Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 133878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Brooke wasn’t so sure about that. Her brother Max and the town’s doc, Caleb Burke, had a long history between them. If Caleb could justify a couple of extra stitches, he might. “I’m glad he finally got it done. So what’s up?”
She wanted to cry it all out and tell Rachel everything. Over the years Rach had become the big sister she never had. But she didn’t want to put any more pressure on her. Finding out the reason they gave for her getting fired would do exactly that.
“Well, I wanted to let you know that we’re having a baby boom here in Bliss, and we’ve decided to do a big shower for me and Hope Glen and Nell.”
“Nell’s pregnant? Again? The last time I talked to her she was one and done. Something about keeping the population down.” Nell Flanders had come into town as Brooke was finishing high school. She’d never been particularly close to her, but she seemed like a nice woman.
“Yeah, Henry got the snip, too,” Rachel admitted. “He handled it so much better than Max, although he did make sure the bag of frozen peas he held to his balls were organic. Anyway, I know you’re busy so I wanted to let you know there’s no pressure for you to come. It’s kind of a last-minute thing. We’re putting it together for two weeks from now. You’ve been to every one of mine, and I don’t need anything. It’s more about celebrating Hope, but she didn’t want to do it alone. I want you to know…”
“I’ll come. I can help.” She took that invite like a damn lifeline. “I can come out in a couple of days and help you plan and set everything up. I have a lot of ideas.”
She had no ideas beyond getting the hell out of Manhattan and clearing her head. She could figure things out. Talk to Gemma privately about her options.
Breathe. She might be able to breathe.
“Uhm, I thought you would have to work,” Rachel pointed out.
What she wasn’t ready to do was let her brothers know she’d fucked up so brutally. “I have a bunch of paid time off. I finished a big campaign a few days ago, and I was thinking about taking a vacation.”
“Sweetie, you should do that,” Rachel replied. “Don’t get me wrong. I’ll take any excuse to get you home. Your brothers recently finished the guesthouse. It’s darling, but it needs some interior design. But you’re young and should have fun. If you come home, you’re going to have kids hanging all over you.”
Paige and Ethan and Eli. They loved their Auntie Brooke. They wanted her to play with them and talk to them and have ice cream with them. They wanted her around. “I can babysit. I want to come home, Rachel. It’s been…a lot lately. Christmas wasn’t enough time for me. It was too busy.”
“It’s always busy in Bliss,” Rachel admitted. “But I would love to have you home for a couple of weeks. I could use some help, but I don’t want…”
The idea that she could feel needed gave her some hope. She could take a couple of weeks and clear her head. She could figure out what to do next. “I want to come home for a while, Rachel. I need to come home.”
There was a slight hesitation, and she knew damn well Rachel suspected something. Brooke breathed a sigh of relief when her sister-in-law continued. “Well, then I’ll make sure the tiny house is ready for you. I’ll use stuff from our place, and we can go shopping while you’re here. I would love your eye for design. I know it’s a guesthouse for you, but I would love for it to be nice.”
She could make something pretty. She could do something that helped her family. “That sounds perfect.”
She packed her bags that night. She was surprised at how little there was. Everything here was Ami’s. She’d moved from dorms in Denver to a small place she shared with a bunch of students who were in her grad class at Parsons. Then she’d gotten the job with Bianchi and moved in with Ami.
She’d never had her own place. Never had her own dishes or furniture. Never picked out curtains. Her whole adult life had been about preparing for the job, getting the job, doing the job.
Who was she without her work?
It was time to go home.
Chapter One
Bliss, CO
Brooke waved to Logan Warner, who sat in the driver’s seat of the Navigator. They hadn’t been forced to do anything so ordinary as fly into the small airfield in Alamosa. Nope. Seth Stark’s “cabin” came with its own landing strip and small hangar.
And Nell and Poppy protesting at the end of it.
It was good to be home.
“Tell your brothers hi for me and that we hope they’ll come out and meet our little monster,” Logan said with a smile. Logan had dropped off Seth, Georgia, and their son at the big cabin they kept here in Bliss and given Brooke a ride into town. He was planning on slipping into The Trading Post and surprising his moms.