by Wendy Smith
“You don’t know if it would have.”
“At least she wouldn’t have been evicted and had to fend for herself.”
“That’s true, but it could have killed your relationship altogether. Looks to me like you’re making headway.” He shoots me a sly smile. “Email her back and ask her what she’s wearing.”
“Dude. It’s the middle of the day. She’s at work.” I shake my head. “Besides, we’re nowhere near that.”
“You’re still married to her, right?”
“We didn’t get divorced. Hell, I had no clue where she was, and it wasn’t for a lack of looking.”
He grins. “It’s not a totally inappropriate question, then.”
“Cole?” Liz stands in the doorway. “Barrett Jackson is on line one.”
I nod. “Thanks, Liz.” Shifting my gaze to Mike, I lift my foot and pretend to kick his leg. “Get out of here. That’s my biggest client.”
“Just trying to help you get back together with your wife.”
“I doubt anything you suggest will help me.”
Liz still stands in the doorway, and her eyebrows shoot up, probably at the word “wife.” I smile at her and round the desk, hitting the flashing button on my phone.
“Barrett.”
Mike’s almost right.
Communication is a two-way street, and that’s something I didn’t know much about when Brooke and I were nineteen. I can’t pretend to be an expert now in relationships, but something inside me has woken up and I have to try.
Seeing her again brought up so many feelings.
Feelings I thought would never surface again.
One night. We had one perfect night when everything was right. That was the night Kaia was conceived. The night I knew how much I loved Brooke.
Dad had helped us out by buying a house for us to live in, but I spent a year supporting Brooke on the wages from working at the local hardware store. Now I know why he was only too pleased to agree to pay Brooke money out of my trust fund. That was what helped ease my conscience when it came to making my final decision to leave.
The worst decision I’ve ever made.
After I finish the call with Barrett, I pick up my phone and dial.
“Cole?” Brooke answers.
“I got the photo of Kaia. I love it. When do I get a photo of you?”
She laughs. “Why would I send you one?”
“Because I want photos of my family to put on my desk at work. I always thought there was something missing.”
There’s silence for a moment. “I can’t talk long. I’m at work.”
“Come out with me on Sunday evening. Just for a couple of hours. If you can get a babysitter.”
“What for?”
“I need to see you again.”
Again there’s silence. At least she seems to be considering it.
“I can’t do this right now. I’ll let you know later in the week.”
I punch the air. It’s not a yes, but it’s not a no. “Sounds good. I’ll be waiting.”
“Okay. Bye.”
She ends the call abruptly, and I only hope I haven’t got her in trouble at work.
I press print on the image of Kaia.
For the first time in a long time, I don’t feel as if something is missing.
And it’s the best feeling in the world.
7
Brooke
I take a deep breath as I look at myself in the mirror.
I’m not really that different to the woman I was when Cole and I conceived Kaia. I’m older, and a little wiser, but I’m still me.
He won’t hurt me again.
I’ll let him say his piece and then he can leave.
That doesn’t stop me making sure my hair is curled perfectly and that lipstick isn’t on my teeth. The butterflies in my stomach are annoying the crap out of me. After all this time and the way he’s treated me, I have no idea why I’m so nervous.
Except for the one thing I hadn’t thought to fear.
I know he said he won’t take Kaia from me, but what if he changes his mind?
I never took his father’s bait to have a DNA test done, and it wasn’t just about the child support. With Cole out of the picture, and his father with more money than he knew what to do with, what would have happened if he’d set his sights on my daughter?
“There’s someone at the door.” Kaia tugs on my shirt.
“Is there, sweetheart?”
“I’ve got it,” Rosalyn calls from the living room.
“Thanks, Ros.” I bend to kiss Kaia on the forehead.
“You look pretty, Mom.”
“Thank you, my sweet. You look pretty too.”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m just in my pajamas.”
“You’re very pretty in your pajamas.”
I take her hand, and lead her out to the living room.
My heart speeds up at the sight of Cole. He’s in jeans, and wearing a crisply ironed white shirt. No tie. I hate that he still makes me feel this way.
“Hey.” He smiles, and it leaves me aching. Kaia shares that smile.
“Cole.”
“You look good.” He nods, seeming to feel as awkward as I am.
“Thanks. You too.”
“Hi, Kaia.” My stomach clenches as he gives her a little wave, and she clings to my leg.
“Kaia, this is Cole.”
He meets my gaze. His eyes show me he’s hurt and I’m guessing that’s because I didn’t call him Daddy, but if he genuinely wants to spend time getting to know his daughter that’ll happen at some point. Cole has to be patient.
Cole squats in front of her. “It’s nice to meet you, Kaia.”
She blushes, swinging on her heels.
“I’m going to take your mother out for dinner. Do you know what her favorite foods are?”
Kaia looks up at me. “Chicken nuggets.”
I laugh, and Cole nods. “Thanks for the tip.”
He holds up his hand, and she high-fives him. The simple act tugs at my heartstrings.
I bend to pick her up, smothering her face in kisses while she giggles. “I won’t be late. But you go to bed when Rosalyn tells you. Okay?”
She wraps her arms around my neck. “Okay, Mommy.”
“Love you.”
“Love you too.”
“I’ll see you at breakfast in the morning.” I give her one last kiss before dropping her to the floor.
“Ready?” Cole asks.
“As I’ll ever be.” I pick up my bag from beside the couch. “Where are we going?”
“I thought I’d let you choose.”
“It’s so unlike you not to have any plans.” I laugh.
He grins. “Some things never change, huh? We can go for a drive, or if there’s somewhere around here that’s good.”
“We could go to my work.”
“Haven’t you just worked there six nights in a row?”
I shrug. “Yeah, but the food’s good, and it’ll be nice to be on the customer side.”
“Just tell me where.”
I turn to Rosalyn. “I won’t be too late.”
“Don’t worry about it. You two have fun.”
I take a deep breath and follow Cole out into the hallway. This is the weirdest feeling ever. We never dated when we were younger, so going out like this is bittersweet.
He smiles as we reach the elevator, and pushes the button. “Kaia’s so sweet.”
I grin. “She’s the best.”
“You look lovely, by the way.”
My stomach flips as the elevator doors open and Cole waves me in ahead of him.
“This is weird.” I lean against the railing, and he chuckles.
“Tell me about it. Thank you for all the pictures of Kaia. They’re pinned on my office wall.”
“Really?”
He nods. “If you send me a photo of you, I’ll put you up there too.”
He’s said it before, but his words catch me by surprise. The e
levator doors open, and I don’t have much time to respond before he takes my hand in his and leads me out of the building.
“Which way?”
“Left.”
He doesn’t let go, and I don’t know if I can forgive my heart for pounding so hard at the contact. It should remember the way he broke it, but it seems to throw all that out the window as we make our way to the end of the block and cross the street.
“This is it.” I point when we reach the end of the next block. The bar is on the corner in a building that looks like it should be condemned.
“That’s a bar?” I don’t miss the tone in Cole’s voice, but I’m not offended. This place isn’t great, but it’s close to home, and I like the people I work with.
He’s still holding my hand when we walk in the door.
“Brooke.” Craig smiles.
“Hey, Craig.”
“Glutton for punishment, coming in on your day off.”
I laugh. “Can’t stay away.” I turn to Cole. “What do you want to drink?”
“A beer. Whatever you want to order. I’m paying.”
“Two Coronas, please.”
“No problem, Brooke. I’ll bring them to the table if you like. Want any food?”
I turn to Cole. “Hungry?”
“I am. Tell me what I should order.”
Grabbing a menu from the bar, I flick to the right page. “The steak. Eric is a legend when it comes to cooking those. They’re melt-in-your-mouth.”
He doesn’t even look. “Two steaks too, please. Medium rare for me.” He turns to meet my gaze. “Do you still have yours medium rare?”
I nod, grinning like an idiot because he remembered.
“Take a seat and I’ll bring it all over.” Craig nods.
“Thanks, Craig.”
The booths are full, so we grab a small table with barstools.
“So, you work here?”
I nod. “Six nights a week. It’s not great and I miss out on time with Kaia, but it pays the bills.”
“It’s a shame you have to.”
I let out a long breath. “Life’s not been easy for us since you left.”
“As I’ve just found out. I want to make things better.”
“Why now?”
He licks his lips. I’ve never seen him so nervous. Cole was always the confident one out of the two of us.
“Because I’ve just found you.”
“Brooke.”
I hold in my irritation as John walks toward me.
“Are you working tonight, sweetheart?”
“No. Sorry, John.”
I can smell the beer on his breath as he leans over me from behind. His hand lands at the top of my ass, and I sigh. “Can you please move your hand?”
“Sweetheart, could you serve me tonight? Craig’s nowhere near as pretty as you.”
I grit my teeth.
“She’s not working, dude,” Cole says.
“It’d just take her a few minutes to give me what I need.”
Great.
“Back off, man. She’s having a night off and a quiet dinner with me.”
I fix my gaze on Cole. “It’s okay. I can deal with this.”
“It’s not okay. I can see what he’s up to from here. Get your hand off my wife’s ass, old man.”
“Cole.”
He stands. My heart beats faster at the fierce look on his face. He’s about a foot taller than John which is probably why John’s hand slips off me.
“Your wife? Sorry. I never meant any harm.” John holds his palms up in surrender.
“I’d better not ever hear about you putting your hands on her again.”
John staggers back.
“Why? What are you gonna do?” John asks.
I close my eyes at John’s words.
“Don’t try me.” Cole’s tone is menacing.
“How about another beer, John?” Craig says.
I open my eyes to see him approaching with our food, and I shoot him a grateful look.
“Hmm …” John says.
“On the house. Come this way,” Craig says.
“The last thing he should be having is another beer,” Cole says as Craig puts the plates down. John wanders over toward the bar.
“He’s a pain in the ass, but there’s nothing we can do about it. He’s friends with the owner,” I say.
Craig smiles. “Enjoy your meal. I’ll keep him over there.”
“Thanks, Craig.”
I look back at Cole as he sits back down. His expression is so hard to read.
“Do you really have to work here?” he asks.
“Yes. I need the money.”
“I spoke to my father.” He sighs and shakes his head. “I swear to you that I had no idea about the child support shit. Maybe I should have known not to trust him, but he was so good about everything when we were together.”
“Not really.”
“What do you mean?”
I lick my lips. “I mean on our wedding day, he asked me if I was sure you were the father of my baby.”
His eyebrows twitch. “He did what?”
“Oh he was really nice. He turned up to give me away, and right before we left the house he asked me. I thought he was going to say something like ‘Are you sure you’ve remembered everything?’, but it was ‘Are you sure my son is that baby’s father?’”
Cole blinks a bunch of times. “I’m so sorry, Brooke.”
I shrug. “It is what it is. I can’t say it still doesn’t sting, but he can’t hurt me now.”
Cutting into my steak, I smile at the juicy slice. It’s not often I eat anything like this, and Marcus is too stingy to give us staff meals. But Cole’s paying, so what the hell?
“I told him I’d speak to a lawyer about releasing my trust fund early.” He takes a deep breath. “We’ll work out what I owe you, and I’ll pay you the whole lot.”
Placing down my fork, I stare at him. “You would do that?”
“Of course I would. I’m so sorry, Brooke. I never meant for any of this to happen. Fuck, we were kids when we were married, and I know it wasn’t that long ago, but I think we’ve both grown up since then. I know I have.”
I blink back tears. I’m used to the life Kaia and I are living. We’ve never relied on anyone else for money, and I’ve worked my ass off to have what we do. There’s been no one to help us. Can I trust Cole?
He reaches across the table and places his hand on mine. “I screwed everything up. And I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I’d really like to get to know Kaia.”
Bam. There it is.
“How about we eat before it gets cold and talk about this later? The steak looks amazing.” He smiles.
I nod, and I’m numb as I pick up my fork and take that first bite. The steak is amazing, but my head’s not in this as I mull his words over in my head.
We eat in silence. I don’t know what else to say, and it seems neither does he.
“Can I ask you a personal question?”
My eyebrows take on a life of their own as they creep up. “Sure.”
“Has there been anyone else?” he asks.
Okay, eyebrows, behave. “Why do you ask?”
He shrugs. “I hate the thought of you being with someone else, but I also hate the thought of you being lonely.”
I lick my lips. “There was one guy. About a year ago. We saw each other for a few months, and I got to the point where I introduced him to Kaia. But a couple of weeks later I found out he was cheating.”
“Shit. I’m sorry.”
I shake it off. “I’m okay. I had to force myself into being ready to date. What with the way things ended between us and having to work six days a week, it was nice to have someone pay attention to me.” Taking a sip of my beer, I get that temporary courage that goes with it. “What about you? Anyone else?”
“No one serious. I never had any time. I took an accelerated degree program to complete my MBA in three instead of four years. I thoug
ht it would help get me into a higher-paying job faster, and help us all.”
I stare at him. “What?”
“Maybe I didn’t know where you were, I thought you were getting that money. It hurts a lot to know that you weren’t.”
“Cole.” My heart melts at his words. I’m still angry that he didn’t come and find us, and he believed his father’s lies.
“I guess I’m trying to say that I didn’t lie when I left. The last thing I wanted to do was for us to keep going the way we were and for it to turn nasty.”
“Do you really think we would have done that?”
He pushes his glass around on the table. “You know, I think if we’d had that prom night together and then started dating and getting to know each other in a more intimate way, maybe things would have been different. But we were both under so much pressure with the pregnancy, and Dad, and then our mothers ganging up on him.” Reaching for my hand, he links his fingers with mine. “I have no regrets where you’re concerned. Or Kaia. But I do regret leaving the way I did, and I’m so sorry. I looked for you back home as soon as I got the chance.”
“You did?”
“I didn’t get a lot of time on the study schedule I was keeping, but I tried. To be honest, I didn’t know where to start after you left town.” His shoulders slump. “I went back to the house. As far as I know it’s still there and empty. I slept in our bed. And I felt like a failure.”
Tears prick my eyes. “I had no idea.”
“It’s funny, you know. A few years later and I know what mistakes I made. I’m still not sure us staying together would have been the right thing, but I would have handled it all better now.”
“I think we’re both very different people to who we were four years ago,” I say.
He nods. “And you’re the one who’s had to carry everything.” Cole squeezes my hand. “Let me help you with that burden.”
“You already said you’d sort out the child support issue.”
“That’s just the start. I want to be here for you, Brooke. I want to help with Kaia. Maybe you can move into my house.”
I swallow. “I’m nowhere near ready for that.”
“It’s okay. I know it’s a big step after everything.” He sighs. “I just want to help.”
I look down at our still linked fingers. “I appreciate it.”
