Chapter 3
Brooke stopped just inside her door. Drew seemed bound and determined to rob every last bit of peace from her life.
First, Drew invaded her shop. Now the woman would be invading her living space as well.
Brooke folded down her duvet cover and slid into bed.
I must have been terrible in a former life to deserve all of this.
What was even worse was that Drew had the unmitigated gall to be attractive. She had stomped into Brooke’s life and caused so much chaos, and it was only day one, but then to be so attractive on top of that. Truly unforgivable.
Pearl her white Persian cat hopped up on the bed and curled up by her feet.
Brooke had no idea how old Peal was. She only knew that the cat was ancient.
Pearl had once belonged to her grandmother.
After her grandmother’s death, Pearl had moved in with Brooke.
She hadn’t let Brooke forget how inadequate these new accommodations were for one single day since moving in.
Pearl was adept at escaping the apartment.
When she wasn’t actively escaping, Pearl was destroying all of Brooke’s belongings, the fluffier the better. No pillow was safe from Pearl’s claws.
Sometimes though, Pearl would come and grace Brooke with her presence.
Brooke could feel Pearl’s purring through her blankets.
She glanced to the foot of the bed and found Pearl stretched out in her majestic glory, sleeping.
Good thinking, Brooke thought. She lay her head down on her pillow and allowed sleep to sink over her.
Brooke was awakened to the sound of booming music.
She opened her eyes, already annoyed. Brooke had a sneaking suspicion that she knew exactly where the noise was coming from.
She jerked the covers back with such force that Pearl let out a hiss, jumping from the bed.
The momentary guilt that she felt was swept aside by the sound of a loud thrumming base.
Brooke stalked across the bedroom and out the door to her apartment.
She could hear the music coming from Drew’s apartment.
Anger simmered inside of her as she knocked on the door.
Drew swung the door wide, a look of panic on her face. Brooke folded her arms over her chest and pinned Drew with a deathstare.
“I’m sorry. I can’t get my stereo to turn down.” Drew raised her hands up in defense. Brooke rolled her eyes and strode past Drew. She yanked the stereo cord to out of the wall and returned to her place in the doorway.
“Thanks,” Drew managed to sputter out before Brooke turned and walked back to her apartment. She was pretty sure she heard Drew give a loud sigh behind her.
Once safely inside her apartment Brooke gave a sigh of her own. Pearl pinned her with a knowing glare.
“Don’t give me that look. I’m not being rude. I just hate to be woken up early.”
Pearl yawned, seemingly unconvinced.
“It’s not my fault Drew just barged into my life and was immediately annoying.”
Pearl stretched and began to walk off. She gave Brooke one last glance over her shoulder before walking to the kitchen and yowling loudly for her breakfast. Speaking of annoyance, how had she ended up with this demanding cat anyway?
Brooke heard Drew’s apartment door slam and loud footsteps down the hall and to the stairwell.
She felt a pang of guilt. Brooke knew that she had been a bit mean to the woman ever since she’d found out that she was renting the store beside her own.
It wasn’t as if Drew had stepped in and knowingly stolen the space right out from under her nose.
Drew probably had no idea anyone had expressed interest in the space.
Was it possible she was making Drew suffer for something that was her landlord’s responsibility?
She gave a half scoop of dry food into Pearl’s bowl.
Pearl glared at her and yowled. Brooke mixed a scoop of wet food in and watched as Pearl eyed it suspiciously.
She gave Brooke one last malicious glare before deeming the offering worthy of her attention.
Brooke shook her head. The apartment was quiet and she could only assume that Drew had left for the day.
She knew that her attitude towards the woman was unfair.
But she couldn’t help being a little salty because that thing she’d wanted for so long had simply been handed to Drew.
Her phone buzzed and she swiped the screen to find a message from Emily.
Her friend was planning to stop by for a cup of tea that morning.
Brooke sighed and smiled. Outside there was a rumble of thunder, a clear threat that Nashville’s weather was planning to be difficult.
She pulled on her raincoat and walked outside.
Huge rain drops pelted her as she ran across the street to her storefront.
Drew stood in front of her own shop, leaning against the door frame.
The woman watched as Brooke ran through the rain.
Drew didn’t offer her usual greeting, instead she gave Brooke a cold glance.
The expression threw Brooke off enough that she paused.
Unfortunately, she paused under the roof runoff.
Cold rainwater soaked her back and she stiffened.
Brooke watched as Drew covered a chuckle with her hand.
She shrugged when Brooke turned towards her with a warning glare.
“Hey, this is one thing you can’t blame me for,” Drew offered coldly before turning back to her own shop. Brooke allowed a frustrated sigh to escape her. There was something about the coldness of Drew’s response that had hit Brooke the wrong way.
Drew had always been pleasant throughout their interactions.
Brooke could admit she certainly hadn’t been kind to Drew in return.
She hated the cold feeling of guilt that settled in the pit of her stomach.
She and Drew were likely to be business neighbors for the foreseeable future, and Brooke might have ruined the chances of their interaction being cordial.
She stared at the spot where Drew had just stood and wondered if she should go after the woman. She could apologize and hope that Drew would let her cold shoulder be water under the bridge.
“What are we staring at?”
Brooke jumped at the sound of Emily’s voice behind her.
“Emily, what the hell? You know better than to sneak up on people.”
“Usually I do, but in this case I was genuinely curious about what might have captured your attention.”
Brooke grabbed Emily by the sleeve of her shirt and pulled her towards the bookstore. Once safely inside Brooke let out a bone deep moan.
“What is wrong?” Emily asked, her face creased with concern.
“Nothing. I mean I feel bad.”
“What do you feel bad about?”
Emily wasn’t the sort who enjoyed meandering through a conversation. Her friend liked to cut things straight to the point.
“I feel bad about my new business neighbor, Drew. She’s honestly been nothing but nice to me but I’ve been kind of a jerk.
This morning I think I took things a little too far in the I’m annoyed by your general presence direction.
Now Drew is obviously turning the cold shoulder on me.
Which I deserve and helped me to realize that I was probably in the wrong.
But I’m still afraid of conflict and now my only option is to avoid her until one of us changes locations. ”
Brooke sighed but Emily simply shook her head at the ground.
“I would like to offer you a counterpoint if I may?” Emily offered.
“If you must,” Brooke answered somewhat begrudgingly.
“You could just go over there and apologize.”
Brooke stared her friend down.
“What?” Emily asked indignantly.
“I know you’re right. It’s just incredibly annoying right now.”
“Get over there and apologize. It’s the right thing to do. And offer her something to keep the peace,” Emily admonished.
“Why do you always have to hold me accountable?”
“Because secretly this is the push you want. It’s just that it’s buried deep under your embarrassment,” Emily laughed. Brooke rolled her eyes but smiled.
“What kind of peace offering?”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you invite her to the ladies business night that happens at my bar. It’s two nights from now. You two can come and mingle with other women working in the area.”
“That’s actually a pretty good idea.”
Brooke had to give it to Emily. The woman knew exactly how to approach a situation.
“Don’t forget I had to do my fair share of apologizing when I met Scarlett,” Emily laughed.
It was true, Emily had been less than hospitable when she’d met Scarlett. Now the two of them were engaged.
“True. But I have no interest in a romantic connection. But a friendship might be a stretch,” Brooke offered.
“Well, you’ll never know if you don’t extend an olive branch,” Emily suggested.
Emily walked over to the cart where Brooke kept her assortment of teas for customers to try. She pulled out a pack of rose tea and handed it to Brook.
“Here. This one is my favorite. No one can stay angry after an offer for tea,” Emily smiled. Brooke took the pack and smiled. She walked to the door and gave her friend a tiny wave. Emily smiled and disappeared down an aisle. Brooke knew her friend would still be here when she got back.
Brooke stared at the tattoo shop and sighed.
She steeled herself and took the first step in Drew’s direction.
She could see Drew through the store’s large window, leaning against the counter.
Brooke’s eyes travelled up the woman’s silhouette, she had an amazing butt.
Brooke shook her head, causing the unwelcome thought to disappear.
She wanted to make friends, and the best way to do that was to remain free from distractions.