Road to Recovery

by Ann, Natalie

  Brooke thought back to last night, and how long it had taken her to convince Mac to stay at Lucas’s. Telling him Lucas had a separate guest suite in the finished basement, two floors down from his room. “It will be completely private, for both of us.” She knew the last part was what finally convinced him. She knew he was uncomfortable thinking about his baby sister sleeping with a man in the same house as him.

  She grinned at Lucas. “I also bribed him with breakfast tomorrow morning.”

  “Pancakes” and “French Toast” were both spoken simultaneously. She rolled her eyes at them, grabbed her bag from Mac and walked upstairs to Lucas’s bedroom.

  Lucas stood up as he watched Brooke climbed the stairs. “Guess I’ll show to you the guest suite.”

  Mac looked around the room and said, “A lot of space for one person.”

  “Yeah, well I hope it won’t have only one person for long.” Lucas’s look challenged Mac.

  “Good luck with that. I think you might need it.”

  ***

  Brooke watched Mac, Lucas and Ryan standing over by the cooler talking and laughing, enjoying a beer. She was right. Mac fit right in with Lucas’s family, more than she did.

  It didn’t seem to faze him in the least when Lucas’s mom reached up and gave him a hug, or when Thomas and Ryan gave him a handshake with a half man hug. Mac was so at ease. Just like Lucas, he was always fast with a grin and a laugh. Sometimes Brooke wished she could be more like them.

  “Who’s that?” Cori asked breathlessly, fanning her hand in front of her face.

  Brooke stopped looking at the men by the cooler and focused her attention on where Cori had indicated, to the man walking across the lawn. “That must be Ryan’s friend Jack Reynolds. Lucas mentioned he might be stopping by,” Brooke stated and then watched when Ryan broke away from the group to greet the newcomer.

  “Wow, he’s hot. With a capital H.O.T. Look at that body. He is bigger than Ryan and I didn’t think that was possible. Built the same too. Look at those shoulders.” Cori sighed dramatically.

  Brooke noticed that Jack indeed had a build as thick and muscular as Ryan’s. But that was the only thing they had in common. Ryan, always the epitome of modern fashion, was dressed in designer flat front shorts, with a fitted vintage washed blue T-shirt and slip-on sneakers. Jack was in wrinkled cargo shorts with a faded vintage-looking T-shirt, most likely from age and wear, rather than design.

  Suddenly Cori interrupted her thoughts. “Want to ride the jet skis for a bit to cool off? Because Ryan’s friend there got me even hotter than I already was,” she said with a smirk.

  “Sure, let me go put my suit on and find out where the smaller life jackets are.”

  “Okay, I’m going to go in and change myself,” Cori said, then she practically skipped away.

  Brooke shook her head and marveled at how fast Cori always moved. She never walked. She always skipped, ran or slid in and out of rooms. She had one speed—full throttle.

  When Cori waltzed out in her hot pink bikini, she knew every eye was on her, exactly as she had expected. One of the reasons Cori always wore bright colors. The other reason—bright colors were fun. And Cori was all about fun.

  Brooke, on the other hand, had come out zipping the life jacket up over her own pale blue bikini, trying to draw less attention than Cori always managed to do.

  The two girls stopped in front of Lucas, who was still talking with Mac, and asked the guys to push the skis off the beach for them.

  “Cute suit.” Mac grinned at Cori. Then he pulled her red hair out of her collar so that she could zip up the life jacket.

  With a wink and a grin back, Cori said, “Thanks. Where’s yours?”

  Mac caught Brooke’s stare, ignored her and continued to flirt with Cori. “In the house. Maybe I’ll take a ride with you a bit later.”

  Straddling the watercraft next to Brooke, Cori started it up and then looked over her shoulder with a dip of her chin. “Maybe.”

  Mac turned back to Lucas. “I can’t tell if she is joking or flirting with me.”

  “Who? Cori?” Lucas asked. When Mac nodded, Lucas replied, “Most likely both. Cori’s a good time, doesn’t take much seriously. But I’ve never known her to be the one-night-stand type of girl either,” he warned Mac with a glint in his eye.

  “No worries,” Mac assured him. “I’m not the one-night-stand type of guy myself. Nor would I consider angering Brooke.”

  White Picket Fences

  Lucas rolled over the next morning, eyes searching for Brooke. Huddled under the covers on her side of the bed. Figures.

  He considered reaching over and waking her up for some early morning fun, but then remembered Cori was sleeping two doors down. Not to mention Mac two floors below. Well, maybe if he was quiet enough, but then he reconsidered. He knew he could be quiet, but he didn’t think Brooke could.

  So lying on his back staring out at the morning sun, he thought of last night. Memories of Cori drinking a little too much, causing her hyperactive little body to be even more over animated resulted in roars of laughter from everyone.

  Brooke, drinking water, having stopped after two glasses of wine, declaring that she wasn’t about to overindulge and fall asleep early like she did Memorial Day weekend.

  Mac, keeping pace with Ryan beer for beer, relaying stories of college football days, proving to Lucas he was right when he pegged Mac as an athlete. Too bad Ryan’s friend Jack couldn’t stay longer. He had left before the girls had gotten back from their ride on the lake.

  Then he thought with a chuckle, Mandi, in the corner scowling at the girls most of the night. Then scowling at Ryan whenever he laughed at something Cori said, or ignored her completely in favor of Mac.

  Of course it probably didn’t help the girls any that Mandi overheard them earlier laughing over her attire for the day. For the life of him Lucas couldn’t imagine what Ryan saw in Mandi. Then realized, he knew what he saw in her, but couldn’t understand how he stayed with her for more than a few nights. If Mandi wasn’t whining and complaining, then she was scowling or demanding Ryan’s attention.

  Last night was all the things Lucas had wanted when he built this house. All the things hidden in the back of his mind, but never really knew until last night. He always wanted a place for friends to come and hang out. To feel welcome. To sit in front of the fire pit with the woman he loved while his friends and family laughed and joked around with each other.

  Shaking his head and chuckling, Lucas realized that he was romanticizing about white picket fences and happy ever after. If Ryan knew what he was thinking, he would never let him live it down.

  Suddenly he felt the bed move and looked over at Brooke blinking her eyes open against the sunlight and covering a yawn. “You’re up early.”

  He watched her face come to life. The woman he knew was the one, the one he wanted a life with, the one he wanted a life with in this house. The one he was trying hard to not scare by declaring everything he was feeling at the moment.

  Thankfully his stomach chose that moment to growl, giving him an out for what was really on his mind. “I’m hungry. And waiting for my breakfast.” He reached for her and gave her a quick hug.

  ***

  Later that morning, after cooking French toast and pancakes for everyone, Brooke instructed the boys. “I cooked, you clean.” Then she marched to Lucas’s bedroom, changed into her yoga gear, grabbed her mat and headed out to the backyard to stretch and get a quick session in.

  “How can you do that after the breakfast you just ate?” Cori asked, holding her third cup of coffee in her hands.

  Brooke finally realized why Cori always seemed so wound up, caffeine. She was drinking it faster than the rest of them and didn’t seem intent on stopping. “Easy. I didn’t eat as much as you did. And it helps with digestion.”

  Cori snorted, then took another sip of her sweetened coffee. “Always practical, figures.”

  ***

  Inside, the boys wer
e finishing up the dishes and wiping down the counters when Mac asked, “How did we get roped into this? You, I can understand, but me? Why do I have to clean up?”

  “Excuse me?” Lucas asked all indignant.

  Mac grinned at Lucas’s tone. “Yeah, you. You’re a guy, you sleep with my sister.” Ignoring the choking sound coming from Lucas he continued, “You want to keep doing it, so you keep her happy.”

  Lucas looked over at Mac. “Did you just bring up the fact that I’m sleeping with your sister? The same guy who fought tooth and nail not to stay here for that very reason, because it made you uncomfortable? Yet you throw it out on the table like that?”

  Mac shrugged. “Well, yeah. Don’t get me wrong, it still makes me uncomfortable, but she’s an adult. And I’m trying to respect that.”

  “Lectured you on that Friday night, huh?” Lucas said with a lift of his eyebrows.

  Mac figured there was no use denying it, so he smirked in response. Then his tone and face took on a more serious demeanor. “How is she doing? Honestly? She always tells me fine, always acts like she is fine, but sometimes I know she can’t be.”

  It was Lucas’s turn to feel uncomfortable. “You know her well. I’m sure it will come as no surprise to learn she feeds me the same lines. Always says she’s fine.”

  Lucas pulled a stool out and settled down to get comfortable, gazed out the windows to see Brooke balancing herself on one hand and one leg while another leg and hand were pointing at a ninety-degree angle. “I watch her mostly, her movements, her reactions. She hides the pain, but I can see it. I try not to bring it up, or baby her. Or lecture her. I get the feeling she gets enough of that from your parents.”

  Mac looked over at Lucas more thoughtfully. “I guess you know her well, too. Just keep her happy. She’s had a rough year. I don’t want to see her heart broken again.”

  Lucas nodded, pain reaching his eyes, and replied solemnly, “It’s more likely that I’m the one who’ll get my heart broken.”

  Looking at Lucas’s face, Mac felt the need to say more. In the past twenty-four hours he had come to really like Lucas. He was rooting for him, and felt Brooke finally found someone she could count on, and be with, someone who understood her and loved her for who she was, not for what she could bring him.

  But his loyalty to Brooke kept his lips sealed. She was going to have to figure it out on her own. He hoped she did it right and didn’t let Lucas slip away.

  ***

  “Don’t be such a stranger,” Brooke said, then reached up to give Mac a quick hug.

  “I could say the same to you,” he said, joking and lifting her off her feet, prolonging the hug.

  “Argh, are you trying to break my ribs?” she said in a huff, but then spoiled it by smiling and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

  “Just want to make sure you’re as strong as you keep telling me you are,” he said with a grin, which produced a frown from her.

  “I’m fine, Mac.”

  Waving her answer away and rolling his eyes, he huffed right back at her. “Yeah, yeah.” He turned toward Lucas, reaching out his hand to the one already extended toward his. “Keep her in line.”

  Ignoring Brooke’s eye roll, Lucas nodded. “Deal. But I will echo Brooke, don’t be a stranger.”

  “Hey, what about me,” yelled Cori as she came running outside to get a hug from Mac too. She hit his body with a thud that caused them both to laugh.

  He lifted her a foot off the ground to bring her eyes level with his and placed a loud kiss on her lips. “Don’t be a stranger,” he said, mocking her. Then set her back on the ground and with a grin. “You have my number. I want tabs on Brooke.”

  Cori bumped her shoulder with Brooke, ignoring the frown that Brooke sent Mac’s way. “You got it.”

  ***

  After a final wave to Mac, Cori turned back to Brooke. “Do you want to catch a ride back with me since you came with Mac?”

  “No, I’ll bring her home tomorrow,” Lucas piped up before Brooke could respond. Then noticed her hesitation and amended. “If that works for you?”

  “Sure, if it’s not too much trouble for you. It’s a bit out of your way, so we would have to leave pretty early for me to have time to change,” she explained.

  “No problem. I have some catching up to do.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her and watched her start to blush. “Besides I have a long week, and unfortunately we might not see much of each other until the end of the week.”

  “Lucas!” Brooke scolded him for saying that in front of Cori, while her blush continued to deepen.

  Cori looked back and forth between the two of them, at Brooke’s red-faced frown and Lucas’s grin, then decided she had overstayed her welcome. “Alrighty then. I’ll grab my stuff and get out of your hair. Let you get to that ‘catching up,’” she said, making quotation marks with her hands, then dashed back into the house.

  Summoned

  “What has you smiling over there?” Lucas asked after taking a sip of beer.

  Startled out of her daze, Brooke tore her eyes away from the sunset over the lake in front of her and turned to Lucas to reply, “Nothing much, just thinking.”

  “Well, it has to be something if it has you smiling like that. So spill.”

  Conceding with a shrug and a half laugh, she told him, “Just thinking of how pathetic my life has been.”

  “And that has you smiling?” he asked, slightly shocked.

  “No, of course not. I can’t believe it’s the end of August already and I was thinking that I’ve done more normal things this summer than I have in my entire life. I was smiling over that. Then of course I realized that it’s pretty pathetic for someone of my age.”

  Intrigued, Lucas questioned her further, “Normal how? As much as I like to think I’m the perfect boyfriend”—he paused slightly when she snorted, but then continued on—“we haven’t done many exciting things this summer.”

  “Exactly,” she said, pointing an empty water bottle at him that she didn’t even realize she was still holding. “Do you know that I had never been to a backyard party like the one at your parent’s house on Memorial Day? I mean of course I’ve been to backyard parties, but never like that.”

  “You will have to explain that to me.”

  “Well, it was normal. Or what I always thought a backyard barbecue would be.”

  When he still looked confused, she explained further, “Everyone standing around mingling, laughing, lying in the hammock. Beer and wine in coolers, food set up on different tables, food that people made themselves and brought to share. Not catered food. Not everything perfectly lined up with servers running around and making sure everything was exact. That was the type of backyard affairs my family went to.”

  “That sounds kind of stuffy,” he said with a wrinkle of his nose.

  “It was. That’s my point. Stuffy people, stuffy conversation, no kids running around laughing and playing, everyone well behaved, and dressed accordingly. You would never see a woman with a bathing suit on under her clothes. No halter tops, unless they were designer and only paired with a skirt. Definitely no jean shorts or flip flops.” She stopped, hedged a second. “I’m sure you noticed I seemed out of my element that day at your parents.”

  He snorted. “So what else, besides that party at my parents?”

  “Well, the bonfire at your house the weekend of July fourth for another.”

  “Let me guess, never been to a bonfire before?” he asked with a smirk.

  “No. That was my first. And actually it was great. Everything I always imagined one would be. Sitting around with friends, laughing and joking. Just relaxing, not a care in the world about what you’re saying or if you might have said the wrong thing by mistake.”

  “Mac seemed comfortable enough.”

  “Mac got out a lot more than I did. He had more freedom. And like I said before, he is more open and affectionate than I am, so he was more easily accepted into groups. Groups of friends where they did
things like that. Where it was more the norm. I have always been a bit shy around groups of people. Probably because I never really fit in.”

  “That’s because you don’t open up enough to let people in,” he argued.

  “Probably right.” She waved her hand. “Anyway, besides those two parties, there was also the Saratoga Race Track. I had never been there before. Never gambled before either, for that matter. But it was so much fun.”

  He saw her smile and assumed she was thinking back on their day at the track. Brooke buying her vouchers so that she could bet on the machines before each race. Sitting in the grandstands laughing and cheering loudly for her horse to win, or at least beat his. Mac lifting her up and kissing her when he won the first Triple, then the three of them and Cori all going out to dinner later that night to celebrate. “Mac definitely enjoyed himself that day. Of course I swear it must have been beginners luck for him,” Lucas added when he saw her eyes soften.

  “Oh, don’t let him fool you. Mac likes to gamble. He likes to play poker, too. Of course my parents aren’t aware of it. He would never hear the end of it if they knew. ‘It’s not in good taste for a doctor, least of all a pediatrician to be gambling,’” she quoted in a very stern voice.

  “But you know what the best part of the summer has been so far? I know you will think I’m crazy,” she added shyly.

  “What?” he encouraged.

  “Your mother taking the time to teach me about flowers. Explaining to me each kind, when they bloom, when to plant them, and how to care for them, what works best in the house and outdoors. Getting my hands dirty and not even caring about it. Not caring that I was kneeling on damp ground and sweating in the sun. You know why?” she asked him fiercely.