“Likewise, Brooke.” She smiled. “I feel like I know you already. Sarah talks about you all the time.”
Sarah’s blush deepened. “Mum.”
“Well, you do.”
Brooke suppressed a giggle, and stepped aside so the others could see Kyle. “This is my friend, Kyle. I hope you don’t mind him coming along.”
A groove formed between Sarah’s ginger brows. “Where’s Jack?”
“He’s still not well,” Brooke lied, guilt pricking her conscience. She should come clean, but she didn’t have enough control over her emotions to voice the truth yet. “He couldn’t make it, sorry.”
Kyle directed his most charming smile at Sarah, and Brooke could have sworn the girl melted in her seat. “I hope you’re not too disappointed.”
“Oh, n-no,” she stammered, now the color of beets. “It’s great you’re here. I mean, Brooke’s talked about you, but this is so not what I thought you’d look like. Um, I mean, you’re a librarian, but you, uh…” She trailed off, flapping her hands, and met Brooke’s eyes with a desperate entreaty.
Brooke knew what she meant. Kyle was undeniably hot. Not at all how a teenage girl thought of a male librarian with a penchant for gaming. She pulled out the chair beside Sarah and sat, forcing Kyle into the one on her other side, next to Andrew. She was afraid Sarah would combust if seated too closely to her attractive friend. The girl sent her a grateful look.
“Did you guys have a good trip over?” Brooke asked.
“We did,” Andrew said. “We took our time. Stopped in a few places along the way.”
Kyle turned to face him. “Are you staying in Haven Bay for long?”
Sarah answered for him. “Two nights. Tonight and tomorrow.” She narrowed her eyes at her parents. “But I wish we could stay longer. It’s so cool here, and the beach is amazing.”
“Maybe next time,” Adrienne replied evenly. “Your father and I need to be at work on Tuesday.”
Sarah pouted. “It needs to be before Brooke goes to Everest.”
“We can make that happen, sweetheart.”
“While we’re here,” Andrew began, “we’d love to meet the people responsible for getting you into shape for the event today.”
Brooke stiffened. “I can introduce you to Bex, my personal trainer, but you won’t be able to meet Jack.” She tried to swallow past the boulder lodged in her throat. It was time to be a big girl. “In fact, you should probably know that he won’t be coming with me overseas anymore.”
“That’s a shame.”
Brooke nodded, and Adrienne caught her eye. Something must have given her away because she saw pity and understanding in the other woman’s expression.
“Is there anything we can do to help recruit a replacement? Having the right company can make such a difference.”
Brooke sighed. Adrienne couldn’t possibly understand exactly how much it had meant to her to have Jack’s unwavering support, but she appreciated the sentiment anyway. “Perhaps. I’ll give it some thought.”
Adrienne smiled at Kyle. “I don’t suppose you’re the adventuring type?”
He laughed. “Only in my mind. Brooke’s the more outgoing of the two of us.”
A half-sob half-laugh caught in Brooke’s throat. She’d never been considered the more outgoing part of any friendship before. She loved it, but it also made her unaccountably sad. If Jack were here, he’d have held that role, and acknowledging his loss really sucked.
“Tell us a bit more about yourself,” Adrienne said, and Brooke latched onto the life raft of a question, casting Jack to the back of her mind.
“It all started when I was born with a heart defect.”
Darkness had descended, and the town square was illuminated only by streetlights. A few tourists lingered by the fountain while Jack nursed his third—fourth?—glass of beer and glared at them through the pub window. They all looked so damned happy. Couples with their arms around each other, kissing and laughing as though his world hadn’t imploded.
“Just rub it in, why don’t you?” he muttered, wondering if he ought to go home, where he didn’t have to watch every other person in the world smile with their loved ones.
“Are you still scaring off my customers?” Logan asked.
Jack glanced up, and the world tilted precariously. The tables, walls, and his friend blurred and merged into each other. “No. Just asking myself why everyone chose today to be so damned cheerful.”
Logan sighed. “I think you’ve had enough. You’re being maudlin.”
“I’m not maudlin,” he said. “Not drunk, either. I’ve had exactly the right amount.”
“To what? Forget there’s a woman who tolerated your ungrateful self, but you pushed her away?”
“Wasn’t my fault.” Bleak despair boiled beneath his surface, threatening to break through. He couldn’t bear the thought of Brooke. Not when the wound in his heart was so fresh. His tongue became thick and clumsy in his mouth, and he couldn’t find the will to articulate this to Logan, or to explain why she was responsible for his current predicament.
“Whatever you say, man. You’re done for the night, and I mean it this time. That’s your last drink.”
Logan left him, and Jack gazed into the amber liquid remaining in his glass, as though he’d find the answers to everything in that cold, foamy brew. When he raised his eyes and looked out the window again, his heartbeat seemed to slow. Like he’d conjured her from his thoughts, Brooke appeared in the square, her blonde hair flowing over her shoulders like a beacon designed to lead him home on a stormy night. He lurched to his feet, and his equilibrium shifted. Planting his hands on the wall to steady himself, he sought her out again, this time noticing what he hadn’t before. Kyle had his arm around her shoulder, his head dipped close to hers.
Blood pounded in Jack’s ears. His vision tunneled in on Kyle’s hand curved around Brooke’s upper arm, and a savage growl tore from his throat. He shoved away from the wall and stomped toward the door.
“Whoa!” Big hands closed around his shoulders, restraining him. Jack tried to shake them off, but they stayed firm. It was Logan, holding him back, keeping him from Brooke.
“Let go,” he exclaimed. “I need to...” He trailed off, because he didn’t know what he planned to do once he got outside, except for separate her from Kyle. Then what? It wasn’t as though anything had changed.
“No can do, buddy. You’re in no shape to see her. You’ll do more damage than good. And I see that look in your eye. I’m not letting you anywhere near my brother right now.”
Jack slumped with defeat, knowing that Logan spoke the truth. Anything he did or said now, while he was fueled by raw emotion, he’d regret soon after. Righting himself, he brushed Logan off and yanked a hand through his hair, then huffed in frustration.
“Sorry, you’re right. I just… Fuck, my head isn’t in a good place, man.”
Logan nodded, his expression softening with sympathy. “Come on. You can sleep it off upstairs. Maybe you’ll see things more clearly in the morning.”