Out of the Blue Bouquet (Crossroads Collection)

by Amanda Tru

  Seeing a few remaining fall flowers in her mother’s flower garden, Brooke grabbed a pair of clippers from the garden shed and began picking and arranging a bouquet. Though they were past their prime and a little dry, Brooke still found them pretty. Immediately, she felt the stress ooze out of her as she did a simple task she loved.

  Picking a few sunflowers, she then set the clippers down and stuck them in the middle of the strawflowers she had already picked. She held the bouquet out and looked at it, examining it from all angles.

  A shiver raced through her body, and she realized that she would need to return inside soon. Had she planned on making a quick escape from Thanksgiving dinner, she would have grabbed a jacket.

  “Are you cold?” Dylan’s voice came from behind her.

  She turned.

  “I hope your mom doesn’t mind, but I saw this blanket and grabbed it off the couch. I knew the temperature was pretty cold out here, but that breeze makes it worse.”

  Brooke’s eyes caught on Dylan’s and she swallowed. How she wished the man didn’t take her breath away nearly every time she looked at him. He was entirely too good-looking. Seeing those eyes reflecting the gray of the sky and his hair ruffling in the breeze did not help her calm down at all.

  “Thank you,” Brooke said, gratefully accepting the blanket. Dylan helped wrap it tight around her shoulders, which triggered even more shivers.

  “I’m sorry to just leave you there,” Brooke said. It seemed like all she did was apologize to Dylan, but yet again, she hadn’t done right by him. In some respects, she had jumped out of a pool of piranhas and just left him there to fend for himself.

  “No worries,” he said simply. “Your family isn’t anything that I can’t handle. They are actually entertaining. I like them. I never had a family like yours. I understand why you left, but I also understand that they love you very much.”

  “Yes, I know,” Brooke said. “Sometimes, though, I feel like a little kitten that everyone likes to love and snuggle so much it’s suffocating. With six brothers and sisters, I think there may be such a thing as ‘over-loving.’“

  Dylan nodded. “Those are pretty flowers,” he said, looking at the bouquet in her hand.

  “Yes,” Brooke agreed. “They are probably the last of the season, which always makes me sad. But come spring, Mom and I will plant her flower garden again. We enjoy doing it together. She knows how much I love flowers.”

  “So what are your favorite flowers?” he asked.

  Brooke was surprised. Not only did he sound genuinely interested, but she didn’t know if anyone had ever asked her about her favorite flowers before. She thought about it, and finally answered quietly, “I love all flowers, but my very favorite are ones that I can’t plant or even buy.”

  She looked up at him with a sad smile, and he waited for her to explain.

  “My parents have always loved to travel,” she said, sitting down on a bench that sat in the middle of the dried flower garden. Dylan took a seat beside her. “My dad was a CEO of a large company in Brighton Falls. He is mostly retired now, but he is still on the board and does consulting. He’s always done traveling with his job and still does. For instance, my parents were in Europe until last week.”

  Dylan took a seat beside Brooke on the bench, momentarily causing her to lose her concentration. Brooke shifted, trying to give him as much room as possible so their bodies didn’t touch at all. At the slightest contact, Brooke could feel the electricity, even through the blanket.

  Not wanting him to know his effect on her, she continued speaking, “Growing up, my mom would frequently travel with Dad for work. Then when he had vacation, they would also travel. Since I was the youngest, it was often easier to leave me with my grandma when they traveled. My older siblings didn’t get left as much. As they got older, they would travel, too. But I liked staying with Grandma, and it worked well for both of us. Since my grandfather had died before I was born, having me stay with her gave Grandma something to do and kept her from being lonely. Grandma lived in California and had the most beautiful flowers in her front yard. She had these hydrangeas that were in just about every shade of blue you can imagine. She also had big bushes of bright pink bougainvillea right beside her front door.”

  Brooke looked at Dylan and smiled. “Those are my favorite flowers.”

  “I understand why,” he said with an answering smile. “Grandmas always have the best flowers.”

  “At this point, I’m sure part of their allure is their inaccessibility,” Brooke admitted thoughtfully. “I can order hydrangeas and even bougainvillea, but none of them live up to the memory of hers. After she passed away, my dad’s family sold his mother’s house. I haven’t seen it in years. The flowers probably don’t even exist anymore, but they sure do in my mind. And they are beautiful.”

  Brooke looked at Dylan, and he looked at her. Suddenly she noticed a slight rosy tinge to his nose. “Oh, my goodness! Dylan, you’re cold! Here, this is a warm blanket. I can share.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked.

  “Of course!”

  And since neither one of them seemed to want to go inside to the nice, heated house yet, Brooke opened her blanket, and Dylan huddled close, wrapping it from her shoulders around to his.

  “I think that’s a lot better,” he said, looking down at her, his face mere inches from hers.

  Brooke barely managed to nod. She definitely felt warmer, and it likely had everything to do with his proximity.

  “I do have a few questions for you,” he said seriously.

  “Okay,” Brooke said cautiously. Was he going to ask her more about flowers? Those she could handle.

  “Is your full name Brooklyn?”

  “No.”

  Dylan waited.

  Brooke really hoped he would just move onto his next question, but he wasn’t going to let her off that easily.

  “So… “Dylan said slowly, “your brother is Dallas, and your sisters are Geneva and Sydney. Did I hear your other sister is named London?”

  Releasing her breath in a rush, Brooke spoke quickly. “My siblings are Israel, Camden, Dallas, Geneva, London, Sydney, and me. Since my parents have always loved to travel, it was my mom’s idea to name all of their children after places. London and Sydney are twins, and after they were born, Mom and Dad thought they were done. But I was a surprise. Mom wanted to name me Brooklyn, but Dad didn’t want to. He’d always liked Brooke, with an ‘e’ on the end. Mom wouldn’t hear of it. After all, they already had six children named after places. You can’t exactly have one that is different. When Mom had me, it was a rough recovery, so Dad filled out the paperwork for my birth certificate. When I was about six weeks old, my birth certificate arrived, and Mom discovered that her baby wasn’t actually named Brooklyn. Dad had named me Brooke Lydia Hutchins, hoping that if he put Mom’s name as my middle name, then he would be forgiven. Needless to say, my mom wasn’t happy, but I’ve been ‘Brooke’ ever since, though sometimes Mom calls me ‘Brooklyn’ just to aggravate Dad.”

  Dylan grinned. “That’s a great story!”

  Brooke shrugged. “I’ve had that question a lot growing up, but I’ve never been sad I’m not ‘Brooklyn.’ I’m proud my dad got to name me, and it actually fits me more to be different from my siblings. After all, I’m quite different from them in about every other way as well.”

  “What do you mean? I can see the family resemblance between you and your sisters. You’re all beautiful.”

  Brooke couldn’t stop the slight grimace. It would have been a better compliment if it had been given on an individual basis, instead of listed in the group of beautiful sisters. Now all she could think about was that Dylan thought Geneva and Sydney were beautiful. Which they were. But still.

  “I’m not like them,” Brooke said, shifting uncomfortably. “All of them are quite successful. They are brilliant. I never got bad grades, went to college, and I don’t exactly consider myself stupid. But I’m not on their scale. While I ma
jored in Interior Design, they studied Criminal Justice, Medicine, or something equally impressive. Now they are actually doing things that make a difference while I am an unemployed florist.”

  “Come on, Brooke, it can’t be that bad,” Dylan said, obviously thinking she was exaggerating. “Just because you are different, or more creative, doesn’t mean that you aren’t equal or just as capable of making contributions. I know Geneva is a doctor but isn’t Dallas a police officer? That’s a relatively normal profession.”

  Brooke laughed. “Dallas is a police officer the way that Mozart played the piano! He has a doctorate in Criminal Justice and is a professor at a university in Brighton Falls. He helps out with the police department here in Crossroads and consults on investigations around the country because he likes doing fieldwork. Trust me, my family does a great job of pretending to be normal, but they aren’t!”

  “So what about the others? Like Sydney. What does Sydney do?”

  Brooke shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine on that one. Nobody knows what Sydney does. That’s kind of the point. She was recruited into the military right after high school, but for some reason, she didn’t stay there. I think she got some kind of specialized training. If you ask her what she does, she will tell you she’s a consultant and describe the assignment she’s currently doing. Last I talked to her, she said she was working at an art museum. Once she said she was doing consulting work at a construction company. What she says always sounds completely normal, but I have serious doubts that it is. Just be careful if you ask her about anything. After one conversation with her, you’ll swear she can read minds. She’ll know more about you than you do!”

  “And the others?”

  “Israel is the oldest. His background is business, and he is a big-time CEO, like dad. He is the only one who is married. And he and his wife have a little girl. Camden is a computer genius. I don’t know exactly what he does, but it’s something big and with computers. London is pretty successful in Hollywood as an actress and screenwriter. They were all busy with their responsibilities and not able to make it for Thanksgiving. I’m not sure yet if they will make it home for Christmas.”

  “All of those do sound impressive,” Dylan admitted.

  “It really isn’t just that they all have good jobs and are successful,” Brooke explained. “It’s that they are exceptional. Geneva isn’t just a doctor. She is a gifted doctor. They all are gifted. Except for me. I’m just normal. It isn’t as if I resent them. I don’t. I just feel different and wish I could make some kind of contribution to the greater good, as they do.”

  “So now I understand why you don’t want them to help you find a job,” Dylan said.

  Brooke nodded. “I don’t want to ride their shirt-tails. I want to do it on my own.”

  “Brooke! Dylan!”

  They looked up to see Brooke’s dad leaning out the back door. “Are you ready for pie? Come on in!”

  “Did I mention that my mom is gifted at pie?” Brooke said seriously.

  Dylan threw his head back and laughed. “Well, in that case, let’s hurry in before your exceptional brother and sisters eat all of the exceptional pie!”

  Standing up, Dylan put his arm around Brooke to hold the blanket in place and hurried back to the house. As they stepped inside, Brooke set her flower bouquet on the table, took the blanket off their shoulders, and began to fold it up. But Dylan’s hand stayed at her back in a comfortable pressure. Though Brooke didn’t want to admit it, she liked it way too much.

  Before they even made it to the table, a smiling Geneva handed Dylan a piece of pumpkin pie smothered with whipped cream.

  Dylan’s hand fell from Brooke’s back as he accepted the offered pie with a delighted smile.

  Feeling a little lost, Brooke retrieved her flowers and withdrew to find a vase. After all, tired fall flowers with just ‘Brooke,’ in no way compared to exceptional pie with ‘Geneva.’

  “Brooke, that looks amazing!” Geneva gushed excitedly. “Just bring it in here, and we’ll put it on the table with the other gifts.”

  The heavy diaper cake was straining her back, but Brooke managed to make it to where Geneva had cleared a spot on the table. The instant Brooke set it down, multiple women began admiring it.

  Brooke was proud of it. She thought it was one of the best diaper cakes she’d ever made. Going with the sports theme Geneva had mentioned, Brooke had made a layer for basketball, one for football, and one for baseball. Each layer held a coordinating sport onesie along with a few other accessories for decorations, like socks and spoons to match. For the centerpiece at the top, Brooke had used small ball toys, such as what a young child would like to play with.

  “Hi, Brooke,” a voice said.

  Brooke turned around to find her friend Kate. “Hi, Kate. Are you here for the baby shower?”

  “Yes. Cassandra is a friend of mine. I’m so happy that she’s getting a little boy! And it looks like she’ll have a great turn-out with a lot of nice things. And it’s such a nice venue for a baby shower. I haven’t been in this building since they remodeled. It looks great!”

  Brooke looked around, her eyes skimming what had once been an old fire station, but was now a beautiful new community center. What she liked best about it was the details that still gave it that old fire station flavor. The sliding pole still stood in the corner, and much of the brickwork was intact. The floor itself was a tile that resembled rustic wood. Pictures of old fire engines were set on the walls, but most of the other décor was left open so that people could rent out the space and decorate to suit their needs. In this instance, blue and white ribbons lined the railing above, and a large number of balloons floated from where they were secured at the tables.

  “It really does,” Brooke said. “What a great asset to the community this will be.”

  “Yes, I’m so glad they’ve invested in the downtown area again,” Kate said thoughtfully. “I think it will really make the difference in Crossroads. We’re really seeing an upswing in interest in the area, even at the post office.”

  Kate paused and looked at a large clock in the corner. “Do you want to go get a seat? I think things will start soon. It looks like they’ve moved all the chairs into a circle.”

  “You go ahead, Kate,” Brooke urged. “I can’t stay. I just came to drop off the diaper cake for Geneva. Cassandra is her friend.”

  “You made that diaper cake?” Kate asked. “Brooke, you could totally sell those!”

  “The thing weighs a ton,” Brooke said. “I’m not sure there would be much of a market for diaper cakes in Crossroads, and it would cost way too much to ship the things for online orders.”

  “You might be surprised,” Kate said. “If you think about it, companies ship large boxes of diapers to people all the time. If you drop by the post office, I can give you a break down of the cost and weight limits for shipping. It’s just an idea, but I really think it could work!”

  “Thanks, Kate,” Brooke said appreciatively. “Maybe I’ll do that.”

  Kate worked at the post office, so Brooke thought she would surely know about shipping. If she thought it was doable, maybe it really was something that she should look into.

  Brooke enjoyed making diaper cakes, wreaths, and anything creative like that. She’d never really considered that she might be able to sell them online. But now that she thought about it, an idea began to bloom of an online florist shop that carried more products than just flowers.

  Brooke started for the door, but Geneva stopped her. “Thank you for bringing the diaper cake,” Geneva said. “And for doing such an awesome job with it.”

  Brooke smiled. “No problem. I’ll just put it in the sister bank and remember you owe me a big favor.”

  Geneva smile turned sly. “Well, you know I like to pay any debt in advance. I’m pretty sure you already owe me, so this will make us even.”

  “What are you talking about?” Brooke asked, thoroughly confused. She couldn’t think of a single thing
Geneva had done for her recently.

  Geneva raised herself up as if making an important announcement. “You’ll be happy to know that I did a thorough investigation of Dylan Masters. My verdict is that I approve. Go ahead and snatch him up as fast as you can.”

  “What are you talking about?” Brooke said, quickly becoming upset. Then that upset turned rapidly into an awful foreboding. “Geneva, what have you done? I told you I wasn’t interested in him. And I never told you to investigate him!”

  Geneva waved her hand as if Brooke’s objections were an annoying fly. “You didn’t have to say anything. Both Sydney and I saw the way you looked at him, and the way he looked at you. So Sydney handled the background check, and I handled the more subjective part of the investigation.”

  “And how did you do that?” Brooke asked with great alarm. She wouldn’t put it past her sisters to do something that would completely humiliate her, all in the name of protecting her.

  “Don’t look at me that way, Brooke!” Geneva said, rolling her eyes. “I just flirted with him. I even managed to get his number at Thanksgiving. Then I called him a few times in the past couple weeks. The result? Absolutely nothing. He is most assuredly not interested in me. I employed my best flirting techniques. I even asked him out, and he refused. He hasn’t even answered my last couple calls, and I think he might be avoiding me. Isn’t that great?”

  “Gen, do you have any idea how psychotic that sounds?” Brooke said, fighting the urge not to laugh at her outright.

  Geneva looked confused. “Well, I did it for you! And the good news is that he isn’t the type to cheat on you. He wouldn’t take the bait at all. Doesn’t that make you happy?”

  Brooke threw her hands out in exasperation. Was Geneva not hearing what she was saying? “It might if he was my boyfriend. Or if I was interested in him romantically. But he isn’t, and I’m not! I hate to be hard on your ego, Gen, but I doubt that I was the reason he wasn’t interested in you. Dylan and I are not together, and I’ve made it clear to him that I won’t even go on a date with him.”