10. Brooks
10
brOOKS
“It’s too bad your friend didn’t stay last night,” Kayla said to Cormac as she leaned over her morning coffee at the long farmhouse-style table in the kitchen. “She seemed really nice.”
“Yeah, well, you sure seemed to get along with her brother.” Cormac winked. He snuck a glance at Brooks, who was frying an egg at the island stove nearby them. “Just don’t let Brooks see you flirting.”
Brooks held Cormac’s gaze with a mock scowl. “Am I supposed to jump in like a Neanderthal and threaten to beat him with a club if she sleeps with him?”
“Hush. Audrey might hear you,” Kayla scolded, looking over her shoulder at her daughter, who was lying on the couch, snuggled against a pillow, watching cartoons.
“If I know my niece, nothing can take her attention away from Bluey,” Brooks grunted.
Kayla smiled, then shrugged. “You have me there.”
“In all seriousness, Logan’s a good guy. You could do worse,” Cormac said, then picked a piece of bacon off a plate.
“I have done worse,” Kayla said with a chuckle, then gave Cormac a knowing look. “And so have you.”
Brooks transferred the egg to his plate, then grabbed his toast from the toaster, content to settle into the background of Cormac and Kayla’s conversation. Cormac had always gotten along well with Kayla and treated her with respect and friendship. In a way, it was easier for him to have both here—it meant Brooks could talk a whole lot less. They could just talk to each other.
“So why did Logan’s sister haul out so quickly?” Kayla gave Cormac a curious look. “I figured she was here to hook up with you.”
“Don’t know. But I don’t think she’s on the market for a hookup. Logan was telling me she just went through a nasty breakup with some guy in town. Guy was a real asshole to her, apparently. Really screwed her over with some typical small-town drama.”
Kayla laughed, then sipped her coffee. “What’s small-town drama? Mrs. O’Leary’s cow being accused of starting shit again?”
Brooks sat beside her, ignoring what Cormac had said about Maddie. He didn’t want to waste an extra second thinking about that bitch. “Nah, it’s mostly gossip and backstabbing. You’re lucky we left Fountain Springs before you started high school. That’s when it all gets a thousand times worse.”
That was one of the few things he’d been proud of. Because Kayla was seven years younger than him, he’d been able to assume guardianship of her when Mom had died. As soon as he’d signed his first contract with a label, he’d moved them away from Fountain Springs and gone to Raleigh so he could still attend classes at Duke.
The money hadn’t been as substantial at first, but a year later, he’d graduated and started making more by getting a full-time job. LA hadn’t come until Kayla had graduated from high school and started at the University of Virginia.
He’d gotten her away from Fountain Springs.
Kept her from all the ugliness there.
You weren’t able to stop her from meeting Mike at UVA, though.
The voice in his head was ugly. Condemning. He should have been around more. Done more to step in as Kayla got more and more involved with Mike.
“That’s too bad,” Kayla said, interrupting his thoughts. “Logan says she’s amazing with their family business. Brilliant with PR and marketing and sales. It’s always the smart ones who men treat like crap.”
“It’s because insecure weenie men can’t handle their women shining.” Cormac shrugged. “A real man has no problem looking like second best beside the woman he loves. Women need to look for the guys with actual balls.”
“I like balls!” Audrey said, popping her head off the couch just then. She slid out from under the blanket and came over to them, her bed hair sticking out in a thousand directions. “Can I get a new ball, Uncle Books?” She gave him a wide grin.
“You need to stop spoiling her. Notice how she skips right past me and goes straight to you?” Kayla said dryly. She plucked Audrey over toward her and pulled her onto her lap. “Stop asking Uncle Brooks for things. You have more toys than any one kid can even play with.”
“What type of ball do you want?” Brooks said with a wink, taking out his phone.
“Brooks August Kent. I will kill you if you keep buying her things. We’re going to need a new house to fit all the crap you send her.”
Brooks smirked and gave her a look. “What type of new house do you want?”
Kayla rolled her eyes. “You know, you can’t use your money that way. It’s not like an endless supply that will never dry up. Money won’t buy away every problem that comes along.”
“Has she seen your house?” Cormac grimaced at Brooks, then looked at Kayla. “It’s practically a shack. I’ve never met a famous musician that lived in a smaller place—even the poor struggling ones in Nashville.”
“A shack on the beach, though,” Kayla countered. “That’s probably over one million dollars because of its location. And yes, I’ve seen it. Audrey and I have to take his bed since he insists on sleeping on the pull-out couch when we visit.”
Brooks shrugged. “Location was all I wanted. Why do I need a big house when I’m one person?”
“You have a nice car, though,” Cormac said.
“Because he insists on driving himself everywhere,” Kayla said, bouncing Audrey on her knee. “Because he’s weird and neurotic.”
“What’s noo-ro-tic?” Audrey asked.
“It means your uncle Brooks is smart.” Brooks dug into his egg with the edge of his fork. “But enough about me. What should we do while you guys are up here this week?”
“Hot tub!” Audrey smiled, continuing to bounce exaggeratedly on Kayla’s knee.
“We can do that. What else?”
“Wait, hold up. Four is too young for a hot tub.” Kayla cut a look at Brooks. “And we don’t need to do anything crazy. Just spend time with you. Maybe Cormac knows of a good playground around here.”
Cormac chuckled. “I can ask my one billion nieces and nephews for recommendations. Maybe even ask for a playdate. A couple of the kids in my family are Audrey’s age.”
Audrey’s eyes lit up. “Can we? Pwease?”
Kayla’s phone rang beside her. She lifted it and frowned. “Hold on. I’ll be right back.” She transferred Audrey to the floor, then hurried away. “Hello? Hey, Stephanie. . .” Her voice faded as she shut the door down the hallway.
“Did you get some breakfast?” Brooks asked Audrey. He tried to ignore the curiosity that had arisen in his mind as Kayla had left. If he didn’t know any better, she’d looked worried.
She shook her head. “Can I have a popsicle?”
This kid. “I might be gullible, but I’m not that gullible. Your mama isn’t going to say yes to that one. Plus, I don’t have any. How about a scrambled egg?”
Audrey shook her head. “Dip egg?”
Brooks exchanged a look with Cormac. “What the hell is a dip egg?”
“Hell if I know.” Cormac chewed on his bacon.
“Mommy says hell is a no-no word,” Audrey said sternly.
Brooks swallowed. The private chef would be arriving for lunch and dinners, but breakfast was on him. “She’s right. Don’t say it.” He stood, then went back toward the island. “So what does a dip egg look like?”
“Like a dip egg!” She settled into the chair he’d just vacated, her little legs swinging as she held on to her stuffed gorilla.
“What color is it?” Cormac tried, helpfully.
“Egg color.” She picked at her gorilla’s fur.
“Of course it is.” Brooks lifted his head as the sound of footsteps approached. Kayla returned to the kitchen, a strained expression on her face. “Hey, what’s a dip egg?”
“Over-easy,” she said distractedly and gathered her plate. “That was my boss. I changed shifts with one of the other nurses so I could be out until Friday, but Stephanie didn’t approve it. She’s furious and wants me to come in right now.”
“Even though you covered your shift? Haven’t you always been allowed to change shifts pretty easily? That’s part of why you took that job.”
“Yeah, but Stephanie is new. She doesn’t love the amount of flexibility we had before and has really cracked down on it.” Kayla ran her fingers through her hair. “This is so stupid. Jenna is already there, covering my shift. By the time I get there, it will be almost noon.” She tugged at Audrey. “Come on, kiddo. We have to get going.”
Audrey looked stricken. “Where?”
“Home. Grandma will watch you.”
“No!” Audrey clutched her gorilla tightly. “I wanna stay with Uncle Books!”
Kayla rolled her eyes and attempted to lift Audrey from the chair. Audrey flopped herself over, making herself a dead weight. “No!” Audrey wailed again.
“Uncle Brooks is busy. He doesn’t have time to watch you by himself.”
“Yes, he can!” Audrey shot him pleading eyes. “Uncle Books can watch me by hisself!”
Brooks caught his breath. How hard could it be? He’d watched Audrey for a couple of hours at a time before when Kayla came to visit.
Brooks came over toward them and took a wiggling Audrey from Kayla. “I got her. It’s no big deal.”
“Yes, it is a big deal because I’ve got to work on Wednesday, too. I can’t be back and forth from here every day.” Kayla reached her arms out. “I can’t leave you with Uncle Brooks until Friday. That’s too much work for him. You don’t even like to sleep by yourself.”
“I stay with Uncle Books!” Audrey’s little arms clung to his neck as Kayla tried to pull her away.
“If you don’t mind her staying with me, I can watch her,” Brooks said, trying to keep Audrey from falling.
“Yay! I can stay!” Audrey beamed.
“These are conversations we have without the four-year-old present.” Kayla gave him a hard look, then threw up her hands. “Fine. You want to babysit? Go ahead. But when she’s freaking out in the middle of the night because I’m not there, I’m going to tell you I told you so. I’m going to go pack my stuff.”
Cormac let out a low whistle as Kayla stormed off. Audrey continued to smile triumphantly, holding on to Brooks. “You’re a brave man. Even I wouldn’t volunteer to watch my nieces and nephews for the better part of a week. Four is a tough age.”
“I got nothing planned.”
Except dealing with Madison Yardley. The thought made his stomach churn.
Brooks set Audrey down on her feet, then ruffled her hair. “Why don’t you go watch some more cartoons while I make you that dip egg?”
Audrey bounded back toward the couch, the tutu on her pjs swishing as she ran.
He didn’t know what Kayla was so worried about anyway—he’d practically raised his sister, and everything had turned out fine. “Hey, speaking of your nieces and nephews, can you possibly do me the favor of taking Audrey to the park maybe to hang out with some of them around noon? I’ve got one thing I need to take care of, and I’d prefer Audrey not be around for it.”
Cormac raised his brows. “And what’s that?”
“None of your business.” Brooks smirked.
What Cormac didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.
But the burning question?
What am I going to do about Maddie and her ridiculous “favor”?