“Let’s see, I already took out the one non-load-bearing wall, which will open up to the future sitting area that Juliette wants designed to accommodate bridal portraits. The old cabinets have been torn out in the kitchen. The new ones, along with granite counters and backsplash, should be here in a week or two. Earlier if our supplier can swing it. I know Juliette is eager to paint and stage the home for potential weddings, but we’ve still got to haul out the old furniture from upstairs and remodel the bathrooms.”
Brock looked up at the ceiling, where new wiring for light fixtures would need to be installed. “She has a great idea for a waterfall chandelier for the front entryway too.”
“She’s got a lot of great ideas,” Anders mused.
“Yeah, she does.”
“Everything about her is pretty great.”
That caught Brock’s attention. The sting of jealousy caused him to zero in on his friend.
“And there it is.” Anders crossed his arms and smirked. “The look of a man who still has a thing for the girl who got away.”
The urge to defend his intentions was immediate.
“Nah.” Brock shook his head and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Not this time. There’s nothing between us anymore.”
“Okay.” Disbelief passed over Anders’s face, and he rolled his lips in mock amusement. “Sure.”
“I’m serious, man. It’s not like that with us. I mean, it used to be, but that was a long time ago.”
Anders ran his thumb along his jawline. “So, you wouldn’t care if I asked her on a date?”
Brock’s temper spiked, but he tried to play it cool. Juliette was not his girlfriend. She wasn’t even his friend. He had no right to get upset or angry just because Anders wanted to ask her out.
“You do you.” It would be fine if Anders and Juliette dated. Completely fine. “But just to warn you, she’ll probably say no.”
“And why’s that?” Anders’s grin widened.
“For starters, you work together. That could cause some unnecessary drama in the work-life balance.” The complete and honest truth. “And second, she’s not staying.”
That second admission stung a bit.
“Not staying where? Here?” Confusion plagued Anders and he arched a brow in question. “In Mystic Cove?”
Brock shuffled the stack of blueprints in front of him, trying to ignore the swell of disappointment in his chest. The thought of her leaving again made it difficult to breathe. “Yeah. She said she’d work with me on saving the beach house, and I promised to write her a letter of recommendation when she leaves.”
“So.” Anders rocked back on his heels. “How are you going to convince her to stay?”
“I’m not sure I can. Even if I could, there’s not enough to keep her here for long.” Brock toed a stack of hardwood. His work boots were suddenly more interesting. “Besides, if she ever found out the real reason we split, she’d leave and never come back.”
Beats of unintentional silence passed between them.
This secret, the one he held closest, had chiseled away at him over the years. It burdened him. Wrecked him. Made his life a living hell.
Anders shoved a hand through his curly blond hair. “Are you going to tell me what that real reason is, or no?”
Brock shifted, then scrubbed his hands over his face. What happened all those years ago wasn’t anything he was proud of, but he thought he was doing the right thing at the time. However, it wasn’t easy to talk about, and nobody knew the truth about why he went to boot camp and never came back. No one except him…
And Gigi Laurent.
“Juliette and I had plans, like forever-type plans.” He could remember them all, every detail. Every hope and wish and dream. A sunset wedding on the beach. The opening of their own tiki bar, or some other dive with a similar vibe once he retired. She wanted four kids, but he only wanted two, so they’d settled on three. “We were going to travel the world, courtesy of the Marine Corps. She would study design, do some freelance work until we got settled. We’d get married, have some babies.”
Brock’s heart twinged but he shrugged half-heartedly, the words clogging the back of his throat with forgotten emotion.
“But?” Anders prompted.
“But something someone said changed all that.” Brock rolled his shoulders back, stood tall against the knowledge of hiswrongdoing. “And when I went off to boot camp, I never came back. I went to the schoolhouse, to my first duty station, and I stayed away. I ignored her calls. I ignored her letters and texts. I never even gave her a reason.”
