Dusk began consuming the few remaining rays of light as Brooke pulled into her mother’s driveway. Dan’s car was parked on the road in front of the house. Some nights he spent with them, others he’d return to his apartment. Brooke thought it was sweet that even though they’d fallen out of love and gone their separate ways, Dan still wanted to be with them in this time of need. When he stayed over, he even slept in the same bed as her mom, silently comforting her.
Though the lights were off inside the house, Brooke saw the dim glow from the television set in the living room. The hushed voices of some car show made Brooke smile. Dan must have fallen asleep in front of the set again.
Brooke headed to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of milk. She noticed a new bouquet of flowers occupying a large section of the counter.
In the past few weeks, they’d been receiving a lot of flowers. The women from her mother’s work and the ladies from church kept bringing them flowers, casseroles, or cold salads. While the food made meals much easier, her mother often didn’t eat much, and it seemed Brooke’s appetite had also diminished, something her mother had warned her to keep an eye on.
After rinsing her glass and putting it in the dishwasher, Brooke took a closer look at the flowers. The card read: To Marilyn, Dan, and Brooke. Love always, Kevin.
She understood Jacey’s reaction to Kevin dumping her, but Brooke knew the truth. She needed to let him move on, but that didn’t mean he’d suddenly stopped caring about her.
Chewing the inside of her cheek, Brooke shut off the kitchen light and headed to the living room to wake Dan.
The lamp beside the armchair flicked on as Brooke walked in. She was surprised to see her mom in the chair rather than her stepfather. Slowly, her mother pushed the recliner into the upright position and clicked off the TV.
“I thought you were Dan.”
She rubbed her neck. “Dan fell asleep hours ago. He’s had a long week.”
“I see Kevin dropped by. When was that?”
“When you were at dinner with Gabe.”
Brooke stalled. She hadn’t told her mother anything about Gabe.
“I know you aren’t seeing Kevin anymore, but you never told me you’d started seeing the Fuller boy.”
“It’s nothing to be concerned about. We’re just hanging out as friends.”
“Kevin said you were going with Gabe to his sister’s engagement party. You were his date.”
“Kevin said…” That raised more questions than Brooke could comprehend. She plunked her butt on the nearby sofa. “What did he say?”
“That’s all. I’d like to know why I had to hear it from Kevin.”
She rubbed her temples with her fingers. “I meant, what did he think of me going with Gabe?”
Her mom shrugged one very thin shoulder. “He didn’t say all that much about it, but I think he’s concerned. So am I.”
Brooke had known Kevin would find out, there was no stopping that, but she’d hoped to keep it from her mother. Shuffling to the edge of the couch, Brooke took her mother’s hand. “This isn’t something you need to worry about. It’s not a relapse, I promise.”
“Then what is it?”
She thought about the best way to answer that. “A distraction. It’s just a way to amuse myself. You kept telling me to get out of the house.”
“Hanging around with Gabe Fuller is not what I meant.”
Brooke snickered.
“What’s so funny?”
“I’m almost thirty, but you act like I’m a preteen heading into high school.”
“High school was a dangerous time for you,” her mother said solemnly.
Brooke straightened. “Mom, I promise you I’m not going to get hurt. I know what I’m doing.” Her mother still looked doubtful, so Brooke tried redirecting her. “What else did Kevin have to say? I haven’t heard from him in a while.”
“Yes, I know all about that now, too.”
Brooke cringed.
“But why I had to hear about it from Kevin, now that I don’t understand.”
Sighing, Brooke wondered if this was about to become an argument. They had a good relationship but occasionally would disagree on things.
She kept her mother in the loop about her mental health, but she’d learned long ago not to discuss her love life with her mother. She seemed to think that every man Brooke got involved with would cause her to slide back into old habits. She’d become obsessed with one boy one time, and now, unless it was Kevin, her mother got nervous with each new relationship Brooke had. She’d realized it was easier to avoid the topic altogether.
“Kevin and I were never meant to be. He’s more of a friend.”
“I understand that. But Gabe Fuller is a dangerous idea.”
Brooke pushed that aside, choosing to focus on something else. “Did Kevin mention his job?”
Now, her mother smiled. “He did. He’s taking courses right now to become a realtor.”
Brooke brightened. “Really?”
“Yes. He’s very excited about it. Said he’ll be living off his savings for the next little while, although he might have to take another retail position to get him through the next eighteen months. Still, as I understand it, once he’s done the preliminary courses, his uncle will hire him at his agency while he finishes the remaining courses.”
“Wow.” She believed eventually she would talk to him again, and when that time came, she wondered if he’d seem like a whole different person.
“Now you,” her mom said, confusing her. “When will you be seeing Gabe again?”
Feeling she had nothing to hide, she looked directly at her mother. This time, she had nothing to be ashamed of. “He wants to see me next weekend. We’re going to go shopping,” she left out the type of shopping, “then I think we’re going to have dinner with his family. If you don’t need me here, that is.”
“If you have time in between, maybe you could bring him by the house?”
“You want me to bring him here?” Cringing, Brooke cast an eye around the room. With everything that had been going on, the house had seen better days.
“Why not? If you’re spending time with him, I’d like to get to know him better.”
Brooke sensed a trap. “It’s nothing serious, but if you’d like that, then sure, I can bring him by.”
Her mother’s grin turned into a hacking cough. Wishing she could help, Brooke watched her mom suffer. When she’d finished, she grabbed Brooke’s arm and used it to pull herself up. “Let’s go to bed.”
Helping her mother up the stairs, Brooke pushed away thoughts of cleaning the house before Gabe’s visit. She really should pick up around the place a bit, but she didn’t have the time. She didn’t need to impress him.
As she crawled into bed, she ignored the fact there weren’t many groceries in the house, that newspapers cluttered the coffee table, that the garden hadn’t been weeded in weeks, and that Phil wanted an update on the contract. She shoved all that aside, laid her head on the pillow, and allowed herself to do something she hadn’t done in years—dream of Gabe Fuller and all the wicked things she still wanted to do with him.