Brooke’s soft laugh scraped against his heart. “What was her first word?”
“Cookie. Didn’t sound like that, of course. More like coo-kee. Thank you, Sesame Street.”
Brooke’s shoulders shook before she lifted her head and took a deep breath.
“I have pictures,” he said, because he’d never been able to stand seeing Brooke cry. “Boxes of them. I was never great at organizing them. I can dig them out if you want to see them. Brooke...” He moved up behind her, caught her shoulders in his hands and turned her to face him.
“I thought I was doing the right thing.” She looked up at him, blue eyes pleading behind the sheen of tears. “I promise you, Sebastian, I truly thought I was doing what was best for both of you.”
Best for them? Not best for her? Looking at her now, holding her again, seeing the pain in her eyes, left him shaken and...uncertain. “You leaving wasn’t best for anyone, Brooke. It hurt. It did more than that—but I had to hold it together. For Mandy’s sake.”
“I knew you could. I knew you would.” She lifted a hand to his face and gentle fingers brushed his skin. “You loved our daughter from the moment you knew she existed. Just as you loved me from the moment we met. That’s how I knew she’d be all right without me. Because she’d always have you.”
“Brooke.” He released her, sliding his hands up her arms to cup her face in his palms. “Imagine if she’d had both of us.” Before she could answer, he kissed her.
Her gasp of surprise ignited his blood even as he kept his hold light. It was unlike any kiss they’d shared before, and they’d shared a lot. The emotions that had started spinning inside of him from when he’d seen her on the beach surged to the surface, breaking over the tide of memories that crashed into him. When he tasted the salt of tears, he stepped back, reached up and drew his thumbs across the moisture on her cheeks.
“Friends don’t kiss like that,” Brooke whispered, the confusion and uncertainty bright in her eyes.
“Maybe they should.” He lowered his forehead to hers. He squeezed his eyes shut. What was he doing? What were they doing? No sooner had they found solid footing than he’d sent them veering off course toward...who knew what? He still loved her. Deep-to-the-core, soul-catching love that he’d never be able to shake even if he wanted to.
“You’re confusing me,” Brooke accused. “I don’t like being confused.”
“Neither do I.” He stepped back, moved away, because the more he touched her, the more he wanted to. “Friends go to parties together, right? So why don’t you come with me this afternoon. To Kendall and Hunter’s place.”
“I don’t want to intrude. That sounded like a family thing.”
“It is.” He stroked a finger down her cheek. “Come with me.”
* * *
SHE NEVER COULD refuse Sebastian. Which was how she found herself dead smack in the middle of a Butterfly Harbor community get-together with a baby in her arms.
Brooke watched him from across the MacBrides’ expansive front yard. It was impossible not to keep staring at him. Not when he’d turned those intense eyes of his on her. And not when he kissed her.
In that moment, the past had disappeared and filled Brooke with a hope she dared not embrace. This was all a fantasy. She wasn’t staying. She couldn’t stay. It was ridiculous to even think...
Brooke lifted her chin and glanced over her shoulder as yet another car parked in the already overflowing driveway. She’d only met Hunter and Kendall MacBride briefly, but had heard enough about them to know they were both recent transplants to Butterfly Harbor, along with their daughter, Phoebe. That close to half the town had turned out for Hunter’s third barbecue told her they’d quickly become part of the tight-knit community she still struggled to feel a part of.
Frankie climbed out of the vehicle, walked around her SUV and held her hand out to the driver. Roman Salazar, Brooke realized. Tall, dark and most definitely handsome, Brooke made note of what a stunning couple they were. She also noticed how absolutely besotted her one-time best friend seemed when Frankie lifted her face and beamed at Roman. They exuded happiness, from the tip of Frankie’s bright red hair, all the way to their matching firefighter boots.
Everyone in sight seemed to be making themselves comfortable, enjoying early spring lemonade and wine, snacking on chips and veggies and popcorn. There were still a number of people Brooke had yet to speak to, including Lori Knight, who was currently laughing at her husband, who had reached down to sling their son Leo over one shoulder. Clusters of friends were sitting around, drinking, teasing, laughing. Heavily pregnant Abby Corwin looked out of sorts as her husband, Jason, tried to help her get comfortable in a lawn chair.
Brooke nodded in sympathy at that thought. Poor Abby was just starting her third trimester. Brooke knew from experience that comfort of any kind was well over three months away. Her smile faltered, an unwanted sadness trying to take hold.
The baby she held squirmed and let out a stifled cry. Brooke started walking again, patting Jake Saxon’s back and humming softly, which seemed to settle the eight-month-old. He snuggled against her, rested his plump cheek on her shoulder and sighed.
Upon her and Sebastian’s arrival, she’d felt instantly overwhelmed by the crowd of faces. A lot she recognized—from school, from the diner—but there were more she didn’t. The MacBride property stretched a good distance and included a sizable ranch-style house and an outdoor workshop that could have given a private airplane hangar some competition. The enormous front yard included lots of thick-trunked trees ideal for climbing, and an elaborate custom swing and play set that was all but obscured by the kids crawling all over it. She spotted Charlie Bradley—those pigtails of hers were unmistakable—and Simon, of course, along with a handful of other youngsters all under the watchful eye of Mandy and her friend Eleni.
When Brooke’s offer to help with the food was gently refused, she found her arms suddenly filled with Holly’s beautiful baby boy, whom she’d now spent a good half hour walking and entertaining while Holly organized the picnic tables and lawn chairs. A ways away, sitting on a bright pink quilt, Jake’s twin sister, Zoe, was being cared for by Calliope Jones-Costas. Brooke froze for a moment, her eyes narrowing as she tried to make out what she was seeing. Were those butterflies circling around Zoe?
Brooke kicked off her sandals, embracing the sensation of sinking her bare feet into the ankle-thick grass. Continuing to hum, she wandered past the workshop toward the echoing sounds of roaring waves at the base of the fenced-off cliffs. She cupped her hand around the back of the baby’s head and turned him away from the wind even as she gazed out into the open ocean. The sounds of senior citizens arguing over a game of boccie ball, children squealing and men bonding—and arguing—over which type of wood was best for smoking, faded and left Brooke feeling, for the first time in a very long while, utterly at peace. She closed her eyes and swayed back and forth, losing herself in the moment.
“You look like a pro.” Brooke glanced around to find Leah Ellis headed her way. “I don’t mean to intrude.”
“You’re not.” Brooke smiled. “Just enjoying the scene. Did you just get here?” She didn’t remember seeing the lawyer when she’d first arrived.
“A few minutes ago.” Leah turned into the wind so her dark blond hair wouldn’t fly in her face. Brooke hadn’t known Leah for long, but she’d been impressed with how put-together the woman was, from her crisp, professional attire to her calm, rational demeanor. Definitely qualities Leah was going to need as Gil Hamilton’s main rival for mayor. “These neighborhood get-togethers are getting to be addictive.” Leah sipped at her white wine. “Did you want me to get you a glass?”
“No, thanks. Are they going to start cooking any time soon do you think?” Her stomach was growling, a welcome sensation. Despite the demanding job at the diner, she felt as if her body had healed more quickly since arriving in Butterfl
y Harbor.
“They were just putting the first round of hamburgers on the grill when I walked by,” Leah said. “I have a feeling we’re going to be eating in shifts.”
“Hunter goes through grills pretty quickly, then?”
“Last one nearly took off like a rocket.” Leah shook her head. “Kendall can’t figure out what he does to them. Did you know they’re taking bets on when this one crashes and burns?”
“I put five bucks down on three weeks,” Brooke said, and laughed. “Sebastian told me that was an optimistic bet.”
“So you and Sebastian, huh?” Leah grinned at her over the rim of her glass. “That getting serious?”
“Serious?” Brooke didn’t know how to answer that. “No. Complicated, absolutely. Which reminds me, I was hoping to talk to you in the next week or so? Professionally speaking. I need some advice about Mandy’s future.”
“Oh? Sure.” Leah shrugged. “Anytime. Let me know if you want to talk at the diner or my office. Hey, Monty, how’s that new boat of yours doing?”
Brooke’s arms tightened around Jake. She hadn’t seen Monty since that day on his boat, a day where more than the water had been decidedly chilly.
Monty was the one person she hadn’t spent any one-on-one time with since she’d been back. While she’d mended some fences with his twin sister, Frankie, judging by the expression on his face right now, things wouldn’t go nearly as smoothly with Monty.
“New boat’s great.” The cool expression in his eyes melted away when he looked at Leah. “Happy to take you out whenever you want. Um, on the boat, I mean.”
“He’s so easy to fluster.” Leah patted his arm. “Relax, handsome. Poor guy can’t get over that I think of him like a brother.”
Brooke forced a smile. Once upon a time she’d considered Monty a brother, too. He’d always been someone she felt safe confiding in.
“BethAnn’s here,” Monty said when Leah moved off to join Calliope. Brooke craned her neck and spotted BethAnn deep in animated conversation with a short, dark-haired woman who could only be Ezzie Salazar. “She said you’ve moved into that apartment over the diner.”
“I did.” Brooke nodded, continuing to rub Jake’s back. “This morning, as a matter of fact. Sebastian helped.”
Monty shoved his free hand into his pocket, then took a long drink of his beer. “What’s your goal here, Brooke?”
“My goal?”
“Your endgame. Are you staying or taking off again?”
“I...don’t know yet.” She flinched, wishing she didn’t sound quite so flighty. “I didn’t plan much beyond getting to know my daughter. So far that’s going all right. Better than I could have hoped.”
“Mandy’s got it in her head you and Sebastian belong together.”
“Sebastian told me.” Jake began squirming, no doubt picking up on Brooke’s increasing tension. “He also said he’d talk to her about it.”
“Good. Look, I don’t want us to be at odds, Brooke.”
“Neither do I.” The way she was feeling now, with about two dozen knots tightening in her stomach, made it almost impossible to remember they had been friends at one time.
“You need to make a decision,” he told her. “If you’re staying, great. But if you’re leaving...”
“If I’m leaving?” she persisted when he hesitated.
“If you’re leaving, it’s best you go sooner than later. Don’t rip their hearts out a second time, Brooke. Just...don’t.”
“I never meant to rip them out the first time.” Jake whimpered and stuffed his fist in his mouth.
“Intention doesn’t really enter into it. The result was the same.” Monty looked out at the ocean, shook his head, then smiled and watched Brooke soothe Jake back to sleep. “You’re good with him.”
“You mean for someone who didn’t raise her own child?”
“That’s not what I said.” But she could hear it in Monty’s voice. It was exactly what he’d been thinking.
“I volunteered in a few hospitals back in South Carolina. Nursery wards mainly.”
Monty arched an eyebrow.
The fact was that Brooke had made herself an indispensable volunteer. “The very idea of being around babies terrified me. I didn’t think I could do it, hold and comfort infants who were only a little younger than Mandy, without losing it. But as soon as the nurse put a baby in my arms...”
Emotion welled up, the joy she’d felt was unmistakable. “The first baby was a little girl who was being put up for adoption, but there was a delay for some reason, so the baby was being kept in the hospital. I went in every day for two weeks and spent hours holding her. Rocking her. Singing to her.” Brooke smiled. “When her parents finally came for her, I hated to see her go. Like Mandy all over again.”
“You didn’t lose her,” Monty said. “You gave Mandy away.”
Brooke’s first instinct was to wince, but she didn’t feel the shame or regret that she would have even days ago. “You can believe what you want, but I did what I had to in order to protect both Mandy and Sebastian. And don’t ever think I didn’t mourn losing them. I grieved every single day I was gone. I left part of myself, probably the best part of myself, here with them. With all of you. But I wouldn’t change what I did because the alternative would have been so much worse. For everyone.”
“What alternative?” Monty challenged her. “What could have possibly happened if you’d...?” He trailed off, looked at her for a long, hard moment, then closed his eyes. “Your mother. Your mother did something, didn’t she? Said something?”
“Monty.” Brooke shook her head. She shouldn’t have said anything, but she was just so tired of being judged. “It doesn’t matter now.”
“Doesn’t matter? Brooke, all this time we thought you left because—”
“I left because I had to. End of story.” She stepped closer and pressed a hand against his chest. “End. Of. Story, Monty. Here comes Mandy. This conversation stays between us, understand? I’m trying to build something in the present, not the past. Not a word to either of them. Promise me.” Some things had definitely changed in Butterfly Harbor since she’d been gone, but one thing she knew wouldn’t have: Monty Bettencourt was a man of his word. “Monty?”
“Yeah, fine.” He cringed and drank the last of his beer. “You always did make things more complicated than they needed to be. I want to continue this conversation.”
“Well.” Brooke sighed and patted his arm, feeling the tension between them finally lessen. “I’d have thought spending a lifetime with Frankie would have taught you that you can’t always get what you want.”
* * *
“YOU FINALLY GOT a chance to eat something.” Sebastian wedged himself onto the bench beside Brooke and set his overfilled plate on the table. “Mind if I join you?”
“No.” Brooke wiped her mouth, glancing around because she had the strange sensation she was being watched. Sure enough, when she caught sight of Mandy and Eleni by the playground, they instantly tried to look busy. Same as when she locked eyes with Myra and Oscar from the Cocoon Club. She’d never seen anyone move so fast with a walker in her life. “Be careful. If you sit with me, people will talk.”
“People are already talking, right, Frankie?”
“Huh?” Frankie’s ponytail could almost be considered a lethal weapon when she whipped her head around. “Sorry. I was checking to see where Monty disappeared to. What’d I miss?”
“Are we the main topic of gossip or not?” Sebastian asked.
“Honestly? Not.” Frankie shook her head. “At least not with the Cocoon Club. They’re currently debating the pros and cons of installing a pool in the backyard of the home.”
“Don’t call it a home,” Brooke said automatically, having heard that protestation frequently in the diner.
“Right.” Frankie winked and grinned. “
See? You’re defending them. We’ve definitely moved on.”
“A pool?” Sebastian grimaced and lifted a rib to his mouth. “Is that safe?”
“Safety aside,” Frankie said. “We might be in California, but we don’t exactly run hot and humid. There’d be what? A few months a year where they could use it?”
“Maybe they can add a hot tub,” Brooke suggested.
Frankie almost spit out her soda. “A hot tub? In a senior ho—facility?”
Brooke flipped over a lettuce leaf, then smiled when Sebastian plopped a scoop of mac and cheese onto her plate.
“Eat something substantial, would you? I keep expecting a breeze to blow you out to sea.”
“Some things never change.” Brooke had no doubt the smile stretching her lips looked incredibly sappy. Still, she did as suggested and dug in. “I’ve read where hot tubs can be good for the circulation, depending on other health conditions, of course. You know.” She pointed her fork at Frankie. “What might be a good alternative is a heated pool. If it was large enough, they could have water-aerobics classes, even open it up to others in town. At five bucks a class they could probably pay it off pretty quickly.”
Frankie’s mouth twisted. “That’s not a bad idea. You should run it by Ezzie. Now that she’s in charge of the place, she makes those kinds of decisions. She’s the one who needs convincing.”
“Me convince her?” Brooke’s eyes went wide. “Why me?”
“Because it’s your idea and it’s time you met Ezzie, anyway. I’m going to go get her.”
“Oh, I don’t think—” But she was too late. Frankie was already up and heading across the yard.
“Don’t worry, you’ll love her.” Sebastian stuck a sticky barbecue chicken leg into her mac and cheese. “It’s impossible not to.”
A Match Made Perfect--A Clean Romance Page 17