A Match Made Perfect--A Clean Romance
Page 11
“Picnic special for two. Chicken-salad sandwiches, extra lettuce on one. Potato salad and blackberry pie. Oh, and bottled waters. Holly usually lets me pay when I pick it up.”
“That’s fine.” Brooke scribbled out the order, even as she wondered about Mandy’s lunch friend. She remembered how happy she’d been when she’d finally made friends: Frankie, Monty and, of course, Sebastian. The endless lazy days by the lake, or hanging out at the beach or at the diner. Until things shifted and she was spending more time alone with Sebastian. Time she’d treasured more than anything. “When do you want to pick it up?”
“One thirty. We’ll stop by on our way to the lake once I’m out of school.”
“Milkweed Lake?” Brooke couldn’t help but ask. “I used to love it up there.” How much had it changed?
“I still do,” Mandy said with a cheeky grin and stood up. “I was wondering. If you aren’t busy, or you aren’t working, maybe we could meet for coffee one morning?” She took a deep breath. “I’d like to talk. And get to know you, um...”
“Brooke,” Brooke said before Mandy looked any more uncomfortable. “How about you just call me Brooke?”
“Okay.” Mandy let out a sigh of relief. “That’s great. Brooke.”
“I have Saturday off.”
“Oh.” Mandy’s smile flickered, but her eyes twinkled a bit. “Saturdays are usually father-daughter days, at least in the morning. But...” She gnawed on her lower lip. “Yeah, I can make that work. Just have to talk to Dad, but I’m sure he’ll be okay with it.”
Brooke wasn’t as certain.
“How about Chrysalis Bakery at eight,” Mandy suggested. “Unless that’s too early. I’m a notorious early bird. Used to drive Dad nuts.”
“I’ll see you then.” Brooke couldn’t wait to hear what else Mandy did that drove Sebastian nuts, if only to get a better idea as to the life Mandy had lived. “If I don’t see you tomorrow when you pick up your lunch.”
“Great.” Mandy’s smile was back in place. “It was nice to talk to you, Brooke.”
“You, too,” Brooke whispered and watched Mandy walk out the door and head up the street.
“That’s a right good girl there,” Ursula said from behind. “Light of her daddy’s life.”
“It would seem so,” Brooke agreed. And she could see why. “He’s done a wonderful job with her.” Brooke turned and offered Ursula a grim smile. “Far better than I could have, I’m sure. I need to fill some coffee cups. Excuse me.”
* * *
“WHY DIDN’T YOU tell me Brooke was working at the diner?”
Sebastian looked up from the dinner he was practically ignoring to find himself pinned by Mandy’s penetrating stare. “Didn’t I?”
“If you had, I might not have been so surprised when I went to order lunch for me and Kyle for tomorrow.”
Sebastian did his best not to wince. He really didn’t need reminding that his almost-fifteen-year-old daughter was going to the lake—alone—with Kyle Knight. But he knew, from very personal experience, that fighting his daughter’s friendship with Kyle was the best way to speed up whatever relationship might be developing. “I’m sorry, Mandy. I meant to tell you. I guess maybe part of me assumed she wouldn’t be here for long.”
“Wow. Harsh much?” Mandy flipped over a piece of teriyaki chicken. “You told me she wasn’t ready to see me yet. She didn’t give me that impression.”
“I told you I wasn’t sure where her head was and that I asked her to please figure some things out before she approached you.” He’d been so relieved last night when Mandy’s schedule prevented them from having a heart-to-heart about his conversation with Brooke. Now he wished he’d made the time.
“You make me sound like a rabid animal,” Mandy muttered.
“This situation is complicated, Mandy.” He had never uttered truer words.
“Which is why we agreed to handle it together. You raised me to have my own mind, Dad. If I don’t think she’s good to have in my life, I’ll let you both know.”
Why did it sometimes feel as if Mandy was the one raising him? “You’re right. I should have told you about your mom’s job. What did you think of her?”
Mandy shrugged. “She wasn’t what I expected. She seemed quiet. Sad, almost.”
He’d thought so, too. But that hadn’t stopped him piling it on, had it?
“Are you sure it wasn’t something you said to her?” The accusation came with a sharpness in his daughter’s eyes he wished he didn’t see.
“Partly. But your mom’s always been like that, sort of. At the time, when we were dating—”
“Before you were expecting me?” Mandy batted her sassy lashes at him in a way that had him laughing through the discomfort.
“During that time, too,” Sebastian agreed. “I was too wrapped up in her to see her home situation for what it was. I think it’s only been...recently that I realized the extent of what she was dealing with.” Recent as in days. Fifteen years might have passed for him, but he wasn’t sure it had for Brooke. “We were just kids when you were born, Man.”
“I know.” She heaved a sigh. “Not much older than I am now.”
“Yeah.” That thought made him slightly ill. “Your mom needed someone to count on, someone to love, and I had this need to protect her.” A need he hadn’t entirely shaken.
“That’s what people who love each other do, Dad.”
He could only hope he wouldn’t have to remind Mandy of that anytime soon. It was up to him to make certain his daughter didn’t end up with a broken heart. He refused to let history repeat itself. “She was a very shy girl, Mandy. For a while I made her happy.” And she’d made him blissfully so.
“What was so wrong with you her parents didn’t like you?” Mandy pushed her plate away and went to the fridge. “What did you do?”
What was it Frankie had said? Candice had seen Sebastian as her competition? It couldn’t have been for attention since all she gave Brooke was negative. “The Ardells didn’t approve of anyone who didn’t have what they did.”
“You mean money.” Mandy snorted. “That’s stupid.”
“It was more than that.” Slightly. “Reputation and status was their main focus.” It probably still was Candice’s, given what little information he’d gleaned from Brooke. “Status was always very important to them. My dad worked at the post office and my mom cleaned houses. We lived very ordinary lives. No way could the Ardells see me as climbing anywhere close to their level.”
“They sound like snobs.” Mandy grabbed an ice-cream sandwich out of the freezer, cut it in half and set part of it in front of him.
“Definitely one way to describe them.” He could still remember the night he’d gone to dinner at Brooke’s house with the express intent of asking her parents for permission to marry Brooke. Not that he needed their permission. They were both nineteen and by then Brooke was three months pregnant. If he’d been smart, he’d have foregone the awkwardness and taken up Monty on his offer to drive them to Reno to get married. Instead, Brooke had run up to her room in tears, and her father had ordered him out of the house. Permanently.
“I think she’s scared of them.” Mandy’s observation had Sebastian nodding.
“It’s just her mom now, Man.” He pried the paper off his half of the ice-cream sandwich. “Her dad died last year.”
“Oh.” Mandy mulled that bit of information. “I guess I just can’t imagine being afraid of your own parents. I mean, you annoy me sometimes, Dad.”
“Happy to hear it.”
Mandy grinned. “But I’ve never been afraid of you. Not like Kyle was scared of his real dad. That’s just...wrong.”
“And as your aunt Frankie reminded me, it’s also pretty tough to be independent when that’s the reality.” He really didn’t enjoy the tingle of guilt he couldn’t shake. “Especially w
hen you don’t think you have anywhere else to go.” He took a deep breath and once again regretted his harsh words the other day. “That reminds me, since we haven’t really had a chance to talk at length since I met with Brooke—”
“I’m having coffee with her Saturday morning.”
“You’re...what?” Sebastian wasn’t sure he’d heard her correctly.
“You said if I wanted to talk to her I could, so we’re meeting at the bakery. I know it’s our daughter-dad day, but she has the day off and I’m helping Ezzie at Senior Central on Sunday. It’s just in the morning. You and I can do something in the afternoon.”
“Monty and I had planned on going out on his new boat Saturday morning. He mentioned something about diving.”
“Oh.” Mandy scrunched her face. “Darn. Can we go later in the morning? Like about ten?”
“I’d need to check.” Sebastian tried to ignore the resentment building up in his chest. He didn’t want to schedule his life around Brooke. “She can’t meet you another day?”
Mandy frowned. “I thought you said I could make up my own mind about seeing her.”
“I did.”
“Then what’s the big deal? It’s just one morning of one Saturday.”
The big deal was that they were talking about Saturday. Pretty soon it would be more than one morning—it would be a morning and lunch. Then it would be an entire day. Then she’d want to spend the night at Brooke’s...
Sebastian squeezed his sandwich so hard the ice cream oozed out. “If it means that much to you, I’ll check with Monty and see if we can get a late start.”
“Thanks, Dad. That would be great.”
“Sure.” That Mandy didn’t seem as upset about losing part of daughter-dad day struck him harder than expected. He supposed he should be grateful she wasn’t trying to ditch him for Kyle. Brooke had only been back a short time and already he could feel his controlled world beginning to tip. “So, whose idea was it to meet for coffee?” He tried to sound casual. “You or your mother’s?”
Mandy shrugged again and licked dripping ice cream off the back of her hand. “Both, I think. She said I should call her Brooke.” Her nose wrinkled. “I don’t know that I like that, but it makes sense, I guess. ‘Mom’ seems so personal. At least for now.”
The knots in Sebastian’s stomach loosened a bit. Frankie had been right. His own instincts had been right. Mandy was taking this entire situation in the best way possible: feeling her own way through it and, more important, being open with him about it. He didn’t want Mandy sneaking behind his back. That wasn’t the kind of relationship they had. “Well, if you’re going to meet her at Chrysalis, I only have one request.”
“What’s that?” Mandy’s eyes narrowed.
“Bring me an apple fritter.”
Mandy laughed when he dotted ice cream on her nose. “You got it.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
“YOU’RE WATCHING THAT clock like it’s going to attack you.” Holly brushed behind Brooke as she reached for the coffeepot. Twyla was doing her usual spinning like a top from table to table, making serving look effortless while Brooke’s body ached from head to toe. “Hot date?”
Brooke’s cheeks went hot as she embraced the thought that the teasing felt oddly like a friendship beginning to form. It made her happy to think so. “No, it’s nothing like that.”
“Then why—” Holly turned toward the door at the same time Brooke did. “Oh.” Holly gave Brooke’s arm a quick squeeze. “Hello, Mandy. Kyle.”
“Hi.” Mandy smiled at Holly, then Brooke. “We have a lunch order to pick up.”
Brooke’s heart clenched as her gaze dropped to Mandy’s and Kyle’s linked hands. She could see Mandy’s fingers tighten around Kyle’s.
“I’ll get that together for you,” Holly said and disappeared into the kitchen.
After she cleared her throat, Mandy stepped forward, tugging Kyle with her. “So, um, Kyle Knight, this is my—”
“Brooke. Just call me Brooke.” She stepped forward, hand outstretched to the tall, fair-haired young man, but Mandy captured most of her attention. She looked nervous this afternoon, but she also looked like a bit of a rainbow with a bright patterned T-shirt and jeans and flip-flops. In February. Typical California girl. Brooke nodded. “It’s nice to meet you, Kyle.”
“You, too.” Kyle didn’t seem the least bit uncomfortable. “Welcome back.”
It was the first genuine welcome she’d received other than BethAnn’s and Holly’s. “Thank you. So, you two are headed up to the lake?”
“Yeah. My hours pick up next week so we thought we’d spend the rest of the day together. I’ll take care of lunch. Excuse me.” He dropped Mandy’s hand and stepped away.
“He seems nice,” Brooke said, while inside all she had were questions about Kyle Knight. Questions she was not entitled the answers to. “How old is he?”
Mandy arched an eyebrow in a way that reminded Brooke so much of Sebastian her knees went weak. “He just turned eighteen last month. Don’t worry. We aren’t doing anything. Much,” she added quickly as a hint of pink tinted her cheeks. “Don’t be like Dad and tell me he’s too old for me. I’m very mature for my age. And Kyle’s really nice now.”
Brooke’s lips twitched. “I’m sure your father is just looking out for your best interests.”
“I know.” The heavy sigh came with an eye roll Brooke had to assume was typical teenager. “Um, about tomorrow morning...”
Brooke tried to ignore how her stomach had dropped to her toes. “I understand if you can’t make it.”
“Oh, no, I can still meet you,” Mandy said. “It’s just that, well, like I said, Saturdays are usually me-and-Dad days and he and Uncle Monty have planned this boat thing and I really, really want to go diving again. So, if it’s okay, I just need to be at the marina by ten.”
Her daughter was worried about offending her and upsetting Sebastian? The compassion and empathy that took lightened Brooke’s heart in a way she couldn’t quite describe. “That’s fine, Mandy. I never want to interfere in your life or your father’s.” And she certainly didn’t want to upset Sebastian any more than she already had. “We can be sure you’re there in time.”
“Fab. Thank you for understanding.”
“Ready, Man?” Kyle reappeared, oversize paper sack in hand.
“Yep. ’Bye, Brooke. See you in the morning.”
“Have fun.” She waved and watched them walk out the door.
“Don’t worry,” Holly said. “He’s a good kid.”
“That’s what Mandy said.” Brooke frowned. “Only she added now. That makes me a little worried. But that’s natural, right?”
“Long story short,” Holly said, signaling to a customer that she’d seen him ask for more coffee. “He’s made a remarkable turnaround, Brooke. And he’s absolutely nothing like his father Rex. You should see Kyle with his new little brother, Leo. Lori and Matt adopted him out of foster care, too. He’s a total cutie.”
“Lori Bradley?” Brooke was still catching up on all the people from her past. “She was in my year, wasn’t she?”
Holly assured her she had been as she reached for two orders. “She’s turned out great. If you want to reconnect, she’s up at the Flutterby. Working part-time there. She also does landscape planning, and, if rumors are true, she’s thinking about reopening Blossoms and Buds, the town florist shop that closed about five years ago. That is, when she’s not being mom to a six-year-old.”
Brooke busied herself with the counter customers while Holly helped Twyla with the booths. She was going to have to start a journal of some kind to keep track of what had happened to people and who was married to whom. But in the back of her mind, all she could think about was how happy Mandy had looked with Kyle; how at ease he was with her. Brooke could only hope heartbreak wasn’t in her daughter’s future.
* * *
THE LAST PERSON Sebastian expected to see at Orangetip Market on his usual Friday-afternoon shopping run was Brooke. He stood at the edge of the produce section, a cool breeze wafting in through the continuously sliding glass doors, feet frozen to the floor, and watched her sort through the avocados. He wasn’t the only one who had noticed, either.
Myra, with her bright orange hair, Penny, in what looked like a sequined workout suit from the 80s, and Oscar, with his decked-out walker, peered around the corner of the pharmacy section. The Cocoon Club on patrol. Sebastian took a deep breath. They looked like bumbling, aged spies on surveillance duty.
Some things never changed, Sebastian thought as he steered his cart down the closest aisle and came up behind them.
“What’s she doing now?” Oscar demanded in a stage whisper everyone could hear.
“Can’t tell.” Myra leaned forward a bit more, grabbed hold of a display of magnifying glasses and peered closer. “Looks like she’s moved on to the onions. She’s zeroing in on the red ones.”
“Why is she shopping for produce here?” Penny asked. “Everyone knows you want the best produce, you go to Duskywing Farm. Calliope’s harvest can’t be beat and the prices here are almost robbery.”
“Maybe she doesn’t know about Duskywing,” Oscar suggested. “She hasn’t been back that long and she’s been working at the diner nearly every day. I heard she’s already given Holly her notice. Not even going to make it two weeks.”
“Fiddle-faddle,” Myra snorted. “I was just talking to Ursula yesterday and she said the girl’s actually doing okay. Imagine that. Brooke Ardell as a waitress. Never thought I’d see the day.”
“Well, she should be ashamed of herself, showing up in Butterfly Harbor like this,” Penny sniffed, then leaned over to get a better look. “You know if I was Sebastian, I’d—”