Road to Recovery (19 page)

Brooke didn’t have a chance to reply
before the teacher in question came hurrying over to Lucas. He set
the beer on the table close by, reached up and hugged his mother
tight enough to lift her off the ground. “Hey, beautiful. How is my
favorite girl doing?”

Laughing and swatting his arm, Lucas’s
mother turned toward Brooke while Lucas continued to hold her. “Oh,
you charmer, stop showing off and introduce me.”

Releasing his mother, he slid his arm
around Brooke’s waist and pulled her close. “Mom, this is Brooke.
Brooke, my mother, Michele Mathews.”

Brooke extended her right hand out,
which Michele bypassed and leaned in to give her a quick hug. “It’s
so nice to finally meet. I’ve heard quite a bit about
you.”

Taken back by the hug, but recovering
fast, Brooke replied, “Lucas tells me you are responsible for the
gardens. They’re lovely.”

“
Why, thank you,” she said
sweetly, obviously pleased by the statement. “My boys do the grunt
work for me, so I can’t take all the credit. They do love to
indulge me though,” Michele said, shifting her eyes and looking
warmly at her son.

If only Brooke’s mother had
ever looked at her that way. Just once would have been nice. Nice
to know that you could actually
feel
like your mother loved and cared for you. Not
because she had to, but because she wanted to.

Depression was a new emotion for
Brooke, and watching Lucas and his mother definitely depressed her.
So did wishing for something she and Mac never saw or even
experienced.

Brooke didn’t have a chance to brood
too long. She was quickly pulled along to meet Lucas’s father.
Thomas Mathews was a bear of a man, taller than Lucas by easily
three inches, and close to fifty pounds heavier. His presence alone
dominated the space. She could see where he would be a force to
reckon with in the courtroom. It was also easy to see whom Lucas
got his looks from.

Thomas was a more mature version of
Lucas, with the same blond hair and blue eyes. Eyes that were
surrounded by laugh lines and age. Those eyes were crinkling up
when pulling Lucas in for a quick half man hug.

Before Brooke could brace herself, she
was engulfed in a hug similar to the one Michele had given her a
few minutes ago. “You must be Brooke. Glad to finally meet the girl
who put stars in my boy’s eyes.”

Hesitantly, if a bit awkward, Brooke
returned the quick hug. She was stunned by the affection Lucas’s
parents seemed to hand out like candy. Though, if she was honest
with herself, she shouldn’t have been. Lucas had always been very
affectionate. Always reaching for her hand, either to hold, or
caress, always touching her face, or putting his arm around her. It
was obviously the norm in his family.

“
Hey, hands off my girl,
Dad,” Lucas joked, then slipped his arm around her waist and pulled
her close. Looking over at her, he silently laughed at her
discomfort with his family. “Dad, this is Brooke. Brooke, my
father, Thomas,” he said, making the formal
introduction.

Not even bothering to extend her hand
now, since it seemed crazy after she was just hugged, she said
politely, if a bit awkwardly, “Nice to meet you.”

Thomas looked on in amusement while she
discretely tried to slip out from under Lucas’s arm. He took pity
on her and chimed in. “Lucas, why don’t you give me a hand with
this beer. We’ll put it in the coolers.”

Lucas leaned over and gave her a quick
kiss on the cheek first, then grabbed one of the cases of beer and
followed his father to the other side of the lawn.

Trying to compose herself from the
flood of emotions she was feeling, she decided to look over the
blooming flowers. She was leaning over to gently touch a tulip when
Michele asked, “Do you do any gardening?”

Straightening up, she looked at
Michele. “No. I never seem to have the time, or the touch. But
looking at your gardens, I think I will get a few books and do a
bit of research. Maybe I could start with something small and easy
when I get a house of my own.”

“
Oh that’s silly. Don’t
waste your time with a book. The best way to learn is hands on.
Have Lucas bring you back when we have more time and I’ll show you
around more. It’ll be fun,” Michele assured her.

Brooke was genuinely touched by the
offer. “Thank you, so much. That’s very kind of you.”

Thankfully they were interrupted by
more guests arriving and Michele excused herself to welcome
them.

Brooke was feeling completely out of
her comfort zone. She needed a few minutes alone, finding she was
ridiculously close to tears watching Lucas with his parents. She
was seeing everything that she and Mac secretly wanted from their
parents growing up. Taking a deep breath, she started to walk along
the edge of the property towards the dock.

She had been standing on the little
beach overlooking the water when she heard Lucas behind her.
“Enjoying the view?”

With her hands in her pockets, she
continued to look out at the water. “Yes. It’s very pretty here.
I’m watching that boat in the distance. It looks to be moving
pretty fast jumping the waves. Someone is having fun.”

Pulling one of her hands out of her
pocket, Lucas laced his fingers through hers. Looking out over the
water, he said, “That would be Ryan. He usually comes over by boat.
It’s actually faster.” He tugged her toward the dock as the boat
approached. “Come on. Let’s help bring him in.”

They were just reaching the edge of the
dock when the boat expertly slid alongside of them. Lucas let go of
her hand, reached over the side of the boat, and grabbed the rope
that a bleached blonde was handing him. Deftly tying off one end of
the boat, he helped the blonde step onto the dock.

Before Lucas could reach the front of
the boat though, an equally handsome blond haired blue-eyed man
jumped down with the rope in his hand and looped it off. Brooke
watched as Lucas shook his hand and gave a half man hug to his
brother.

Pulling Brooke closer to him, he
introduced her. “Ryan, this is Brooke.”

She expected the hug at this point, but
she definitely didn’t expect to be lifted off the ground with it.
Or the quick kiss on her cheek. “Finally. So this is the girl that
has you staring off into space, eh? Not bad.” Ryan elbowed his
brother in the side.

Lucas watched Brooke with amused eyes
as she tried not to stiffen too much with his brother’s hug. She
was so out of her element but was hanging in there like a trooper,
or hoped she was. She better get points for going with the
flow.

Once the hugs were done, Lucas laced
his fingers through hers. “Brooke, my brother, as I’m sure you’ve
figured out. And his friend, Mandi.”

Brooke watched Mandi’s face form a
pout, not thinking it was possible for a grown woman to stick her
bottom lip out and pout like a toddler, but Mandi seemed to manage
it perfectly. Then the pout turned to a glare just as fast.
“Girlfriend,” she corrected Lucas.

That only caused Lucas to smirk at
Mandi. Then Brooke watched as Mandi tried to make a point of
adjusting the deep plunge of her bright orange halter-top around a
chest that was equally as false as her hair. When that failed to
get a response out of Lucas, Mandi ran her bright red manicured
nails down her waist to her hips, which were showcased in a pair of
extremely small jean shorts. A clearly practiced move.

Lucas ignored Mandi, shook his head,
turned to his brother and slapped a hand on his shoulder. “Now that
you’re here, it’s party time.”

***

Brooke could safely say she had never
been to a party quite like this one. Her family get-togethers
consisted of stuffy people exchanging pleasantries. Talk consisted
of work, or the stock market. Once in a while you would hear a
personal conversation, but it was quickly hushed up if any children
were near. It just wasn’t done. Everyone and everything had to have
the appearance of perfection. Gossip was done, but behind closed
doors.

As children, she and Mac were never
allowed to run around in the yard. Or play a game of hide-and-seek
through the house. There were designated areas they were allowed to
play in and rules to be followed.

Though thinking back, she realized
there were never any punishments for not following the rules. It
was what was expected of them. It had been drilled into their heads
from the moment they could walk and talk what the expectations
were. Mac was to become a doctor. Brooke was to become the perfect
trophy wife. Just like her mother worked so hard to
become.

She was expected to be educated and
have a career, until such time she met an equally groomed spouse
and started a family of her own. There was never any doubt that
Lucas had an extremely different upbringing from hers, even though
his family’s wealth seemed equally close.

Thankfully her days under her mother’s
thumb were gone. She wasn’t there anymore. She was on her own and
she was going to live her own life. She had always done what was
expected of her. She wasn’t going to anymore.

Shaking off the negative thoughts, she
poured herself a second glass of wine. She could see one similarity
between their families though. They both served good wine and
plenty of it. The difference was that most drank to get through her
parents’ parties, whereas here everyone was just having
fun.

Taking another sip, she browsed around
at the guests. She had met everyone at one point or another in the
last few hours. Her mother would have been looking down at everyone
in attendance, regardless of the fact most people here had the same
financial status or greater. Status was important to Paula
Malone.

Brooke enjoyed Lucas’s parents more
than she’d thought she would. They often tried to include her in
any conversation they were having, dragging her from one person to
the next when they saw her standing by herself.

But she was glad to have a few moments
of peace. She had never talked so much in one day before. Or
laughed. It was definitely another new feeling. She wasn’t sure how
she felt about it though. Conflicted for sure, yet she didn’t
understand why.

In the end, she decided it was fun to
stand and watch groups of people moving around the yard, everyone
mingling with one another at some point. Lots of food, lots of
drink and even more laughter. There seemed to be no agenda, another
thing she was unfamiliar with.

The only person that didn’t seem to be
laughing was Mandi. Every time the two women made eye contact,
Brooke could almost feel the hostility radiating toward her from
Mandi, but thought surely she was imagining it, not knowing what
she could have done to offend her.

But as the day got on, she realized
that Mandi’s anger and annoyance was definitely directed at her.
Not caring, Brooke took another sip of wine and searched out Lucas.
Seeing him laughing with Ryan by the grill, she decided to find a
chair in the shade and get off her feet. Her back was starting to
tense up a bit and her thigh was aching more than it had in a long
time. Her only explanation was that she was standing around in one
spot for too long, if she had been moving more she might have been
fine. Maybe later she could convince Lucas to take a small walk
with her, but for now, she saw a hammock in the shade by the water.
A little seclusion was what she needed.

“
You look relaxed.” Brooke
jumped slightly and looked over her shoulder to see Ryan standing
next to her a short while later. She was so lost in the beauty
surrounding her, the peace and calm she was feeling, she never
heard his approach.

“
No. Stay. You’re fine,” he
ordered when she started to sit up and swing her legs to the
side.

“
Yes. It’s very relaxing
here. I was enjoying the view. And the shade,” she explained, and
then settled back down, but propped her body up on her elbows just
the same.

“
And quiet too, I bet,” he
said, laughing.

Brooke grinned in agreement. “Yes. That
too.”

“
I won’t bug you either, but
I wanted to apologize for Mandi,” he said.

“
For what?” she asked,
feigning ignorance.

At that moment she realized what Lucas
had meant about Ryan having an edge to him. In the span of a second
he transformed from carefree playboy to downright angry. He cleared
his throat. “For acting like a bitch toward you. I didn’t notice it
at first, but it’s been pointed out to me a few times
today.”

He tilted his head to the side, relaxed
his face a bit. “It seems you’ve made quite the impression with
everyone today. Mandi’s jealous. She is put out that everyone seems
to be taken with you, while they brush off her silliness. We
haven’t been dating long, and it’s nothing serious, though I’m sure
she feels otherwise,” he corrected with a shrug. “Anyway, she
shouldn’t take her jealousy out on you.”

Brooke was speechless. No one had ever
been jealous of her. At least not that she had been aware of. “It’s
not a big deal. Really,” she reassured him.

He wasn’t looking as angry as a few
seconds ago, but there was definitely something serious going on in
his mind. “Thanks. Lucas is pretty lucky,” he told her.