The Mommy Proposal

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

  “I know what you mean,” Nate said kindly. “Miles was a funny guy. And I think your mom loved him very much.”

  “It just wasn’t a love that was returned,” Landry reflected with a swiftness that indicated he had spent a fair amount of time thinking about this. “’Cause otherwise Miles would have married her, don’t you think?”

  For a moment, Brooke noted, Nate looked as if he was going to play that down. Then his expression changed to the one of forthright honesty she knew so well, and he said, “I think you’re right—Miles didn’t love your mother enough for a marriage to succeed—so they’re probably lucky they didn’t go down that road. But I also think, had he had an opportunity to get to know you—and realize what a gift it is to have a son—he would have done right by you, even if he and your mom never married. I think he would have been a great dad to you, Landry.”

  Brooke knew Nate sure wanted to be…and in so many ways, already was.

  Once again Landry’s eyes teared up. He nodded, seeming so choked up he was unable to get any words out. Then he turned back to the TV and mumbled to Cole, “Let’s watch it one more time, okay?”

  “As many times as you want,” Cole said.

  Figuring now was as good a time as any to say what she needed to Nate—alone—Brooke sent him a look and inclined her head toward the hall. They walked out together.

  Nate peered at her closely. “You okay?” he murmured.

  Yes, Brooke thought. And no. “Let’s walk out by the pool,” she said instead.

  He followed her down the stairs, out the back door, across the yard. “What is it?” he asked, when they finally reached the lagoon-style swimming area.

  I think I’m falling in love with you….

  But knowing now wasn’t the time to make that admission, Brooke forced herself to return to the issue at hand. “I was going to read you the riot act about the Smartphone.”

  Nate looked stunned by the slight censure in her tone, then apologetic. He ran a palm across his jaw. “I gather I should have asked first.”

  Heck yes, he should have! “Nate, I know you meant well, but I can’t give Cole gifts like that.”

  Nate shrugged, still not seeing the problem. He angled a thumb at his chest. “But I can.”

  Brooke’s eyes were drawn to the smooth skin and curly tufts of black hair springing out of the open V of his shirt. Light-headed from the memories and images bombarding her, she drew a breath and stepped back. “I’m not even sure he should have anything that elaborate.”

  Nate studied her, some of the light exiting his blue eyes. “From me or in general?” he wondered aloud.

  Brooke knew she was hurting his feelings, but it couldn’t be helped. “Both,” she answered bluntly.

  “I’m sorry. I wanted Landry to have a phone.”

  Naturally, a well-to-do Nate wanted Landry to have the very best.

  “And I didn’t want to give him a gift and hand Cole nothing.”

  Brooke appreciated Nate’s thoughtfulness, even if he still didn’t see the emotional implications of his actions. “Landry is your son.”

  “That’s the thing, Brooke. Cole feels like my son, too.”

  What could she say to that? She loved the way Nate treated Cole. Brooke’s heart skipped a beat. “I’m fond of Landry, too.”

  Hope shone on Nate’s face. “Then it’s okay?”

  She rolled her eyes in exasperation. “No! It’s not! In the future, if you’re going to do something like this, or you’re even tempted to do so, you need to run it by me first.”

  “Fair enough.”

  Silence descended.

  “Something else is on your mind.”

  “What you did just now for Landry—getting that recording for him, saying what you did about Miles—was really decent.”

  “Even if it wasn’t one hundred percent true.” Nate looked conflicted. “I misled him there at the end, when I said Lawrence would have appreciated him.”

  Brooke edged closer and slipped her hand in his. “Then why did you do it?”

  Nate squeezed her fingers as he admitted in a low, troubled voice, “Because I couldn’t stand to see him hurt.” He paused, as if struggling with his conscience. “It’s what I hope would have happened….”

  “But you don’t know for sure,” Brooke interjected.

  He turned to her, a beseeching look in his eyes. “I never understood why you would lie to protect your son. Until now.” His lips compressed. “Because that’s what I just did.”

  Afraid the boys might come out and see the clandestine show of affection, Brooke stepped back. “There are worse things.”

  Nate tore his eyes from the underwater lights and shimmering blue of the swimming pool amid the darkening night. “Are there?”

  Unable to seek solace from his arms, Brooke let the warmth of the summer evening surround her. “Our boys may look like almost-adults,” she told him softly, “but at heart they’re still just kids in a lot of ways.”

  Kids who needed parents, Brooke thought. And Nate was turning out to be one fine one indeed.

  “MOM?” COLE ASKED Saturday morning over breakfast, while Nate gave them a tutorial on their new phones. “Is it okay with you if Landry goes to the book publication party for Dad?”

  Brooke looked up from the to-do list she was writing for their own casual party later that day. “Well, I—” she began.

  “The other professors at the university won’t mind, will they?” Cole persisted. “I want Landry to see who my dad was, too.”

  To her relief, Nate’s expression remained blessedly inscrutable.

  Which left the ball firmly in her court. How should she answer this? “Of course Landry can come—if they have the party,” Brooke said finally.

  Cole’s brow furrowed. “Why wouldn’t they have it?”

  Time to fib, Brooke thought, her own conscience prick-ling. “There was some sort of scheduling problem they were trying to work out, last I heard.” Based on whether they could figure out if there was any validity to the plagiarism claim.

  “So you don’t know if they are going to have it or not?” Cole pressed.

  Brooke was finally able to answer honestly. She looked him in the eye. “I’m still waiting to hear.”

  “Well, whenever they do have it, I want to go,” Cole stated firmly. “And I want Landry to come with us, too.”

  “So noted.” Brooke wasn’t about to engage in an argument about the hypothetical. Ignoring Nate’s under-the-radar look—which seemed to indicate she had done something wrong—she continued, “In the meantime, I’ve got a ton of grocery shopping to do.” She smiled brightly. “Who wants to come with me?”

  Cole and Landry exchanged looks. “Uh, we’ve got that project to work on,” Cole said. “We didn’t finish it yet.”

  Nate lifted a brow, perplexed. “What project?”

  The boys again traded glances, and shrugged. “Just something we’re working on,” Landry said vaguely.

  “So can we opt out?” Cole asked.

  Knowing exactly what they were up to, she smiled and nodded, then turned to Nate. “Can you come with me, then?”

  He stood agreeably. Still curious, but cool enough not to ask. “You bet.”

  Brooke grabbed her list and her purse. She turned to the boys, who were already half out the door, their Smartphones in hand. “Just be warned that when I get back I will be enlisting your help.”

  They nodded in agreement and waved her off.

  “Alone at last,” Nate teased as they hit the driveway.

  He made it sound so sexy! If only it could have been that way. But with a party set to start in a matter of hours, that wasn’t an option. She peered at him playfully. “I didn’t plan this.”

  He wrinkled his nose. “I wish you had.”

  So, thought Brooke wistfully as they set off to complete their chores, did she.

  “I DON’T KNOW WHAT’S better,” Grady McCabe said hours later, as he and the other guys finished the to
ur of Nate’s redecorated home. “The changes Brooke brought to the living quarters or the change she brought to you.”

  Nate stopped at the cooler they’d put on the patio, and handed out beers. “My happiness shows, hmm?”

  “Landry looks pretty content, too.” Dan nodded at the badminton net set up on the sport court. Cole and Landry were dividing the other kids into teams.

  “He’s a great kid,” Nate said proudly.

  “That he is,” Dan said. The others all nodded in agreement.

  “So what’s the deal with Brooke?” Jack asked, deadpan. “You-all out of the closet yet?” Chuckles abounded.

  “No.” Nate elbowed the guys closest to him and kept his voice purposefully low. “She thinks all the kids need to know right now is that the two of us have developed a very casual platonic friendship.”

  Travis grunted. “Which might be fine if the kids weren’t very bright, but…”

  “You’re right—they’re sharp as a tack,” Nate agreed. “And I’m afraid they’re going to pick up on something.” A look, a touch, the most inane comment… He shook his head in frustration. “But she still won’t budge.”

  “Why not?” Dan helped himself to guacamole and chips. “From what I’ve noticed—and from what she’s told Emily—it looks like she really has a thing for you.”

  Nate had only to think about the passionate way Brooke made love with him to realize the validity of that. “She does. And I have a thing for her that goes beyond anything I’ve ever felt.”

  The guys, having all been there themselves with their wives, grinned. “So what’s the problem?” Grady teased.

  That much, at least, was easy, Nate thought. “Deep down, Brooke doesn’t trust romantic love. She sees it as a fleeting, ephemeral thing.”

  Travis shrugged. “It probably was, in her marriage. It won’t be the same for the two of you. Especially if you’re this serious.”

  He was. Frustrated, Nate took a swig of his beer and glanced over at Brooke as she and the other women emerged from their tour of the house. With sunlight glinting off her hair, and her eyes bright with laughter, she was more beautiful than ever. “I want to tell the world.” Nate worked to contain his disappointment when the women stopped to talk once again. “But she’s not ready yet.”

  “It’ll happen,” Grady predicted with the legendary McCabe knowledge of male-female dynamics. He studied Brooke, and the way she looked so completely at home on Nate’s turf, then turned back to his pal. “Maybe sooner than you think…”

  Nate sure as heck hoped so. He was a patient man, but only to a point.

  Chapter Thirteen

  On Sunday morning, Brooke met Nate as he headed for the caretaker’s cottage. Swiftly, she moved to block his path, then adopted the stance of a baseball outfielder protecting a base. “You can’t go in there.”

  Nate chuckled at her playful gesture and flashed a perplexed smile. He stopped and folded his arms across his chest. “You want to tell me why?” He cocked his head. “Or am I supposed to guess?”

  Brooke looped her arm through his, guided him into a one-hundred-eighty-degree turn and steered him toward the swimming pool, where she sank down on the foot of a chaise. He took the one next to her.

  “Since it’s our last morning here, Landry and Cole thought they should do something special.” She slipped off her flip-flops and flexed her bare toes on the sun-warmed concrete. Her hot-pink nail polish glinted in the sunshine. “So they’re cooking breakfast for all of us.”

  “Wow.” Like her, Nate couldn’t help but be impressed.

  It was unusual. Teenage boys generally spent most of their time in the kitchen either eating or asking to be fed. They were also loath to do chores of any kind. Yet there they were, working like a well-oiled team toward a common goal. Miracles, it seemed, would never cease, at least where the four of them were concerned.

  “They said they’d call us when it’s ready,” Brooke continued.

  His lips compressed into a thoughtful line, as if he sensed there was more to this than she was saying thus far. “Can’t wait.”

  Fearing if she continued looking into his eyes, she would give away the real reason behind the “family fete,” Brooke turned her glance away. She wondered what Nate’s reaction was going to be when he saw the entire surprise Cole and Landry had dreamed up Thursday evening, and spent most of the weekend working on behind closed doors.

  Nate stood and moved restlessly to the edge of the pool. For a while he looked down at the shimmering water, then turned and strolled back. “I can’t believe you have been here for almost two weeks.” He stopped just short of her, towering over her.

  Brooke flushed. “Time flies when you’re having fun.”

  Nate reached for her hand and pulled her to her feet. “And it has been fun,” he murmured softly, still looking down at her.

  She could tell he was thinking about kissing her.

  She knew, because she was thinking about kissing him.

  The door to the cottage banged open, prompting them to move surreptitiously apart.

  “Mom! Nate!” Cole shouted, clearly oblivious to the impulsive show of affection that would have “outed” them to the boys, had temptation gotten the best of them yet again.

  “Come on!” Landry added. “It’s going to get cold!”

  Nate shrugged. He still looked as if he wanted to kiss her. “You heard the chefs.”

  Feeling hot and bothered all over, Brooke pivoted and strolled with Nate toward the cottage.

  Inside, the table had been set. Glasses of juice and steaming cups of coffee sat beside their plates. Buttered toast, slightly charred eggs and undercooked bacon completed the repast. In the center of the awkwardly laid table was a bouquet of flowers that had been picked from the beds along the front of the house. That touch, Brooke figured, had been more for her than Nate.

  Nate nodded approvingly at the kids’ efforts, and helped Brooke into her chair. “Looks great, guys.”

  The boys grinned from ear to ear, knowing—as did Brooke—that the biggest revelation was yet to come.

  The three of them sat down in turn. “So anyway…we were thinking—” Cole began his pitch, catching her off guard, too “—there’s really no reason Mom and I need to rush off today, it being the weekend and all….”

  Landry continued, “So maybe the four of us could just hang out together this morning and go see a movie or something this afternoon.”

  Brooke lifted a brow. She had an idea where this campaign was going.

  “That’s a great idea!” Nate enthused. “Brooke?”

  Emotion warred with common sense. Her feelings for Nate won. “That’s fine, but we really have to get our stuff together and go home after that, Cole,” she warned. It was going to be hard enough to leave as it was.

  Nate understood the difficulty they were facing. He turned to the boys compassionately. “It’s not as if we won’t see each other after that,” he said. “We’ll see each other all the time. In fact, I’d like to continue carpooling to camp for the rest of the summer.”

  “It’s a little out of the way,” Brooke noted.

  Nate eyed her expectantly. “The extra drive time will give us all time to talk.”

  “Sounds good to me!” Cole exclaimed.

  “Me, too!” Landry said.

  To Brooke, as well, if she was honest. She just wished she didn’t harbor so many fears about getting in too deep…. She blew out an exasperated breath. “Make that me, three….”

  The boys grinned victoriously, then turned back to Nate. “What movie do you want to see?” Landry asked, hero worship glowing on his young face.

  “Depends on what’s showing,” Nate said.

  Cole pulled out his new BlackBerry. “I’ll look it up on the Internet.”

  Options were discussed throughout the rest of the meal. They finally decided to see an action-adventure film starring a group of teenagers.

  The meal over, their plans set, Nate stood. “I’ll do
the dishes this morning.”

  The boys rushed to intervene. “You can’t do that,” they said in unison.

  Nate grimaced in confusion. “Why not?”

  More furtive looks were exchanged. “Wait here!” They told him, then disappeared into their respective bedrooms.

  “Why don’t you take a seat on the couch?” Brooke suggested, knowing what was next.

  More baffled than ever, Nate let her lead him there.

  The boys burst back out, hands behind their back. Expressions jubilant, they thrust two presents at him. “Happy Father’s Day!”

  For the briefest of seconds, Brooke thought Nate was going to lose it. She was close herself, with her throat closing up and sentimental tears welling in her eyes. Wary of doing anything that would detract from the pure sweetness of this moment for any of them, she sucked in a breath and worked valiantly to put her own emotions on hold.

  Fortunately, the three males were so wrapped up in their gift giving and receiving they were oblivious to her reaction. Silence reigned as the two boys focused solely on the recipient of their admiration and affection. And in that moment, Nate looked like the proud and grateful father both kids needed him to be. Even Cole…

  Nate shook his head, cleared his throat. “I’m…overwhelmed,” he managed to say finally.

  So were the boys, Brooke noted happily. Everything was working out so well.

  Predictably, the older, streetwise Landry was the first to get it together. He discreetly rubbed a hand beneath his eye. “You can’t be overwhelmed until you open it,” he chided Nate.

  Beside him, Cole was surreptitiously blotting his eyes, too. “Mine first,” he said. When Landry looked less than pleased, Cole added, “We’re saving the best for last!”

  Landry’s face split into a wide grin. “True.”

  Nate tore into the wrapping appreciatively. The top of the gift box bore the words Parent Survival Kit.

  “I figured you might need it, you being new at this stuff and all,” Cole teased.

  Chuckling, Nate opened the box. Inside were all the essentials. A Father’s Guide to Understanding his Teenage Son—written in guyspeak, by a famous comedian they all admired. Next up was a detailed playlist of all the essential tunes, and can’t-miss movies and TV shows, meticulously compiled by both boys. And an invitation to join them in the enjoyment of said entertainment anytime. Earplugs, for when he couldn’t stand the noise. A schedule for the Texas Rangers baseball games, with an IOU for tickets to the game of his choice. And last but not least, a how-to guide and promise of further hands-on tutorials designed to bring him up to speed on his interactive-video-game-playing skills so he would be better able to compete in family tournaments.