Road to Recovery (25 page)

“
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.

“
No, why?” he asked,
mesmerized by the emotion in her eyes, emotion she very rarely
showed outside the bedroom.

“
Because she cared. She
cared enough to spend a day with me, someone she had only recently
met, and patiently shared with me her love for
something.”

Lucas stared at her, watching the
expression on her face go from shyness to longing and back to
composure when she was done. He thought to himself that she was the
most beautiful person in the world. And it bothered him more than
he could say, how someone as smart as her missed so much in
life.

The little things that he took for
granted every day. Things like his parents wanting him to visit.
Wanting him to spend the day with them, even if it was just helping
out around the house. His family never took advantage of each
other. They helped each other because they wanted to, because they
enjoyed it, not out of obligation, but out of love.

He was starting to
understand more and more about her. He didn’t always like what she
told him. He didn’t like to think of that girl who was always
trying to be someone that everyone expected and still never getting
any approval for it. He was actually sad
for
her in that respect.

All the money in the world couldn’t buy
her the one thing she seemed to have wanted the most. But he was
going to try his best to give it to her now. And it wouldn’t cost
him a thing.

***

“
I think that is your phone
ringing,” Lucas said almost an hour later.

Brooke jumped up, opened the screen
door, and walked toward the living room where her phone was
charging on the coffee table. A quick glance at the caller had her
sighing. “Hello, Father.”

“
Brooklyn, your mother tells
me you haven’t been returning her calls,” Richard Malone stated in
his deep, condescending voice.

“
Sorry, I’ve been busy. She
always seems to call when I’m in the middle of something,” Brooke
tried to explain.

“
Regardless, your birthday
is coming up and your mother wishes for you to come home for the
weekend. I expect you to make arrangements and be here no later
than midmorning Saturday. We will have a small get together later
that night. That should give you plenty of time to mingle and then
return home on Sunday,” her father continued to direct
her.

Brooke paced around the living room and
breakfast room as she listened to her father, berating herself for
avoiding her mother’s call. She knew it would come to this. It
always did. When her mother didn’t get her way with her or Mac she
resorted to sending their father after them.

Richard Malone was very rarely home,
and when he was, everything was in perfect order. Her mother always
seemed to manage it, and always kept her father happy. Somehow
their relationship worked for them. Brooke just didn’t know
how.

But anytime Brooke or Mac didn’t concur
with her, or fall in line like her mother wanted, Paula would run
to their father. Who, in order to keep his life happy, had to make
sure his wife was also happy. And if that meant laying the law down
to their children to make sure they did what was expected, then
that was what he did.

“
Yes. I will check my
schedule and be there no later than midmorning on
Saturday.”

“
Very well, Brooklyn. You
can make any arrangements with your mother then. I will be back in
town late Friday night. I will see you on Saturday.”

And those were the last words she heard
before her father had disconnected the call. Placing the phone on
the coffee table, she walked back out to the deck where Lucas had
remained. She settled into the lounge chair and exhaled a large
breath. “I’ve been summoned home next weekend.”

She had been glancing out the glass
windows as she moved from room to room but now realized that Lucas
had been watching her movements throughout the short call. She had
never paced like that around him before.

“
Was it bad news? Is
everything okay?”

“
Yes. Everything is fine.
Nothing more than the typical reason I hear from my father. My
mother isn’t getting her way. So she runs to my father to fix it
for her,” Brooke complained.

“
And what is it that your
father has to fix this time?”

“
I haven’t been returning my
mother’s calls,” she said, and then explained, “There was a reason
I wasn’t returning them. My birthday is coming up, and I knew she
was going to want to throw a party. Last year I was still
recovering and she didn’t get to plan her usual dinner party, which
I told you she excels at. Anyway, I’m expected to be there no later
than Saturday morning for a dinner party, which hopefully isn’t too
big.”

“
I didn’t realize your
birthday was coming up. You should have said something.” She didn’t
respond. “Well, thankfully we don’t really have plans next weekend,
so it’s easy enough for us to be there Saturday
morning.”

She turned with a start. “You want to
go?”

“
Of course I do. Why
wouldn’t I? You’ve met my parents. Don’t you think I should meet
yours?”

“
My parents are nothing like
yours. I’m not even sure they will be happy if I bring someone home
with me. Frankly, and please don’t take this the wrong way, I
haven’t mentioned your name to my mother.”

She hurried on when she saw the hurt in
his eyes. “Please don’t take it that way,” she repeated again. “You
don’t understand. I don’t want any more lectures right now from
her. I’m not keeping you a secret. Obviously, Mac has been here a
few times. But even Mac keeps the women he dates away from my
parents.”

She got up from her chair and went to
sit on his lap, something she had never done before—make a move
toward him first. “I want you there, if you want to go. More
importantly, I need you there, but I want you there too.” She tried
joking with him now. “If you want to risk it.”

“
I’ll be there, no worries,”
he said, giving her waist a gentle squeeze.

“
Thanks. I’m supposed to
make arrangements with my mother, but I don’t have it in me to stay
at their house. I doubt I can get a decent hotel on this short
notice. Besides, Mac would never let me live it down if we didn’t
stay with him. At least I can pacify her by staying with family,
even if it’s not her.”

***

Early Friday morning, Brooke waited by
Lucas’s Range Rover in the parking lot until she saw Cori pull up
next to her. Climbing into Cori’s Mini Cooper was always a
challenge. After pushing the seat back a little and fastening
herself in, Brooke turned to Cori. “Thanks for meeting me here this
morning and giving me a lift to work. I know it meant you had to
get up earlier than normal.” Brooke had to raise her voice over the
sound of the jet taking off in the background.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes while
yawning widely, Cori replied grumpily, “Yeah, yeah. You owe me
coffee at the very least.”

“
You’ve got it. I really
appreciate it. This saves me from trying to leave and get to the
airport to pick Lucas up today. It’s better to leave his vehicle
for him in case he is delayed or can catch an earlier flight, which
he was trying to do.”

“
So how has this week been
without him?” Cori asked.

Baffled by the question, Brooke
frowned. “Fine, why?”

“
Oh, I don’t know. You two
are pretty attached at the hip lately.” Cori grinned when Brooke
drew her eyebrows up even further into a frown. “Come on, spending
weekends together, dropping off and picking each other up at the
airport. How many times a week do you have dinner
together?”

“
Usually once. We spend the
weekends together because outside of work we really don’t spend
more than one night together during the week. And this week not at
all. I haven’t seen him since I dropped him at the airport on
Monday morning.”

“
Exactly, you haven’t seen
him since Monday morning, not even at work. So that means no hand
holding and sweet talk, no coffee grabs or quick hugs when no one
is looking,” Cori mocked, with a sickly sweet voice.

“
I don’t do any of those
things,” Brooke said indignantly.

“
Noooooo, Lucas does. But
you’re on the receiving end of it all,” Cori said, stating the
obvious. “Hence my question—how has this week been without him?
Lonely?”

“
Oh. It is all kind of
sweet, isn’t it?” Brooke asked with a dreamy look in her
eyes.

“
I knew you were a closet
romantic!” When Brooke started to blush, Cori laughed out
loud.