is my best friend, who’s insanely hot, a former marine, and now a stripper?’”
“Sounds okay to me.”
“It’s really not okay, Hope. What on earth possessed you?”
“I didn’t want Jake to be alone at Christmas. He doesn’t have anyone else.”
“I know that, dumbass, but Brody is right next door.”
“You’re not together anymore, and so what? You’ve slept with Jake, right? It’s none of Brody’s business.”
“No, I haven’t for your information.”
“Seriously? You haven’t tapped that yet? Jake practically offers it to you every day.”
“It’s none of your business, and will you keep your voice down? Brody might hear,” I whisper shout.
“What’s it got to do with Brody?”
“He and Jake will probably get into a fight over me to defend my honor. They might kill each other. I’m purely thinking of Jake’s safety.”
“So, you have feelings for Jake?”
“No. Jake is just a friend, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t worry about him. Brody used to cage fight, remember? How do you think he got the capital to start his business for Christ’s sake? He could kill Jake with one punch.”
“And Jake is a former marine. I’d pay good money to see that.” She snorts. “You and Brody have been apart for nearly a year, Big Sis. He dated someone else while you were living under the same roof. Why the hell have you got it into your head that he’ll want to kill Jake if he meets him?” She narrows her eyes at me. “What exactly did he say to you just now?”
I let out a long sigh as I fall back on the bed and grab one of Lola’s purple, silk pillows to bury my face in. “Hmmmmmm mu muhh me mmmm baak,” I mumble into the pillow.
“What was that?” Hope tugs the pillow away from me, throwing it across the room and out of my reach.
“He told me he wants me back,” I say before picking up a teal, feathered monstrosity of a pillow and burying my head in that.
Hope lets out a sweet laugh as she pulls my new pillow away from my face. “Brody finally told you he wants you back, huh?”
“What do you mean ‘finally’? Since when have you been talking to Brody?”
“I haven’t.” She smiles. “Judy told me.”
It’s my turn with the eye narrowing. “What did Judy say exactly?”
“Not much. Only how much Brody was missing you and that he’s not been the same since you left. He’d asked his mom for our address so that he could come talk to you, but she refused to give it to him.”
“Good for Judy.”
“You really think that Brody would want to kill Jake?” she asks suddenly.
“Probably.”
“Really?”
“No, but I think that Jake will take the opportunity to wind Brody up every chance he got. Try to make out that what we have is more than what it is.”
“You sound like you don’t want Brody to get hurt.”
“I don’t want anyone dying over me.” I laugh humorlessly.
“You still care about him, don’t you?” Hope says sadly as she sits on the bed next to me, bringing her knees up to her chin.
“My head realizes that we are over, my heart is having a harder time coming to terms with the fact.” I have to look away from my younger sister so that I can try and stamp down the tears that threaten to fall. “I’ve loved him all my life, Hope, and I don’t know how to stop.” I turn my head in time to see tears silently fall down Hope’s cheeks. “Hope, honey, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s all right.” She sniffs, dabbing her eyes on her sweater. “I’m over it.”
“Liar.” I smile, nudging her with my elbow.
“Oh, Brooke.” Hope sighs as she leans her head on my shoulder. “Why does it hurt so much?”
“I wish I knew, sweetheart...”
Hope leans further into me, letting out a loud sob. “It should have been Cade’s and my baby.” She hiccups.
“I know, honey.”
“That was how it was supposed to happen.”
“I know,” I whisper as I stroke her hair.
“How fucked up is it that he gets a woman pregnant a few weeks after he breaks up with me?”
“It’s pretty crappy.”
“I hate him, Brooke. I hate him. I hate him. I hate him.” She cries, rocking back and forth in my arms. I can’t stop my own flow of tears as I hold my heartbroken baby sister. Damn those McAllister brothers. The only thing they’ve ever given us is heartbreak. “I wish…I wish we’d never met them.”
“You and me both, honey. You and me both.”