An Unexpected Love Story (Love Story Book Two)

by Schurig, Rachel

  After John paid for dinner, we walked out to his car. It had started to snow while we ate, and John wrapped an arm around me as we walked through the swirling flakes. “This is one of the benefits,” he said, stopping at the car to look around. “Why is snow in the woods so much better than snow in the city?”

  “The colors are more vibrant,” I said, pointing at the evergreens, which were now accumulating a heavy layer of powder. “And you can actually see the stars.”

  “True.” John kissed me, pressing my back into the car door. “Come on, let’s go home.”

  Even his kiss couldn’t dislodge the sinking feeling in my stomach. As John drove to the house I wasn’t usually allowed to stay in, I tried to shake the worry that I was about to get hurt. He had called it home, but it wasn’t, not for me. It was his home, his life. And I had no idea how I was going to fit into it.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “What are you doing in two weeks?”

  I looked up from my ledger book to see John standing in my doorway, an excited look on his face.

  “Two weeks?” I asked, confused.

  “Yeah.” He came into the room and sat down in the chair across from me. “The second weekend in March.”

  “Let me see.” I pulled out my planner and flipped to March. “Not much. We have a few reservations, but nothing huge. Why?”

  “What would you think about a weekend away?”

  I felt a rush of excitement. “Really? Where?”

  “I have to go to Traverse City for work. I’ve never been before, but I hear it’s really nice. So I was thinking we could make a whole weekend of it. What do you think?”

  “That sounds great,” I said. “I love Traverse City.” Of course, getting away with John would be the real draw. In the weeks since our last real date, I was becoming increasingly dissatisfied with our situation. The simple fact was, I liked him way too much to have such limits placed on our time. But I also liked him way too much to think of disrupting things by pushing him.

  And none of this is like you at all, I thought wearily to myself. It was true: I never allowed myself to get this worked up over someone. I was usually the girl that took care of myself first and foremost. If something wasn’t working out, I would be the first one to move on. What had happened to me?

  The best of both worlds, I reminded myself wearily, for what felt like the hundredth time. It had become my mantra where John was concerned, my feeble attempt to convince myself that this was what I wanted. John and independence at the same time. The best of both worlds.

  “Brooke? You with me?”

  “Sorry,” I said, smiling up at John. “I’m just so excited at the prospect of getting out of here that I lost the ability to speak for a minute.”

  John laughed. “I think it will be really great. I’ll book a room this afternoon. Do you have any hotel recommendations?”

  “Ooh, yeah,” I said, brightening. “I know some good places.”

  “Send me an email,” he said, standing. “I have to get back. I took off as soon as they told me about the meeting.” He came around the side of my desk. “Lunch today?”

  “Sure,” I said, lifting my face for his kiss. “I’ll meet you at twelve thirty.”

  After John left, I had a hard time getting any work done. Instead, I spent an inordinate amount of time trolling TripAdvisor for hotel recommendations. Traverse City was a gorgeous little town on the other side of the state. Located on two bays off of Lake Michigan, the area had some of the most natural beauty in the state. And Traverse City itself had a great little downtown area, lots of places to eat and explore, and a burgeoning winery industry. It would be a great weekend.

  About half an hour before I was set to meet John for lunch, Emily called. After we chatted for a few minutes, she got down to business. “So, how’s Mr. Gorgeous?”

  “He’s good,” I said, feeling the strangest urge to giggle. I really needed to get ahold of myself. “He actually just asked me to go away for the weekend.”

  “Wow,” she said, sounding impressed. “That’s pretty big.”

  “It is,” I agreed, not even caring if she thought I was being one of those silly girls I usually maligned.

  “So have you met the kid yet?”

  That stopped me short. “Not really. I mean, I met her that first day.”

  “But he doesn’t involve her in your relationship?”

  I bristled slightly. “No. Which is how I want it.”

  “Really?” she asked, sounding surprised.

  “Of course,” I said. I realized that I was trying to convince myself as much as her. The best of both worlds, I thought yet again. “I’m not exactly ready to become an evil stepmother, Em.”

  She laughed. “I didn’t mean that. I just thought you would be spending some time with her, since you guys are getting so serious.”

  “It’s not like that.” I felt downright uncomfortable now, hearing the things I had tried not to think about myself coming from my best friend. “We have a good time together,” I continued, my voice firm. “We like spending time with one another.”

  Emily was quiet. “That’s enough for you?” she finally asked.

  “Of course it is,” I said, not knowing why I felt so irritated. “I get Mr. Gorgeous when I want him and the space I love the rest of the time. What else could I want?”

  “Well, good,” Emily said. “I’m glad it’s going the way you want. Traverse City, eh? I’m totally jealous. I haven’t been to TC in years.”

  “You should come!” I said spontaneously. “You and Elliot.”

  “Really?” Emily asked, surprised. “Do you really want us to?”

  “Of course,” I said, meaning it. “I think it would be a blast.” I wanted Emily to meet John. I had a feeling they would get along really well, and I felt a strange need for her approval. And maybe if she saw me with him, she could help me figure out what the hell was wrong with me these days.

  “I’ll talk to Elliot,” she said, sounding excited. “And you better ask John. I don’t want to crash his party without him knowing it.”

  “You should ask Chris and Ashley, too,” I said eagerly. “I haven’t seen Chris since Christmas. We could do a whole group thing.”

  I gave Emily the dates and we hung up. I checked my watch; I had to leave or I’d be late for lunch with John. I left my office feeling even more excited for the trip than I had before, all remaining doubts pushed firmly to the back of my mind.

  * * *

  The Thursday we were set to go to Traverse City dawned bright and unseasonably warm. “This is perfect weather,” I said to John as we set out from the inn. Since Lainey had school, John’s parents had come to stay at his house. When he came to get me from the inn, I did my best to bury the twinge that had accompanied his not asking me to meet his family. None of that mattered now; we were going to have a fantastic time.

  “When should your friends get there?” John asked as he pulled out onto the two-lane country highway that would take us across the state.

  “They were going to leave early. It’s about a five-hour drive for them, so they’ll probably get there around lunch time.”

  “I probably won’t get to meet them until this evening,” he said. John had a lunch meeting for work at twelve. We would most likely only have time to check out the room before he had to leave. “Will you be okay by yourself for a few hours?”

  “I think I can manage,” I said, rolling my eyes. John laughed.

  “Sorry, forgot I was talking to Miss Independent over there. Have I told you how much I love that about you, by the way?”

  “What, that I’m independent?”

  “Yeah. That you just do your thing and don’t need anyone. It’s refreshing.”

  I wasn’t sure I agreed with him. I did like to do my own thing, and I certainly could be described as independent, but I wouldn’t exactly say that I didn’t need anyone.

  I thoroughly enjoyed my first road trip with John. We blasted Michael Jackso
n and both sang along, loudly, laughing at each other and arguing over who was the most tone deaf. John liked to play car games, and was constantly inventing guessing games and scavenger hunts for me. It was silly, easy fun, and it made me ridiculously happy.

  We arrived in Traverse City two and a half hours after leaving Alpena. “Wow,” John said, as we turned onto Highway 31. “This is beautiful.”

  He wasn’t wrong. Traverse City is spread out along two distinct bays on Lake Michigan. In the strong March sunlight, the bays shone a cerulean blue. “Our resort is right on the water,” I told him.

  “I wish it was warm enough to swim in that,” he said, looking out over the water as we drove.

  “I’ve swum in colder than this. You’re such a wimp,” I scoffed.

  Our resort was lovely, exactly as it had been advertised on TripAdvisor. It was larger than anything I would want to run myself, but I couldn’t help but be jealous of their rich furnishings and luxe style. They had somehow nailed the exact north-woods chic I had always wished I could create at Murray Inn, if only my parents would relent.

  “Do you approve?” John asked, watching me look around the lobby. I smiled at him.

  “Very much.”

  John had booked a suite for us. We had perfect views of the bay from our windows and a sliding glass door that led out to the balcony. There was a small living area with a fireplace and several overstuffed couches. I could just imagine curling up with John before bed.

  Speaking of which… “This is nice,” John called out from the bedroom. “But something’s missing.”

  I found him in the bedroom, standing in front of the oak sleigh bed. The mattress looked huge and beyond comfortable, and the linens and pillows were clearly top of the line. I was pleased to see a fireplace in this room as well, and could just make out a Jacuzzi tub in the bathroom.

  “What’s missing?” I asked, looking around. It looked pretty perfect to me. Suddenly, John grabbed me and tossed me on the bed, making me squeal. “Hey!” I shouted as he jumped up after me, making me bounce on the mattress.

  “That’s better,” he said, supporting himself on his elbows. “The room was missing a gorgeous girl on this giant bed.”

  I laughed and threw a pillow at him. “Dork.”

  “Hey,” he protested, pulling me on top of him and trapping my arms in his strong hands. “Throwing pillows is not nice.”

  “Neither is throwing me,” I shot back.

  John gave me a wicked little grin. “Sorry. Can I make it up to you?”

  “You have to work,” I said, turning to find a clock, but John pulled me down to kiss me.

  “Work can wait,” he mumbled against my mouth. “Everything can wait.”

  Chapter Twenty

  I met up with Emily, Elliot, Chris, and Ashley in the lobby shortly after John left for work. Because we hadn’t seen each other since Thanksgiving, and neither of us liked to admit we were feeling sentimental, Emily and I played our old game where we pretended we hadn’t seen each other since we were children. This gave us the perfect excuse to hug each other like mad and still keep our dignity under the guise of a joke. Elliot declared us crazy before hugging me as well.

  After he released me, I went straight for Chris and wrapped him in a huge bear hug. He had been home briefly at Christmas, but his girlfriend Ashley was with him so we had little time to hang out. “You’re looking good, Chris,” I said, releasing him so I could look up at his face. “How’s it going?”

  “Pretty good,” he said, his familiar eyes crinkling behind his glasses a little as he smiled down at me. “I’m excited to meet gorgeous man.”

  “It’s Mr. Gorgeous, geez,” Emily said, shoving him. I laughed.

  “Don’t let her turn you, Chris. You used to be such a nice guy.”

  I turned to Ashley, Emily’s roommate and Chris’s girlfriend. “Hey, Ash,” I said, giving her a quick hug. “How are you?”

  “Good,” she said, smiling almost shyly at me. I managed to not roll my eyes before I turned back to Emily and Chris. Ashley had a tendency of acting like she was terrified of me. Emily said it was because I intimidated her, a phenomenon I was quite familiar with. I tried to be nice to her, but she still looked at me like she was scared I was going to eat her. It got kind of old.

  “Are you guys hungry?” I asked. “We could get lunch.”

  We decided to walk downtown and see what we came up with. Chris and I walked arm and arm, catching up. “Work is good, Ashley is good, apartment is good,” he said, ticking each one off on his fingers as we walked.

  “Good,” I said, laughing.

  “How about you? What’s the deal with this guy? Em says she hasn’t heard you talk this way about someone. Like, ever.”

  “Chris, have I ever told you that you sound like a girl sometimes?”

  “Sorry,” he said, bumping hips with me. “I will try to man up to your exceeding standards. But seriously, what’s the deal. Is he a good guy?”

  “He is,” I said. “I like him a lot. Things are kinda complicated, but we’re taking it day by day.”

  “Complicated because of the kid?”

  “Yeah. She’s been through a lot of upheaval since her mom left. New house, new school, new town—”

  Chris snorted. “Yeah, moving up to Alpena would be a huge shock to the system. Poor kid.”

  “Yeah, well, with all that, John doesn’t think it would be a good time for her to meet me.”

  “That sounds reasonable,” Chris said. “It’s cool he’s trying to be a good dad.”

  “I agree,” I said, more pleased than I thought I would be that John had Chris’s approval. There were few guys who I respected as much as my old friend.

  “And it probably suits you pretty well anyhow,” he said, winking at me. “All the benefits of a relationship and you don’t have to be tied down. The perfect excuse to not get too serious.” He laughed. “It sounds like the perfect Brooke Murray scenario.”

  I felt a little stung by that, though I wasn’t sure why. How many times had I complained to him that some guy I was dating was asking me to get too serious? It was usually the one thing guaranteed to make me run. In theory, my relationship with John should have been perfect for me. So why did his words send a little shiver of doubt down my spine? What he described was pretty much exactly what I had been telling myself ever since John had come back to town. Why did hearing it from Chris sound so different?

  We found a diner that Emily recalled from a previous trip had good sandwiches. We ordered and crowded into a little booth, everyone laughing and talking easily. Even with the addition of Ashley and Elliot, it felt like old times. I wished, not for the first time, that Emily and Chris hadn’t moved so far away.

  “So what’s this Elliot tells me about you hooking up with Paul Harting?” Chris asked. Emily took one look at my face and cracked up.

  “Dear God, you are all the worst bunch of gossips I’ve ever met,” I mumbled, taking a bite of my sandwich so I wouldn’t have to talk anymore.

  “Sorry,” Chris said, grinning. “Boys talk. So what gives? I distinctly remember you telling me once that Paul Harting was a man-whore. And now he’s your booty call? What’s up with that?”

  “He is not my booty call,” I said, glaring at him as Emily and Elliot laughed. Ashley looked freaked out—by my expression, I’m sure. “We haven’t hooked up in months.”

  “You say that like it’s such a success,” Emily said. “I’ve never hooked up with him, where’s my prize?”

  “If you must know, the last time we got together, it was because I had just gotten into a terrible fight with your old girlfriend,” I snarled at Chris, wanting to divert the attention. Emily hooted.

  “Oh God, I forgot you went out with Justine Marker.” She threw her napkin at Chris. “That is so much worse than Paul.”

  “Yeah, well,” Chris said, looking at Ashley uncomfortably. “I was young.”

  “You know,” I said, realizing something. “You dating
her was right around the time she started being so awful to me.”

  “That’s true,” Emily said, scrunching up her nose as she thought about it. “It was, what, sophomore year that you guys dated? I think that was the same year she started the rumor that Brooke slept with Mr. Castovas.”

  I groaned. That was one of the low points of high school. There had been plenty of rumors about me back then, but the one involving me sleeping with my math teacher was probably the worst. My guidance counselor had even heard it, for God’s sake, and made me come in for a “chat.”

  “She was probably jealous because I hung out with you. God, she was such a bitch,” I muttered. I grabbed a napkin and started shredding it into long strands.

  “She was,” Emily agreed, gently taking the napkin from my hands. Then she smiled and pointed at Chris. “And you dated her. God, I totally forgot. Now I have ammo to throw back at you anytime you bug me.”

  Chris stuck out his tongue at her and I laughed, feeling better.

  We spent the afternoon wandering around downtown Traverse City. We found a pretty good bookstore and a record shop, which we had a hard time getting Elliot to leave. At five, we decided to head back to the hotel to start to get ready. John had booked a table for us somewhere, but he hadn’t told me where.

  “All he said was to look nice,” I said. “So you’re gonna have to lose the hoodie, buddy,” I said to Chris. He scowled at me; Chris pretty much lived in cargo pants and a hoodie.

  I was soaking in the bath when John came back to the room. “I’m cancelling dinner, he said, standing in the doorway to the bathroom. “It would be a crime against mankind to make you get out of that tub.”

  “Sorry,” I said, batting my eyelashes at him. “I promised my friends they could meet you so we could gossip about you later.”

  “Fine,” he said. “I’m gonna grab a beer, want one?”

  “Sure.”

  John came back from the mini-bar with a bottle of Miller Lite for each of us. He sat on the edge of the tub and told me all about his meeting while I drank my beer and finished my bath. John’s work sounded incredibly boring to me, and when he told me stories about it, I had a hard time keeping my eyes from glazing over. But he got all animated when he was excited about something; it was totally cute.