He was sweating in his pale blue shirt. His mouth was dry again, he couldn’t swallow. Blood whooshed in his ears. He focused on Zoey’s pink fingernails as she clutched the thread. For some reason he thought of the white sofas of his Malibu house again, all pristine, with the view out to the ocean.
“You’re meant to be threading beads!” Zoey’s voice sounded so loud he startled in shock and immediately picked up a yellow bead shaped like a heart, but when he looked down he realized his hands were too shaky to get the bead on the thread. He fumbled it and dropped it, then bent down to try and find it on the floor. Under the table, he saw only a dry breakfast Cheerio, then spotted the yellow heart over by Zoey’s feet. Small bare feet with tiny little toes.
He thought he might be sick. He jerked up and bashed the back of his head on the table.
“You okay?” Maeve asked, jumping up from her seat.
Brodie stood up too quickly, rubbing the back of his head. “Yes, fine. Sorry.”
Maeve was standing, mouth closed, eyes blinking unreadably—could be relief or could be fear, she was still wearing her slightly crumpled floral dress that a mere hour ago he had found so intriguing. Just like that, Maeve was now a forever presence in his life. No longer just a pretty heart-shaped face. She was the mother of his child.
His child.
Brodie’s vision blurred.
Zoey was leaning down to pick beads up off the floor that had fallen when Brodie bashed the table. “They’re everywhere!” she exclaimed. Then, “Oh, there’s a Cheerio!”
Maeve said, “Don’t eat it!”
Zoey came up with a grin on her face, like she had definitely just eaten the Cheerio. All Brodie could see was her cheeky, dimpled smile and self-assured eyes. All of a sudden, a smaller, female version of him staring back.
“You know, I should get going,” he said.
Maeve nodded. “Okay.”
He had no gauge of her emotions; he was thinking only of how quickly he could get to that front door.
“But you’ve only just started.” Zoey held up his bracelet with one bead on it.
“Another time, I promise,” he said, heading out the room. And he was gone before there were any goodbyes.
Heart pounding, he almost ran back to the orchard where the wedding party was in full swing for the evening. He stood on the threshold surveying the scene as he caught his breath. The Autumn Falls band had taken over from the DJ; his mom on guitar, Hank Murphy on keyboard, Bella’s friend Claudette on the mic. He saw Logan and Bella, noses touching as Logan whispered something to make her laugh; he saw his sister dancing with Ren, and the other ravishing bridesmaids now with their hair down and their shoes kicked off as they danced. Brodie grabbed a drink off a passing waiter, downed it in two gulps. Then running his hand through his hair he blew out a breath, pushed the last half-hour out of his head, and jogged down to the dance floor, plastering a wide smile on his face.
ChapterFive
Maeve had told him.
Her eight-year secret was out, just like that.
She had gone from bone-shatteringly tired to wide awake in an instant.
Zoey was in bed and Maeve was sitting alone in the living room, perched on the edge of the couch, hands clasped in front of her. How would Brodie react? Would he take Zoey away? Argue in court that she’d hidden the truth from him? Fight for sole custody?
No.She had to stay calm. She’d known that one day this would happen.
She flopped back against the cushions. Closing her eyes, she saw that night at the concert. Saw her and Brodie chatting, saw him laugh at something she’d said. She remembered the welcome surprise in his eyes at the laughter and the warm feeling of success in hers. As theevening had worn on, the sense of Brodie’s famousness had lessened. She watched it fade before her eyes as he wound down. With his brother around, he became almost bashful, laughed more easily as he relaxed, then suddenly, he was Brodie from school again. The boy she’d been in the school play with but had only managed to pluck up the courage to speak to once.
That night, though, he was super attentive, interested in everything she had to say. She remembered Piper nudging her. Brodie taking her hand to pull her down the stairs to some underground dive bar that Ethan had chosen. Dark and sweaty.
All her life, it was,work hard, Maeve,don’t get distracted.So of course, she said she had to go home, she had piles of work to do the next day. Brodie had frowned. “Why would you go?! It’s only just beginning,” he said, and he’d slung his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. “You can’t leave!” He grinned then, leaned down and whispered, “You’re the only reason I’m here.”
Now in the dusky living room, Maeve’s eyes flew open. This was not the time to be thinking aboutthatnight.
She’d had boyfriends before and after Brodie. Never anything serious—she was always too busy—but occasional dates with guys at medical school, or doctors at the hospital. But whoever it was, no one—and she was loathe to admit it—had ever come close to matching that one night with Brodie. A night that for him was one of too many to count, but for her was…
Don’t think about it, Maeve.
It wasn’t just the first kiss, that moment he put his hand on her cheek and dipped his head with a knowing smile on his face, eyes sparkling like she was the only person in the world, or the touch of his hand, cool on her back, and the tickling trace of his fingertips up her bare leg, that she remembered so exquisitely. It was the other moments, too, like when they sat up talking, the skyline lit up out the window of his hotel room, wearing his T-shirt as they laughed about things she couldn’t remember now but that were so funny she was almost crying. Or when he made her a cup of hot chocolate because he said hotel hot chocolate at midnight was one of his favorite things, and she didn’t believe him so he made it for her and they sat up drinking it in bed like an old married couple. Or when he challenged her to a game ofSuper Marioand she surprised him by knowing where the secret rooms were that he didn’t.
