And referring to him as her brother. Yeah, no. She and Cody didn’t call each other brother and sister. Their seven-year age gap meant they hadn’t been raised together. Brooke and hermom arrived on the ranch when she was ten. Her mother hired on as the cook before Harland fell hard and fast for Susanne and they married. And while Harland had felt like the father she’d never had, she and Cody treated each other like good friends, not siblings.
She’d never, not once, thought of the charming, temptingly hot Cody as her brother.
Kristi huffed out her frustration. “I’ve been looking for him everywhere.” In her long, flowing white dress, pink strappy kitten heels that Brooke hated to admit were super cute, and a tan sunhat over her long golden hair, Kristi made Brooke look like a ranch hand and not the hostess of one of the most sought-after invitations in the state.
Brooke should have put more thought into her outfit like her mother suggested. Not once, but like four times.
She never really paid much attention to what she wore on the ranch or at school. She went for comfort over fashion.
Today she’d thought she’d upped her game by wearing a faded denim skirt that hit mid-thigh and showed off her tanned, toned legs, a short-sleeved, fitted red T-shirt that had lace detail around the arms and hemline but now felt like it wasn’t anything special, and her black cowboy boots. She’d pulled her hair up into her usual ponytail to keep it out of the way and off her neck in the hot sun. She could have tried something different. Maybe keeping it down and using some pretty clips to keep it out of her face, even if it would be heavy and hot draped down her neck and back.
Compared to Kristi, she looked plain.
Not exactly showstopping for this who’s who party.
Standing next to Kristi, seeing how everyone else around her had dressed in what Mindy Sue would probably call resort chic, suddenly made her uncomfortable. Nervous butterflies battled in her belly as her cheeks heated with embarrassment. She’dtried so hard to make today perfect for everyone. Now, she felt out of place. Not the first time.
Changing now would look too obvious. So she let it go with a heavy heart and tried not to let herself think about it again.
Brooke glanced at Mindy Sue and her other friends out on the lawn, all of them in sundresses or skirts and pretty blouses, hair done, makeup on. Brooke had swiped on some ChapStick and mascara and called it done.
Even the guys were in khakis and slacks with short-sleeved button-up shirts.
She scanned the crowd again and noticed the ranch hands had put on their finest boots, dark denim, and cowboy shirts with pearl buttons, belt buckles shining.
She sighed, thinking that instead of spending the whole morning helping the caterer set up, she could have taken time to actually think about what she wanted to wear and put together something a bit more…sophisticated. Maybe then Cody would look at her like he looked at other women. And she wouldn’t feel like the lovesick shadow who followed him around all the time, hoping he’d see how much she loved him.
Ugh. Pathetic. And yet she couldn’t squash the undying hope that lived inside her that one day…
Kristi tapped her on the shoulder. “Brooke. Hello. Cody?”
Right. Brooke looked out across the patio, gardens, and grass area where the just-over-two-hundred guests were mingling. “I haven’t seen him since we came out to greet everyone.”
Kristi huffed out a breath.
Trouble in paradise?
One could hope. Because Kristi had this way about her. She liked getting what she wanted and seemed to be the kind of person who’d do anything to get it.
An only child. Spoiled.
But Brooke had also gotten the sense that pleasing her parents really mattered to Kristi. Brooke got that. You wanted them to be proud of you. It just seemed like Kristi really needed it more than most.
Still, Brooke recognized the longing in Kristi’s eyes. She felt it in herself every time she thought about Cody or even looked at him. He had this quality that drew her in.
Kristi and others weren’t immune to it either.
But Cody was different with Brooke than he was with the other women who came and went. They could talk for hours or just chill and watch a movie with nothing said. She knew him so well, she could read him like a book. And he was always there for her. Since the day she arrived at the ranch with her mom, they just clicked.
They were friends.
She wanted them to be more.
He ignored all her attempts to get his attention in that way.
She had half a mind to tell Kristi he was off talking to some ex, but that was petty and immature. She’d long since grown past trying to sabotage Cody’s girlfriends by conveniently forgetting to deliver messages, or telling them Cody liked something that he hated. He always caught on and gave her a disapproving look that made her feel terrible. She didn’t want to be on the wrong side of Cody. She definitely didn’t want to lose the amazing connection they shared.
She was really trying to be the grown-up no one on the ranch saw her to be, including her mother and Cody.
