CHAPTER TWENTY

Lorraine and Brooke pulled up in front of Claire’s house at the same time. Worried about both of them, Claire had been watching out the front window. She was on the wide porch when they emerged from their cars, a copy of the newspaper in her hands with the article of Bliss and their picture on the front page. Lorraine and Brooke emerged with their own newspapers. Lorraine had a pleased smile on her face; Brooke’s was contemplative.

Claire didn’t have to guess. “What happened with John?”

Brooke sighed. “I should be walking on air that we made the paper. My family probably bought every copy they could get their hands on. Bliss is bound to reap the benefit.”

“But,” Lorraine prompted.

“You’ll never believe it. I can’t believe it myself,” Brooke told them.

“Let’s go inside,” Claire said, explaining to Lorraine about John taking Brooke home as they went inside. Folding tables lined with newspapers and topped with bottles and jars and molds were already set up in the family room. She handed each one a cup of coffee and picked up her own.

“I might as well spill it, so you can both tell me how stupid this is.” Brooke set her coffee aside without tasting it. “We have a date tomorrow night for burgers and a movie.”

“They must have been at each other again,” Lorraine said with a straight face.

“That would be my take on it,” Claire added.

Brooke bit her lip, appearing miserable. “He kisses me and I lose it.”

“Speaking from personal experience, that’s the way it’s supposed to be,” Claire said.

Brooke’s and Lorraine’s mouths gaped.

Claire couldn’t keep the smug grin off her face. “I think you’re right about BTS, but it’s obvious only certain men have that ability. Isn’t it fortunate that we’ve found three men that do.”

“I’ll drink to that.” Lorraine lifted her cup.

Brooke snatched hers up. “Me, too.”

“Me three.” The cups clinked.

*   *   *

Brooke had been on more dates than she could remember, she thought as she went through her closet of designer clothes Friday afternoon. She’d made a habit of always choosing what she planned to wear the day before. There was nothing more irritating than wanting to wear a certain outfit and then finding out it was in the cleaners or needed to go there.

She’d been popular with boys since she was in kindergarten. Being the only child of the oldest son of five boys brought her into a home where there’d always been strong arms to soothe away the hurt, take her anyplace she wanted to go, and spoil her shamelessly. She’d grown up with the attitude that she could wrap men around her little finger. She tossed a blue floral skirt on her king-sized four-poster.

She’d been voted Homecoming Queen her freshman year in high school and had regained the honor her senior year. She had respectfully declined the nomination her sophomore and junior years because she had wanted something to look forward to. The statement hadn’t endeared her to a lot of the girls at her high school, but Brooke hadn’t minded. As she’d told Gray, she didn’t have many female friends.

She couldn’t help it if she was beautiful, had a certain way with men, and a brain. She’d learned early that charm and a hint of vulnerability went a long way in getting a woman what she wanted. Southern women had it like that … if they knew how to use it. And she did.

Randolph’s defection was still a sore point and she definitely planned to make him regret his decision, but in the meantime it was rather gratifying to know she hadn’t lost her touch. John couldn’t keep his eyes or his hands off her.

She made a face. That she was the same way with him annoyed her to no end. Perhaps all the changes in her life had caused some kind of hormonal imbalance or shift in her brain wave patterns. Even as the thought came to her, she dismissed it as idiotic. Two chiffon blouses joined the skirt.

It was pure old-fashioned lust. She hadn’t decided if she’d feed it or try to control it. She tossed a pair of linen slacks on the bed just as the phone rang. She wasn’t sure what type of eatery John planned to take her to for hamburgers. She didn’t want to be too dressy. Linen or cotton, skirt or pants, slides or heeled sandals?

Her mind on her wardrobe, she picked up the phone with one hand and fingered the sheer ruffled hem of an ankle-length black skirt with the other. “Hello.”

“Hello, Brooke.”

Her heart leaped at the sound of John’s voice. Steady girl. “Hello, John.” Why did just saying his name make her heart beat faster?

“I got your phone number from Claire.”

He sounded tired or upset. She could think of only one reason. “Are Amy and Mark all right?”

“Yeah, thanks for asking. But there’s a problem.”

Apparently John was the type of man who had to work his way up to the point in a conversation. Brooke sat on the bed and tried to be patient. “Oh?”

A weary sigh came through the line. “We have this big calendar in the kitchen where I keep all the kids assignments and activities so I can keep track of them. I don’t know how I missed it.”

“What is it?”

“Mark’s Cub Scout troop is going on a field trip tomorrow to the Children’s Museum in Columbia, then to Saluda Shoals Park in the afternoon. I promised to chaperone. We won’t get back until after ten that night. I have to cancel.”

Brooke sprang to her feet. “You’re standing me up?” No one had ever stood her up.

“I’m not standing you up, Brooke. They’re going canoeing and fishing. I’d want to be there even if I hadn’t promised Mark.”

Brooke had spent a lot of fun-filled days at the 270-acre park. She’d even gone on dates to the amphitheater in high school. “Of course. You promised.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll call you tomorrow. Bye.”

“Bye.” Brooke replaced the receiver, then glanced at all the clothes she’d tossed on the bed. She felt foolish. She’d left the shop early, splurged on a manicure and pedicure, all for a man who … who loved his children.

Picking up the clothes, she returned them to her closet. It was for the best. They had nothing in common and she never dated men who couldn’t give her not only the lifestyle she wanted, but also their undivided attention.

She closed the closet door with a snap. She was glad he canceled.

The phone rang again and she snapped her head around, making a mockery of her earlier thoughts. Recognizing the number on the caller ID, she smiled and picked up the receiver. “Hi, Rafael.”

“Hi, Brooke. You doing all right?”

She plopped down on the bed. “I was until my date for tomorrow night canceled.”

“His loved ones will mourn him.”

She laughed, falling back on the bed and staring up at the chandelier in the recessed ceiling. Rafael was the youngest of her father’s four brothers and, at thirty, closer to her in age and temperament. He could always make her laugh. They’d always been close friends. “Perhaps he should live. He has two adorable little children.”

“Not your usual style,” he commented.

“I forgot that until he called to cancel. I won’t forget again,” she said with determination, then changed the subject. “Thanks again for coming up for the pre-opening. We practically sold out of products, especially the BTS ones.”

“That’s the reason for my call. Simon and Marc called me this morning to say they were concerned about your advertising claim,” he said. “They didn’t want to be put in a position of arresting their niece for fraud.”

She sat up. All the Dunlap men, including her father, were policemen. And women adored them. “They’ve test-marketed it already?”

“They had concerns, and that’s all I’m saying.”

And they all had a difficult time talking to her about sex. “We’ve already figured out that it doesn’t apply to all men.”

“What do you mean, ‘We.’” The snap of disapproval in his voice had her scrambling to explain.

“Lorraine, the married partner,” she emphasized. “She already told us that.”

“Ah.” He sounded relieved and so was Brooke. “Then why keep promoting the product that way?”

“Because all women aren’t fortunate enough to have found a man who can rival the product. Some women don’t want to find one. Then there are the ones who’ve enjoyed the side benefits of their man proving the product wrong,” she explained.

He chuckled. “Simon and Marc certainly did. I mean—”

“I know exactly what you meant,” she said, trying to hold back laughter. “You want me to send more?”

He snorted. “You always did have a smart mouth, and I was about to drive up and take you out to dinner.”

Myrtle Beach was an hour and a half away. “I’m fine. Besides I don’t want to be the cause of another woman being stood up.” Rafael always had some woman waiting in the wings.

“What are you going to do?” he asked.

Brooke only had to think about her answer for a moment. “Forget him and go on.”

*   *   *

“Daddy.”

John jumped upright, turning around at his desk to see Mark in his Spider-Man pajamas. Concerned, John knelt in front of his son and put his hand on his forehead. Amy might roam at night, but not Mark. “You feel all right, son?”

“I’m a big boy, now. You don’t have to go with me tomorrow.”

So he’d overheard the conversation with his grandmother when John had asked her to keep Amy. John had been afraid of that. He just hoped Mark hadn’t overheard his earlier conversation with Brooke as well. The lady wasn’t too happy with him. “I want to go.”

Mark looked at him, then away. “I didn’t mean to, but I heard you talking to Grandma today when you asked her to keep us tomorrow night because you had a date.”

“Then you heard me tell Grandmother when she reminded me about the field trip that I was going with you instead.”

“Because you promised.”

John’s hand lifted his son’s chin. He was so darn sensitive and loving, just like his mother, and always on his best behavior. “That and because I love you, and I’d feel better if I was there when you go canoeing and do all the other fun things we’re going to do tomorrow.”

Mark’s head came up a fraction. “You can go on the date if you want to. I’ll wear my life jacket. Mr. Johnson never has to reprimand me like the other boys.”

No, and that worried John. Mark was too self-contained. John tipped Mark’s chin up the rest of the way. “You’re a better young man than I was at your age. Did I ever tell you the time I almost got kicked out of the Cub Scouts?”

“You did?” His eyes widened.

“I threw rocks into the Grand Canyon before the scoutmaster could get it out of his mouth not to. Then that night when no one was looking I put firecrackers into the campfire before it was lit. Grandma and Grandpa both spanked me good when I got home.”

“Amy gets spankings all the time, but I never get spanked,” Mark said as if he regretted it.

John playfully swatted Mark’s backside and watched his son’s eyes grow huge in surprise. “Consider this your first for getting out of bed. I ought to give you another whack for even thinking I didn’t want to go with you tomorrow. You and Amy are the most important people in the world to me. Never forget that.”

“My social studies teacher says women are important, too, and Miss Dunlap is a woman.”

That she was. John pushed to his feet and took his son’s hand. “Come on, let’s get you back into bed. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow.”

“I’m glad you’re going, Daddy.”

“Me, too, son. Me, too.”

*   *   *

Brooke woke up Saturday morning determined to have a wonderful day. She breezed into Claire’s home in one of her favorite outfits, a gauzy coral-colored blouse and white, hip-hugging jeans, as if she didn’t have a care in the world. She chatted with Claire and Lorraine, glued the cotton wicks exactly in the center of the glass jars, labeled merchandise, checked e-mail, then went back to check the wicks to make sure they remained in the center as the wax hardened.

“You want to talk about it?” Lorraine asked.

“What do you mean?” Brooke asked, moving to the next candle. Jasmine Whipped Meringue.

“Something is bothering you,” Lorraine persisted.

“I’m fine.” Twenty or so candles left.

“We’re not prying. We care about you.” Claire placed her loosely folded hands on the table where she and Lorraine had been bagging moisturizing lotion into netted bags. “Remember our pledge to each other? You haven’t said two words in the last two hours.” She looked at Lorraine. “If it’s money and the check yesterday won’t cover your expenses, we—”

“John canceled on me,” Brooke interrupted. “He went on a camping trip with Mark today.”

Lorraine picked up a length of yellow satin ribbon. “Hamilton was always too busy to take Justin anywhere.”

“Derek was never the outdoors type.” Claire began carefully putting the bath gel she’d finished labeling in the packing box. “I made turkey salad for lunch.”

“That’s all?” Brooke asked. “You aren’t going to shred him to pieces or at the least tell me how immature it is of me not to understand?”

“Anything we would say would be redundant.” Lorraine stretched, then stood. “Claire, you make the best turkey salad.”

“It’s the scallions and my special dressing.” Claire went to the kitchen and took out the salad while Lorraine set the table.

Brooke had no choice but to follow. “You aren’t going to let me sulk?”

“You’ve done enough of that. We all have,” Lorraine said. Removing the plastic lid, she set the bowl on the L-shaped island.

“But I have to admit, if I’d known all the self doubts and hours I’d spend wondering about Gray’s feelings for me, I might have run the other way when he kissed me.”

Brooke took a box of crackers from the cupboard and set them beside the salad, then she slid onto one of the white slat-back stools around the island. “You can say that again.”

Placing flatware beside the plates, Lorraine took her own seat. “All we can do is play this out and play to win.”

Brooke was already shaking her head. “Maybe for you two, but I’ve decided to end it now. There’s nothing for me with John except hot sex.”

“I’m beginning to wonder if that’s all Hamilton and I have left,” Lorraine said quietly. “Although he hasn’t said anything since Thursday night at the pre-opening, I catch him watching me and I just know he still resents Bliss. But I’m afraid to confront him.”

Claire placed a small plate of fruit and cheese by the salad and took her own seat at the end of the counter. “When Gray returns, I’ll be able to tell you my take on it.”

“About time,” Brooke said, biting into a strawberry. “As for me, I’m bailing. I’m putting on my sexiest dress and going out tonight. It’s time I got back into the game.”