Facial Recognition Page 18

  June plopped down on the other side of Carly and indulged deeply. “It’s so nice we get to have an evening to ourselves.”

  “Amen.” Carly downed a large sip. “I love my boys, but I’m happy to let them spend time with their daddy.”

  “I just love that all my boys are together and mostly getting along.” June splashed her feet in the water. Apparently Brooks’s company had a suite at the stadium, and he was treating them all to a Rangers game.

  “Is Brooks saying more than a few words at a time to Tom now?” I leaned back on my arms, enjoying the warm evening breeze.

  “About as many as you say to Brooks,” June teased me.

  Carly nudged me. “Yes, I’ve heard you’ve been playing hard to get.”

  “She’s been playing it smart.” June held up her glass to me.

  I thought about the last couple of weeks. I wasn’t sure how smart I’d been. If anyone was playing it smart, it was Brooks. It was like he knew all the right things to do. More like he knew me. Not only had the man been having lunch with my daddy, but he’d helped Daddy weed our flower beds. Daddy refused to divulge what they talked about, other than to say Brooks had potential. Then I’d caught Brooks reading New Moon, the next book in the Twilight saga, to his daddy last week to catch him up on our new book club selection because Tom’s eyes were having some issues and it was still hard for him to process information. When Brooks had noticed me, he’d hastily switched to the John Grisham book he’d brought. That was good because I’d almost planted a big one on him after witnessing how sweet he was being with his daddy. And, man, did New Moon sound sexy coming out of his mouth.

  If that wasn’t enough, he’d come to the rescue a few days ago when our DJ for the reunion up and quit on us, refusing to give us back our deposit. Brooks had heard me lamenting about it to Tom. Like Superman, he’d swept in and threatened the DJ with his lawyer powers. We got the deposit back, and Brooks called a friend of a friend who happened to be the most popular DJ in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Which meant he was ridiculously expensive and out of the reunion’s budget. Not to worry though, Brooks had picked up the tab. And made sure the man had plenty of Rick Springfield songs ready to go.

  It was getting almost impossible to resist him. I was clinging to my principles and no-man policy by a thread.

  “I’m still livid with that boy,” June growled. “Having sex with that girl on prom night.”

  “Momma, it was a long time ago,” Carly countered. “Haven’t you been the one lately preaching about forgiveness and letting go of past hurts?”

  I rubbed my neck, not liking the sense Carly was spouting.

  June downed some of her daiquiri and stared out at the gently lapping water before throwing her daughter the stink eye. “I will be mad at that boy until he makes things right with this girl.” She pointed at me.

  Yep, definitely not liking where this was going.

  Carly flashed me a wide smile. “How long do you think you can hold out?”

  “I’m not holding out. I’ve turned over a new leaf. No men.”

  Both ladies giggled.

  “Uh-huh.” Carly wasn’t buying it.

  I leaned over so I could address June. “How have you reconciled with Tom after his betrayal?”

  June gave me a knowing look. “Darlin’, we’re still working on it. I would be lying if I said it was easy. There are moments when I still want to slap him. Especially when I think about the repercussions it had on our children. Not to say I don’t bear some of that blame. Yet, when I think about how my life was with him and without him, hands down, it was better when we were together. Love is the hardest work around.” She winked.

  “But what if, hypothetically speaking, the person you love doesn’t want the same things as you? What if, for most of their life, they didn’t even want you? At least Tom has never wavered in his devotion to you.”

  June reached over and took my hand with her neatly manicured and fake-baked one. “Darlin’, Brooks has always wanted the same things as you; he’s just never known how to get them, so he lied to himself. Same thing with you. He never saw you as an option because he didn’t believe he was worthy of you.”

  I let go of June’s hand and tucked some hair behind my ear. “I never said I was talking about Brooks.”

  “Right,” June and Carly roared simultaneously.

  “I’m serious—the man in question told me marriage was not a viable institution. Let’s not forget he was dating a woman who he called his inti-mate. And while we’re on the subject of Morgan . . . He dated Morgan. Enough said.”

  June and Carly rankled at the mention of her name.

  “I can’t be with someone who doesn’t believe in marriage. I’m too old to be someone’s perpetual girlfriend. And I sure as heck don’t want to be an inti-mate. My ovaries, while still functioning, are past their prime. I need a man who’s willing to act quickly. The right man, mind you.”

  “You mean Brooks?” June didn’t pull any punches.

  “I admit, for a long time I thought he was the one, but come to find out he never even thought of me. That’s not an easy pill to swallow. I mean, the man didn’t even recognize me when he came in for his facial massage.”

  Carly patted my knee. “I’m not saying this to excuse him, but honestly, for a long time, I don’t think my brother even recognized himself. Sometimes it was even hard for those of us closest to him to see the real him. You don’t know how happy I was yesterday when we arrived,” she got all choked up. “It was the first time in a long time that I saw my brother. When he wrapped his arms around me, I knew he was different.”

  I swallowed down my emotion. I had seen a difference in him too. The boy I’d fallen in love with had come back, but it scared me. “Do you think it can last?” I whispered.

  “The question is, Do you think so?” June wisely responded.

  That was a good question.

  It was a question I thought about all night long, even after I went home to work on the name tags and photo booth props for the class reunion. I was using old yearbook photos that I had paid someone on Etsy to format with our high school mascot—an eagle—and our motto, Soar Ever Higher. Of course, I couldn’t leave well enough alone and had decided I needed to embellish them with sparkly silver cardstock. Then I’d bought little buttons that sounded like cheerleaders when you pushed them, shouting our lovely motto. Hey, once a cheerleader, always a cheerleader. I looked at the name tags as precious mementos. Okay, so I was nuts. Although, I had to say the props for the photo booth were stellar. They had sayings on them like, Reunited and It Feels So Good. I even made one that said, Still Lives at Home. I would be sporting that one, unashamed.

  As much fun as it was preparing for the reunion, thoughts of Brooks overshadowed everything. I had given up on avoiding him; he wasn’t going to let me. After all these years, he was finally chasing me, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be caught. Maybe that wasn’t exactly true. It was more like I was wary. Was he really over Morgan for good? Would he continue to try to mend his relationship with Tom? Could he love me? Love me enough to give me everything that I ever wanted? To be his bride and bear his babies?

  I sighed while using my hot glue gun to adhere the cheer buttons on each name tag as I watched my beloved Dr. Noah Drake break hearts. While I was deep in contemplation and wielding my glue gun like a pro, I heard a tapping on my bedroom window. At first I ignored it, thinking I was hearing things. I hadn’t heard a tap on that window in over twenty years. Then the tapping became a desperate rapping, so much so I thought my window might break. I dropped my hot glue gun, rushed over to the window closest to my bed, and parted the gray ruffled curtains to find Brooks clinging to the trellis with a look of terror in his eyes. It was kind of adorable.

  I unlocked the window and pushed it open. “What are you doing?” I heard some creaking and cracking in the wood.

  “I wanted to see you, but I fear I miscalculated how sturdy the trellis was after all these years.”


  “I guess you better go back down before you get hurt,” I grinned evilly.

  He grimaced. “I just scaled your house and you’re not going to let me in?”

  “You know the rules: no boys in my room,” I teased.

  The trellis cracked and creaked some more, making Brooks hold on to the windowsill for dear life. “How about men?” he said as if he were out of breath.

  I bit my lip. “Well, that depends on what kind of man he is.”

  “How about the kind willing to risk his life for you?” He clung tighter.

  “Maybe.” I grinned, watching him struggle.

  His eyes bore into mine. “What about a man willing to risk it all for you?”

  Oh. That pierced my heart. I was so confused. A large crack rent the air as the trellis gave out under his weight, leaving Brooks dangling from my window. “Grace?” he pleaded.

  “Okay.” I reached for him, making sure he didn’t go the way of the trellis, crashing into the rosebushes below, while I prayed my heart would survive this.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  I pulled Brooks through the window, and we both landed with a thud on the wood floor, Brooks on top of me. It was a good thing Daddy slept with a sound machine on nowadays.

  Brooks was a lot heavier than I remembered, but it was pure muscle. Nice-feeling muscle, up against my own skin. I had forgotten I was only in a nightshirt. I hadn’t been expecting company at eleven o’clock at night.

  Brooks made no attempt to move, even though he was lying on me. He only brushed my bangs to the side. “You’re so beautiful, Grace.” His lips played barely above my own, tempting me. So, so tempting me.

  “Brooks, maybe we should get up.”

  “I’m happy where I’m at.” His lips inched closer.

  My resolve was weakening at a furious pace. “We should talk.” I was desperately trying to think of any excuse as to why we shouldn’t kiss.

  “We will.” His breaths became my breaths.

  I closed my eyes for a half a second, not wanting to fight the magnetism pulling us together and aching for our lips to become one. Still, a tiny bit of reason flickered in my brain, reminding me that Brooks and I had some very different views about life. Views that needed to be reconciled—like me forgiving him among other things. I opened my eyes, wriggled my arm free, and pushed against his yummy chest. “No, really, we should talk. Like lots of words.”

  He let out a disappointed breath. “You win.” He settled for a kiss on my forehead before removing his godlike body from mine and standing up.

  I needed a moment on the floor to stare up at him. Holy crow, he looked fine in his tight baseball T-shirt and athletic shorts.

  Brooks reached out a hand to help me up. I took it, and our connection felt more real than it ever had. The voice was shouting, He’s the one! I wasn’t denying it, but the voice had to understand that I needed time. And we needed answers.

  Brooks easily lifted me. When I was upright, he took the opportunity to pull me close and wrap his arms around me. I gave in and rested my head against his chest, listening to the steady pound of his heart.

  “How was the game?” I asked.

  “Rangers lost by one run, but we had a good time.”

  “You did?”

  He leaned away. “Believe it or not, I do know how to have fun.”

  “You’re going to have to prove that.”

  “I plan to.” His sultry tones were going to be the end of me.

  “You can start by helping me make name tags.”

  He looked around my room, which had doubled in size since the last time he was here. “It looks a lot different than it used to—except for your homage to Rick Springfield has remained, I see.”

  I lovingly gazed at my shrine to Rick, though I had to say Brooks was more attractive than him. “Rick is my one true love, besides chocolate and Diet Pepsi.”

  Brooks’s brow raised. “Room for anyone else on that list?”

  I shrugged. “Maybe.”

  He ran a finger down my cheek, leaving a trail of sparks so hot I thought my cheek might catch fire. “I’ll see what I can do about that.”

  “We shall see. But first, reunion name tags.”

  Brooks caught my hand before I could flee to the safety of my couch. “Grace, I’m in earnest.” He was as serious as he had ever been, which was saying something for him.

  “There you go, using fancy words again.” I grinned.

  “I mean them.” He squeezed my hand.

  I wanted to believe him. I kept ahold of him and led him toward my couch, which was covered with tissue poms in our school colors of silver and navy. I’d ended up having to make some of the decorations to save money. I let go of Brooks and made a spot for us to sit, as I had been sitting on the floor before his unexpected arrival.

  Brooks looked around at all of my handiwork. “I’m sorry you’ve had to bear the brunt of all the planning. I know, technically, it should have been my job.”

  “I’ve had a good time doing it, with the help of my friends. Besides, you won’t even be there.”

  He rubbed the back of his neck. “I would come,” he stammered, “but I’m doing a presentation about the dissipation of marital assets at the conference.”

  “Sounds riveting,” I teased before plopping down on the couch. “Don’t worry about it. I know you find reunions trite and for people who peaked in their pasts.”

  He sat next to me and let out a heavy sigh. “I didn’t say that.”

  “You also didn’t disagree with Morgan when she spoke for both of you on the subject.”

  “I wish I would have. You were right when you said that people who don’t face their past can never make peace with their future.”

  “You remember that?”

  “Grace, ever since you walked back into my life, I can’t think of anyone but you.” His sincerity was going to be my undoing.

  But I still had some fight in me. “Uh-huh. Which was why you continued to date Morgan.”

  “It’s why I was going to end it with her. But can we not talk about her?”

  “That is always my preference, but you should know, she RSVP’d to the reunion.” I couldn’t believe it when her reservation came through on our system. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She was more hypocritical than I’d ever dreamed. What was she playing at, exactly? Especially after her sanctimonious speech about reunions. And the fact that I knew what a facade her life was.

  Brooks’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

  “Like my love for General Hospital. She’s bringing an Olivander Kennedy. If that isn’t a pretentious name, I don’t know what is. She obviously moved on from you pretty fast.”

  Brooks chuckled. “That brings you some pleasure.”

  “Maybe.”

  He leaned in closer. “You should know, Olivander Kennedy claims to be a cousin of the Kennedy family—as in JFK—yet can never produce any solid proof. He was also charged with embezzling a fortune from his father’s insurance company, though he was let off on a technicality.”

  “How do you know him?”

  “I represented his wife in their divorce last year.”

  “Why would Morgan date him?”

  “Like her, he talks a good talk and can make himself look better on paper than he is in real life.”

  “I almost feel sorry for people like that. Almost.”

  “Don’t. People like Morgan and Olivander never think for one second about anyone but themselves.”

  I tilted my head. “What about you?”

  “I’m trying to be better. Trying to right my wrongs, though it’s hard, and I admit I still harbor ill will toward my father.”

  I rested my hand on his thigh. “I know he appreciates your effort. How did it go tonight?”

  He gave me a crooked smile. “Ryker and Axel did their best to make friends with my colleagues, entertaining them with ridiculous jokes that made no sense, yet somehow they made them sound hilarious.” Brook
s beamed with uncle pride. “When the rug rats let someone else get a word in, Dad enjoyed talking shop. He might have lost some memories, but he’s still pretty sharp.”

  My brow quirked. “Tom has been promoted to Dad?”

  Brooks smirked. “Don’t act so surprised.”

  “I think it’s you who is surprised.”

  “Right again.” Brooks scrubbed a hand over his face. “He does like to talk about you, which plays in his favor.”

  “Is that so? What does he say?”

  “That you’re headstrong and wonderful.”

  “I concur,” I laughed.

  Brooks tucked some of my unruly hair behind my ear. “He also said I’ve been a fool for a lot of years.”

  “I agree with that too,” I whispered.

  “Me too.”

  “Brooks, I’m so happy you’re trying to work things out with your daddy and, admittedly, that you’ve dumped Morgan. But . . . people don’t just change. Not to say people can’t change. But you have some pretty strong opinions about relationships and marriage. Opinions I don’t share. And . . . you really hurt me.”

  He scooted closer, worry etched in his beautiful eyes.

  I held still, though I was tempted to shy away from him. He had this way of encompassing me and making me forget why I shouldn’t be jumping onto his lap and kissing his face off.

  “Grace, I’m sorry I hurt you. For all the time we’ve lost. But you’re right.” He rested his hand on my cheek, and I couldn’t help but lean into it. “I’ve seen what marriage can do to two people, and I shudder to think of you and me becoming like that. The bitterness, abuse, and dissatisfaction I see on a daily basis from my clients makes me hesitant. Not to mention my own family’s situation.”

  My head tilted upright. “So, marriage is a definite no go for you?” I bravely asked, not really wanting the answer, yet knowing it was necessary that I hear the truth.

  His chest rose and fell several times. “I don’t know, but do we need to focus on that right now? I only want to spend time with you and figure things out as we go.”