“You should have led with that.” It would have made the robbery, and the rest of her night, less devastating. Jo propped her feet on the coffee table and stretched her arms over her head. “That gives us plenty of time to plan then.”
Time to get used to the idea.
“Yeah, but…”
There was something else, and by the anxious look on Brooke’s face, it couldn’t be good. Jo’s arms flopped to her sides. “What?”
“Nothing.” But Brooke’s lip was back between her teeth.
“Spit it out.”
“He… He wants me to move in with him, and I said yes.”
Jo nodded and forced a smile as her world tilted on its axis just a little more. “Well, that’s the next step, right? Moving in together before the wedding, setting up house. And think of the fun we’ll have redecorating that bachelor pad.”
Yet everything was happening so fast, too fast. How could she help plan the beginning of Brooke’s new life when hers had gone off the rails? When they’d been together through thick and thin, sisters for life, and now, she’d be alone.
Jo swallowed hard. “When?”
Brooke’s gaze dropped to her hands. “The end of the month.”
So much for having time to get used to the idea.
“But I won’t,” Brooke rushed on, her head snapping up. “I’ll tell him I’m not ready. Not until you’re back on your feet.”
“Don’t you dare.” Grabbing Brooke’s hand, Jo stuffed the ache of loss into the cavernous hole in her heart, growing deeper by the minute. She’d make it on her own. She always did. “This is what happens when you grow up, babe, and it’s not like you’re moving across the country. We’ll still see each other all the time, and if you think I’m giving up our morning chats, think again. Aaron will just have to suck it.”
Brooke laughed, choking on her tears. “Sorry, it just hit me…not having you in the next room…and how much I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you too, but hey, we’re family. I’ll always be there for you.”
“And me for you.”
Jo inhaled a deep breath and exhaled long and slow. “So, enough of this sappy shit. We have a move to plan—and a wedding—and I have to find a job. Tomorrow, we’ll get boxes, and I’ll help you pack. And you can help me bake all weekend because, come Monday, I’m a woman on a mission.”
Nodding, Brooke lifted the hem of her T-shirt to wipe away her tears. “What’s on the menu?”
They’d been down this bumpy road too many times, started over too many times not to know the drill. Nothing to do but keep pushing through.
Time to put on your big girl panties. Grandma’s words when things got tough. They’d made her and Brooke laugh when they were kids with no real problems, but now…
“I was thinking about the mini version of Grandma’s pecan pie.”
“Mmm, yes.” Brooke licked her lips. “And you have to make those banana chocolate chip cookies. And your famous apple croissants.”
As they made a list for what they’d need to move Brooke out of the apartment and Jo’s career back on path, Jo felt a little better. And later, when her head hit the pillow, she heard her grandma whisper,“Dreams don’t work unless you do.”
On the heels of such sage wisdom, another voice slithered into her subconscious, the deep baritone skating over her skin and leaving goosebumps in its wake.
“I can make your dreams come true.”
Chapter Three
Two weeks later…
“That’s the last box, babe,” Brooke said from the living room, her voice warm and bright, a contrast to the dismal gray outside. It had been raining all day. Not buckets. Just enough to make the cold feel colder and move out day more depressing. “If you want to go ahead, I’ll be right behind you as soon as we finish.”
Despite the cold seeping through her clothes, Jo pushed up the sleeves of her hoodie and rolled the vacuum cleaner into Brooke’s empty closet—for now. She’d put it back in hers when she found a new roommate who wasn’t a total stranger.
