An Unexpected Love Story (Love Story Book Two) (25 page)

She leaned over the table so she could meet my eyes again. “Because you’re pretty and funny and sexy and you don’t care, not really, who knows it. You know you’re cool and you want to share it with people. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Nothing wrong with being attention-seeking?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

She shook her head. “Never once have I felt like you intentionally upstaged me, Brooke. I’ve never seen you try to take attention at someone else’s expense. You’re a good friend, a great freaking friend. You need to stop beating yourself up, once and for all, for being brave enough to just be who you are.”

I was quiet for a minute, thinking about what she said. I wanted to believe her, so badly. But a part of me, a small, annoying part, still wondered why John would have let me go if what she was saying was true.

“You know, I’m proud of you, Brooke.”

I looked up at her in surprise. “Are you forgetting about the incident last night where I stood on a table and serenaded the entire bar with Madonna songs? Forget bowing to John Denver, I think Madonna was the real low point in Brooke Murray behavior.”

She laughed. “No, but that’s not what I was talking about. I’m proud of the way you handled John. I think it’s really healthy.”

“Again, are you forgetting about the incident last night where I stood on a table and serenaded the entire bar with Madonna songs? Because I’m pretty sure that has something to do with how I’m handling this.”

Emily shoved me across the table. “Do you want to hear what I have to say or not?”

“Sure,” I said, leaning back in my chair. “Go for it.”

“I think you’ve been trying to hide for a long time,” she said, her voice so soft I had trouble hearing her. “I think you thought you could protect yourself that way.”

I squirmed in my seat, uncomfortable with this line of conversation. Emily smiled at me. “I can see you’re dying for me to shut up, so I’ll be fast. I think it’s really fantastic that you can say what you want and try to fight for it. And that you’re strong enough to walk away if that’s what you need to do. I don’t think you would have been able to do this a few years ago. You’ve come a long way since—”

“Since I selflessly gave up my future to come home and save my parents?”

Emily shook her head. “I see what you’re doing there, missy, trying to turn it into a joke. But you know I’m right, don’t you?”

I ducked my head, but nodded.

“Okay, then, you’re off the hook, we can change the subject.”

“No more sappy stuff?” I asked hopefully. Emily laughed.

“You’re ridiculous. We’ve been best friends for twenty years, for God’s sake, we’re supposed to be a little sappy sometimes.”

I reached over the table to grab her hand. I found I couldn’t quite meet her eyes, but I squeezed her hand nonetheless. “Thanks, Em.”

“You’re welcome, Brooke.”

“Okay, changing the subject,” I said, returning to my bacon. “What the hell am I gonna do about work?”

Emily’s face lit up. “I think you should move down here! We could totally find you something in a hotel. Or you could try something totally different. Business is a pretty broad degree, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” I said. “There’s probably lots of stuff I could do.”

Emily was watching me shrewdly. “But you don’t want to do anything else, do you? You really liked running the inn.”

“I did,” I said wistfully. “I think I was good at it. And every day was different. I liked that.”

“What about the money from your parents?” she asked. “Are you going to take it?”

I shrugged. “My dad is pretty insistent. I don’t know if I could turn it down even if I wanted to.”

“I think you deserve it. God knows you worked your butt off to save that place.”

I stirred my coffee, thinking. “Part of me feels terrible even considering it. I’m sure my parents could use as much money as they can get for their retirement. But on the other hand…”

“You know the inn would have been gone years ago—and without the cushy sale price—if it wasn’t for you.”

I smiled in spite of myself. “Yeah, pretty much.”

“Well, what would you do with it?” Emily asked. “Go gallivant around Europe or something?”

I laughed. “Yeah, that sounds just like me.” I drank some coffee, feeling shy about telling her what I had been thinking. “I’ve always kind of wanted to own my own place,” I finally said, looking up to gauge her reaction. “Something a lot smaller. More of a boutique place, you know? Something I could make my own, run the way I want. Do you think that’s stupid?”

“Of course not!” she cried, clapping her hands together. “I think it’s a totally awesome idea! Oh my God, I can so picture it. We could pick out paint and furniture, it’d be so fun.”

I beamed at her. “It would, wouldn’t it?”

“Well, I still think you should think about relocating. I’m sure we could find you something down here.”

“I can’t say I haven’t thought of it.”

Emily watched me closely. “I’m not entirely sure you’re ready to give up northern Michigan, to be honest.” I started to argue and she held up her hand. “But I’m here, willing to give up the couch of my apartment, if you want to try out some new geography.”

“You could always move home,” I told her, reaching out for more bacon. It was funny, somewhere between the food and the conversation, I was feeling much better. “We’ve got nothing but old people up there anyhow. Your PT office would be overwhelmed with business.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said drily, grabbing the last of the bacon before I could get my hands on it.

Chapter Twenty-seven

I spent a week in Royal Oak with Emily before I finally felt up to returning to the inn. My parents had done a fine job of keeping everything up and running while I was gone. We were still pretty slow, spring being another low season, but people were eating at the restaurant in even larger numbers than usual, probably trying to get their fill before it was gone.

“Your father and I have decided what we want to do when we retire,” my mom told me one morning before I headed over for my Saturday shift at the inn. I glanced at my dad, who was looking happier than he had in weeks. Excited, even.

“Yeah?” I asked. “What’s that?”

“We’re going to invest some of the money in an RV,” he said, his face alight. “And travel around the country.”

“Wow,” I said, looking back and forth between the two of them. My mom was smiling at my dad, both of them clearly pleased with the idea. “That’s a pretty big change.”

“Yeah, well, your father and I have never really been able to travel much. We figure we better get out there while we can.”

That was true. My parents had been tied to the inn for so long. I could count on one hand the number of trips they’d taken in my lifetime. “I think that’s great,” I said, remembering what Chris and Emily had said about this being an opportunity for them. “I really do.”

“Thanks, sweetie,” my dad said. “Maybe you could go out to the dealership with us, make sure we get a good deal.”

“I’d like that,” I said.

“What about you?” my mom asked, her voice overly casual. “What do you think you might do with your money?”

“I haven’t agreed to take that money,” I muttered.

“You’re taking it, Brooke,” my dad said. “I don’t want to hear any more argument about it. You’ve been running the inn for years now. It’s yours.”

“Speaking of running the inn, I should get going.” I stood and downed the rest of my coffee, eager to end the conversation. I bent down to kiss the top of each of their heads, feeling better about their situation than I had since I heard about the sale. “You guys have a good day.”

The inn was dead quiet when I got there. With only weeks left to go, we had started to lose some employees. I couldn’t blame them; without us to count on, they’d be stupid not to take any job they could find. Besides, we probably wouldn’t be busy enough for a full staff from now until we turned the place over.

I made my way to the office, figuring I may as well finish the payroll while the place was empty. Even without anyone to disturb me, I still had a hard time focusing. I couldn’t help but think of my parents off on a great adventure, seeing the country. The idea made me happy—they deserved it after a lifetime of hard work. And, though I was a little ashamed to admit it even to myself, it also made me feel freer than I had in years.

I’d been taking care of my parents ever since my dad got hurt. When I came back to the inn and saw the state of things, I’d taken control, no questions asked. I couldn’t leave them to ruin just because I wanted to go to grad school. I put my MBA, and my life, on hold to help them. The idea that they didn’t need that anymore, that they’d be off on their own having fun, was like the lifting of a weight from my chest that I hadn’t even known was there.

When eleven rolled around and I was no closer to finishing my work, I decided to take a break and see what Paul was up to. I found him, predictably, at the bar, looking bleary-eyed and unshaven.

“Late night?” I asked, perching up on a barstool.

“Yeah,” he said, wincing slightly.

“Ooh, was it a hot date?” I plastered a fake smile on my face, trying not to think about Justine and hoping fervently he had moved on.

“More like a hot mess,” Paul said, giving me a weak smile that looked more like a grimace.

I laughed. “And alcohol was consumed by all?”

“Pretty much.”

“So, who was this hot date?” I asked, crossing my fingers under the table.

He waved his hand. “It wasn’t actually much of a date. Just drinks with some girl, Carrie. You’d probably like her, you know, she challenged me to a shot contest at Hardy’s.”

I couldn’t help the wave of relief that I felt. I smiled more sincerely. “Was that the hot mess part?”

“Naw, that was the highlight,” Paul said, rubbing his head. “We were a pretty sad pair, let me tell you. Half way through the night she started crying about her ex. That’s when the real drinking started. I don’t remember much of it, but I think the ex actually might have shown up at some point. There was a lot of yelling.”

“You know, one of these days you’re going to get kicked out of Hardy’s and he won’t let you back in.”

“And life will lose all meaning,” he said morosely.

I laughed. “Poor Paul. You just can’t catch a break with the ladies, can you?”

He looked at me, the pain in his expression glaringly obvious. It made my stomach drop. Trying to lighten the sudden atmosphere, I smiled brightly. “Thanks for cheering me up, I think I can get some work done now.”

“Hang on,” Paul said, reaching out to grasp my arm. “What time do you get off this afternoon?”

“Stan will be here at eight,” I said. “Why?”

He made a face. “That’s too late. How about tomorrow? Could your parents cover the dinner shift?”

“What’s going on, Paul?”

“Look, will you go somewhere with me? There’s…there’s something that I want to show you.”

“Show me? What is it?”

Finally, he smiled that old Paul smile, guaranteed to make any bar floozy fall head over heels. “God, woman, can’t you just let go for once in your life? It’s a surprise, okay?”

I sighed. “Fine. I’ll go. But this better not have anything to do with your dirt bikes, Paul, I’m warning you.”

It was his turn to roll his eyes. “I sold my dirt bikes last month.”

I gaped at him in surprise. “You did? But you loved those bikes!”

Paul shrugged. “I wasn’t using them much anyhow, and I needed the money for my new truck.”

“You got rid of your
truck
?” I wouldn’t have been more shocked if he had told me that he’d sold his little brother. Paul loved his truck; it was his pride and joy.

He shrugged again. “You’ve kinda been out of the loop, Brooke. Busy with Mr. Gorgeous.”

I stared at him. I couldn’t believe that he had gotten rid of his bikes… and his truck, and, moreover, that I didn’t know about it. It suddenly hit me that I’d been a really crappy friend to Paul lately.

“I’d be happy to hang out with you tomorrow,” I said firmly. “Name the time and I’ll be there.”

He smiled again, and it was a brighter smile than I’d seen on him in a while. “Great. I’m off all day, so why don’t I pick you up before the dinner rush, around five?”

“Sounds good.”

I gave him one last grin before heading back to my office. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d been a bad friend to Paul. If he could get rid of his truck without telling me, what else could have happened that I didn’t know about?

He deserves better
, I thought to myself. Paul had been a great friend to me over the years, particularly since Emily left. In all actuality, I was closer to him than just about anyone in town. I was determined not to ever forget that fact again.

Chapter Twenty-eight

As Paul headed north out of Alpena, I wondered what this could all be about.

“Where are we going?” I asked, gazing out my window at the rolling expanse of farmland spreading out in every direction. Paul looked over at me before redirecting his attention to the road.