Exactly. One fit him to a T. The other seemed to be a good match, but just wasn’t.
Cody tried to focus. “I take it Kristi is still there.”
“Yes.” The bite in that word told him Susanne didn’t want her there either.
“Do you mind handing her the phone? Or I could call her cell.”
“She’s camped out in the living room working on her laptop. Tell Brooke I love her and I can’t wait to see her, okay?”
“I will.”
Susanne huffed out a breath. “Hold on.”
“Cody.” Kristi’s cheerful voice came over the line. “When will you be home?”
“Tonight.” He needed to handle this delicately. “Brooke is…not doing well. I’m going to have to take care of her until she’s feeling better.” He hoped she got the hint.
“I’m sure Susanne will want to do that once Brooke is home. You have lots of other responsibilities and obligations.” She wasn’t giving up on having him all to herself.
He wasn’t about to have this long-overdue conversation over the phone. “Brooke needs me. She can barely walk on her own.”
“Once you have her here settled, she’ll get all the rest and relaxation she needs.” She sounded so reasonable, even though she was being heartless.
“Kristi.”
“Yes?” Her voice hadn’t changed at all during their discussion. It was like she was purposely avoiding the elephant in the room and the inevitable outcome coming her way.
“I think it would be best if you weren’t there when I bring Brooke home. She doesn’t want to see anyone right now. Your presence will only upset her.”
“Cody. I’m your fiancée. I’m part of your life. Don’t shut me out.” The order came out clipped, with a heaping dose of frustration and anger.
Cody didn’t have time or patience for either. “I’m asking you to think about Brooke and what she needs right now.”
“All you do is think about her, isn’t it?”
“Now is not the time to talk about this.” He didn’t want to do it over the phone. He wanted a clearer head.
“Great. We’ll talk about it when you get home.” She hung up on him.
Fuck!
He didn’t want her there when he brought Brooke home, but he couldn’t do anything about it now. Kristi had left him several messages on his cell phone since this morning. He’d ignored all of them. And now he was paying for it.
Double fuck.
He didn’t want to put Brooke through any more stress or upset.
He hoped Kristi thought better of standing her ground and went home before he and Brooke arrived. He hoped that she’d understand that Brooke had lost something precious and didn’t want to be around anyone right now.
After the loss she’d suffered, she should be more sympathetic. Kristi hadn’t even asked if he was okay.
He didn’t dwell on it or his other thoughts about Kristi right now. He’d get to that soon and used the extra half hour he had while Brooke took her test to call his office and take care of what he could over the phone.
When he walked into the classroom where Brooke sat taking her test almost two hours after she’d started, he expected to findher ready to leave and waiting for him. Instead, he found her sitting and staring into space, her test unfinished. She was far from done.
She didn’t notice him. She held their daughter in her lap and zoned out.
“She’s been like that on and off over the last hour. I’ve been able to talk her back and complete a few more questions. From what I can see, she’s doing well on the exam.” Professor Raymer set down the papers he’d graded and came forward. “Listen, if she can’t finish, I can grade what she’s done and base her grade on her coursework and the number of points accumulated on the test. Dean Fitzpatrick has already said she gets a break. She can have as long as she likes to take the test, but she’s in no condition to do it.”
