He paused, lips twitching. “Sorry.”
“Brodie,” she said, unpacking her own groceries. She noticed that she had bought the sensible things like milk and bread. “The only way I’ve got through the last eight years is by planning and organizing, by notloosening up.”
She regretted saying it immediately. The atmosphere of the room shifted and his movements lost their underlying joviality.
As he took the milk from her to put in the fridge, she waited for the comeback, the cool reply about how if she’d told him about Zoey, then he could have helped with that burden. She knew he was more than justified in saying whatever he wanted in that regard, and she braced herself.
But it never came. Instead, his features softened into that infamous grin, and he shrugged and said, “It’s never too late to learn.”
ChapterFourteen
Brodie had pictured Maeve hiding away in the cabin while he and Zoey hung out, but after the moment in the kitchen, she seemed more amenable to his suggestions. Maybe she felt she owed it to him.
When Brodie suggested they all take the canoes out, Maeve’s reluctance was only visible in her slight hesitation before she said, “That sounds fun!”
He wasn’t certain if he’d said it to punish her or to push her out of her comfort zone. His feelings around her were still hazy, tangled with confusion.
And it was fun. Brodie went with Zoey in the two-man, and Maeve went on her own in the single. She was wearing a perfunctory Speedo but he couldn’t resist the odd glance in between bouts of Zoey telling him that he wasn’t trying hard enough with the paddling. He took them to all his favorite spots along the river, coves that hadn’t changed since he’d last been there, fishing spots where he and Ethan would go if they needed a meditative moment to get the creative juices flowing, a dip in the rocks that created a shallow pool, which in the summer sun heated up like a hot tub. Zoey loved it, lying flat like a starfish. Maeve, he couldn’t read. Her guards were so high it was lucky he could see her eyes.
On the way back, the current in the center of the river did most of the work for them and he couldn’t help watching Maeve as she took the opportunity to look around at the scenery. Caught unawares, all her emotions played out on her face. The awe of the giant pines towering above them. The beauty of the sunlight reflected on the water.
“Look, there’s an eagle!” He pointed. They gasped in wonder, and he felt a swell of pleasure at their response.
Then he felt stupid at his own thoughts of heroism. He heard his brothers’ voices in his head. “That’s not an eagle, Brodie!” Laughing. Faster than him in the canoe. Everything a race to win. He always felt it in Autumn Falls; the fear perhaps that he’d never be able to grow up.
Zoey turned around and said, “Do you think it could eat us?” snapping him out of that thought.
“If it was really hungry, maybe,” he replied dryly.
She narrowed her eyes to see if he was joking and, clearly deciding that he was, said, “You’re bigger, they’d eat you first.”
He laughed, taken by surprise at the comeback. She turned away smugly. He stared at the back of her head, her damp brown hair in a scruffy ponytail, tendrils stuck to her slender neck. That was what it was like for your kid to make you laugh.
Your kid.
He wondered suddenly if he might hyperventilate.
Breathe, Brodie. Breathe.
He focused on a spot on the canoe, thought about calm things, like skiing down snowy white mountains, ordering an espresso after a meal, watching the NBA game in bed while the Malibu waves crashed outside his window.
His life really wasn’t designed for having a child.
“Sorry, what was that?” He realized Zoey had been talking to him.
“I said, do you have a girlfriend?” she repeated, exasperated that he hadn’t hung off her every word.
“No.” He shook his head. “Do you have a boyfriend?”
She made a face like the idea was disgusting. “No!” Then going back to her original train of thought, she asked, “Do you want my mom to be your girlfriend?”
Brodie laughed. Momentarily, he thought about his last girlfriend, Angelina, a supermodel from Milan. They had been together for six months, seen each other approximately once a fortnight and both dated other people throughout. He was not in the market for relationships with small-town doctors who would definitely require more commitment than that.
“Zoey!” Maeve cut in admonishingly from the canoe next to them.
“What?” Zoey asked, acting all innocent. “I was only asking. You told me I should always ask if I had a question.”
“Sorry, Brodie,” Maeve said, ignoring her daughter, her cheeks bright pink with embarrassment.
