by Olivia Miles
Kyle slid the two men their beers and turned to face Ryan, keeping his voice low. “I’m aware of that.”
“Then what were you planning on doing about it?”
Kyle didn’t answer that question. They both knew that Kyle had hoped things would turn around, just like he’d once hoped that Brooke would turn around. That things would all work out in the end. That he wouldn’t have to make any dramatic changes to end up with what he’d always wanted.
And this pub, much as he had never wanted it, was important to him. He didn’t want to lose it any more than he wanted to change it. And now his hand was being forced.
“Fine, we can discuss some changes,” he said curtly. Seeing the raise of his brother’s eyebrows, he added, “But not now. It’s Friday night, and we’re counting on this business. How else are we supposed to pay for these big ideas?”
“It will be difficult enough to qualify for a loan,” Ryan said. “You ever think about selling the house? Might make you a better candidate if you had some cash in the bank.”
Kyle grew quiet for a moment as he rinsed out glasses in the sink. The house had been a rental when he and Brooke took it, but they’d loved it, and after she was gone, it was the only piece of her that remained. When the time came for the owner to sell, Kyle had worked out a deal with him.
He said nothing, thinking that he should suggest they put the loan in his brother’s name only. But that would mean giving his brother full control of the place. And he didn’t trust him not to change it too much.
“Kyle Harrison!”
He turned to see Robbie and Matt Bradford drop onto stools at the center of the bar. Immediately, his spirits lifted. With the cousins here, the conversation would be light, his brother would get off his back for a bit, and he’d be reminded of all the reasons he’d held onto this place. Good company was as important to him as it had been to his father.
“Not out with the ladies tonight?” he asked. He caught the edge to his tone. It wasn’t lost on him that both these men were reunited with Conway girls while Brooke was slipping further from his fingertips by the day.
“Amelia’s at the café,” Matt offered up, which of course Kyle knew. The Firefly Café was especially busy in the warmer months when patrons could sit on the deck overlooking Lake Huron.
“Keira’s sleeping over at a friend’s house, so I’m flying solo,” Robbie said. He always smiled when he talked about his daughter. “It’s sort of a strange feeling.”
Kyle nodded. He knew all too well how empty life could feel, how long and lonely the evenings were, especially in those first few months after Brooke had left. He’d gotten used to it in time. Went out with the guys. Made sure to stay late at the pub, well past closing. Anything to delay returning to that quiet cottage.
But lately, the feeling had reared to the surface again, and all he could think of was how close Brooke was…and how far away at the same time.
“What about Britt?” he asked.
Robbie raised his eyebrows. “Oh, the orchard is sponsoring the school prom next weekend. I guess she got roped into helping with the decorating committee. Said they’re lacking volunteers.” He shook his head. “Prom. Feels like a hundred years ago, doesn’t it?”
Kyle nodded, even though it felt more like yesterday. He could still remember the way Brooke had worn her hair that night, swept up into a low bun that she’d copied out of a magazine. Her nails had been painted the same shade of pink as her dress, and he’d picked out a matching corsage, all on his own, back when the flower shop was owned by a seemingly sweet older woman with a sharp eye and even sharper sense of business, who made sure to steer him toward the most expensive options, claiming that he wouldn’t want to disappoint his lady, would he?
No, he thought now, with a heavy heart. He’d never set out to disappoint Brooke about anything, but somehow that’s exactly what he’d done.
“Next weekend, you said?” He grinned to himself. He suddenly had the perfect way to spend their next date together.
12
Conway Orchard and Winery would always remain Brooke’s favorite place in all of Blue Harbor—nearly as special as her childhood home, and even topping the lakefront, with its shimmering water and view of Evening Island.
When she was younger, she and her sisters and cousins would run through the orchard, playing hide and go seek until they’d reached the farm boundary, or helping their mothers to sell jams and pies. There were festivals and events, too, and this weekend was always Brooke’s personal favorite. The Blossom Barn Dance was held every spring when the cherry trees were in full bloom. Somehow, like today, the sun always shone, and the rain stayed away, bringing everyone together at the orchard for a community gathering that lasted past sundown.
It was a time to laugh and sing and dance, and catch up with people you saw every day but didn’t always have a chance to stop and talk with properly.
Tonight, though, she wasn’t sure what she would share. The business. Yes, she’d keep focused on that. And helping her cousins.
Spotting the line for Maddie’s pies, she joined the end of it, hoping that her cousin wouldn’t run out before Brooke’s turn came.
“You’re out of luck,” Maddie said to her after she handed over a delicious strawberry pie with a sparkling sugary lattice crust to a young couple who were probably passing through town for the weekend. “That was my last pie, and after I clean up, I’m free to enjoy the music.”
She smiled at something over Brooke’s shoulder. More like someone, Brooke thought, noticing Cole standing near the band.
“I don’t know where you find the time to make all of these and run the bakery,” Brooke told her cousin. She had only been open for a week and a half and already she was struggling to think of when she could be able to finish the bridesmaid dress sketches for her Pine Falls client, much less start working on any new sample gowns.
“I have a great assistant who helps me in the kitchen,” Maddie said. “And she’s happy to cover Sunday mornings on her own so I can be here at the market too. I wouldn’t want to miss it. Selling these pies is a family tradition.”
Brooke smiled fondly at the memory of her Aunt Elizabeth standing in this very barn, selling her pies that looked exactly like Maddie’s. She knew from experience that these pies would taste the same, too.
“There’s something to be said for tradition,” Brooke agreed. “It’s something I think about with my wedding gowns. How they might get passed down through the generations.”
“Speaking of wedding gowns, I heard that Candy already paid you a visit.” Maddie waggled her eyebrows.
Brooke laughed. “That she did. She’s certainly excited about the wedding.”
“Is she wearing white?” Maddie wanted to know.
Brooke was aware that this was delicate territory. No one wanted to feel like their mother was being replaced, even if Candy couldn’t be more different than Elizabeth Conway.
“Well, it is her first wedding,” Brooke said carefully.
Maddie’s cheeks flushed a bit but then she shrugged. “Honestly, I was worried her dress would be pink!”
Now they both laughed, and Brooke decided to keep it to herself that there was no doubt the bridesmaid gowns would be pink. She wondered as she walked around the barn if Candy might ask her to design those too and decided not to push her luck. She had plenty of business right now, and she didn’t want to stretch herself too thin during her first few months. It was challenging enough to pour her savings into rent, let alone inventory costs. The loan would go a long way toward growth.
Leaving Maddie to close up her stand, Brooke wandered around the room, admiring the wildflower bouquets on the round tables.
Gabby motioned to her from the buffet table, which was piled with trays of food that Amelia had brought over from the café. Brooke noticed Candy’s cheese biscuits and helped herself to one.
“No fresh faces.” Gabby sighed and sipped her wine. “I suppose you can be my dance partner like w
hen we were little.”
“I can’t stay long,” Brooke admitted, knowing that the work she should be doing in her shop was not the only excuse. This was a town event, and chances were high that Kyle or at least his mother would stop by at some point.
“Come on! You’ve missed this while you were away!” Gabby chided.
It was true. She had. More than she’d admitted to herself.
“Fine, but if I fall behind on orders, I’m going to reinstate your sewing lessons.” She laughed at Gabby’s expression of horror because they both knew how that had gone. When they were still playing with dolls, Brooke had been the one to make their clothes, and despite her efforts, Gabby showed no effort or talent when it came to doing the same. She was an expert at flower crowns and necklaces though.
“If you’re looking for an assistant, I heard that Heidi might need a job,” she said, referring to their cousin on their mother’s side. “She’s never quite figured out what she wants to do, and this might be a good fit for you both. I’d hire her myself, but with mom helping with deliveries, I’m mostly covered.”
Brooke couldn’t deny that it was a tempting idea. Heidi was easygoing and creative, and a hard worker, too.
“She doesn’t want to help her sister at the bookstore?”
Gabby gave a tight shake of the head. “That didn’t work out.”
“I’ll need to wait to settle in,” she told Gabby. “Once I know how much business I have, I’ll be in a better position to make a long-term plan.”
Gabby nodded, no explanation needed. But she grinned. “Long-term plan. I love the sound of that.”
So did Brooke. Especially when it was one she could rely on.
The music turned to something catchy and Gabby gave her a pleading look. “I’ll join you soon,” Brooke promised.
She watched as her sister joined Jenna, her gaze roaming to Britt and Robbie who were sharing their dance with a little girl who must be Robbie’s daughter, judging by the hair color and the way she giggled every time she looked up at him.
She smiled sadly, taking in the scene, thinking of how much had changed, and for so many people, herself included. It was hot in the room, mostly from the energy level, and she pushed her way through the crowd until she was outside in the cool evening air. It was quiet enough to hear the crickets chirping, and clear enough to see the stars, which were so much better than any city lights.
“Trade you for your thoughts.”
Brooke turned at the sound of the low, deep voice, her breath catching even though she knew instinctively that it was Kyle. He stood beside her, a grin on his face, and two glasses of wine in his hands, one held out to her.
She took it and drank back a sip.
“I was just thinking that so much has changed while I’ve been away.” She glanced at him. “And so much hasn’t.”
His gaze was heavy on hers for a moment, until he tipped his head, motioning toward the orchard. “Care for a walk?”
She considered the alternative. Was square dancing with her sister or watching her cousins sway happily with their boyfriends her idea of a good time? As much as she’d missed them, it wasn’t. And being with Kyle…Well, it was as easy and comfortable as it had always been.
“I haven’t been here since I got back to town,” she said by way of an excuse for falling into step beside him. “I always loved this place.”
“It’s the heart of this town,” he agreed. “Certainly the center of your family. And it was also where you and I started our life together.”
She swallowed hard. It wasn’t where they’d gotten married, but it held just as much significance. It was where he’d proposed.
“You certainly surprised me,” she said, thinking back on that brisk fall day when she’d been helping with the harvest, tired and hungry, and looking forward to a nice dinner in town. Kyle had been there, along with her sisters and cousins, and they were still in that full bloom of love, where her heart sped up every time their eyes met, where the anticipation of being alone with him hadn’t lost its thrill.
“Let’s take a walk,” she said now, out loud. She glanced at him. “That’s what you said.”
Just like tonight, she realized, with a start.
“You couldn’t resist my charms back then.” Kyle nudged her playfully, and against her better judgment, she felt herself relaxing into the moment, into the memory that only they had shared.
“You didn’t even have a ring.” Not that it mattered. Instead, he’d twisted one from the grapevines, told her it was temporary, that he couldn’t wait another moment to start their lives together, to dream about their future.
“The real ring came later,” he pointed out, and she nodded.
“But that first ring was still the most special.” With a frown, she wondered what had happened to it. She’d been so careful to set it aside, once the small solitaire diamond was safely on her finger.
“If I could go back and do it all over again, that’s the one part I wouldn’t change.” Kyle stopped walking and turned to look at her.
Brooke’s heart was beating so loudly now that she was sure he could hear it, out here in the fields, where it was just the two of them.
“Me either,” she said, knowing that it was true. That despite how it had all turned out, if she had the choice to do it all over again, she would, because that was a time in her life when she was genuinely, truly happy.
And she couldn’t be sure she’d ever felt that way again. Or ever would.
Kyle reached down and took her hand, and she stiffened at his touch, wanting to pull it back almost as much as she wanted to give in to this moment.
“I took your hand, and I said something to the effect of…Will you marry me?” He laughed, and she joined him, even though tears were forming in her eyes, just as they had that day. Only now they weren’t happy tears. They were bittersweet.
“I was so nervous that I honestly don’t even remember.”
“I remember,” Brooke said softly. “You said, I don’t have anything to offer you right now but my open hand, and a promise…” She swallowed hard, unable to finish the words that he’d spoken to her that night.
“And a promise,” he said now, his eyes staring deep into hers. “And a promise to always love you.”
The last words must have been spoken a hundred times throughout their relationship, maybe a thousand, but it had been so long now since she’d heard them, believed them, felt them. She could remember his words. But she couldn’t remember how it felt to be loved by him. Until now.
She slowly pulled her hand free, pressing it against the skirt of her sundress, hating how cold and empty it now felt.
“I should get back. My sisters will be wondering where I am. I promised I’d dance with Gabby.” She laughed to cover her nervous energy.
“Or you can dance with me instead?”
He couldn’t be serious. The entire room would no doubt freeze in place to see Kyle Harrison and Brooke Conway sharing the dance floor.
But that wasn’t the real reason she didn’t want to dance with him. She didn’t trust herself in his arms. Not after tonight.
“I have to get going soon,” she said, quickening her pace back to the barn.
“That’s fine,” he said as they reached the open doors, where the glow of lights made her see the amusement shining in his eyes. “You can save it for a rain check.”
She narrowed her eyes on him. “Rain check?”
“The prom committee needs chaperones for next weekend. I signed us up.” He took a sip of the wine he was still holding as if this was the most natural thing he could have said.
She blinked at him. “You can’t be serious.”
“Very serious. Looks like I’ve got a date to the prom. Again.” He just grinned and walked back inside the barn, leaving her to stand outside and stare up at the night sky, and wonder if she would ever be free of this man.
Or if she really wanted to be.
13
On the followin
g Saturday afternoon, Brooke stared into the contents of her closet and for the tenth time talked herself out of asking Gabby to stop by. Ironic, she knew, to be seeking fashion advice when she was the one who designed dresses for a living. But what did you wear to a school prom with your ex-husband? What did you wear to a school prom at her age? Gabby had been right when she’d pointed out that Brooke often overdressed for life in Blue Harbor.
That she’d forgotten the ways. That maybe, she no longer fit in.
Eventually, Brooke decided on a black shift dress, knowing that she could never regret a classic. She paired it with strappy gold sandals with a kitten heel, and a chunky gold necklace, lest she look too prim. Her hair she swept back with a clip, and for makeup, she kept it minimal. They were technically chaperones, after all. This wasn’t a date, no matter what Kyle insisted on calling it.
Still, she felt a flutter of anticipation at the thought of spending another evening with him. She’d kept busy all week, managed not to give tonight too much thought, but now there was no denying the fact that she was going back to the very high school where she and Kyle had first fallen in love, where he’d be waiting for her.
She set a hand to her stomach as it tightened at that thought, and grabbed a beaded gold clutch before heading out the door.
The school was close enough to walk to, even in the shoes, and despite the threat of blisters, she hurried her pace, not that she was in any rush. She swept her eyes up and down Main Street, knowing that her sisters and cousins and probably everyone else in town would find out about how she was spending her evening before this time tomorrow, but by then it would be over and done with. And right now, she didn’t want to explain why she was dressed for a night out, and not a night at the Carriage House Inn Pub or dinner at the café, or even the Yacht Club. No, she was dressed for a special event.
And this was starting to feel like a special event, not just because it was the school prom.
Her sister Gabby would appreciate it, though. She’d been on the prom planning committee, even if she’d never gone to the dance, other than to set it up. Brooke had, of course, though. Had the pictures to prove it, somewhere. Beside her, giggling girls who looked so much younger than she had ever been scurried excitedly along the sidewalk, wobbling in their heels, leaving a waft of perfume in their wake. The outside of the school was decorated with balloons and signs and…flowers.
