The unEXpected Plan

by Harper, Leddy

  “Because it got me thinking…mainly about you and my sister—well, your friendship. You guys have always been so close. I mean, Nell is ready at a moment’s notice to lay on the train tracks and flag down the conductor for you. And you’d do the same for her. Where does that kind of loyalty and kinship come from? I’m stumped. I’ve totally missed something, and now I’m an old fucker void of meaningful relationships in my life.” He let out a soft chuckle. “That sounds more pathetic than it did in my head.”

  “I think I understand.” I reached my hand over to his, and he instantly cupped it. I was the little spoon to his gargantuan palm. Our eyes met, and I saw something I’d never seen before. Well, that’s not true. I’d seen it whenever he looked at his sister. Tenderness.

  “You have this friend who would do anything for you. What does that kind of superpower feel like?”

  I almost giggled, except he appeared genuinely perplexed. “Siblings or not, you have the same with Nellie. I think you’re being way too hard on yourself, Corbin. I mean, seriously. You aren’t even thirty. You’re not supposed to have everything figured out.” I tried to take my hand back, but he held on to it a few seconds more. Thankfully, before the gesture caused my heart to seize, he finally let go.

  “I guess.”

  “Look, you don’t have that kind of relationship with your parents. It wasn’t modeled for you, so it’s hard to grasp. But you’ve seen glimpses of it during your lifetime. Now it’s up to you to learn from what you’ve seen and implement what you want into your life. What do you want?”

  Each word that whispered past my lips seemed to only confuse him more. I couldn’t tell if he was baffled or angry. I hoped it wasn’t the latter, because an angry Corbin wasn’t a fun Corbin. And I should know; he’d been angry at Nellie and me so many times over the years I’d lost count.

  “I’ve never been asked what I want. I’ve always just done what’s expected of me. The end goal is for me to run my parents’ company after I garner enough experience, which is something I insisted on. I guess that’s the only time I’ve ever stood up for myself to my parents, when I demanded they allow me to gain outside experience before joining the family business.”

  It wasn’t a secret that his family ran the most successful ad agency in the state—or maybe even the region. It probably hadn’t sat well with his parents that he worked somewhere else first. I always kind of wondered why he’d done things that way. Now it made sense. He held a lucrative position, something he’d earned all on his own.

  “Yeah. That must have been hard to stand up to them. They probably didn’t handle that well.”

  “Oh, that’s an understatement. My inheritance was in question for a while until my grandmother stepped in as the voice of reason. They’ve always been hard to please.”

  “I can relate. They’ve never warmed up to me.” I grimaced because it was still a hard pill for me to swallow. My best friend’s family hated me—even Corbin had joined in at times.

  “They don’t hate you. They’re just standoffish, and that’s because they truly don’t know you.”

  “And they don’t care to, either.”

  “That’s probably true.” Genuine amusement curled his lips and sparkled in his eyes. “Why don’t you join us for family dinner on Sunday? Give them a chance to get to know you?”

  “No way.” I shook my head animatedly while laughing beneath my breath. “No way would I just show up for dinner.” Nellie had tried to get me to go a million times, and my answer was always the same. I’d given in a handful of times over the years—and not since Corbin had moved back to town—but I mostly tried to avoid awkward encounters.

  “Why?” He seemed sincerely puzzled.

  “Because, Corbin, I don’t belong there—a fact that’s been shoved in my face more times than I can count.”

  “I don’t remember you ever coming to a Sunday dinner.”

  “Well, not lately, but I used to all the time when Nellie still lived at home.” Cue gigantic eye roll. Why wasn’t he getting it? He seemed seriously mystified, but I hadn’t imagined his parents’ feelings toward me. They’d made them crystal clear, on more than one occasion.

  “Just come with me.”

  The way he said that made me stop and study him. Come with him? Like a date? Or friend? Or…what the fuck was he thinking?

  More importantly, what the fuck was I thinking even contemplating it?

  Chapter 5

  Corbin

  As soon as the sentence was out there and I saw the look on her face, I wanted to rewind time and take it back. Shit. That wasn’t what I’d meant. Being with her had made me feel so comfortable, and she was familiar. She should be there. That’s what I had meant.

  “God, Bridge. Don’t take it the wrong way. I meant as a friend…as in, Nell would love to have your support around our parents.” I took a long swig of my beer and snuck a peek at her over the bottle, hoping she’d drop the argument and agree to join me.

  I mean…join us. As in Nell and me.

  “I get it. But the answer is still no.”

  “What have you got to lose?” I shrugged as I took another healthy swig. The amber ale made its way down my throat and numbed the uncomfortableness I’d brought forward by complete accident. What a dumbass. Suddenly, inspiration struck. “I triple dog dare you!”

  A burst of laughter peeled past her lips, and I wondered if they’d always been such a soft shade of pink. I guess I’d never paid this much attention to her mouth before. Then she garnered my attention in another way when her tongue peeked out, licking away a drop of wine, before she said, “We haven’t played that game in forever. In fact, I think the last time was the three of us at your parents’ house. I can’t remember what Nellie dared you to do.”

  “I do.” I’d never forget it.

  “What was it?” Brooke’s innocent question was about to cause major embarrassment—for me.

  “Nellie dared me to call the library to ask if they carry a dictionary that translates British to American.” And I’d stupidly asked for another dare, since we were allowed to turn one down. “Then, when I refused to do that, she dared me to spank you.”

  “Oh, that’s right!” She laughed and clapped her hands. “Damn, that hurt. You spanked me hard.”

  And I had. It was mainly because when I’d started spanking her, it had done things to me. I grunted before responding, “So, will you think about coming to dinner on Sunday?”

  “I will, but I have to be honest…I probably won’t come. It would be too awkward.”

  “It’s in two days. If you plan on coming, I need to let my parents know. Their staff has to set an extra setting, and you know all the hoopla that goes with it.”

  “That’s exactly why I’m not going.”

  “My parents don’t hate you. I have no idea why you think that.” They had their issues, but I highly doubted they would’ve disliked Brooklyn. Now, they thought very little of her mom for being a single parent working multiple jobs just to pay the bills, but I would be willing to bet they’d never put that on a child. “Be honest, if they hated you, do you think they would’ve let you come over as often as you did?”

  “Well, if we’re talking honestly, they weren’t always there, so they didn’t always know when I was over.”

  “Trust me. They knew.” My parents had an uncanny ability to know all the goings on at the Fields’ residence. “But, since you’re obviously having a hard time digesting the idea, we’ll agree to table the discussion for now. How’s that?”

  Brooklyn rolled her eyes and practically gave me the middle finger by avoiding my question and changing the subject. “So, tell me how the date with Heather went.”

  Just when I thought I was in the clear, she circled back to the purpose for our meeting here tonight. It was time for me to come clean. “Well, we didn’t actually meet up. I guess she was out with the flu all week. When you texted yesterday, I thought I could still squeeze in a drink with her. But it didn’t work
out.” By the time I’d finished work for the day yesterday, everyone on Chase’s floor had gone home. But I wasn’t about to tell Brooke that I’d dropped the ball. The flu made for a much better excuse.

  “Why didn’t you just cancel tonight then?”

  “I guess I should’ve, but it slipped my mind until this afternoon, and then it was too late. I guess I didn’t think you’d be so disappointed.”

  “I’m not. Really. I just think it’s funny you didn’t cancel.” She shrugged before the waitress came over with our refills. We both ordered a cheeseburger and fries and moved onto other topics of discussion.

  Our conversation flowed, and we laughed so hard my cheeks hurt. God, if I said that out loud, I’d sound like a total pussy. But it was true. And that kind of baffled me. I had no earthly idea that little Brooklyn Bridge and I would get on so well. She was so easy to be around, and she wasn’t hard on the eyes, either. I found myself not wanting the evening to end, but you can only drag out a meal for so long. After our cheeseburger plates were practically licked clean and the bill was on the table, I reached for it.

  “I’ll get it.” Bridge went for it, but I was quicker.

  “No, I’ll get it. I insist, especially since I led you here under false pretenses.”

  “You truly did.”

  That smile. I’d never noticed how it lit up her entire face. I wanted to ask her out again. I don’t think it was a romantic interest per se, but I couldn’t help wondering how she’d taste, just one taste. One touch of her lips…her tongue on mine. I leaned forward, but she quickly jumped up from the table, her eyes wide with surprise and something else—fear maybe? I had to think on my feet before she bolted, and I never saw her again.

  “You have a little smudge on your cheek.” I stood and joined her. Then I took my napkin and ran it across the side of her face. She had a mark on her cheekbone, and when she’d backed away from the table, it had hit the light, catching my attention for the first time all evening. Thank God I’d spotted it, because how else was I supposed to cover my impromptu move to kiss her.

  “What is it?” She tried to look at the napkin with a heavily furrowed brow.

  “Looks like marker.” I disregarded her embarrassment and smiled at her cute groan.

  “Perks of being a teacher. I didn’t have time to go home and shower before meeting you. I thought I had covered it well enough…guess I didn’t.” She strung her purse strap casually over her shoulder and took a step back. “Anyway, thanks for drinks and dinner.”

  Damn her for mentioning a shower. Now I couldn’t stop picturing her naked and sudsy.

  I did my best to shake off the images that plagued my mind, deciding to hold onto those for when I was alone. “No problem. Just promise me that you’ll think about dinner on Sunday?”

  All I got was a very short, tight nod, and then she turned and hightailed it for the door.

  What the fuck was that green paint all over the back of her shirt?

  * * *

  My meet-up with Brooklyn had tanked. There was no other way to describe it.

  It had started out fine; our conversation had flowed, she’d laughed at my jokes, and I found myself talking about things I hadn’t thought about in years. Hell, she’d even reached across the table and touched my hand, which had been such a sweet and genuine gesture. But it hadn’t been a date. Our meeting was on the pretense of updating her on the progress of the plan. And I had failed the Heather mission miserably.

  Last night, there had been undeniable attraction between us. The electric currents in the air were palpable. Brooklyn had developed into a beautiful woman, and what was even better was that she didn’t know it. She came across innocent and naïve, but she had a body made for sin. Just the thought of her sinful body caused my balls to tighten and my stomach to knot with the onset of arousal.

  Instead of following the outline of the original plan, I decided to put my own spin on things and picked up my phone to dial Nellie.

  “Hey, big brother. What’s hanging?” She dissolved into a fit of giggles on the other end.

  “Just the usual.”

  “You never call me, let alone on a Saturday. So what’s the reason? Do you have a scandalous update on Heather?”

  “Heather?” Is it bad that I momentarily forgot who that was? “Oh, no. She ended up having the flu, so we haven’t met up yet, but I met Bridge for drinks last night, which was fun.”

  “That’s just weird. Why on earth would you meet her for drinks when you hadn’t scoped out the target?” The irritation in her voice carried across the line.

  “I had every intention of meeting Heather prior to meeting Brooklyn, but like I said before, she was out the entire week.” She hadn’t been out the entire week, just the one time I’d meandered downstairs. But if I admitted that, I would look like the procrastinator I’d been. Let’s face it, drinks with Heather hadn’t been my first priority, and it wouldn’t be for a while…now that I had another objective in mind.

  “Well, that sucks. When do you think you’ll get a chance?”

  “Hopefully on Monday.” Then a lightning bolt struck, and I suddenly knew how to convince Brooke to come to our parents’ house. I’d use Nellie, just as she’d done to me time and time again. “But I need something first.”

  “What is it?”

  “I was thinking that Brooklyn must get pretty lonely. I tried to invite her over to the ’rents house for Sunday dinner, but she wouldn’t budge. Maybe you could try? It would be nice for Mom and Dad to see her again.”

  “Are you on crack?

  “No, I haven’t done that since second grade,” I deadpanned.

  “That’s not even funny. You always say things to show your sense of humor, but instead, it shows you don’t have one, Corbin.”

  I rolled my eyes, even though she couldn’t see me; she didn’t know what she was talking about. I was a funny motherfucker.

  “I’ve tried so many times to get her to come to Sunday dinner,” she continued. “She’s convinced Mom and Dad hate her. I always tell her they don’t, but she’s stubborn. They know I’m good friends with her, and I love her as a sister, so that makes her important to them, too. They haven’t always been around when we were growing up, but they cared.”

  “Okay, the thing is, I think the three of us should reconvene and see if maybe we can up the ante and come up with a different strategy.” I currently had no idea what that was but hoped it would come to me before Sunday evening.

  “I’ll try. But Brooklyn’s pretty determined on this topic. Maybe if I dangle the Heather carrot, she’ll accept.”

  “Well, I have all the faith in the world that you can persuade her, Nell. After all, convincing people to do what you want is what you do best.”

  * * *

  I pulled up to the gargantuan building I’d called home for the first eighteen years of my life. I hadn’t lived there in more than ten years—since leaving for college—but I still felt nothing when pulling into the driveway. It literally felt no different than parking in front of my doctor’s office.

  Going back to my childhood home wasn’t ever exciting. I’d say it was more or less habitual. It was simply a place I’d spent my childhood years, not a home like every other kid I knew had. I really had no emotional ties to any part of it—it was nothing more than a big house on a lake surrounded by acres of green rolling hills. My high school friends had jokingly nicknamed it Fields of Dreams—a play on words with our family surname—but even that bit of nostalgia didn’t tug at my heartstrings. It wasn’t that I’d had a bad childhood or anything; by all accounts, it had been fairly normal. My disconnect was basically due to the coldness the actual structure possessed; you can only have so much warmth in a house that size.

  Nellie joked that I had a black soul, and sometimes, I sincerely wondered if I did.

  Per usual, I ran about fifteen minutes behind, and a quick scan of the cars parked along the circular drive told me Brooklyn wasn’t here. That meant she wasn’t
coming. Disappointment smacked me across the face, leaving my mood rather heavy. Honestly, my reaction surprised me. I’d wanted her to come, hoped she would, but never in a million years did I think I’d be upset if she didn’t. Let down, sure. Possibly a little annoyed or discouraged. But not disheartened like I was.

  I must’ve gotten my hopes up at the prospect of Brooklyn being here; that was the only reason I could think of as to why her absence left me so miserable. I came to this event—and that’s what it was, an event, nothing like the “family dinner” my parents tried to play it off as—every week. And every week, I sat through each course, listening to Mom and Dad go on and on about work, Nell occasionally chiming in. Honestly, the two or three hours I spent here felt more like twelve, and I guess I’d started looking forward to having someone here who’d help the time pass by quicker.

  Yeah…that’s what it was. My despondence was nothing more than a selfish reaction to having to endure the next few hours without a distraction. It wasn’t about Brooklyn, per se. I could’ve invited my boss and still been upset if he hadn’t shown up.

  I opened the front door without knocking and headed down the hallway toward the formal dining room, where I knew my parents and sister were gathered. However, halfway down the hall, I was attacked by someone coming out of the guest bathroom. Okay, so attacked wouldn’t be the right word, but I was definitely surprised, and I may or may not have jumped a little. But once the shock of having someone leap out at me, elation replaced the sorrow that had plagued me since pulling into the driveway—Bridge was here after all. With as quickly as she showed up in front of me, I didn’t have time to sort through my emotions; I roped my arm around her waist and pulled her in for a friendly hug before I could stop myself.

  “I didn’t see your car outside, so I thought you changed your mind and didn’t come.”