“Married Kristi and been on your honeymoon,” Mindy Sue finished for him. “Yeah. Great. Good for you,” she said sarcastically. “Come on, Brooke. I’ll help you change the bandages and get dressed. Do you want to wash your hair today?”
“I want to cut it off and hang myself with it.”
Cody and Mindy Sue understood she wasn’t entirely joking and exchanged concerned looks.
She leaned up on her elbow and tried to lever herself up without hurting anything. No such luck. Everything hurt first thing in the morning. By the afternoon, she’d be better. Once her body started moving, it seemed to do better to just keep moving. Too bad it was only a milder pain than overwhelming like now.
She struggled, and Cody gently put his hands at the back of her shoulders and pushed her up until she was sitting. She sucked in a breath and pressed a hand to her abdomen.
“Okay?” he asked, concerned.
“No. I am not okay. They practically cut me in half.” Okay, that was a little dramatic and an exaggeration, but that’s how it felt, like she’d been gutted. “Just move back and let me get up.”
Cody did what she asked, but with little room to maneuver, he remained close. She stood and swayed and almost fell down. Cody’s strong but gentle hands gripped her hips to steady her. “Easy, sweetheart.”
Brooke put a hand to her head and waited for the room to stop spinning.
“You need to eat, Brooke. You barely touched anything yesterday. I’ll go out and get us something. You shouldn’t take those meds without food anyway.”
“I’m not hungry,” she said automatically.
“I’ll get your favorite. Bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits. You can even have coffee again.”
She’d given up caffeine when she’d found out she was pregnant. She hadn’t had a cup in months, or a soda for that matter. She’d tried to eat as healthy as possible. Ice cream had been the one craving for sugary treats she’d allowed herself, telling herself that at least it had protein and calcium in it.
Mindy Sue put her hand on Brooke’s shoulder. “Sweetie, please don’t start crying again. I just put on my makeup, and I’d like it to last at least an hour before we start again. Deal?”
Brooke took a deep breath and swallowed the lump in her throat. “Deal.”
She felt it then. Her breasts tingled and the warm, wet milk soaked through the cloth Mindy Sue must have put over her during the night. Her breasts were so full they actually hurt to the touch.
Tears welled in her eyes. She couldn’t speak. She stumbled her way to her dresser and found a new shirt, a bra, and the pads Mindy Sue had gotten at the drugstore to absorb the leaking milk. Without a word, she hobbled to the door and walked out, leaving Cody behind.
Mindy Sue followed. “You know you can’t change on your own.”
She stopped in the hallway and hung her head, her ankle aching, arms throbbing and stinging. “I can’t believe he came.”
“Of course he came. He loves you, Brooke. I saw it written all over his face last night. He was scared and desperate to see you. He knew he almost lost you forever and it devastated him.”
They’d been friends forever. Of course he cared. That hadn’t ended when he proposed to Kristi. Brooke had just gotten too caught up in thinking it had turned into something more, and when she didn’t get what she wanted, she couldn’t accept anything less.
“I needed some space.”
“Right now, you need him and your mom. You need to go home and give yourself the time and space you need to heal. You can’t do that here, where it all happened.”
“I’m not sure I can do it there either with him and Kristi in my face.” The ranch wasn’t home anymore. Not with them living there together. And even if she stayed at the new apartment, Cody would still be checking in. She recognized that from the way he was acting now. That would only make Kristi angry and stir up even more animosity and trouble between all of them.
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that. Cody said some things last night, things you need to hear from him.”
“About Kristi?”
“And about how he really feels about you.”
Brooke couldn’t even process that piece of information. “What do you mean?”
“It’s for him to say. And I’m sure he will, once you’re home. Plus, you’ll be with your mom.”
Brooke desperately wanted to see her.
