BROOKE PUT THE last of her clothes in the suitcase and snapped the lid shut. She had two hours before her eleven o’clock flight, plenty of time to order an Uber driver, check in at the airport and go through security. She didn’t want too much time to spare before the flight, too much time to think.
She certainly hadn’t tied up all the loose ends before making this plane reservation. She knew her brother’s name—Edward Smith. She knew the name of the marina where he might be living and working. She knew the name of the judge who had supposedly rescued him from a troubled life. She didn’t know if the judge’s efforts succeeded. She didn’t know for certain what Edward did for a living. She didn’t even know if he would be in the Keys when she arrived. Everything she was doing today was based on a dream, and she’d learned lately that dreams, unfulfilled ones, often left a person alone and wanting.
The driver dropped Brooke off at the airport at 9:45 a.m. She rolled her suitcase behind her to the security line. She hadn’t packed much, not knowing if she would stay a few days or catch the next flight back to Charleston. When she cleared security and approached her gate, she was tense. Nerves tingled in all her extremities. She almost felt nauseous, so she sat in a chair in the waiting area, drew several deep breaths and took out her phone.
I’m here, she texted her sister. The plane is at the runway so we should be boarding.
Her fingers stopped dancing across the keyboard. Her heart stopped beating for a frightening few seconds. She blinked. It couldn’t be. Jeremy was walking toward her after leaving a concession shop with snacks in his hand.
She couldn’t look away. She was frightened of looking too closely for fear he would shimmer and disappear like a mirage.
He stopped in front of her. “Want some gum?” He unwrapped the package. “I understand it’s good for popping ears when we take off.”
“We?” she repeated. “Jeremy, what are you doing here?”
He took the seat next to her. “I’m going to Florida to see a guy about renting a boat.”
“Jeremy, stop teasing me. I can’t take it.” Her eyes flooded with tears, and she wasn’t sure why they’d begun to fall. Except that Jeremy looked so wonderful in a yellow denim shirt and blue jeans, expensive sneakers on his feet and gum in his hand. She’d never seen a more beautiful sight.
“Okay, I’ll stop,” he said. “I’m going with you, Brooke. We’re going to meet Edward together. I’ll be there for support, and I promise to let you do the talking.”
“You’re going with me? Have you thought this through?” She prayed that he had, every last detail.
“Sure I did. I’ve got nothing to do the next couple of days. Marta’s with the kids. I’m free as a bird.” He lifted her hand, brought it to his lips for a warm kiss. His face grew serious. “And, besides, I don’t want you to be alone.”
“Jeremy, I’ve suddenly never felt less alone in my life than I do right now.”
“Good, because I don’t want to think of you alone just for this trip. I don’t want you to be alone ever. Almost as much as I don’t want to be alone another day.”
As her mind processed his words, her heart soared. “What are you saying?”
“I’ve got to spell it out?”
She smiled. “Some of us deal in facts, Crockett. We can’t work with assumptions.”
His grin was sweet and promising and honest and hopeful. And suddenly Brooke believed anything was possible with this best of all men.
“Okay then, Miss News Producer. I’m suggesting that we work out our problems, eliminate the obstacles and pledge to stay together for every wonderful day we can grab between trips from New York to Charleston.”
“You’ve taken the job in New York?”
“I did.”
“So you’re proposing a long-distance relationship?”
“I am. I realize it didn’t work out for me before, but I believe in us, Brooke. I hope you do, too. Enough that you’ll give this a shot.”
“I want to. But Jeremy, what about…?”
“Your job? You should keep it as long as you like. Do it however you want. I’ll continue to be as proud of you as I am today.”
He’d read her mind and answered perfectly. “And what about…?”
“My kids? The two who have decided that I’m a much better man and father and much less grumpy when you’re around? Those kids? I’m hoping you’ll come home to Hidden Oaks after work most nights and see that they do their homework and take showers and go to bed. Marta will be there if you need help. And if it becomes too much…”
She’d already begun shaking her head. “No, it won’t. I love Cody and Alicia.”
“I believe you,” he said. “But all kids are unpredictable beings, mine included. If you need a break, you can escape to your condo by the Battery for a sleepover. Or go to that chicken farm your sister owns. Or anywhere you want as long as you come back.”
Brooke had always admired her sister for knowing what she wanted and settling for nothing less. A fine man, a family, a flock of cooperative chickens. But Brooke had never realized how her goals could be so much like Camryn’s. Well, maybe not the chicken part. But the rest sounded like heaven.
“Jeremy,” she said, taking both his hands, “I will always come back.”
“Good. Then let’s go find us a best man. I hear there might be one waiting in the Keys.”
She placed her hands gently on each side of his face and kissed him soundly. She hardly heard the flight attendant announce that boarding had begun.
* * * * *