The Practically Romantic Groom (Cobble Creek Romance Book 2)

by Maria Hoagland

  Gemma pressed her lips together.

  “Do you want to walk around with us or with Uncle Isaac?” Danielle reached out to hold Cody’s hand but never took her eyes off her daughter.

  Eyes back on the ground, Gemma walked to Isaac’s side and slipped her hand into his.

  “Good choice, kid. I knew you’d want to stick with me because I have all the tickets.” Isaac gave Gemma’s hand a quick squeeze before he lifted three fingers to Danielle in a promise. “I won’t lose her twice in one night, Scout’s honor.” He dropped his hand to his side. “Odds are pretty slim I would do that again, right? Although . . .” He gave Brooke a questioning look. “I might need someone to help me with this slippery rascal.”

  Brooke nodded in answer to his implied invitation.

  Isaac kept talking as if she hadn’t responded. “Brooke might get lost if you don’t help me keep an eye on her, Ruby.”

  With the twist on the expected, Gemma lifted her chin and her eyes darted to her uncle. For a moment there, Brooke thought Gemma might actually laugh. She remained silent, but she didn’t protest or even make a move back to her mother. While it wasn’t exactly an excited endorsement, Brooke took it as complicit acceptance to her tagging along. The almost laughing look was by far the happiest Brooke had seen the girl, and Brooke found herself curious to see if she could look truly happy at least once that evening.

  “Somehow I need to convince Brooke to stick with us. Oh, I hope I don’t lose her too. That would be awful.” He winked at Gemma.

  Listening to him tease his niece was one of the cutest things Brooke had seen all day. If she’d been dreaming of a Netflix binge and a cup of hot chocolate, all intentions of hermiting alone at home were abandoned.

  Danielle placed her other hand at Cody’s elbow and turned him away. Not that there was anything fun for two adults sans kids to do at an elementary school end-of-year carnival, but they seemed pleased. Maybe they were going to leave. But strangely enough, Brooke was okay with this arrangement. Looked forward to it, even.

  “You know what Gemma and I saw on the way over?” Offering a suggestion was Brooke’s way of accepting the invitation. “The face painting booth. We were wondering—if you were going to get your face painted, Isaac, what would you want done?”

  “You mean that booth over there?” Isaac pointed to the largest of the tents where several stations were set up, finally catching up with demand. It was a good time to go. “Hmm. Maybe a Smurf. Or a llama.” Did Gemma just breathe a laugh at that one?

  “A tiger,” Brooke suggested.

  “Or a wolf.” Isaac rubbed his chin as if this were the most important decision he’d made all day. Maybe it was. “I think you’re right, Pearl. Llama it is.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “And you, Trout? Let’s see. What should Brooke be? Maybe she should be the tiger.” Gemma shook her head. “A princess?” Another shake. They were conversing. “A crocodile?”

  Gemma tugged him down with her hand to whisper in Isaac’s ear.

  “A butterfly? With purple glitter?” He stood and looked at his niece, his eyebrows coming together in the middle. “That is strangely specific.” He turned to Brooke. “Did I miss something here?”

  So Gemma had been listening. Brooke wasn’t surprised, but she felt validated. “Gemma’s the only one who can see the real me.”

  “The big question is what Gemma should be . . .” Isaac drew it out as if thinking super hard about it, while Brooke had the feeling he knew before asking.

  “A tiger?” The option had fallen into the obligatory category now.

  “Why is it everyone should be a tiger?” Isaac quipped.

  “Someone should be,” Brooke argued.

  Gemma shook her head with the slightest movement. The thing about being with her was that you had to look for the almost negligible of indications that she was communicating. It would be so easy to miss.

  “What does Gemma like?” Without some background on her, there was no way Brooke could even make an educated guess.

  “Horses. She’s got stuffed animal horses, plastic horses, Barbie horses. She draws horses, colors horses, thinks, dreams, and eats horses …” He waited for Gemma to react to the last one, but even the absurd, possibly offensive, comment didn’t even garner as much as a wince on the girl’s face. “Do I smell caramel popcorn?”

  Isaac raised his head in the air and sniffed, sending Gemma giggling, though again, it was almost imperceptible. She didn’t double over, and the sound barely escaped her tightly clamped lips, but merriment leaked out of her eyes all the same. He started to walk away from the face painting tent, presumably in search of popcorn.

  “Please tell me caramel popcorn and horses have nothing to do with each other.” Brooke was careful not to look directly at Gemma. If she kept her conversation up with Isaac only, Gemma seemed a lot more comfortable.

  Gemma bit the inside of her cheeks, but pulled Isaac to the end of the closest line.

  I guess that means she’s interested.

  “She would make a beautiful princess,” Brooke tried.

  “More like evil queen. Can’t believe she’s keeping me from popcorn,” Isaac complained. “Where are they selling it? Can we get some after the face painting?”

  “I’m sure we can,” Brooke assured him. “If we can figure out what Gemma wants.”

  “I’m starting to feel like Rumpelstiltskin.” Isaac shoved his hands in his pants pockets and waddled around like a penguin. What it had to do with the fairy tale grump-kin, Brooke wasn’t sure, but Isaac was definitely entertaining. “Abused and forgotten. And trying to guess impossible things.”

  “You’ve got it all wrong.” Brooke slipped her hand around his elbow, curtailing his waddling to their area of the line. “He was the one who made everyone else guess impossible things.”

  “Oh, right.” Isaac stopped still, frowning as if he’d lost. In all seriousness, he spoke to Gemma. “You’re going to have to tell me, kid.” He paused to let that sink in. “It’s either you tell me or you tell the nice lady with the brush up there.”

  Two people in front of them had gone before Gemma pulled Isaac down to her again. He looked at her, brows knitted. “Are you sure?” He considered it, probably figuring out how the artist would draw whatever it was she requested. It couldn’t possibly be harder to paint than Isaac’s crazy llama, could it?

  Again, the titch of a nod.

  “Okay. Dragon it is.” Isaac stepped up and instructed the face painter, “This little princess would like to be transformed into a dragon.”

  True to Brooke’s word and Isaac’s one-track sniffer, directly after face painting, he sniffed out the caramel popcorn cart and bought three bags even though Brooke insisted she didn’t want her own. Gemma scarfed hers and was off into the melee of writhing children’s bodies on the jungle gym and playground equipment before Brooke or even Isaac had gotten through the first third of their own.

  A couple vacated the plastic-coated wire bench they’d been standing next to. “Let’s grab it before someone else does.” Isaac flopped down.

  “You act like we just finished hiking Tabletop, not walked around a small school yard. It’s probably less than a football field long.”

  “It’s at least two football fields,” he argued. “And we crossed it several times.” Isaac took a huge handful of his popcorn and followed it up with a slurp of homemade root beer. “And since when do you refer to them as football fields? Don’t you mean band field?”

  Brooke laughed, shaking her head. Sometimes it was hard to remember this Greek god of a man was her old high school friend, and yet other times it was impossible to forget. “So, my brother and your sister?”

  “Mmm-hmm.” He had the good manners not to talk with his mouth full.

  “How long has that been going on?” And why hadn’t Cody mentioned it to her?

  “This might be their second date. She was pretty excited after the first one, but—” Isaac seemed to quickly second-guess what he was goi
ng to say and closed his mouth instead.

  “But what?” She was not going to let him drop it like that, not when it sounded like he was going to say something that sounded potentially important.

  “Can you believe we used to play here as kids?” Isaac pointed. “If I remember correctly, you pulled me off those monkey bars.”

  There he went changing the subject. But she couldn’t let that kind of challenge go unanswered. She’d get back to the whole Cody and Danielle thing later. “You said you were faster than I was, and I simply had to show you it wasn’t true.”

  Isaac barked a quick laugh. “I’d show you right now, but there are too many kids.”

  “Chicken,” Brooke goaded.

  “Not hardly. Rain check?”

  “Rain check.” She liked the sound of that. “If you finish what you were going to say about Danielle and Cody. She liked their first date, but you think it won’t work why?”

  Isaac lifted his hands in the air. “It’s just—Danielle’s done the whole dating and falling in love stuff, and look where it got her.” Isaac paused, looking up into the sky. “Look at those stars . . .”

  “Oh, no.” Brooke crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not letting you hijack the conversation again. You need to explain yourself.” She clamped her lips shut and turned a stony glare on him.

  It only took a couple of moments for Isaac to cave. “I’m just saying maybe Cody shouldn’t get his hopes up. Even if they go on a few dates, their relationship isn’t going to go anywhere. I mean, Danielle can see through all that romance crap.”

  “Excuse me?” Brooke’s eyebrows lifted so high, her eyes started to dry out.

  “I’m just saying romance doesn’t work. Danielle fell for it with Evan, but she’s past that at this point in life. Not to say Cody isn’t up to the job—I really don’t know much about him yet—but romance isn’t the way to make a relationship work.”

  Brooke could feel the heat from Isaac’s leg next to hers, which was comforting as the temperature around them dropped. “Then what is?” This ought to be good.

  “Like the flowers and whatever that card to Mrs. Carlisle said the other day—when compared side by side, telling someone you love them is nowhere near as important as showing them. Words fade, flowers wilt, but a person’s actions are what defines the person.”

  “Well, that’s true in some ways, sure,” Brooke conceded, “but it’s also so much more than that. I mean, if someone always worked hard for the family, was dependable, brought home a good wage, cared for the family’s needs, protected them, provided everything, yet stayed aloof emotionally, the relationship still wouldn’t work. People need to hear ‘I love you.’ People need hugs. Couples need intimacy—emotionally and physically—to survive and thrive. Flowers and pretty words are one way of conveying that and a way to help someone feel appreciated.”

  “You’re saying that without those things, a relationship can’t exist?” Isaac asked.

  “And you’re saying that you don’t need romance for a couple to fall in love?”

  Isaac shifted, turning away from her and facing the playground again. He crossed his arms and Brooke wondered if he had abandoned the conversation. By the time he spoke again, Brooke had been about to leave, thinking their conversation was beyond repair. “I have to warn you that no matter what Cody does, I don’t think he and Danielle are going to make it in the long run.”

  “Why do you say that?” To Brooke it felt like an insult on her family. Cody was a sweet brother. If their relationship progressed to that point, Cody would take excellent care of Danielle and Gemma.

  “Danielle has been through too much with her ex-husband. Evan could say all the right things. He was fabulous on all the romantic gestures at first, but they died out quickly. And when he started showing Dani who he really was, she was already too in love with him and his grand gestures to believe that he was a jerk. She made all kinds of excuses for him until he up and made his own excuse not to care for his family when they needed him the most.” Isaac swallowed. “Danielle won’t be won over with flowers and the romantic gestures. Charm will turn her off. The only thing she cares about is being genuine. She doesn’t want that stuff. She’s too practical.”

  “I can see that. I really can. But no one is so practical they don’t want to feel special. Everyone wants to be pursued in some way. Don’t you?” Brooke paused. How could she make him understand?

  “Well …” Isaac leaned forward, staring at the playground, but not seeming to be thinking about it. “Since Cody and Danielle are dating and we have absolutely no say in the matter—”

  Did Isaac think they shouldn’t be together? Brooke took a breath, about to ask, but he held up a hand and kept talking.

  “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, not at all. But I am thinking this might be a fun little experiment. Obviously, you think you’re right—that romance is the most important thing to making a relationship work—and I think it’s totally bunk. Why don’t we place a little friendly wager on it?” He waggled his eyebrows at her. “How certain are you feeling now?”

  Brooke straightened in her seat, drawing herself up taller. “Very.” She leveled a stare at him. “I’m going to get you to believe in romance, one way or another. I don’t know what happened to you. You didn’t used to be this cynical.” She couldn’t let Isaac live his life this jaded. “Okay, I bet you Cody will get Danielle to fall in love with him, and it will totally be because he romances her. I know him. He will treat her like a princess. He will open doors for her, take her flowers—provided by me, of course—”

  “That’s cheating.” Isaac tried to stare her down.

  “Cody is a sweetie, and she won’t be able to resist.” Perhaps Brooke was too sure of herself considering she didn’t actually know that much about Cody’s dating habits, but she was getting caught up in the challenge with Isaac. “They look so sweet together, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re halfway there already.”

  Isaac let out a dry laugh. “And I think my sister is too practical to fall for marriage again. So if I win, you have to sing for me . . .” His pause was heavy with anticipation, and she could feel he was going to raise the stakes—otherwise she could have done it anytime. “In public.”

  Brooke let out a breath. “Fine.” Brooke’s response was a strangled squeak. So much for playing that cool, but obviously, he knew how reluctant she was to stand up in front of people, or he wouldn’t have made that her payment. She held out a bit of hope. Isaac hadn’t said how vulnerable she needed to make herself, just that it needed to be public. Maybe karaoke night?

  How sure was she? Neither of them could do anything to control the outcome, an outcome that relied completely on Cody and Danielle. A scary thought occurred to her. “No sabotaging.” She wagged her finger at him until he agreed.

  He dipped his chin. “No sabotaging,” he echoed. With elbows on his knees, Isaac leaned forward, eyes never leaving Gemma, her fuchsia pink T-shirt the only way to keep track of her in the tight knot of kids.

  “Okay.” Brooke considered what she wanted from Isaac. “If I win, you have to dance with me.” She could feel her neck flush and was glad it was dusk. “To country music.” It was her kicker to rival his. “Question, though: how will we gauge who’s winning? We need some sort of concrete standards.”

  Isaac leaned back into the wire bench. “True. Some way to earn points.” He stretched an arm across the back of the bench. “I get a point if he asks her out again—”

  “But I get a point if he does it in a sweet, unusual way,” Brooke interrupted. “Cody probably isn’t that creative, but should he bring flowers, it would definitely be my point.” She shifted, pulling a knee up underneath herself. The evening air was starting to chill her. “I also get a point if he opens doors for her—and lets her go first.” She hated having to make that stipulation. Any gentleman should do that automatically.

  “But if she doesn’t accept that or opens the door for him, it’s mine,” Isaac
agreed.

  “Let’s say their date revolves around something specific to her interests—like a chick flick or he researches her favorite restaurant—I would call that romantic. Especially if it involves candles or is a picnic. Those should count for me.”

  “That means if it’s a generic date, which is much more plausible, especially as time goes on.” The implication, of course, was that those dates would be Isaac’s points. She had to concede to that.

  “You have a point. Speaking of which, we should put a time limit on it. Suggestions?”

  “Being a pragmatic person—” Isaac leaned on the word as if to emphasize he was not the romantic one. “—I figure by four weeks, Cody will bail.”

  Brooke was surprised. Not by the time period so much as the thought that their relationship wouldn’t go anywhere. She had to stick up for them and love in general. “I don’t think so. They’re really into each other.” The memory of the look Cody gave Danielle made Brooke more confident of it. Besides, the bet with Isaac was going to be fun—just like old times. “Four weeks, then.”

  A cold shiver ran through Brooke—the kind of quake impossible to camouflage from someone sitting next to you.

  “Cold?” Isaac slid closer in an offering to help warm her.

  Tempting as that was, this was Isaac, her friend, not a guy she was dating. Brooke zipped her jacket to the top and stood. “It’s time for me to head home.”

  “Thanks for hanging out with me and Gemma tonight. It was fun catching up.”

  Brooke was slightly disappointed Isaac didn’t try to convince her to stay. “My pleasure. Gemma is a great kid, and you are an amazing uncle.”

  She noticed his eyes flick her direction for the briefest of moments before following Gemma again. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. She and Danielle mean the world to me.”

  A strong sentiment—and a warning, if Brooke had ever heard one. Cody had better know what he was doing. Perhaps a little coaching from her wouldn’t be a bad thing. It wasn’t sabotage to give the man a few pointers, right? And if that assured she wouldn’t have to sing in public, well, it was worth the risk of meddling.