24. Brooks
TWENTY-FOUR
Brooks
“Please be careful. You’re still recovering from a broken arm.”
Clover glares at me, the expression too damn adorable on her face. I spin the hammer in my grip and offer a grin.
“Eh, I’m fine. Besides, this is mostly my right arm’s job.”
Raising the large mallet over my head, I swing down with everything I’ve got and am pleasantly rewarded with the sound of the little weight hitting the bell.
“Woo! Go, Dad!” Darby cheers, and Clover rolls her eyes at me. “Ooh, so do we get a prize?”
I glance over at the attendant who’s running the hammer game this evening, and he nods with an impressed expression.
“That you do. Take your pick, kid.” The guy gestures to his wall of stuffies and silly prizes, and Darby runs over to choose one. “Then, maybe take your dad over to the duck range. I’ve got customers to woo.”
“I swear if you break that arm again because you refuse to listen to the doctor, I’m not helping you take care of it.”
Clover shakes her head at me, but her dower mood is quickly swept away when Darby comes up with a massive eight-bit- looking thing that I think is supposed to be some type of monster or something.
“Look! From Minecraft!”
He shouts, and all I can do is shrug while Clover actually offers a response because she knows what the hell Darby is talking about.
“A creeper! Cool!”
A creeper? What is this weird game?
“Alright, you two. I’m hungry. Want to go get some snacks?” Darby tucks his giant creeper under his arm and shrugs. “Maybe some…ice cream?”
The stuffed block man goes flying into the air as Darby jumps up and down, pumping his arm to celebrate.
“Yes, yes, yes!”
I can’t help but laugh, Clover doing the same, which just serves to make my nerves sing. She looks too damn good in those shorts she’s always wearing, and the flowy white tank top wafts in the warm breeze.
God, this is a fantastic night.
“Pick up your creeper, dude. You don’t want to step on him.” Clover pats Darby on the shoulder, and he scoops up his prize. “Thank you. Now, let’s get some ice cream.”
“Yay!” Darby continues to holler, and we walk over to the group of picnic tables that have been set up near all the food vendors.
With the two of them seated, I scan the food options, looking for something a little more akin to dinner in addition to the ice cream.
“Alright, so I’ll go get us some food. Looks like…oh, okay, want to do corn on the cob and some blackened chicken?”
Darby eyes me, his little mouth scrunching up.
“ And ice cream. I didn’t forget. I’m just your dad, and I need to give you protein and nutrients, too.”
“Okay, fine. Boring food and ice cream. Chocolate, please, with that syrup stuff and sprinkles.”
Giving me the biggest shit-eating grin, Darby hugs his prize, and I roll my eyes, glancing at Clover.
“And you?”
She smiles, chuckling. “You know, let’s keep it the same for simplicity's sake.”
“Sounds good to me.”
And with that, I’m off toward the lines for food so that we can get eating, my stomach growling at the thought.
While in line, someone taps my shoulder, and I look over to find Mason and Bridget in the next line over.
“Hey, stranger! Your arm is free,” Bridget smiles, Mason just behind her with his hand on the small of her back, “which must be such a relief.”
I smile, a bit taken off guard but happy as ever to see them. “Hi! And yeah. Christ, I was about ready to cut the thing off myself.”
They laugh, and it’s then that I notice Mia—who’s getting so much bigger each day. She’s standing on both Mason’s and Bridget’s feet, one foot on each parent’s as she dangles backward.
“Hi, Mia,” I say gently, offering a wave.
She pulls herself up and smiles. “Hello.”
“So, where’s your little crew?” Mason asks. “I doubt you came to the fair alone.”
Rolling my eyes, I smile. “They’re over there.”
I gesture toward where Clover and Darby are sitting, and we all take a step forward in line. Mason smiles, and I look back a minute to see that my son is balancing the creeper on his face while Clover laughs at him.
“They seem to be getting along swimmingly.”
Bridget scoops Mia up, holding her on her hip. Mason ruffles Mia’s hair, and I can’t help but feel a pinch in my chest at the sight.
It feels stupid to want something like that. Things have only just gotten started with Clover, and I have no idea where they’re going to go.
“And what about you? How are you liking Clover?”
I return my attention to Mason, shaking myself, and then I glance over my shoulder. “I like her a lot. She’s been an incredible help with Darby, even the ranch. I’ll admit that I probably would still be sporting that cast if it weren’t for her.”
“I see.”
When I turn around and face Mason, he’s sharing a look with Bridget, and I can’t say that I love it. There’s too much insinuation between them, in his tone.
Furrowing my brow, I fold my arms over my chest, my button-down shirt squeezing my arms.
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
Mason holds up a hand in defense, the other still wrapped around Bridget. “Now, now. I’m just saying what I’m seeing. I’ve walked that road before, you know.”
The couple eyes each other, slow smiles spreading over both their faces as they hold each other’s stares.
“I know how it ends,” Mason adds.
As he finally returns his gaze to me, I shake my head. “Clover is my nanny.”
“As was I.” Bridget cocks her head, the corners of her lips turning down. “The heart wants what the heart wants.”
Tension winds through me, and I suck in a breath. My heart does want Clover. I know that, but…God, this is certainly a thing now, isn’t it?
Mason and Bridget are probably some of the best people to talk about this with, and yet, I don’t know if I’m ready to do that.
They seem to pick up on the vibes because they both adjust as the line moves up again. Mason raises his head, getting my attention, and I meet his stare.
“No pressure, bud. But if you want to talk about it in the future, you’ve got my number.”
I nod. “That I do. Thanks.”
“If I can leave you with one thing to think about,” Bridget steps in, moving closer to me so that she doesn’t have to speak so loudly to be heard over the crowd.
“Sure.”
Her hand comes down on my shoulder. “Don’t push someone away just because it’s weird or new or just different . Life is so damned short. We have just this tiny bit of time to make it ours, to make it more than something you endure. Seize your chance. Do what you need to do to make it work out.”
I can feel the conviction in Bridget’s words by the way she grips my shoulder. But her hand relaxes, and she steps back in line with her family.
Family…
I’m not sure what to say or feel right now. But I can hear the truth in her words. I know I’ve been pushing everyone away, and maybe it is time that I stop that—that I really open up.
“Thank you, Bridget. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Were those your friends?” Clover smiles up at me as I walk back over to the table with our food.
I nod, giving a hearty smile back. I’ve got a lot on my mind, partially thanks to Bridget, but even just enjoying some fair food with Clover feels… nice .
“Yeah, they say hi.” I hand out the baskets of corn on the cob and chicken. “Dig in.”
When Darby eyes me, I grin, dipping my head toward his plate. “You eat a fair bit of that, and ice cream is next.”
We all start to eat, gushing over how good the food is.
“There’s something about food at a fair. It’s just…better,” I muse, and Clover glances over at me with a mouthful of chicken, grinning.
“Mmm, uh-huh.”
I can’t help but laugh. It’s not like any words were intelligible there, but I can see she agrees with me. After a moment, Clover swallows, wiping her face with a napkin, and takes a deep breath.
“Ugh, so good! Yes, fair food is peak. Also,” she turns toward me, gesturing with her thumb over her shoulder, “I have to admit that I’m really impressed. You smashed that hammer thing like it owed you money.”
Darby and I both chuckle at that, and I lift the corner of my mouth in a lopsided grin.
“Thanks. It’s a silly carnival game, but I’ll take it.”
Clover tears a piece of her chicken off the bone with her fingers, popping it into her mouth before saying, “Hey, I’m not saying your work on the ranch isn’t impressive. Hell, that’s something else. If we were using that as a metric, a lot of people would fall short.”
I’m taken aback for a moment. No one has really said anything “nice” about my work on the ranch. It’s just my life; people take it at face value.
But Clover is saying that it’s impressive, that it’s something to be proud of.
I don’t know why, but that means the world to me. I also don’t know what the hell to say back to that.
“Oh, well, yeah. That’s umm…it’s just my job.”
Clover makes a face at me, her expression saying, “Are you fucking kidding?” Then she finishes with her bite and cocks her head at me.
“Brooks, come on. Yeah, it’s your job, but you have to know that a lot of people wouldn’t take on that type of responsibility. There is so much to look after. Sure, other jobs can be tough, too, but yours is also physically taxing. That’s a heck of a commitment. You should be proud of what you’ve accomplished.”
My chest pinches. I really can’t find the words this time, and I just smile at Clover with a subtle nod. At that point, I use eating to hide the fact that I’m utterly blown away, tearing into my own chicken breast.
Clover seems actually excited about the ranch. I’ve never…God, Leah never felt that way.
It’s stupid, but knowing that Clover supports the ranch, that she appreciates what it is and how hard it is to maintain means the world to me.
I feel supported instead of like I’m a burden to my partner or an annoyance. Not that Clover is my girlfriend or anything, but…
Shit, is this what having one is supposed to be like?
Not looking up, I fiddle with my chicken wing and say, “Thanks, Clover. Means a lot.”
When I do look up at her, Clover just offers me a smile, then reaches across the table and squeezes my hand. I can feel the support there, and it’s both strange and wonderful.
I could get used to this.
“So, do I get ice cream now?” Darby holds up his plate, having eaten two-thirds of his food.
“Yeah, buddy. Let’s go.”
We stand up from the table, and Clover points playfully at me. “Don’t forget mine.”
I shake my head. “Never.”
And then my son and I head off to get us all some ice cream. All three of us…sort of like…a family.