Jared couldn’t listen to anymore. His legs were already moving toward Brooke, whose panic-stricken eyes briefly met his just as he got to them.
“Sorry I took so long, sweetheart. Are you ready to go?” He leaned over and planted a kiss right on her lips, before putting his arm around her shoulders and turning to face the couple. He pretended to just notice them while Brooke stood staring at him in shock, obviously unsure what was going on.
But he didn’t care. He wasn’t going to let her stand here and be humiliated on her own.
Chapter Eight
“Oh, I hadn’t heard you were seeing anyone, Brooke.” Her ex-best friend looked Jared up and down slowly, much like someone would do when searching for that perfect piece of meat to buy in a store. Brooke tried to calm her racing heart while her brain searched for words.
Thankfully, Jared filled the silence for her. He put his hand out to Amanda, sweetly smiling at her. What was he up to? “Yes, I’m Brooke’s boyfriend, Jared Webber. We’ve been seeing each other for…” He turned his head to look at her, pretending to think about how long they’d been dating.
Brooke was still confused, trying to figure out why he was doing this.
“I’m not exactly sure, but it’s been awhile now.”
Why was he lying for her? Her eyes moved past him and saw Ivy and Renae watching them. He’d been over there paying, so they’d obviously filled him in on all the sordid details of her epic breakup. A weight lifted from her shoulders as she realized what he was doing. If she had to face her ex and his new wife, she wasn’t going to have to do it alone.
“Um…yes, a while. Jared, this is Amanda and Todd…” She didn’t know what to call them. Her backstabbing ex-best friend? Her ex-fiancé who’d ended up being a cheating, lying jerk?
Todd was looking at her with a strange expression, then he faced Jared as he shook his hand. Jared’s other arm was still planted firmly around her shoulders.
“It’s nice to meet you. You’re looking well, Brooke.” Todd had turned his eyes back to her, and for a brief moment she remembered the love she’d felt for this man. But it was soon wiped away, replaced with the memory of what he’d done to her. She could never have truly loved him because she obviously had never really known the real man he was.
This had to be the most uncomfortable conversation she’d ever had to endure. Especially when Amanda lifted her eyes to scowl at Todd, obviously thinking his gaze was lingering a bit too long on Brooke.
Jared’s arm squeezed a bit tighter, giving her a boost of strength she desperately needed. “Thank you. I’ve been doing great.” She wanted to tell Todd how glad she was she’d found out what kind of man he was before she’d said her vows, but she wasn’t sure this was the right time or place.
“So, you’ve just stayed living here in Quinn Valley, Brooke? After all that time getting your doctor degree, and you come back to stay in a little town like this. It’s such a shame.”
Amanda’s voice was like fingernails on a chalkboard. How had she ever believed this woman was a friend? Brooke realized how naive she’d always been, only seeing the good in people even when her entire family let her know how much they’d never trusted Amanda.
Brooke had always been a bit of an introvert, content to just be at home reading and away from crowds. She didn’t do well with groups of strangers, and Amanda had been that outgoing friend who’d taken her under her wing and brought her out of her shell. But now that Brooke looked back, she realized Amanda just liked being with her because it made herself look better. She was the blonde, popular, good-looking party girl while Brooke had always been the quiet brunette that made Amanda stand out even more.
But once Brooke moved away and studied to become a doctor, that made Amanda jealous. Suddenly, she wasn’t the one people were noticing. When Brooke had come home to visit and ended up dating Todd, a wealthy real estate agent, Amanda just couldn’t take it. She’d made sure Brooke couldn’t have something she didn’t have.
“I’m still living in Quinn Valley, with my own practice.”
“Yes, lucky for me, Brooke is the kind of woman who doesn’t need to put on any act about who she is to impress anyone. She provides a much-needed service in this town, and I couldn’t be more proud. It’s funny how some women just seem to have it all together, you know? That’s Brooke. She would never have to flaunt anything she has because she knows no one can compete with her. I feel sorry for anyone who would even think they could try.” He was smiling at her as though he was completely in love with her and just had to brag, but she could see the sparkle in his eye as he gave Amanda the subtle cut-down.
He turned back to the other couple, not giving them any chance to speak again. “Sorry for rambling on like that. We’ll let you get on with your date.”
Todd’s eyes were still on hers, looking like he didn’t quite believe she could have possibly moved on. Did he seriously think he was that much of a catch that she couldn’t have ever found anyone else?
Smiling sweetly at Jared, she put her arm around his back and let him lead her away. “It was nice seeing you both.” She hoped she didn’t get struck down by lightning when they walked outside for speaking that outright lie.
When the cold air outside touched her cheeks, she let go of a deep breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding. “That was just about the most awkward situation I’ve ever been in. Well, I guess except for all those phone calls I had to make to wedding guests to tell them they didn’t have to come. Or when I had to return the gifts we’d already received and opened. Those times weren’t fun either.”
She was trying to make light of the situation, even though the truth was, seeing them here tonight—together—had deflated her. It wasn’t like she hadn’t known they were married. And it had been over two years since everything happened. But seeing them for the first time since then was hard.
Jared let go of her shoulders and stopped, taking her hand and turning him to face her. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, Brooke. I wish we’d have left sooner.”
She shrugged weakly. “It was going to happen sooner or later. I’m just glad you were here with me to help get me out of there.”
He held onto her hand in the quiet of the parking lot as snow gently drifted down between them. The streetlights gave off an orange glow that reflected off the newly fallen flakes on the ground. She found herself unable to look away from his gaze as he watched her.
“I’m glad you didn’t marry him.”
Such a simple statement, but she could tell he was completely serious. She laughed softly and nodded her head in agreement. “Well, I’m glad too. Better to find out a man is a complete pig before he gets the ring on your finger.” Again, she tried to act nonchalant, hoping he wouldn’t ever see how much it had hurt her at the time.
He lifted his hand and brushed her hair back, his fingers barely touching the skin on her cheek. “You deserve better than him. Someone who can appreciate you and who would never hurt you like that. It was all I could do not to knock him to the ground when I heard what he’d done to you. But I didn’t think you’d ever agree to a second date with me if I did something like that to embarrass you in public.” He smiled widely, taking away some of the seriousness of his words.
His hand dropped down to his side and for a moment, he looked completely vulnerable and unsure of himself. Her pulse picked up speed again as she suddenly found herself desperately hoping he would kiss her.
Where had that come from?
“We should probably get going. But I want you to know that I had a wonderful time tonight. It was a refreshing change to not have to try sneaking out of a date.”
He laughed and nodded. “I’m glad to hear that. I had fun too. And was quite relieved not to end up needing any kind of medical attention throughout the entire evening.”
As they got into his Jeep, Brooke peeked over at him. The strangest thing had happened tonight, and she wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. Somehow, instead of fe
eling the longing she’d expected she would feel when she saw Todd again, he’d already been forgotten.
Right now, all she could think about was Jared. And she knew it was silly, but how she had enjoyed that brief moment of him belonging to her.
Chapter Nine
“Are you really sure you need another set of lights to go around it? Honestly, you’ve got more stuff on this tree than I’ve seen on the one at Rockefeller Center in New York.” Jared tried to push the string of lights into the branches somewhere, hoping he could find an empty spot. “Although I have to say this tree you picked out is almost the same size as the ones they have there, so I can understand the need for a lot of decorations.”
Brooke peeked around from the other side of the tree with a big smile on her face. “You picked the tree out, remember?” She hung a red bow on the branch she was working on, then looked back at him. “I’ve always wanted to see that tree in New York. I’ve always imagined Christmas in New York City must be so magical, with all of the decorations everywhere.”
His heart did a little flip as he watched her get a dreamy look in her eyes. “Well, some day you should go. I’ve been to New York more times than I can count, and I hadn’t really paid much attention to the decorations that were up at this time of year. And I’d just always kind of thought of the tree at Rockefeller Center as a big tree that must take forever to decorate and cost a fortune to run all the lights on.”
She shook her head as she rolled her eyes and reached down into the box for another ornament. “Men. Can’t appreciate something as beautiful as that.”
His hands stopped moving as he bit his tongue, not wanting to make a fool of himself. Brooke carried on placing more ornaments one at a time onto each branch, completely unaware that he was struggling not to blurt out that he could appreciate something—or someone—who was beautiful. He was sure if she was standing beside that enormous tree in New York, she’d steal all attention away from it.
But he couldn’t tell her that without it sounding like some kind of cheesy, practiced pickup line. He knew she’d had some rough dates over the past while, so he really didn’t want to scare her off. He was enjoying being with Brooke and talking to her. Even yesterday, although they hadn’t met up or done anything, they’d been texting all day and just having fun getting to know each other.
“I’m glad you agreed to come help me decorate my tree. I still feel bad that it injured you, so I’m hoping this will help you to get over any anger you might have toward it.”
He laughed and shook his head. “I doubt it. Every time I look at this tree, all I can think about is the fact that it tried to kill me.”
“I still don’t quite know how I’ll get my angel on the top. We might have to cut some of it off.” She looked up at the branches they’d had to fold over in order to get the tree to fit into the room.
He knew the tree was way too big when they’d picked it out, but she’d insisted it would be fine. But after he’d been stitched up the other night, and they’d finished bringing the tree upstairs, she’d had to admit he was right. The tree was enormous in this small room.
Suddenly, the tree shook for what had to be at least the tenth time since they’d started decorating it as one of her many cats jumped up and began its climb to the top. A gray face poked out from halfway, it’s eyes wide with excitement as it tugged at a loose piece of garland.
“Kiki! Get out of there!” Brooke reached in and pulled the cat into her arms, giving it a little scratch under the chin before setting it down. “This is why I can’t have nice things. And exactly why my tree will end up looking like it’s been through a tornado long before Christmas ever gets here. I always say the reason I have so much Christmas spirit is because I literally have to re-decorate my tree every couple of days.”
He could see that by tomorrow, the tree wasn’t going to look anywhere near as good as it was now. The cats were hovering around, poking their noses into boxes, stealing garland and playing with it, not to mention trying to sneak into the branches every five minutes.
“Why do you have such strange names for your cats? Most people use things like Tiger, or Miss Kitty.” He’d never had any pets growing up because his parents hadn’t thought it was necessary. They thought animals were just an extra burden that they didn’t have time for.
“Well they aren’t really strange names. All my cats are rescues my brother Joel had taken in. Casanova was named that because he was what you might call a bit of a ladies’ man. He always had a herd of female cats following him around and he loved it. And Winston just looks like a Winston so that’s why I called him that. But Kiki wouldn’t answer to anything when Joel first took her in and she was really skittish. Whenever one of the workers would go to call the cats, they realized the only time she came was when they called, here Kitty Kitty, really fast. Since we really didn’t want her to be called Kitty Kitty we shortened it to Kiki which sounds the same.”
He laughed and shook his head. “Well I stand corrected then. All of those names are perfectly suited.”
Brooks cheeks started to burn and she smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. I guess that was a bit more information than you needed. Now I do sound like a crazy cat lady.”
“Not at all. I think it’s sweet that you have rescued these cats and given them a home. Someday I want to get a pet, probably a dog, though. I don’t think I’m much of a cat person. They seem a little bit too high strung for me.”
The tree shook again, and the lights clinked together as another cat made an attempt to get to the top of the tree without being discovered. They obviously weren’t very smart animals. Why not wait until there was no one around who could catch them? Or at least try to do it quieter so they might not notice?
This time, Casanova stuck his head out. At least he thought it was Casanova. He looked pretty chill and proud of himself, so Jared figured it had to be him.
“Winston! Get out of that tree!”
Jared just continued to wrap the last bit of lights onto the tree and laughed. He hoped he’d get to spend enough time around here that eventually he’d be able to figure out which name belonged to which cat.
Where had that thought come from? Ever since he’d met Brooke, he’d been thinking long-term thoughts instead of the usual she’s nice but not someone I could ever see spending my life with thoughts. He had to admit it made him a bit nervous. What if she wasn’t thinking the same way?
Of course she wasn’t. They barely knew each other.
After all, he’d only known her for a week and for the first part of that, he was sure she would’ve rather never seen him again. She was just so different from anyone he’d ever met that he was having a hard time figuring out what was happening.
He’d heard of love at first sight, but never believed in it. And he knew for a fact, that hadn’t been the case for her. He cringed to himself as he remembered that first meeting again. No, he didn’t think this was love at first sight. But it was definitely a case of completely knocked off his feet at first sight.
Now, he just needed to catch her up to where he was.
Chapter Ten
“Are you sure you’re feeling up to this? It’s not too late to back out. Things might be a bit crazier in there than you’re used to.” Jared had never really talked much about his own family, except for telling her briefly about his parents and a sister. Brooke had the impression their family wasn’t very close, and that career and other things were more important than spending time together. Nothing at all like her own family.
Now they were sitting in front of her parents’ house about to go inside. Once he did that, she was afraid he might be tempted to turn and run away as fast as he could go.
“Your mom was nice enough to invite me over for supper with everyone, so I’m not going to say no to that. Besides, how much crazier can it be than spending the afternoon setting up a giant Christmas tree in a space smaller than a closet, while three cats did their best to destroy it?” He reached to open his door and gr
inned at her as he stepped out.
“Trust me, when my family gets playing board games, things can get a bit out of control.” She didn’t want to admit how nervous she was for him to meet everyone. It wasn’t that she didn’t think they’d like him. Jared had proven to be a very likeable guy, once she’d gotten to know him. But the truth was, she hadn’t brought anyone home since Todd. Was it too soon to introduce them to him? I mean, she didn’t really know him that well, did she? They hadn’t even had a first kiss! Well, not a proper one. What if things didn’t work out?
Brooke! Can’t you just let yourself enjoy being with him and let things happen on their own without analyzing and worrying about everything?
Chastising herself, she opened her own door and joined him in front of the Jeep. “Are you sure? Everyone is here today, so it’s going to be loud.”
Since Vicki hadn’t been able to make it last weekend, her mom had called while they were setting up the tree to invite her for supper again this weekend, saying everyone would be able to make it today. When she’d declined and said she had company, of course her mom had been ecstatic and invited Jared too.
Everyone was already here, and Brooke’s stomach clenched in knots. Looking at Jared, he was grinning at her like he didn’t have a care in the world. He was just about to meet a bunch of strangers. Wasn’t he the least bit nervous?
“Come on, I’m sure it won’t be that bad.” He reached out and took her hand, the warmth of his skin radiating through her thin gloves. It felt so natural to have him hold her hand like this and she found herself hoping he’d never let go.
“So this is why you didn’t need a ride with me and Stanley. Mom said you already had an offer for a ride, but I couldn’t think who it would be. Now I see you’ve let some strange man bring you here.”
Becoming Brooke (Quinn Valley Ranch Book 6) Page 5
