Yes, she’d pulled off this amazing party. She’d gotten all these folks here for him.
But she wouldn’t be here for dinner parties, charity benefits, and client dinners.
The house would go back to being too quiet. Lonely.
And after each long grueling day, he’d come home and spend the night missing her, because she wasn’t here to sit in his office and talk about everything and nothing like they did when she was home.
One more school year and she’d be here for good. They’d share the house—she owned a third of the ranch. They’d work it together.
Right?
He couldn’t imagine things going any other way.
She had to come back. This was where she belonged.
With me.
No, not like that.
Fuck.
Cody focused on the crowd and not Brooke standing away from him instead of by his side. “Thank you all for making this Fourth of July as special as the ones my father used to throw. And just like he used to do, we’ll end things with a bang. Enjoy the fireworks.” Cody hugged Susanne to his side and glanced over at Brooke just as the first explosion went off overhead in an array of red, white, and blue sparks.
Brooke gasped and stared up at the house instead of the sky, her eyes wide with shock.
“Brooke? What’s wrong?” He followed her gaze but didn’t see anything. “Brooke.” His sharp tone got her attention.
She frowned, shook her head, then barely glanced at him as she said, “Nothing,” and went to join her friends.
Susanne looked up at him. “What’s going on with you two?”
“Nothing.” The word shot out of him too fast to be believed.
Susanne’s gaze narrowed, but she didn’t push for more.
“We’re fine.” He said it to soothe her, but maybe he needed the reassurance more, because it felt like he’d hurt Brooke, even though that was never his intention.
As Kristi pulled him to her side near her parents and the governor and his wife to watch the show, he told himself it would all blow over in the morning. Everything would go back to the way it was.
But that’s not what happened.
Brooke stayed at Mindy Sue’s house for a week.
He was so busy he might not have noticed except that every night when he dragged his tired ass to bed, he saw her empty bed as he passed her room.
He hated the distance between them.
And then she was back and it felt like nothing had happened. She was her normal self, riding the horses during the day, helping the ranch hands when something needed to be done, chatting with him and Susanne at dinner when he made it home in time, and spending time texting and talking with her friends.
He got glimpses of her as he rushed to do one thing or another to keep up with work and prepare for the board member vote. Kirk invited him to several dinners to introduce him one by one to the other board members. Kristi had gone with him, talking him up just as much as her father did. He appreciated their support. And he and Kristi grew closer. He spent some of hisnights in her bed, lost in her lush body, releasing all the tension he carried day to day. Within a month, it all seemed to be falling into place.
Except something still felt off with Brooke. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was, but it nagged at him.
The knock on his downtown office door surprised him, since he’d told his assistant an hour ago that he planned to spend his lunch break taking care of a personal matter, which basically let her know he wanted some time to himself. He’d been going nonstop for weeks. He’d like one lunch break where he wasn’t going over a case or meeting a client.
“Come in,” he reluctantly called out, knowing he was about to lose the quiet solitude he desperately needed.
The door opened and his jaw nearly dropped when he spotted Brooke, looking anything but like the girl he was used to seeing. She’d dressed up, done her hair and makeup, and carried a leather satchel in one hand and takeout from his favorite taqueria in the other. “I know you’re not expecting me, but after weeks of waiting for you to finally have a break in your schedule, your assistant took pity on me and let me know you were spending your lunch hour alone.” Before she even stepped all the way into the office, she added, “If you want to keep it that way, all you have to do is say so and I’ll go.”
