With a nod, his eldest brother backed off and greeted one of the other guests. While he was occupied, Dev moved closer. “I wanted to let y’all know, I spoke to a member of tourism who’s married to a woman on the school board. I should hear from her soon and I’ll let you know how far I get.”
Brooke’s gaze bounced from Dev to Trevor.
“I told my brother about Zen. He’s going to help us go after them,” Trevor said.
Dev held his punch up. “I can’t promise all that, but we’ll do our best.”
“That’s…” Brooke blinked, a stinging sensation behind her eyes. They’d already made more progress than she’d dreamed possible. “Thank you,” she said.
“Brooke!” Sophie shoved her brothers aside and grabbed Brooke with the kind of strength she looked too small to muster. “I’m so glad you’re here. I haven’t seen you in weeks. Anna and Madison are out of town and I’m so tired of talking to these guys all the time. Come on, let’s get something to eat.” She dragged Brooke from the middle of the circle.
Brooke glanced back to find Trevor.
“I’ll find you before the dancing starts,” he promised.
“How have you been? Where have you been? Other than planning this prom, what have you been up to? Tell me everything.”
Heat surrounded her as though she were curled against Trevor again, pressed to his chest. Warm, safe. “Nothing, except the planning. And working. That’s us. Only working and planning.”
“Ugh. Tell me about it. I haven’t had a day off in two weeks and Wright’s schedule is insane. But…” She drew the word out unnecessarily long. “We’re taking a couple of days next month though. Got to mix some fun in with work, right?” She waited with an expectant gleam in her eyes.
Sophie knew about her and Trevor.
Brooke peered to where Trevor was speaking intently with his brothers. Were they talking about the prom or were they discussing her? Did his brothers have the same insight as Sophie?
She looked back toward Sophie to find she’d followed her gaze.
“You and my brother,” she said. It wasn’t a question. “I suspected he was into you at Dev’s wedding, but honestly, I didn’t think he stood a chance. Guess I was wrong.”
“What do you mean? Trevor and I aren’t—”
“Oh please. Look at him.” Sophie nodded to her bundle of brothers.
Trevor smiled as his gaze met Brooke’s, affection playing all across his face.
“I know. But we aren’t…” What? Brooke had no descriptor for them. He meant a lot to her, but she couldn’t define what. “We aren’t dating or anything.”
“You’re clearly not just friends though.”
“No, we’re not that either.” She didn’t know what they were, but she enjoyed it the same.
“Listen, I love nosing into Trevor’s business, if only to give him a hard time, the way he does me, but I don’t want you to think I’m all up in yours. I’m happy you guys are hanging out or whatever. A little surprised, but happy.”
A wave of relief washed over her. If this were her sister Reagan talking to Trevor, the conversation would go a lot differently.
They reached the food line and two long tables stretched out, filled with platters of empanadas, fish, chicken, corn on the cob, vegetable skewers, beans, rice, and fresh fruit.
Brooke’s stomach growled at the sight, timed perfectly with Sophie groaning aloud. “I’m about to eat my weight in corn and empanadas.”
They worked their way down the line, piling their plates. The scent of seasoned chicken and aromatic rice made Brooke’s mouth water.
Sophie stopped at the fruit, making room on her plate for more.
“All right, I lied earlier,” she said. “I need to be up in your business a teensy bit.”
Brooke bit back a knowing smile. “Does it matter if I say it’s not okay?”
“Not really. I only want to say, I hope you really do like Trevor. He tries to hide the fact that he’s super into you, because he keeps to himself like that, but it’s obvious to me. And he may act all chill and casual, but he’s not. When he cares about people, when it matters, he cares a lot. Maybe too much. And I don’t want to see him get hurt. That’s all.”
Brooke stared down at Sophie’s heart-shaped face, the cute little kewpie doll nose.
At first sight, no one would ever call Sophie formidable. Brooke knew better, after getting to know her the night she and Wright almost ended their relationship.
Sophie liked Brooke, but she’d never stand by and let someone hurt her brother.
Brooke would never willingly do that though. Trevor had earned a degree of trust and reliance, when she’d been sure that’d never happen again. She let Trevor kiss her, and touch her, and still she wanted more.
“I like your brother,” Brooke said, admitting the truth aloud for the first time. An odd, tingling sensation rippled across her skin.
Sophie took a deep breath, her shoulders relaxing so much they almost sagged. “Good.”
Brooke didn’t answer to Sophie. She didn’t answer to anyone anymore, but confessing her feelings gave her freedom.
Plus, she understood the protectiveness of family. How many guys had she wanted to quiz when they dated her sisters? How many had she wanted to throttle when they hurt them?
“I mean, you don’t owe me an explanation or anything, but he’s my brother. I care about him. And I like you. I don’t want him getting his heart stomped.”
“No one wants their heart stomped.” Didn’t stop it from happening, but still. “I can’t promise we’ll get serious or ever be a couple. Trevor and I are—I don’t know what we are, but I don’t want to hurt him or be hurt. We’re enjoying each other’s company and that’s enough for now. I never thought I’d meet a guy I wanted to be around. I want to be around him, get to know him more.”
And that’s all she knew right now.
“Awww.” Sophie shrugged her shoulders up to her ears as they made their way back to the corner of Bradleys.
“No, not aww. I said I don’t know what we are.”
“I know, but you want to get to know him more and he really is so awesome. A little all over the place sometimes, but he tries harder than anyone and cares more than everyone. He’s the one who finally reached out to our mother last year. None of us would’ve done that.”
“I know. He told me.”
Sophie stopped dead in her tracks. “He told you about our mom?”
“Yes.”
Her mouth fell open.
“Should he not have?”
“No, it’s fine. I’m just surprised. He’s usually very private. He must trust you.” Sophie turned, continuing on to find a seat.
They found the Bradley brothers exactly where they had left them.
“You three better hurry up and get something to eat,” Sophie called. “We aren’t waiting on y’all.”
Trevor hovered near Brooke, close enough to give off body heat as he checked out her plate of food. “That looks so good.” He patted his flat stomach. “Got to fill up for dancing fuel.”
“You really think you’re going to get me to dance tonight.”
He plucked a cherry tomato off of one of her skewers and popped it into his mouth. “I don’t think. I know.” With a quick wink, he was off to get in line with his brothers.
A slight pep in his step, he seemed lighter than air.
Trevor not only trusted her, he liked her. And he wasn’t the least bit scared to show it.
An odd awareness began to wash over her. Clarity and understanding.
Deep down, at the center of a heart she’d thought hardened like cold steel, she felt the same.
Dinner passed in a flash, and as soon as the band started up again, Trevor leaned over. “Are your dancing shoes ready?”
“No, but som
ehow I’m betting that won’t stop you.”
He took her hand, helping her stand. “Remember Dev’s wedding? Follow my lead and we’ll look like professionals.”
She let him lead her to the dance floor, where several teenagers and adult couples were already dancing. A mirrored ball hung suspended in midair, and a pair of twirling lights created the vision of stars on the parquet floor. The lights glittered off the sparkling ribbon and white tulle, weaving a magical thread through the night.
Trevor held her close, his eyes bright while his smile held a heavy hint of mischief.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked.
“That obvious?”
“Yes. Very.”
“I’m thinking about how good you look tonight. And trying not to think about how good you feel.”
“I was thinking something similar about you.”
“Brooke Sargent, you minx!” He winked.
“Shh!” She turned her face into his.
“No, I love it. Tell me more.”
Brooke leaned closer, her lips inches from his. “This whole party is like a fairy tale. I feel…I’m not sure what I feel. Like I can let go.”
“Pretty sure that’s the point. Keeping tradition and introducing Camila to the community, first. But as an adult, this is also some fairy-tale-level fun. Every day, working, day after day, can be a grind. This isn’t.” He nodded to where Marco twirled his niece under his arm. “Yesterday, Marco was covered in flour and had some kind of balsamic glaze all over him. Pretty sure he was wiping up broken egg yolk from the refrigerator unit the day before that. But tonight, look at him. He looks like royalty.”
Trevor spun them in a turn and Brooke’s gaze clung to his.
She’d forgotten how important fun was. Letting go of all the practicalities sometimes to simply enjoy life, maybe remember what it means to dream, believe in the romantic and the magical.
The same was true for the kids at Windamere High.
“Every day is school, school, school or work, work, work,” she said.
“Exactly. How often do any of us get to dress up and be kings and queens? Princes or princesses? Especially after you get out of school. In the last six years, I’ve only gotten spruced up for Dev’s wedding. I can see why people enjoy big weddings, quinceañeras, and proms. Why the kids get into it. If you got to be royalty for the day, why wouldn’t you?”
As she watched the court, the girls beaming, absolutely beautiful in their joy, the young men debonair, every adult at the party bursting with pride, she couldn’t come up with a valid reason why not.
“You’re right.” She and Trevor were going to do the same for Windamere High’s prom. Not the basics that would barely count, but the magical moment those kids would remember forever. Afterward, they could look back on that night and remember the magic and freedom. When reality and responsibility weighed them down, they’d be able to say, “Remember our prom senior year? How much fun we had? How special those people made it for us when we thought we weren’t going to have one at all?”
Trevor stepped even closer, fingers caressing the bare skin of her back. “I’m sorry, could you say that again?”
“The daily grind gets to be too much and—”
“No, I meant the part about me being right.”
She rolled her eyes.
The band cranked up with a fast-paced song she recognized from the radio, and the dance floor was soon packed with almost every guest there.
Sophie and Dev joined them, cracking up at each other as they danced.
She and Trevor danced and laughed and the evening was exactly like Devlin’s wedding.
Even back then, she’d been rejuvenated simply by being around Trevor. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, they had chemistry and connected. She’d tried ignoring those feelings, concentrating instead on her status and label as a divorcee.
Her isolation was punishment. Self-inflicted imprisonment for what she’d allowed herself to be put through. Her journey through divorce wasn’t over, but she was tired of punishing herself. Tired of hiding her story away in shame.
Trevor offered everything that she wanted—the spark and adventure, passion and excitement—all with the understanding of what she’d been through and who she was.
And tonight, she wanted to accept.
Chapter 24
“Tonight was like a fairy tale. The music, the princess dresses, the decorations. There was even a crown.” Brooke turned her head, her eyes glistening and dark as they walked to his truck. “Thank you for inviting me.”
Trevor opened the truck door for her. “You’re welcome. You deserve some fairy-tale time.”
She climbed in, silent and still as they drove out of town. “I never let myself enjoy the fairy tale before,” she eventually whispered.
He nodded, but kept quiet.
“Except maybe as a child, but once I hit high school, even middle school…I was too busy chasing perfection. Working hard to have the best grades, be the best at all I did. Maybe that’s why I kept all those toys. Deep down, I missed the fun. The dreaming.”
“Makes sense.”
“I thought if I found the perfect job and the perfect guy, with the perfect ambition, everything would magically be…”
“Perfect.”
With a sniff, she nodded. “But that is not how it works. Not at all.”
Trevor’s stomach knotted at the raw pain in her voice.
“And as much as I know I can’t blame myself for what our marriage turned into, I do blame myself for not paying attention to what really matters. What seems like a perfect guy can be a perfect monster if you aren’t looking for what’s important in a person.”
“But you learned that. The lesson was painful, but you learned.”
Brooke brushed her cheek. “Another one of life’s experiences, huh?”
He reached for her hand, holding her tight. “A rough one, but yes.”
She took his hand in both of hers. “I’m so glad I went to that beautiful party. You keep making me step outside of my comfort zone. Making me have more adventures, and that helps more than you’ll ever know. I know I fought you at first.”
Trevor laughed, the memory of her stiff-armed dancing, alone in Jolie’s ballroom, one he’d never forget.
“But you didn’t give up on me. You’ve taken me out of my comfort zone and made me feel safe.”
“And you’ve done the same for me.”
Her nose scrunched. “But everything is your comfort zone.”
“This is probably true, but that’s not what I’m talking about. You make me feel comfortable and, as hard as it may be to believe, that’s no easy feat.”
With a tilt of her head, Brooke studied him. “I don’t under—”
“Believe it or not, I’m not superconventional.”
Brooke gave him a soft smile. “No.”
“And it took me a really long time to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. In a family full of these driven types, I was…I don’t know, kind of all over the place. I didn’t have Dev’s passion or Roark and Sophie’s focus. My family thought I was nuts for going to Peru. I’m pretty sure they still think I’m nuts. But when I told you, when I talk to you about how I feel, you understand.”
She leaned forward, kissing him on the cheek as he drove. “I do understand. As different as we are, learning more about your history and your family, I get it.”
They started up the mountain and Brooke tugged on his hand, drawing his gaze to hers.
“I don’t want to go back to Jolie right now. I don’t want to go back to reality and people yet.”
He didn’t either. They’d shared an amazing night, a fairy-tale date. He wanted this moment to never end. “I happen to know a place. And I won’t make you walk far in those heels.”
“My feet
and I thank you.”
Trevor headed straight for Honeywilde, but his destination wasn’t the inn.
Brooke wanted to be alone, except for him. He wasn’t going to examine his satisfaction too closely. Instead, he took a right, around the inn, and headed up the hillside to the handful of yurts on their property.
The area was almost pitch black, most of them vacant, and the only one occupied already had lights out.
“I know I said I didn’t want to see people, but I also don’t want to be taken into the woods and left for dead,” Brooke joked.
He pulled up to the yurt farthest from the rest. “You’re going to love this. Trust me.”
“As crazy as it sounds, I do.”
“Hang on a sec.” Grabbing his Mag light from under his seat, he lit the short pathway to the yurt and unlocked the narrow door. Inside, he felt around for the lantern by the door and turned it on. As he switched on the lanterns that hung every two feet in the circular tent, a quaint little setting emerged.
A queen-sized bed, wood stove, woven rug, and two rocking chairs filled the space. On his rare day off, he’d come out here with Beau. Take a break from everything, as much as possible, and spend the night away from the inn and bustle.
By now, Beau was back at the inn, probably shacked up with Sophie, but tonight, he still wanted a break from the eyes and ears of the inn, and so did Brooke. His favorite yurt was perfect.
He returned to the truck and opened Brooke’s door.
“What’s this?” she asked with a smile on her face.
“A surprise. Follow me and you’ll see.”
A few steps led up to the yurt’s entrance and Brooke gasped as they entered. “This is adorable. Look at this place.” She passed him and went to the rocking chairs, running her fingers across the stained wood. “I love it.”
“This is our best yurt, in my opinion. Nicer amenities for guests who want to be adventurous, but not too rustic.”
The night air was cool enough for a fire, so Trevor grabbed a few of the chopped logs stacked beside the stove, a bit of newspaper, and the long lighter Honeywilde provided their guests. “Give me a minute or two and I’ll unlock some next-level coziness.”
No One Like You Page 17