Brooklynn’s insides quaked like gelatin as she followed Robbie. He looked so much like Ryker. So much. Too much.
He finally spun back, and she almost crashed into him on her next step. “You’re dating him?”
She lifted her chin, looking the other man right in the eyes. “Ryker’s dead, Robbie. Not sure if you knew that.”
Robbie’s eyes stormed, and he was so, so angry. Brooklynn cared; she didn’t want to hurt him. A lot of people had suffered when Ryker had died.
“So yes,” she said. “I’m dating Dave. He’s the first man I’ve been out with in three years, and I’m…I’m ready to move on.”
“You know who he is, right?” Robbie asked, glancing behind her to where Dave presumably still stood.
“Yes, he’s David Reddington.”
“You can’t even walk down the beach,” Robbie said. “He works for the Coast Guard.”
“I’m aware,” Brooklynn said. And no, she didn’t like Dave’s job. But she sure did like him. “Is that all? Our movie is about to start, and I don’t want to miss the beginning.”
“I just don’t want you to get hurt again,” he said. “You’ve already been through so much.”
Brooklynn had a hard time keeping her scoff in her mouth, but she did it. “Thank you for your concern. I know what I’m doing.” She gave him a quick smile that held no joy and turned around.
You’ve already been through so much. As if Robbie had been there to help. None of Ryker’s family had come over after his death. Not even once. So why Robbie cared now was beyond Brooklynn’s understanding.
“Ready?” Dave asked, his eyes full of concern. “You okay?”
She picked up her food and drink. “I’m great. Let’s hurry so we don’t miss the beginning.”
He nodded her toward the right theater, and she went inside. The previews had already started, but they found their seats and settled in. She ate her chicken bacon ranch wrap and stole some of Dave’s French fries. They shared the popcorn, and only a few minutes into the movie, he lifted the armrest between them and brought her into his side.
She sighed, the comfort running through her something she’d been missing for three long years. He pressed his lips to her temple and asked, “Will you tell me about him after the movie?”
“Yes,” she whispered, snuggling deeper into Dave’s body and hoping she could make this Sunday afternoon movie a weekly occurrence.
The following evening, Brooklynn had been home for five minutes when her doorbell rang. She glanced toward it while Cinnamon, Cory, and Callie started yapping, the sounds layering over one another.
“Hush,” she said, but they didn’t listen to her at all.
She hadn’t showered yet, and she was considering ordering delivery for dinner so she didn’t have to leave the house again that night. But when she opened the door and saw Dave standing there in his Coast Guard uniform, she wanted to parade him all over town.
Brooklynn couldn’t even breathe as she drank in his dark blue suit jacket with all those colored squares, that white hat perched perfectly on his head. And that grin. Oh, that grin should be illegal.
“Thought we could go to dinner,” he said, reaching for her hand. He was one of the handsiest men she’d ever met, and she really liked it.
“I’m exhausted,” she said. “I had two huge dogs today, and one of them was terrified of everything.” She stepped back, tugging on his hand to get him to come with her. “Come in. Let’s order something.”
“Pizza?” he asked.
“If you want,” she said, “But you can get anything delivered these days.”
“Explain,” he said, and she wondered if that was how he ordered his men around on the ship.
“It’s called Grub to Go,” she said, swiping on her phone. “It’s an app, and it’ll tell us how long until the food comes. I need to shower, but now that you’re here, you can answer the door.” She handed him the phone. “And you can order for me.”
Something wonderful twinkled in his eyes. “Yeah, this is going to change my life.” He looked at her phone. “I can get a sandwich from The Anchor delivered?”
“Yep,” she said. “And they’ll text when they’re coming, when they’ve picked up, all of it.”
“This is…wow.” He tapped and swiped. “We can get hot dogs from Coneys?”
“Not hot dogs,” she said, starting down the hall to her bedroom.
“Not hot dogs?”
“Something good,” she called over her shoulder, laughing when he said, “Hot dogs are good.”
She locked the door behind her and sighed. She’d texted Dave a little bit today, and they’d spent almost all day together yesterday. After the movie, they’d wound up walking down Main Street, holding hands where anyone could see and talking. She’d told him about Robbie, and the Perrish’s and how they’d essentially cut her out of their lives the moment Ryker died.
She hadn’t even known what she’d done. His death was an accident, and she wasn’t even there. Dave had listened to it all and then said, “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. No one deserves to be treated like that.”
His words had healed something inside her she hadn’t even known was still bleeding.
After she showered and dressed, she went down the hall, still trying to towel out as much of the water from her hair as she could. “So is this going to become a thing?” she asked.
Dave looked up from his phone, and he looked so natural sitting at her kitchen counter. “What?”
“You coming over after work.” She nodded to his sexy uniform jacket hanging over the back of the couch. “You didn’t even go home and change first.” He’d also loosened his tie, and wow, he was just so handsome.
“I was excited to see you,” he said with a smile. “And it can become a thing if you want it to.”
The thought of seeing him every evening practically sent her heart into an attack, and she was glad he couldn’t see her most vital organ. “What did you get for dinner?”
“Is that going to determine if I can come over tomorrow?”
“Maybe I’d like to come to your place,” she said.
“My door’s always open for you, sweetheart,” he said, and Brooklynn knew he meant it.
Her phone went off, and he glanced at it on the counter beside him. “Food’s almost here.”
“What did you get?” she asked again, her stomach grumbling for something to eat.
“You’ll see.” He got up and moved toward the front door, as if he needed to be waiting for the delivery guy. All three of her dogs followed him, so he’d charmed them as completely as he had her.
“You don’t have to stand on the porch,” she said as he opened the door. “Don’t let Callie out. She likes to bolt.”
He bent and swept the little dog into his arms. “It’s pouring out here.”
As soon as he’d spoken, Brooklynn could hear the crash of the raindrops against the roof, the sidewalk outside. “Come back in,” she said, stepping over to him and wrapping her hands around her upper arm. He turned and looked at her, the spark between them flaring into something huge in less than a breath.
Headlights cut through the deluge of water outside, and he said, “They’re here.”
She took Callie from him and nudged the other dogs back. Cinnamon growled deep in her throat, as if her twelve pounds could warn anyone away from the house.
“Grub to Go,” the guy said from the porch, and Dave took the bag from him and came back inside.
The logo on the outside was a dead giveaway, and Brooklynn’s breath caught in her throat.
“I hope you like fried chicken,” Dave said, continuing into the kitchen. He didn’t seem to notice how still she’d gone, and she told herself to move.
But she felt rooted to the ground, even when Callie squirmed to get down. She almost dropped the dog, and she ended up bending slightly before tossing her to the ground.
“You don’t like fried chicken,” Dave said, and Brooklynn tore her eyes from the red rooster head with the yellow beak logo.
She swallowed and tried to speak, but her voice didn’t work.
“What?” Dave asked, leaving the chicken on the counter and coming toward her. “Are you allergic or something?”
She shook her head, the numbness starting to wear off. “That was—” She cleared her throat. “That was Ryker’s favorite place to eat. We went there on our first date. Royal Rooster.”
Dave paused, and his face transformed into one of pure horror. “I didn’t know.”
“I know you didn’t.” She nodded like everything was fine, but inside, she felt like someone had stuffed fireworks in her chest and lit them all at the same time. Her eyes burned, and she didn’t want to cry about this. Not in front of Dave. Not about this.
“Hey,” Dave said in a gentle voice. He came forward and put both hands on her arms and rubbed them. “It’s fine. I can see it’s triggered something for you. I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“It’s not your fault,” she said. “I’m fine.”
“Honey, you’re crying.”
She hadn’t even felt the tears tracking down her face. She crumpled into him, stealing strength from the safety of his arms. He held her tight until her emotions passed, and she stepped out of his arms and wiped her face.
“I’m okay,” she said. “I am.”
Dave retreated a few steps, and he looked unhappy and upset, which was rare for him. Brooklynn hated that things had changed so quickly, that she hadn’t been able to contain her memories and her emotions over a stupid chicken logo on a paper bag.
“I…don’t know what to do,” Dave said, the helplessness in his voice so heavy. So heavy.
“You don’t need to do anything,” Brooklynn said, wishing she could rewind time just five minutes and give a better reaction. “Let’s eat.”
“Brooklynn.” He stepped in front of her, blocking her access to the kitchen and the fried chicken. He hadn’t said her name often, but she sure liked how it sounded in his voice.
“I’m fine,” she said.
“Well, I’m not fine,” he said. “First it was that coffee mug, which I threw away, by the way.” He exhaled and ran his hand over his short hair. “But I might need a cheat sheet of things we can and can’t eat. Or places we can’t go. Or whatever.”
“There is no cheat sheet. I can eat at Royal Rooster.”
He gave her a hard look she didn’t like. But she couldn’t glare back, and she ended up dipping her head. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I just…had a bad reaction.” And it had been completely involuntary.
“Will everything remind you of him?”
“I don’t know,” she said honestly, hoping he wouldn’t think a relationship with her would be too hard. But in this moment, even she thought it was too hard, and the ache behind her eyes felt endless.
“I think I’ll go,” Dave said, and panic coursed through Brooklynn.
“Go?” She hated the alarm in the word, sure it was etched on her face too.
“Brooklynn, I’m not sure…I don’t know what to do.”
“You don’t need to do anything,” she said, stepping around him to get into the kitchen. She reached into the bag and pulled out the box of fried chicken. “Honestly, Dave, I’m okay.”
When he didn’t move and continued to wear a dark look on that beautiful face, she stopped trying to distract him with food. “Okay, look. Yes, I reacted badly. I know that, but I couldn’t…it just happened. I don’t know what will make it happen again. Could be something one day that’s fine the next.” She threw her hands up in frustration. “I don’t know what to do either. But I know I don’t want you to leave.” Tears pricked her eyes again. “The only thing that would make this worse would be if I had to do it alone.”
“Okay,” he said, stepping over to the counter. “I just…I want you to be happy, Brooklynn.”
“I am happy,” she said. “And you can’t make everything better by throwing away a mug, and I can’t pretend I didn’t have a life before Ryker died.”
“I’m not expecting you to pretend anything,” he said. “I know you had a life before. It just seems like—well, with Robbie not reacting well, and you crying over the fried chicken. I don’t know.” He shook his head. “It feels hard tonight.”
“We can do hard things,” she said.
“Do you have a saying for everything?” He chuckled and shook his head, reaching into the bag and pulling out the container of mashed potatoes. “First it was the human heart had an unlimited capacity to love, and now this.”
“Guess you’ll have to stick around and find out,” Brooklynn said with a smile, glad when Dave smiled back, loaded a plate with food, and sat down at her kitchen table.
Now she just needed to figure out how to move forward without breaking down. If she couldn’t, she felt certain she’d lose Dave, and she couldn’t bear to go back to being alone.