Need You Tonight (18 page)

She raises a brow. “Depends what you want.”

“It’s not for me, it’s for Brooklyn.”

A smile curves her lips. She’s hot as hell, wild as anything, and looks like a Playboy centerfold come to life—which means she reminds me of my mother and there’s no way I’d touch her, not even if I wasn’t with Brooklyn.

“Come into my office.” I grab the top of the door, holding it open while she walks inside.

As I walk inside, more than a few guys give me the once over. A few of them recognize me and tip their chins up in greeting before going back to work.

“Is Mrs. Reeves coming in today?” one of them asks. Oh yeah, this one is totally interested in my girl. “We had lunch plans.”

Rowan glances at me, judging my reaction. I step up to the guy. “My girl’s too satisfied for lunch today,” I say. “In fact, I’m sure she’ll be too satisfied for lunch with anyone but me from here on out. You got me?”

“Yeah, I got you, man.” He nods and I walk away, but not before I see Rowan give him a thumbs up.

I shake my head—she set me up. God help the man who sets his sight on that wild child. “This way, Morgan. I can’t have you chatting up my employees,” Rowan calls out from her office doorway.

I go inside and shut the door behind me. “Do you ever call anyone by their first name?”

“Piper, because she threatened to paint my office pink if I called her Ross again,” she says. “And my brother, because he’s my brother.”

“Interesting.”

“Really?”

“No.”

She laughs. “Spit it out. I don’t have all day. I’m helping Boyd with an overhaul at two. The ride is sweet. I’ve been dying to get my hands on it.”

“Brooklyn’s in-laws are coming right after lunch, to spend the rest of the day with her and talk about their son. Then they want to take her out to dinner and talk more about their son.” I can’t bring myself to call him her husband or her dead husband.

“She didn’t seem too upset about it Monday.”

“I helped her pack up all the things that belonged to their son yesterday to give back to them.”

“I’ll get my keys.” She stands, grabbing her phone. “I’ll meet you there.”

I shake my head. “I can’t be there. She’s nervous, guilty, and I make it worse.”

A genuine smile kicks up the corners of her mouth. “You’re in love with her.”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Dude, it was that obvious when I saw you watching her from the balcony at King’s.”

My jaw drops. “You saw me?”

“You were practically burning a hole in the back of her head,” she points out.

“I wasn’t—”

Rowan glares at me.

“Don’t you have a friend in need?” I ask rather than argue with the woman.

“I would already be on my way if you weren’t
in
my way.” Rowan steps around me and hauls ass through the building as I follow. “Linda, inform the guys I won’t be here the rest of the day. If they need me, they can text, but it has to be an emergency. A real one. The cable going out during
Real Ways to Die
is not a real emergency.”

“Simmons,” I shout, and Rowan glances over her shoulder.

“What?”

“Thanks.”

She winks at me and shoves open the door.

Glancing at the clock, I take note of the time. It’s still too early for Donna and Frank to be here. Maybe Parker forgot something? I move to the bedroom and start searching under the bed. There’s nothing but dust bunnies under there.

My doorbells rings, and I bump my head on the bedframe. “Ouch.” Patting my head, I head to the front door. “Coming.” Mom had mentioned in her postcard that they were sending a package to me. So, maybe the delivery guy is here, because Parker never rings the doorbell.

I open the door, a friendly smile on my face.

“Brooklyn,” Donna squeals, hugging me tight. “You look beautiful. Too skinny, but I’ll make us some lunch. We’ll fatten you up again.”

I stare at Frank over her shoulder. He’s wearing a ball cap with the words
Marine Vet
emblazoned on the front and a stern expression on his face. But that’s Frank Reeves.

He’d look like that if he won the lottery, Braden whispers to me.

I suppress a whimper and hug Donna back. “You’re early.” I had made Parker promise to stay away, despite the fact that I caught him banging a hammer against the pipes under the sink so he could stay around to fix them when they inevitably broke. But now, all I want is Parker by my side.

“Donna couldn’t stand the thought of eating without you when we were so close,” Frank said as he stepped inside, his arms laden with grocery bags. “Where’s the kitchen?”

“Down the hall and to the left.”

“Brooklyn, your house is lovely,” Donna says as she walks further inside, and I start to tremble. The closer she gets to the living room, the harder I shake, until I have clench my teeth together to keep them from chattering.

“Thank you,” I manage to get out.

“You still have boxes to unpack.” She peers at them and gasps, her hand covering her mouth. “Saving his things for last. You sweet girl. He was so lucky to have you as his wife.”

I swallow. “I—I’m not saving them.”

Donna gives me an odd look. “I don’t understand. Did you put his stuff somewhere else?”

Shaking my head, I bite my lip. “No.” Black dots invade my vision. My body goes from cold to hot.

“Frank,” she shouts. “Come in here. I think Brooklyn’s having a panic attack.”

I take a deep breath. Close my eyes. Take another breath. Open my eyes. The dots are gone. Frank joins Donna, two of the nicest people I’ll ever meet, stand before me with nothing but concern in their eyes.

I don’t have to tell them what I did. In fact, I could lie and say that I was waiting for them to visit so we could go through all of Braden’s stuff together before I put everything back in its place.

“You okay, doll?” Frank asks in his gruff voice. He touches my arm, and I look down at his hand, then back at him. He’s an older version of Braden, a good man defined by his years of service to the Corps, love for his wife, and pride in his son.

“Love you,” I say for no other reason than he won’t be hearing it from me on a daily basis once he deploys to Afghanistan.

He glances over his shoulder, his brown eyes full of love and laughter. “I know you do.” Suddenly, he turns and jogs back to me. “Promise me something.”

“Anything.”

“If something should happen—”

“Nothing’s going to happen to you.”

He smiles tenderly, brushing my hair out of my eyes. “If something happens to me, I want you to promise to go on with your life. Be happy and find someone worthy of you.”

“But you are my life. You make me happy, and you’re worthy of me.”

“I know, beautiful girl. And I’m a lucky bastard to have tricked you into marrying me.” He winks at me.

“Oh, you mean man. Stop teasing me with that kind of talk,” I laugh.

He starts to walk away. “I meant what I said, B. We’ll talk more later.”

Donna puts her hand over Frank’s. “We know you loved him, and he loved you.
We
love you, Brooklyn.”

“But, will you still love me if I give you his things?” They stare at me while the tears I’ve been holding back overrun my lashes and fall down my cheeks. “I can’t live with them anymore. Every day, for the last two years, I’ve stared at his picture and wished it could love me. Wished that he would miraculously show up at my door and say he’d been kidnapped. That the body we buried wasn’t his. It was a mix-up.”

“Oh Brooklyn,” Donna says, moving her hand to grab mine. She squeezes it tight.

“But that day never came. Mentally, I knew this all along, but my heart wouldn’t let me forget it. It wouldn’t allow me to live.”

Frank clears his throat, dropping his hand. “I guess we haven’t helped with our monthly visits.”

I shake my head. “At first I loved them, they helped keep Braden real and fresh in my mind. When we’d talk, it was like he really wasn’t gone, just on a mission. But every time, after y’all would leave, I’d crawl into bed and stay there for days, missing him.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

I look at Frank. “Because I didn’t want to take him away from you with my selfishness.”

“Your what?” Donna all but shouts, and I jump a little. She shakes her head, and then pulls me close. “My poor darling. You have brought us nothing but joy. Nothing but healing. We’ve been the selfish ones. Yes, we lost a son, but at least we had each other to turn to. You had no one. No one.”

“I had Soon Lin.” But not my parents. They didn’t understand. They couldn’t understand. Honestly, they never tried and, like a dutiful daughter trying to please everyone, I never pushed the issue.

“That’s not enough,” Frank declares, pulling off his cap. “You’re moving to Florida with us, and that’s final.”

Laughter bubbles up through my tears. “What would you do with a daughter-in-law?”

Donna lets me go and walks over to the boxes. She opens one, touching the contents and closing her eyes for a moment. When she opens them, they’re full of tears, but she smiles. “We’d love you, just like Braden would have wanted.”

And now for the hard part. “Thank you for your offer, but I like living in Forrestville.”

“Then you’ll love Florida,” Donna says.

“I have a great job.”

“Economy’s better in Florida,” Frank says. “No state income tax.”

“And a really nice house,” I add, hoping they’ll stop trying to persuade me to move, before I finally give them the real reason why I couldn’t possibly leave.

“Ours has a swimming pool,” Donna offers.

“I met someone. Someone I love and loves me back,” I blurt, and then brace myself for their reaction. “He fixes stuff for me around the house and cooks me dinner. Takes me out on dates and brings me flowers.”

Stunned silence greets me, until Frank, the gruffest Marine I’ve ever known, breaks down in tears. “Best fucking news I’ve heard since Donna got a clear report.” He swipes at the corner of his eyes with his knuckles. He chuckles a bit. “Braden made us swear to look out for you, and it’s been a damn honor to do it, but honey, we were worried as hell that you’d never find someone again.”

“It’s why we came down here. We thought moving out of state would help. My friend Betty Swartz—you remember her from the wedding—her nephew is a handyman for the resort. He’s a snappy dresser, owns his house, and—”

“I have my own handyman.” A blush heats my cheeks.

“This is good,” Frank says. “I love my son and wish like hell he was here, but this is good.”

I hug Frank’s neck. “I do too. Thank you for gifting the world with him.”

“Oh crap. I’m too late,” Rowan says from behind.

I let go of Frank. “What are you doing here?”

“Parker’s going to kill me,” she mutters.

“Too late for what?” Donna says. “We’ve enough food to feed an army.”

“Corps, sweet cheeks.”

“You know what I mean.” She turns to Rowan and me, rolling her eyes. “Forty years together and he still thinks he knows everything.”

“I know the difference between a Marine and a soldier.”

“Marines suck,” Rowan says cheerfully, and my eyes go wide.

“What she meant is—”

“Marines suck. My ex joined up after serving time. He’s a douche.” She smiles, then says, “Bless his heart.”

Donna gives her an odd look. “Yes. Bless him. Come to the kitchen while Frank and I cook up our famous chili.”

Rowan grabs my hand before I can follow. “Everything okay?”

I nod.

“You look like hell.”

“But I feel like I’m finally free.”

“You’re really moving to Florida?”

“What—no!” I wrinkle my nose, and then eye her. “Were you eavesdropping?”

“I was listening for my cue to save the day, but then I got five thousand texts from the nurse who helps Miss Myrtle during the day and had to answer them. So, I only caught the part about a hot handyman in Florida.” She smiles sheepishly at me. “Sorry?”

“You should be.” Winking, I lightly punch her shoulder. “And since you didn’t overhear this part—I’m never leaving Forrestville. There are too many people I love living here.”

“I assume one of those people is me,” Rowan says, linking her arms through mine.

“Nah. I was totally thinking of Boyd.” She elbows me, and I wince. “The guy who delivers parts every Tuesday?” Her fingers jab into my side, and I gasp. “Fine, fine, fine! It’s you and Parker. I love y’all. Swear!”

“That’s more like it.” With a pleased smile, she stops her torture. “I’m glad you’re staying.”

“Me, too.”