by Easton, Meg
“She’s taking me to the kite festival in the afternoon, but when it turns into the parade on Main Street, she has to leave to go to her club in Mountain Springs. And you have to do the food. So I thought maybe Brooke...” Samantha folded her arms. “Why are you two acting weird?”
“Because,” Brooke said, drawing out the word, “I just remembered that I have some important work emails I have to send before I can go home.” She glanced at Cole. “And I was telling your dad that I feel terrible having to leave before helping clean everything up.”
“And I told her not to feel bad, because we’re so grateful that she could come help.” But all he could really think about was how much he wished that their kiss hadn’t been interrupted.
“I am, too,” Samantha said. “Doesn’t it look great? It’s just like the castle tower in the book!”
The three of them stepped back and admired their work. They did do a pretty spectacular job.
Brooke leaned down and gave Sam a hug and said goodbye. Then she looked back at Cole, a fingertip touching her lips and an expression on her face that he couldn’t read. He wasn’t sure if she was worried about the kiss after their last one had gone so wrong, or if she had been thinking about what it would’ve felt like to complete their kiss. Was she glad it was interrupted or sad?
He’d have given anything in that moment to know.
Chapter Ten
Brooke kicked off her shoes and collapsed onto the couch in the social corner of her offices, Delbrina sitting down next to her with Noemi claiming a padded chair, all of them putting their feet on the coffee table. They had just spent a marathon morning with the photographer, photographing each piece for their look book. Some of the pieces weren’t finished yet, and Brooke had gone back to her office after painting and worked until two a.m. and met her staff back in the office at seven to continue.
As they prepared each piece for the photographer, as usual, there were many adjustments that needed made as they went. And with their tight deadline, the photos had to be whisked off to the designer as they went. The designer said she’d have the final pages ready for her to approve within the hour, which meant they’d be able to get it sent to the printer in time to make their deadline.
She wished this trip to Los Angeles wasn’t in the middle of everything. It was compressing their already impossibly small time frame.
“I hope you don’t need me for a minute,” Noemi said, “because I don’t think this chair is planning to release me for the next six hours or so.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever been this tired,” Delbrina said. “I don’t know how you’re still alive, girl, with all the hours you’ve been working.”
“Are you sure I’m still alive?” Brooke held out her arm. “Check my pulse.” She was actually pretty impressed that she was still able to function. And more than that, she was impressed at how well she’d been able to stay focused all morning, especially with as often as the almost-kiss with Cole had entered her mind.
She had kissed plenty of guys over the years. And she’d kissed Cole exactly one time over the years. Yet despite it going wrong before, last night’s kiss that never happened made her realize that she wanted to kiss him more than she’d wanted to kiss anyone in a very long time. Possibly ever.
Why? What made her heart think this was okay? Did it not ever listen to her brain? That one time they had kissed, they both immediately knew it was wrong. And if she hadn’t known on her own, Cole had made it pretty clear that night that they could never be an item. Besides, her brain had been saying plenty loud enough for years that she didn’t want a long-term relationship.
And that she wasn’t okay with having a short-term relationship with anyone in Nestled Hollow.
And that she didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize a friendship that she really valued and enjoyed and very much relied on.
She knew that partnering as equals never worked out. Yet that day spent cooking and last night painting had worked out pretty well. Especially that part where they were painting under the slide.
Stop, she told herself. She knew that the more she thought about him, the harder it would be to resist the urge to turn their friendship into something more. She needed to distract herself.
But her brain was too tired to think about work, and she was too tired to get off this couch. Her stomach was growling for food pretty loudly, though. She focused on that. And on all the different foods she’d eat if only she could get up the energy to go get them.
Except every food item she dreamed about made her think of Cole.
And how much she wanted that kiss.
“Noemi,” she said, “channel my mother. Tell me how much I don’t want a relationship.”
Noemi sat up straighter in her chair and cleared her throat. “Now, Brooke,” she said in a voice that was much too high, “Do you know what’s important? It’s not a husband, I’ll tell you that. What’s important is work.” Then, in her normal voice, Noemi said, “I’m sorry—I can’t pull that off with any conviction right now. We’ve worked too many hours and I can’t tell you what I’d give right now to have a husband waiting at home to take care of me.”
“I’ve got you,” Delbrina said. Then in a low voice that must be her interpretation of Brooke’s dad, she said, “You might think you get along well with a potential partner, but heed my advice: stay away. Because as soon as you form a partnership, badness happens.”
“Badness?”
“It’s the best I can do. With the schedule we’ve been keeping, my brain cells are too fried to come up with the fancy words your dad would use.”
The bell on the front door of Best Dressed dinged and the three of them turned their heads a small fraction toward the sound.
“I know the sign says we’re right in the middle of normal business hours,” Noemi said, “but we really should’ve put up the closed sign.”
“Agreed,” Delbrina said.
Before Brooke managed to get up enough energy to so much as sit up straight, Cole appeared in the doorway between the retail store and the offices, and Brooke let out a sigh of relief that it wasn’t a customer.
“Knock, knock.”
“As long as you’re not going to make me move an inch,” Brooke said, “you can come in.”
Cole was carrying a big paper bag and a cup holder with three drinks in it. He set both down on the coffee table, and then he took a seat in the empty padded chair. “All three of your cars were in the back lot when I left late last night, and they were there when I came in early this morning. So I figured you probably needed some sustenance right about now.”
“You brought us food?” Noemi asked. “I love you, Cole. Will you be my husband?”
Cole chuckled and pulled three to-go containers out of the bag. “I figured you’d need a hearty meal, so I brought hand-pulled, slow-roasted turkey breast sandwiches on foccacia with avocados and sprouts. And because your brains might need a boost after all the abuse you’ve been giving them, I brought blueberry, beet, and banana smoothies.”
“Oh my lands, that’s so sweet I may cry,” Delbrina said. “I’m going to tell this story to my man when I get home, see if it gives him any ideas.”
Noemi and Delbrina sat up like normal people to eat, but Brooke couldn’t do it. She’d put in more hours than they had by far, so she just reached her hands out for her container and Cole placed it in her hands. She laid it on her stomach and opened it, and the smell of freshly baked bread woke up every one of her sleeping senses. The sandwich wasn’t easy to pick up in this reclined position, but she still managed to take a bite. Her teeth sunk into the soft bread, the smooth avocado, and the tender meat, the tangy aioli bursting with flavor on her tongue. “I think this might be the best thing I’ve ever eaten.”
She took another bite, closing her eyes to devote all her attention to the taste, and she moaned. As soon as she swallowed, she swore she could feel the energy from the sandwich spreading throughout her body. Maybe eventually she would be a
ble to peel herself off this couch again.
Maybe. But first she’d have to convince her feet to let her stand on them again.
As if Cole could read her thoughts, he scooted forward in his seat and reached out and started rubbing her feet. She set the sandwich back in its container, dropped her hands to the couch at her sides, and closed her eyes. Cole held her right foot in his strong hands, running them along everywhere that ached, putting just the right amount of pressure in just the right places to make the pain drift away.
As he worked, he said, “Tell me about this presentation that’s been running you all ragged.”
Brooke couldn’t open her mouth to talk. She was in a dream world where Cole’s touch worked magic to undo all the stress she’d put on her feet over the past too many days. His touch felt even more incredible now than it ever had before. Delbrina must’ve figured out that Brooke wasn’t going to answer, so she did for her.
“Well, a...company asked a couple of people to come show them their designs, because they have some space on their racks, and they want to choose someone to fill it.”
Good. Delbrina was choosing her words carefully. Brooke relaxed into the couch even more as Cole switched to her left foot, his touch making everything feel right in the world.
“So kind of like a job interview?”
Delbrina said, “Exactly!” at almost the same time Noemi said, “Sure. If you call a singer performing on The Voice a ‘job interview.’”
Brooke’s eyes flew open and she shot Noemi a look. Noemi mouthed Sorry, and then took a big bite of her sandwich, like she didn’t trust herself not to let something slip if her mouth wasn’t full.
Delbrina took a sip of her smoothie. “So then Brooke will get all fancied up as Big City Brooke, which she’s very good at, and then with what we’ve prepared, she’s going to knock the socks off her interviewers. I’m going to tell you right now that after she shows her stuff, the competition is going to be more nervous than a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.”
“I bet they are,” Cole said. “And wow, ‘Big City Brooke.’ There’s not a whole lot of things I’d like more than to see more than that.”
“It’s impressive,” Noemi said. “I’m a big city girl who hates the snow. Big City Brooke is the reason I was willing to move to Denver, and she’s the reason I’m willing to brave these roads an hour each direction, even in the winter.”
“Okay.” Brooke laughed nervously and pushed herself to an upright position. For nearly three years, she’d shared with Cole the same side of her that she’d shared with all of Nestled Hollow and that had worked out great. Lately, though, a small part of her wanted to open up more to this man and show him the side of her that no one outside of Noemi and Delbrina had seen. But she just wasn’t ready.
“She’s a pretty big deal, huh?”
Delbrina waved off his comment like it was nothing. “Noemi’s just kissing up to the person who signs her paychecks. You and Brooke have been friends for a long time—I’m sure you’ve seen the side of her that inspires loyalty well enough.”
“That I have.”
He gave Brooke a look that melted even the parts of her he hadn’t just massaged. His face was full of questions that she knew he didn’t want to ask with an audience. She was full of questions too—along with much too big of a desire to finish that kiss—but she wasn’t sure if she was ready for the answers.
Cole said he had to head back to the restaurant, so Brooke stood and took a few hobbling steps before her feet decided they were okay enough to stand on them again, and walked him to the doorway into the retail shop.
“This was exactly the pick-me-up I needed. Thank you. It was very thoughtful.”
He moved his arm forward a few inches, like instinct made him want to grab her hand, but he pulled it back. In a quiet voice, he said, “We should probably talk sometime.”
Brooke nodded. “We probably should.”
As soon as the front door closed behind Cole, Brooke turned around to her offices.
Delbrina, standing beside Brooke, pointed at Noemi. “You, my friend, are going somewhere toasty in a handbasket and you know it.”
Noemi folded her arms. “I was just nudging things along. If no one did, ten years from now they still wouldn’t be anything more than friends.”
“I don’t need nudges!” Brooke said. And based on how things were headed under the slide last night, Cole didn’t either. Maybe they needed the opposite of nudges.
“Are you ready to start dating him?”
“No. I don’t date people from Nestled Hollow.”
“Then you need a nudge. Not only did he notice that you needed food, but he brought it for you and for the people he knew you cared about. And then the man rubbed your feet. I’ve had plenty of guys rub my back—they do it because they hope they’ll get something out of it. But a man who rubs your feet? That he does purely because he cares about you.”
Delbrina took a step toward Noemi, turning to face Brooke, and in that one motion went from being on her side to joining Noemi’s. “She’s got a point. Rubbing your feet? That’s nudge-worthy.”
Brooke let all of her breath out in a huff and shook her head. She’d come to this battle with no ammo, so fighting was pointless. She walked over to the couch, picked up her phone, and texted Whitney.
Coffee. 2:00. Love a Latte. Please?
Whitney’s reply came immediately.
I’ll be there with bells on.
She tossed her phone back on the couch. Then she picked up her sandwich, because it was a really good sandwich, and two bites hadn’t been nearly enough.
* * *
When Brooke got to Love a Latte, Whitney was already there, of course, staying true to her always-early, never-late self, a hot chocolate with whipped cream on the table in front of her. Tory sat across from Whitney, sipping a mug, and a third drink sat on the table.
Brooke slipped into the empty seat and said hi.
Whitney grinned and pushed the third drink toward Brooke. “I told Tory that you’ve been working non-stop and she said she was going to make you something as strong as you are.”
“Please let there also be caramel along with the copious amounts of caffeine.”
Whitney laughed and said to Tory, “Looks like you called that one right.”
“She always does.”
Tory stood up and said, “I’ll let you two get to chatting. Enjoy your drinks!”
“No, stay,” Brooke said, reaching toward Tory. “Please. I could use your advice, too. There’s no one in the shop.”
Tory sat back down, seeming as relieved to be off her feet as Brooke was. “What’s on your mind?”
“Nothing. Everything.” She didn’t even know what questions she was wanting answers to. “I’ve just been working too many hours and being around the same people too much. Everything’s confusing, and I needed to get away.”
Suddenly she had one question she knew she wanted to ask Tory. “We’re both thirty-two. The same age, yet at very different places in life. Knowing what you know now, if you could go back, would you still choose to have four kids? Even when you knew what lay ahead?”
“Why? Are you trying to decide if you want kids?”
Brooke shrugged. “I was raised to not want that, because other things were more important. I’m beginning to think that I might be missing out, though.”
Tory thought a moment before answering. “That’s a question that no one else can answer for you. But for me—yeah. If I could go back, I’d still do it all over again. Even knowing that my life would get this hard.”
Brooke swirled her straw around the whipped cream and caramel, pondering Tory’s answer as Whitney and Tory sipped their drinks, giving her time to think.
“It’s not just that you’re thinking of,” Whitney said. “You seem nervous. I’ve never seen you nervous before. Ever. Spill it.”
Brooke let go of her drink and leaned back on her chair. “Dating has never made me
nervous. I date people because they’re fun and I enjoy their company. It’s a social get-together that I have zero expectations for after that moment. If they’re available the next time I’m in town, we go on a date. If they’re not, we don’t. Simple.”
“But,” Whitney prodded.
“But I’m starting to have feelings for someone and this time it’s different. I’ve never considered dating anyone where there was a potential of a more long-term relationship. I’ve never dated anyone where there were any stakes at all if it didn’t work out, let alone one where they’re this high. I don’t know what to do.”
“So,” Tory said, motioning to Whitney, “you decided to seek advice from a woman who, until she met ‘the one’ was a serial non-dater, and,” she motioned to herself, “a single mother of four whose husband left her, and hasn’t had the time nor the lack of wariness to enter into the dating pool again.”
Brooke smiled and sipped her drink, hoping that the caffeine would give her super powers enough for her day.
Then she noticed the smile spreading across Whitney’s face.
Tory said to Whitney, “We’re talking about Cole, right?”
Whitney nodded.
“How do you both already know? Did he say something?”
Tory laughed. “No one needed to say anything. He’s a good-looking single man, you’re a good-looking single woman, you’re best friends, and you seem to bring out the best in each other. I think everyone knew that the two of you will eventually figure out that you’d make an amazing couple.”
Great. So the town was already rooting for them to get together and they hadn’t even gone on a single date. This was a bad idea.
“And,” Whitney added, “I know you well enough to know that Cole is the only person who could possibly make you nervous about dating. And I get it. There really is a lot at stake.”
