by Easton, Meg
Knowing the front door wouldn’t be open, she knocked on the back one. When Cole opened it, she said, “I’ve never been in an exclusive relationship before.”
“Good morning, Brooke. Come in.” He opened the door wide and held his arm out to his kitchen. How had she never realized before just how good he looked in a button-down and an apron? “I can’t say I expected to see you bright and early this morning, knocking on my door to confess your past relationship statuses. But I also know you like spontaneity, so maybe I should’ve guessed.”
“Oh, hi, Lori,” Brooke said as she stepped further into the back rooms and realized they weren’t alone.
“Don’t mind me,” Lori said. “I’ll just go...fill up the salt shakers in the lobby or something.”
As she left the kitchen, Cole reached out and took both of Brooke’s hands in his. Now that she was here and talking with him, she inwardly chuckled at the ridiculousness of the urgency she had felt this morning. But still, this was important.
“So,” she said, “having never been in a serious relationship before, I’m new at this. Actually, I guess I just assumed, but we never actually talked about it. We’re in an exclusive relationship, right?”
Cole smiled like he was trying to keep himself from smiling. “I assumed we were, too. Well, I guess ‘hoped’ is a better word.”
Brooke nodded. So they were on the same page. “Sometime during the middle of the night, my subconscious figured out that in a relationship, it’s important to be honest.”
“Definitely an important ingredient to a successful relationship.”
“So here’s the deal. There’s more than one side of me. There’s Nestled Hollow Brooke, and there’s Big City Brooke. I keep Big City Brooke far away from Nestled Hollow.”
Cole nodded. “I’ve kind of gathered that. But Brooke, we all have different sides to us. Case in point: I’ve never seen this side of you before, and I had never seen your nervous side before last night.” He reached out and ran his knuckles down her cheek.
The touch sent tingles down her spine and she nearly paused just to enjoy it. But no. They had things to discuss. “Right. But those are accidental sides of me. Not a purposefully hidden side of me. The only people here who have seen it is Delbrina and Noemi. Not even Whitney has seen Big City Brooke. But Cole, you’ve been one of my best friends for nearly three years and now that we’re something more, I realized I’m ready for you to see it.”
A smile spread across Cole’s face that was so big it even made his ears move. “I’m honored. Wow. I would love to see that side of you.”
“So come to L.A. with me. You and Sam both. I checked, and there’s extra seats on my flight, and the hotel has a bigger suite available with a second room.”
Cole stood up straighter. “Join you on your trip that’s in three days?”
“Two now. I know it’s not on your schedule, and this is spontaneity on a bigger scale than I’ve ever asked of you before.”
“You do know I have a restaurant to run. And a daughter in school.”
Brooke nodded. “And I know you have capable employees, and it’s a short trip. Sam would only miss two days of school. And then you’ll see the work side of me, like I saw of you when I worked in the restaurant.”
Emotions were plainly at war on his face. Fear, probably of leaving his restaurant. Curiosity, probably of seeing this side she’d kept hidden from him. Uncertainty, probably at doing something not on his schedule with such short notice. Care and concern, probably for her. This one was showing even more deeply than his usual, and it made her want to reach out and touch the expression, to experience it with more than just sight.
“I’ve never been to L.A.”
“I used to live there, and I know all the ropes.”
“I don’t know if it’s a trip Sam will enjoy.”
“I’ll make sure she does.”
“I don’t know anything about the fashion world.”
“A week from now, you’ll no longer be able to say that.”
Cole paced back and forth in his kitchen, rubbing his chin scruff with his knuckle, probably thinking through the logistics of leaving someone else in charge of Back Porch Grill. “I’ve always wanted to see Big City Brooke.”
“And I’ve never wanted to show you. Until now.”
* * *
Samantha raced through Best Dressed and into Brooke’s offices, wrapping her arms around her in a hug. “I’m so excited that I found out we are going to go on a trip with you and I get to try on the dress you made for me. This is the best day ever!”
“I’m just impressed that your dad said yes to going.”
Cole chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. He may have said yes, but he was still unsure. Brooke winked at him.
“Me, too,” Sam said. “Good job on talking him into it.”
She held out a thumbs-up, so Brooke held out her thumbs-up, and Sam bumped them together.
“You might need help getting the dress on for the first time, so,” she grabbed the slip she had lying on the design table and handed it to Sam, “you go put on this, and then I’ll come in and help you put the dress over the top of it.” She opened the door to the storage room that doubled as a dressing room when needed, then closed it after Sam went in.
As Sam changed, Brooke walked up to Cole and rested her hands on his shoulders, scooting in close. “Hello there.”
He wrapped his arms around her. “Us dating is one of the better ideas either of us have had. No Delbrina or Noemi today?”
“They were here earlier. I made them go home at five, because they’re loyal to the point that I worried working more hours would kill them both off.”
Cole took the rare moment alone and kissed her on the lips, so soft and tender, and Brooke smiled into the kiss.
“I’m ready,” Sam called out.
Brooke ran her fingertips from his shoulder down his arm as she walked away from him and went to the back storage room to help Sam.
“Okay,” Brooke said, unzipping the dress bag, “are you ready to see it?”
She pulled the dress out and Sam said, “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! It’s just like the dress in the book, only so much better than anyone could have imagined! I can’t believe I get to wear this. I can’t believe you made this for me. Come on, come on, let’s get this on me!”
Brooke laughed and called out in Cole’s direction, “I think it’s possible she’s happy with how it turned out.”
She unzipped the dress. “Okay, now when you’re putting this on by yourself later, you’ll want to hold it up like this, and then gently lower it to the floor. Since it’s a really fluffy dress, that will help the fluffy parts go outward.
“Now keep holding the shoulder part, and when your arms are straight down, look and see if there’s a good enough hole in the middle to step into, because you don’t want to step on any part of the dress. If there isn’t, just put one foot inside, and use it to push the dress out of the way. Yep, just like that.
“Okay, now step inside. Make sure your slip is inside the dress, too, then you can start slowly pulling it up until you can slip your arms inside. Good. And then you might need help pulling the zipper up, because it goes pretty high.”
“Nope, I’m good at zippers. Watch.” Sam pulled the zipper up herself. Brooke smiled, then led her back into the main room.
Brooke enjoyed the look of amazement that crossed Cole’s face when he saw his daughter. “Whoa, Sam. Wow.”
“I know! Isn’t it the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?”
She twirled around once, the dress spinning out around her. Then Brooke led her to the big mirrors.
She had originally chosen a different fabric for the dress. They’d even cut it out and started sewing the bodice, but then she found a fabric that she knew would be even more incredible. Noemi and Delbrina had gotten used to her last-minute changes over the years, but they both showed some frustration at the change when they had so little time to
work with.
But as much work as the change in fabric was, it had been the right choice. It was perfect for the dress—a shimmering, iridescent, sheer material with purple undertones over a deep purple bodice and skirt, with layers and layers of the sheer fabric.
She had sewn crystal beads in the shape of leaves up the bodice like vines up a castle wall, and fabric flowers blossomed out from the waist, cascading down the skirts.
“I can’t believe I’m wearing this,” Sam said. “I would cry happy tears, but I don’t want them to get on this dress. It’s just too pretty.”
“You can keep looking in the mirror—I just need to mark some adjustments while you’re looking, okay?”
Sam nodded and Brooke got to work. A few of the flowers didn’t sit in just the right place, so she pinned to mark each spot, and she checked to make sure all the layers of the skirt were sitting correctly and that they ended at the same hemline.
“How did you know what size I was?”
“Well,” Brooke said as she worked, “my mom started a company that makes cosmetics, or makeup. Do you know the Van Zandt Department Store?”
“Yep! My dad took me once when we went to Denver.”
“When I was about your age, they let her do a pilot program in one of their stores, to see how people liked her stuff. So about twice a week for a year, she went to that store to show customers her products, and then started a new program where they do makeovers for people. She always went on Saturdays and took me.
“I wasn’t interested in cosmetics, but this was at their biggest store in New York City, and so they had a design department, where people could come in and have dresses custom-made for them. I always hung out with the woman who did that while my mom was busy. She would take her client’s measurements, and then she had a dress form that she would adjust to be those exact measurements.
“When she didn’t have customers, she let me choose a customer who was shopping and try to adjust the form to match the person without being able to measure them first, and I got really good at it.”
“I want to get really good at something like that.” She paused for a moment as Brooke worked on her dress, then said, “My dad told me that you and him are dating right now.”
Brooke glanced at Cole and he hid a smile.
“And what do you think about that?”
“Well, he told me that you might be hanging out together more often, which, by the way, I’m totally cool with. And he said that you two would probably have hugs and kisses. Oh! That reminds me, Daddy, I forgot to tell you that I already came up with the Sam’s Special for tomorrow.”
“Oh yeah?”
She nodded. “You know those chicken salad sandwiches that you serve at lunch sometimes? It’s like that, only you take the chicken part and roll it up inside the croissant while it’s still dough, and then you cook the chicken inside it. I don’t know—you might have to change the stuff you put in it. So I was thinking about what it would be called, and since croissants always look like a smiling mouth to me, we can either call it ‘Smoochie Surprise,’ or ‘Kissing Croissants.’”
“Sam!” Brooke said, a little alarmed at the thought of people knowing they were dating.
Sam turned both of her hands up in a shrug. “What? It sounds to me like a good way to celebrate that you two are dating. And that way, other people in town can join in on the celebrating.”
Cole’s booming laughter bounced off the walls as Brooke’s cheeks burned.
“So,” Sam said, “what will we be doing on this trip?”
Brooke put in a few pins, adjusting the hemline on one side. “It’s a short trip and I already have a lot packed into it. We can’t make it any longer because you need to get back to school, your dad needs to get back to the restaurant, and I need to get back to preparing for my presentation in New York. So you’ll mostly be with me as I do my normal stuff. I’ve got to talk to a couple of boutiques, have lunch with my dad because he lives there, and one night we get to dress up fancy and go to a fashion show on the runway.”
Cole raised an eyebrow. “So the rumors of you only going out of town to go to parties is false?”
“Not false,” Brooke asserted, pointing a pin his direction. “I do go to parties when I’m out of town. I like parties. It’s where designers get together to network.”
“Can I wear this when we dress up fancy?”
“Of course. Okay, now go get changed, and watch out for any pins.”
As Sam went back to change, Brooke stood up and went to Cole, surprised by the look on his face. “Oh! You’re nervous. About the trip. Why?”
“It’s a lot of things not really in my comfort zone. I don’t even own any fancy clothes.”
Brooke smiled. “Don’t worry—I’ve got everything you need.”
Chapter Thirteen
Cole had never flown first class before. It was actually kind of cool, and completely unexpected. It hadn’t even occurred to him that it might be normal for Brooke.
He’d also never been driven to his hotel by one of those drivers holding up a sign in baggage claim with someone’s name on it. That was when this trip started to feel a little unreal. But Brooke said that driving in Los Angeles was insane, and after experiencing it, he could see why she chose not to drive there when she didn’t have to.
But it was walking into the hotel that really started to make him uncomfortable. The lobby looked expensive and his restaurant and the next two shops could probably all fit inside.
As they walked up to their rooms with the bellhop, which he had thought only happened in movies, Brooke said, “I had a one bedroom reserved, and on such short notice, I could only up it to a two bedroom. So you won’t be able to have your own room, Sam, but I did have them bring you a cot, so at least you’ll have your own bed.”
Cole had pictured a cramped hotel room, complete with a busy patterned bedspread, a desk, and a door that locked on both sides and opened into the other hotel room, a cot squished in between the bed and the wall.
But the bellhop opened double doors into a giant living area where everything was bright and open, and windows ran floor to ceiling along the far wall, showing an impressive view of the night lights of the city. A doorway on the left led to one bedroom, and a doorway on the right led to another.
Brooke thanked the bellhop, tipped him, and told him they had ordered food in the car and to send it up when it arrived, all while Sam raced through the hotel rooms, exploring.
The food that arrived was pretty good, actually. He wasn’t used to eating food that someone else had cooked, but he had to admit that after an exhausting evening of traveling after a long day at work, it was nice to have food cooked and brought right to him.
When they finished eating, Brooke stretched. “We’ve got a busy day tomorrow, and we’ll need to be ready to walk out the door by eight thirty. We should probably get to bed soon.”
“Why don’t you run and get your pajamas on, Samster. I’ll be in to read to you in just a minute.”
Sam hugged Brooke, thanked her again for the awesome plane ride and riding in the fancy car, and staying in the fancy hotel. Then she skipped off to their room.
Before the food had come, Brooke had changed into yoga pants and pulled her hair up into a chaotic bun. He’d seen the look several times when they’d gotten together at one or the other’s house to watch movies over the years.
But still, as he looked at her on the oversized couch, tired from a long string of working too many hours, he couldn’t imagine anyone more beautiful.
He reached out a hand and pulled her to her feet, then wrapped his arms around her.
“I’m glad you came,” she said.
“I’m glad you used all your powers of persuasion to get me to come.”
“Not all—I have a pretty extensive array of powers of persuasion. You haven’t even seen half of them yet.”
He laughed. “Then I hope you never turn to a life of crime and want me to be your accomplice, Brooke
McClellan.”
Brooke glanced at his lips, and he thought of how many times he’d hoped that one day he would be able to kiss Brooke goodnight. He felt a little out of place in such an extravagant setting, but he’d take it. He put a knuckle under her chin and leaned down and kissed her. “Goodnight, Brooke.”
“Goodnight, Cole.”
* * *
They spent the morning traveling to different boutiques throughout L.A., and Cole found out that a boutique was actually just a smaller clothing store. He didn’t know why they didn’t just call them dress shops—it made so much more sense.
At each place, Brooke charmed the owners, who all seemed to have heard of her already, and left a book behind showing her designs, all while he and Sam wandered around the store, Sam oohing and ahhing at all the dresses.
“Oh,” Brooke said as they left the last shop, looking down at her phone. “My dad said he had a meeting pop up that he hadn’t planned on, and wants to know if we can have lunch in his office instead of at the restaurant. Is that okay?”
“Sure.” Cole had met Brooke’s dad a few times before—he came to visit Brooke every six months or so, and they always came into the restaurant to eat. He usually showed up in jeans and a button-down, but the guy had perfected the power pose, so meeting him in a more casual location than a fancy restaurant where he’d already be feeling out of place sounded better anyway.
At least it had until their driver pulled up to Brooke’s dad’s offices. Cole angled his head so he could see the name on the side of the tall building, and a lump formed in his throat. “McClellan Properties?” His head whipped her direction. “Your dad, Ben, is Benton McClellan?”
Brooke cringed.
“Brooke, your dad is the Benton McClellan and you never told me?”
“He’s just my dad. You’ve met him before—it’s not a big deal.”
She opened the door and the three of them got out. Cole took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and walked with them inside the building. The receptionist recognized Brooke immediately and called up to her father’s office to let him know they were there, and then they took the elevator up to his floor.
