by Amanda Tru
Before she could second-guess herself, she found the number for the bank, dialed it, and asked to speak to Mr. Dunst.
“Hello?” the voice cracked.
“Hi! This is Brooke Hutchins. I was just wondering if you could give me a little more information about the arrangement between my new business and the bank. For instance, can you tell me when my rent is due for this first month? Also, it would be helpful to know the amount, just so I know how much to plan for.”
Brooke waited for a response but was met with only silence.
“Hello? Mr. Dunst? Are you there?” she asked as the quiet became increasingly uncomfortable.
“I’m sorry, Miss Hutchins,” he finally responded. “I have no idea what you are talking about. Our bank denied your loan outright. If you have some kind of arrangement, it isn’t with our bank.”
“But Dylan said…” Brooke started, feeling the shock reverberate through her body.
“Oh, well that explains it,” Mr. Dunst said, relief coloring his voice. “If you have some kind of arrangement for a business, it is likely through Dylan and his company directly. Dylan does investments for the bank, but he mostly deals with managing stocks, bonds, and higher end investments. I know he does own his own company on the side. Though he has bank approval for his side business, it is in no way associated with the bank. I think he deals mostly with real estate. If he told you about some arrangement, it was likely one of his deals. If you need more information, my advice is to check with Dylan.”
Brooke stiffly thanked Mr. Dunst and ended the call.
Her hand shook as she pushed several other buttons on her phone and immediately dialed Dylan.
He picked up on the second ring. “Brooke, what do you need? I’m not quite done—”
Not letting him finish, Brooke jumped in. “I need you to tell me why you lied to me.”
Brooke drew her scarf up closer to her nose. She hoped Dylan wouldn’t take too long. It was cold, and she didn’t want to be here. But when Dylan had said they couldn’t talk right then and told her to meet him at Trinity Ponds in twenty minutes, she didn’t really have a choice. She knew why he’d chosen this location. It was on his way out of town to catch his flight in Brighton Falls. Since she desperately needed answers before he got on that plane, she’d hopped in her car and hurried to meet him.
Turning her face away from the slight breeze, she yanked her gloves up tighter on her hands and pulled her hat down lower. She supposed that she could wait in her car, but she had hoped the fresh air and peaceful scenery of the pond would calm her down. However, so far, it wasn’t working.
She was still so very upset that she began pacing back and forth along that bank. Dylan had tricked her. Just as she was opposed to taking help from her family, she would never have accepted Dylan’s offer if she knew it was a favor from him. She thought he had persuaded the bank, which she appreciated. She didn’t know that he was the bank!
Brooke took deep breaths of the crisp air and tried to focus her attention on the flock of geese flying in a V against the leaden sky. Her feet crunched in the layer of snow that covered the ground, and she suspected that more snow was on the way.
She looked out across the pond, taking in the perfect reflection of sky in the water. It was beautiful here, and yet Brooke couldn’t appreciate any of it. The area that was filled with people fishing, swimming, or boating, was now shrouded in silence, the clusters of evergreens crowding the shore seeming to be in the deep sleep of winter, like everything else, except Brooke. She was the lone divergent in the peaceful scene, and nothing she tried made her blend in just a little bit better.
She was angry.
“I didn’t lie to you.”
Brooke jumped at the sound of Dylan’s voice right behind her. So intent was she on her own thoughts that she hadn’t heard his car or his approach.
She turned. “I called the bank, Dylan. I know that they did not buy the building for my business, nor did they fund my business loan. You did.”
“No, my company did,” Dylan clarified.
“It’s the same thing! I would have never accepted the offer if I’d known the truth. I didn’t want special treatment. I didn’t want anyone’s help. I wanted to do it on my own!”
“Why, Brooke? Why did it have to be on your own? So you could prove that you were just as good as your siblings? To show that you should be a ‘Brooklyn’ and not just a Brooke?”
“That’s not fair,” Brooke said, her eyes instantly filling with tears. “I just…” she sniffled. “I just feel deceived.”
Dylan shut his eyes. “Brooke, I’m sorry. I didn’t lie to you, but I did let you believe something that wasn’t the complete truth. I was afraid that if you knew that it was my company, that your pride would get in the way and you wouldn’t take the opportunity.”
He took a deep breath and explained. “I own an investment company. We deal mostly in real estate. We buy older buildings, renovate, and rent them out, thereby investing in an entire area. We also have a few other projects targeting community improvement, tourism, and revenue generated from those sources.”
Suddenly, things clicked in Brooke’s mind. “You mean, you’re the one responsible for the changes in Crossroads? You’re the one who has been improving the buildings and businesses and bringing more tourism to the area?”
Dylan shrugged. “Crossroads is a great community to invest in.”
“That’s why you were at the community center the day of the baby shower!” Brooke said.
Dylan nodded. “The community center has been a big project. It is owned by my company. I was speaking to the manager, and he was giving me an update on the scheduled events.”
Brooke suddenly felt horrible. This man was a hero in so many ways, and yet she had treated him terribly. He had already brought so much good to Crossroads and the lives of its residents. “So it really is a company, not just you, who invested in my business?”
“Correct.” Dylan’s forehead relaxed in relief that she was finally understanding. “I got tired of seeing small business owners come into the bank, trying to save their livelihood, only to be turned down for loans. So I started my own company. I got approval from my bank, and since the investment work I do for them really has nothing to do with small-town real estate, they were fine with it. I think it’s actually improved their reputation in the community because I approve many of those they do not.”
“I just don’t like the feeling that I owe you,” Brooke said with a grimace, unable to let go of the feeling of discontent. “That I have to pay my rent to you. What happens if I’m late on a payment? It seems like business is a good way to complicate a friendship, and not in a good way.”
“Listen, Brooke, it really is a company,” Dylan said, a tinge of weariness coloring his voice. “I am involved early in the initial investment and the renovation, but after that, all of the billing and payments are outsourced to a separate entity that I’ve hired to handle them. You won’t pay me directly. No one does. I don’t keep track of who pays what when. If you miss a payment, I won’t even know unless you tell me. It will be handled exclusively through the billing company.”
Brooke nodded, thinking for the first time that this arrangement may be doable after all. “So it’s all business? There was no preferential treatment toward me? You didn’t make my business happen just because of our friendship?”
Dylan scowled. “There you said that word again. ‘Friendship.’ I really don’t believe that’s what we have. At least, not all of what we have. And no, I can’t really answer that question because I don’t know. I won’t lie to you or pretend that I am not completely biased where you are concerned.”
“And that’s the part I have a problem with,” Brooke confessed, turning away and kicking a rock toward the pond. “Now I feel like an imposter—like I don’t deserve to have my own business. I wanted to do things on my own. I didn’t want preferential treatment from anyone. Not from family or… friends,” she finished, lamely fl
apping her hands down.
“Networking is smart,” Dylan insisted. “And nobody accomplishes anything without help. If you insist on doing things alone, you’ll be stuck in the mud forever. But if that bothers you, then I’m sure you’ll find it even more disconcerting to know that I can’t be one of your ‘friends.’“
“I don’t understand,” Brooke said, turning back to him to try to read his expression. “You mean, we can’t be friends since we’re now business associates?”
Dylan scoffed and shook his head. “You really don’t get it, do you? You have no idea what you do to me.”
Brooke looked at him with irritation. She really wasn’t as clueless as he seemed to think. “You like me. I get it. You wanted me to go on a date with you. I said no. Since that obviously doesn’t happen very often, it seems to be driving you a little crazy. But what I don’t understand is why you can’t just let it go. You said before that what you really want is a friend, not necessarily a romantic attachment. That’s what I’m offering, and yet you are refusing. So no, I don’t get it.”
Dylan suddenly stepped forward, close enough that their coats touched. She looked up to find his face inches from her own, so close that she could feel his warm breath and see the streaks of fire in his gray eyes. “I can’t be your friend because every time I see you, I want you to be mine. Every time your hair blows in the breeze, I want it to be my fingers running through it. Every time you laugh, I want to be the reason. Every time your lips smile, I want to be kissing them. Every time you are upset, I want to rescue you and make it better. Brooke, every time my phone rings, I want it to be you. I am completely, hopelessly, not your friend.”
His fingers reached out, brushing back a strand of blonde hair. Then they happened to fall on her cheek, and she leaned into their warmth.
“You say all that, and yet I don’t believe you,” Brooke whispered. “The only allure of me is that I’m unattainable. You could have any woman you want. I don’t make sense.”
A soft smile played about his lips, giving brief glimpses of his dimples. “Brooke, I’ve tried all different varieties of women, but I’m not interested in the ones with a stellar resume. I want the kind of woman who will tell me off when she thinks I’m wrong, and yet rescue me when I’m in too deep. I want someone who will take the hit for another person, taking the blame just to protect someone she cares about. Just like you did for Tylee. I want someone who is brilliant at problem solving, the most artistic, creative person I know, and who likes to help with Sunday school in her spare time. I don’t want Janice, Celeste, Kiffany, Monica, Destiny, Shauna, Geneva, Paris, Athens, Timbuktu, or any other woman on the globe. I just want Brooke.”
As he spoke, Brooke watched his face, mesmerized by the way lights flickered through his eyes. There was no doubt that he meant every word he said, and her erratically beating heart longed to believe it.
She steeled her heart, trying to force it to behave and slow down. “Dylan, you seem to have such a lofty ideal of me. But I would disappoint you and soon fall off your pedestal.”
Dylan tipped his head back and laughed outright. “Hardly! Trust me, Brooke, I have no illusions about you. I am quite familiar with your faults. You see, your faults and I have met quite a few times already. You are stubborn, quick to anger, experience fear so strong it paralyzes you, and you have this maddening inferiority complex, especially where your family is concerned. You also don’t like coffee, which I view as a definite fault as well.”
“And those are just the faults you know about,” Brooke grumbled. “Trust me, I have plenty more.”
“And I would love the chance to thoroughly investigate every single one of them,” Dylan said without missing a beat.
Brooke rolled her eyes. Then, shaking her head, she said seriously, “Dylan, you have a flight to catch. I know we can’t stand here and argue all night. The bottom line is that we would not make a good match. Though I like you and won’t deny the attraction, I also know that a relationship has to be built on more than that. We don’t have the same core values, and because of that, eventually you would hurt me, and I would hurt you.”
Dylan’s face clouded in confusion, and for the first time, he seemed taken aback. “What do you mean?”
Brooke bit her lip, dreading the need to explain. “I mean that I’m a Christian and you’re not. I know you’re searching, and you’ve gone to church a few times. But you still aren’t sure about that which is the most important thing in my life.”
“Brooke, I’m sorry,” Dylan said, rubbing his hand down the stubble of his chin. “It’s like I sometimes have conversations with you in my mind, but then, when I try to talk to you, something happens and what I intend to tell you never comes out. I’ve been attending church and meeting with the pastor. Over a month ago, I repented and gave my life to the Lord. I think part of the reason I didn’t tell you right away was that I didn’t want you to think I’d done it because of you. This is a life decision for me. I got to the point that, with knowing who I was and who God was, I couldn’t turn away. I’m still learning, and I’m not a perfect Christian. But I know God won’t give up on me, and I won’t give up on Him. I’ve finally found what I’ve been searching for. Like the Bible says, I’ve found the living water, and nothing satisfies my soul like it. I’m saved, and I intend to spend my life serving Him and doing as He wills. I agree that He is the most important priority, and I don’t want you to be under the mistaken impression that I would have it any other way.”
Brooke swallowed and looked out to watch tiny ripples make ever widening circles in the pond. “Wow, Dylan, I didn’t know. I am so happy for you. I sincerely hope you find in the Lord the happiness you’ve been searching for.”
“But…” Dylan said. “It sounds like there’s a ‘but.’“
Brooke sighed. “But I still don’t believe we share the same values.” Brooke bravely looked him straight in the eye, wanting him to understand what she was saying, because if he really heard and understood, he would have no argument left. “I would never be comfortable being your girlfriend. I see the way women look at you. It’s like you’re a piece of decadent chocolate cake they all want. I couldn’t live like that, constantly looking over my shoulder to see if and when someone else caught your eye.”
“What if that chocolate cake belonged only to you?”
A cool breeze floated by, making Brooke shiver. At least, that was her excuse.
“Come on, Dylan,” she said, her frustration mounting. “Every woman wants a taste of the cake. All I have to do is look at your track record. You haven’t ever had a girlfriend longer than six months. Why would I be different? The answer is that I wouldn’t be different. You’d send me flowers with your name not signed, and maybe that would buy you a couple of dates. But eventually, you would tire of me the way you tire of everyone else.”
His own frustration now matching her own, he responded. “Haven’t you been listening. I’ve been saying that you aren’t like anyone else! The way I feel about you isn’t anything like the way I’ve felt about anyone else ever!”
“And how many of your women believed that same thing? I’m sure they all thought they were different too. They thought they were ‘the one’ for Dylan Masters. But you toyed with them and then threw them away when you were tired of them. I don’t trust you. I can’t trust you!”
As soon as the words fell from her mouth, Brooke realized what she’d done. She saw the pain flash across his eyes as if she had physically hit him. She instantly longed to snatch the words back and hide them away where they could never do any damage, but it was too late.
Dylan gritted out, “Look, I understand that deep down, you just don’t like me. I get that you don’t approve of my choices. I’m not perfect. I make mistakes and fully admit that I can’t manage to like a woman longer than about three weeks. Maybe I should have given up on dating long ago. So feel free to make fun of my frequent dating or criticize me for commitment phobia. But please don’t accuse me of not treatin
g women well. I have seen way too many men who treated women terribly, and consider it one of my goals in life to never be like them. Dislike me all you want, but please don’t claim I do the one thing I most abhor.”
Brooke’s mind flashed back to what he’d said about his mother and all the men who had gone through her life. She also remembered that he was highly offended by his brother-in-law’s treatment of his sister. And she had just likened him to the villains he detested.
“Dylan, I’m so sorry,” she said, reaching out and touching his arm with her gloved hand. “I didn’t mean any of that. I know that when I feel backed into a corner, I come out swinging. I say things that I regret—things that I don’t even mean—because I’m trying to make myself feel better.”
She looked at him imploringly. “See why I just want to be friends? I hate that we are already hurting each other!”
Dylan said nothing, just stared out at the pond.
Brooke spoke gently. “Dylan, you want me to be your girlfriend. But the problem is that I could never believe that you are my boyfriend. You’re too handsome, too alluring. I would see other women look at you and never feel like I could compete or be worthy of keeping your attention. I’m not that special. With all that attention, you would eventually want to move on to greener pastures, and I wouldn’t blame you. I couldn’t keep you forever, Dylan. Since I already know the end, I’d rather not start the beginning.
“So that’s it, then? That’s the core of your objection. Fear. You’re afraid of caring. Afraid of loving because you might get hurt.”
Brooke didn’t respond. It was Brooke’s turn to look away from him. She looked at the ground, at the way the snow gave way beneath her boot. She looked anywhere but at him.
“Well then, maybe you’re right,” he said regretfully. “Maybe there just isn’t enough spark on your part. Maybe you don’t feel about me the way that I feel about you. In my mind, any potential hurt in the future is worth it, if it will give me any relief from the current pain of not being with you.”