Chapter 19
Luke wasn't expecting Brooklyn to call.
She hadn't, in nearly two weeks.
After their last conversation, she'd done exactly what she'd promised. She'd stopped contacting vendors. She'd stopped offering opinions. She hadn't appeared unexpectedly at another wedding appointment. She’d stayed out of their lives.
On the surface, everything had improved.
Which was why, when his phone rang on Monday afternoon and her name appeared on the screen, he answered without much hesitation.
"Hey, Brook."
"Hi." She sounded tired. "Am I catching you at work?"
"I've got a few minutes."
There was a pause.
"I wanted to ask a favor."
Luke leaned back in his office chair.
"What kind of favor?"
"I need someone to move a bookshelf."
He blinked. "A bookshelf?"
"I bought one online." She laughed softly.
"I was feeling optimistic about my ability to assemble furniture."
"You hate assembling furniture."
"I know." He smiled despite himself.
"So?"
"So I wondered if you had half an hour this week."
Luke looked out the window toward the construction site.
Six months ago, he would have said yes before she'd finished asking. Instead, he heard himself say, "Have you asked Hannah?"
Silence.
"No."
"Why not?"
"I don't know."
Luke waited.
Finally she sighed. "Because I thought of you first."
He appreciated honesty. It made what he had to say more difficult.
"I can't."
Another pause.
"You can't?"
"I'm trying to be careful about boundaries."
Brooklyn was quiet for several seconds. "I wasn't asking you on a date."
"I know."
"I was asking my friend."
Luke closed his eyes briefly. "I know."
When he spoke again, he chose every word carefully.
"But I don't think it's fair to Grace if I keep being the person you call first."
He heard Brooklyn draw in a slow breath. "I understand."
She sounded composed.
More composed than he'd expected.
"I'll figure something out."
"Brook—"
"No."
She laughed gently. "You've made yourself clear."
The line disconnected.
Luke stared at the phone for a long moment. He didn't feel victorious. He felt as though he'd disappointed someone he'd never intended to hurt.
On Wednesday afternoon, Grace met Paige at a coffee shop near her office. The café was busy with remote workers and college students, but they found a quiet table by the window.
Paige took one look at Grace and smiled. "You look happier."
"I think I am."
"Because of Luke?"
Grace nodded. "He gets it now. He told me he had a conversation with Brooklyn–that he was firm with her, that our relationship needs to come first."
Paige stirred cream into her coffee. "And Brooklyn?"
Grace shrugged. "I honestly haven't seen much of her."
"Good."
"It is."
Grace smiled. "I almost feel guilty."
"For what?"
"For being relieved."
Paige opened her mouth to answer.
Instead, her expression changed. She looked toward the front windows. Grace followed her gaze.
Brooklyn walked past outside. She wasn't looking inside.
She was talking on her phone, dressed in jeans and a cream sweater, carrying a shopping bag from a home goods store. She looked… Normal.
Like any other woman going about her day.
Grace watched her disappear down the sidewalk. "That's the first time I've seen her in public without feeling tense."
Paige smiled. "Progress."
"Maybe."
Brooklyn carried the shopping bag into her apartment and set it on the kitchen counter.
Inside was a crystal decanter. She'd bought it for the silent auction at the community fundraiser she chaired every fall. Normally, organizing the event absorbed every spare hour she had. Normally, it gave her something else to think about.
This year, it wasn't enough.
She picked up her phone and scrolled absentmindedly through the fundraiser's confirmed sponsors. Moretti Construction. Her thumb stopped.
Luke had agreed months ago to be one of the presenting sponsors.
Before he was engaged.
Before everything changed.
Brooklyn opened the event planning document.
The committee still hadn't finalized the seating arrangements for the sponsors' dinner the night before the fundraiser.
She stared at the spreadsheet for several seconds. Then she closed it again. "No," she murmured to herself.
"Not like that." She pushed the laptop away.
Luke had been right. She had to stop inserting herself.
She knew that now.
She truly did.
But every boundary he'd set had quietly answered a question she'd been avoiding for months.
If she stepped back...
Would he come looking for her?
He hadn't.
Not once.
The realization settled heavily in her chest.
Her phone buzzed.
It was Hannah.
Dinner tonight?
Brooklyn smiled faintly.
Sure.
Maybe Hannah was right.
Maybe she needed to start building a life that didn't revolve around the Morettis.
She picked up her purse and headed for the door. Halfway there, she remembered she'd left the fundraiser folder open on the kitchen table. She walked back to close it.
As she did, a single page slipped free and fluttered onto the floor.
It was the sponsor seating chart. Luke's name was highlighted. Brooklyn stared at it for a long moment. Then, very slowly, she picked it up.
An idea came to her so suddenly it almost felt like someone else's.
For the first time since he'd proposed to Grace, Brooklyn stopped thinking about how to remain part of his life.
Instead, she found herself wondering one dangerous question.
If Grace didn’t exist... would he ever have looked at me differently?
She stood perfectly still. The question shocked her. Because she already knew the answer.
Probably not.
And somehow...
That hurt enough to make her wonder anyway.