Chapter Thirty-Five
WHEN I PULLED UP THE drive, the sight of Brooke’s bike propped against the garage made me breathe a sigh of relief. She was there. That thought alone was comforting. All I wanted to do was wrap myself up with her for the rest of the day and beg her to give me a chance to be more than just her summer fling. Of course, after I profusely apologized to her for leaving. The timing was horrible—I knew that—but I would make it up to her. I hoped she would forgive me.
I walked into the house, feeling an immense weight lifted off my shoulders. It was the first time since I’d bought the place that it felt like home and not just somewhere I was hiding from Erica’s memory, searching for solace. I wondered if Brooke would want to go furniture shopping with me. It was about time I started making the place my own. I smiled, thinking of Brooke picking out concert posters as wall art. Maybe they would work for my home gym.
As I walked through the great room, part of me fully expected her to come running and throw her arms around me like nothing had happened. It was a selfish thought, especially after the way I’d left her in her time of need. But this was Brooke. She had this amazing ability to bounce back and forgive like no one I’d ever known before. Not that I took that for granted. I just wanted her in my arms. We had a lot to talk about. She would forgive me, right?
The house was too quiet for Brooke to be there—I would have heard lively chatter. Maybe everyone was out on the beach .
I stepped into the kitchen, and there was Eden sitting on a stool, aimlessly staring at a gift bag on the counter.
“Oh, hey,” I said. “I didn’t realize you were here. Where’s Brooke?”
“Gone,” Eden whispered, her eyes fixed on the bag.
I nodded, shrugging off the unease in her voice, assuming she meant that Brooke was at home and had forgotten her bike was at my house. “I’m going to head over to her place.”
Eden lifted her head. Her vacant eyes met mine. “She’s not there.”
“Where is she?”
“Logan, she left.” Her voice warbled.
I gripped the counter. Eden must have meant she was on a girl’s trip with Lola or something. Brooke wouldn’t just leave. Would she?
“Eden, please tell me where she is,” I begged.
Eden hesitated before she nudged the bag across the counter toward me with a pitying expression. “Brooke is on her way back to Nebraska. She left this for you.”
My head buzzed, trying to make her words mean something else—anything but the truth.
“Why?” was all I could think to ask. None of this made sense.
Eden’s pitying expression turned to chastisement. “Why do you think? She’s obviously in love with you, and you left her—right after she found out about her father, no less.”
Now, looking back, perhaps it wasn’t the brightest choice, but ...
“I didn’t leave her.” I thought it was important to make the distinction. “And she knew I was coming back,” I added, as if that would exonerate me from the damage I’d obviously caused. Then Eden’s words slapped me in the face. “You think she’s in love with me?”
Eden stood, shaking her head at me. “Yes, she’s in love with you, you idiot. That’s why she left. She doesn’t think there’s room for her in your life, and you proved her right leaving like you did.”
Hell. A panic unlike anything I’d ever felt consumed me. What had I done? “I left to make room for her,” I said, feeling out of breath.
Eden rolled her eyes. “You probably should have mentioned that.”
“I didn’t know what the outcome would be,” I responded, searching for an excuse. “I wasn’t even sure if Brooke wanted something more. I was only trying to do the right thing—make sure neither of us had any regrets.”
The words felt flimsy even as I said them, but I needed Eden to understand. I needed her to see that I hadn’t meant for things to fall apart like this. Or to hurt Brooke. That was the last thing I wanted to do.
“Yeah, well, again, you should have articulated that.” She berated me with zero sympathy.
I grabbed the bag Brooke had left as if the answer to my dilemma was in there and dumped the contents on the counter. Out tumbled a pink photo album covered in heart stickers, the bracelet she’d made at the Strawberry Festival, and an envelope with my name written across the front in Brooke’s neat, familiar handwriting. I snatched the letter, and Eden grabbed the album and started flipping through it.
“Look at all these cute photos of you two in here. You look happy. You really are an idiot, Logan.” She drove that point home. Again.
Believe me, I got the message. I ripped the envelope open, careful not to tear the letter, and pulled out the paper, the smell of which was reminiscent of Brooke’s soft floral scent. As soon as I unfolded it, her words spilled off the page. I couldn’t digest them fast enough.
Dear Logan,
How could I have ever known how the words “Paging Dr. Summers” would change my life on my first day in Aspen Lake? When you walked into that ER room, I felt this immediate connection. I know I thoroughly embarrassed myself that day, inadvertently coming on to you and asking if you wanted to be my summer fling. There was just something about you that was so familiar. And mixed with your ridiculous good looks and how nervous I get around hospitals and doctors, it was a lethal combination sure to bring on word vomiting.
I couldn’t help but smile, thinking of the day she’d come crashing into my life. It was one of the strangest encounters I had ever had. Yet there was no denying the instant attraction or the immediate guilt that I now regretted. That guilt had created a barrier that should never have come between us.
I don’t think it was any coincidence that we met that day or that we became neighbors. It was like my mom knew I needed you in my life, even if just for a short while.
It was a gift. All of it. Even the heartache I feel now, because it tells me that what we had was real and good and worth the hurt. And oh, man, does this hurt.
My grip on the paper tightened, hating that she was hurting because of me.
That’s not on you. It’s all on me. I changed the rules when I knew better.
It wasn’t on her. We’d both known there was something more between us from the very beginning.
Although, I suppose you deserve some of the blame. Dang you for being the kind of man who gives me his last fry without me asking and jumps into a frigid lake in the middle of the night to save my naked self from hypothermia. If that wasn’t noble enough, you told off Maxwell and made sure I didn’t get hepatitis when I got my tattoo.
But it wasn’t all the heroic things that made me fall for you. What really sealed the deal was the way you would whisper my name before you kissed me, like in that moment I was the only person who existed to you. It was in the way you never dismissed my silly questions but answered them with genuine thought, even though they were ridiculous. And you deserve huge props for always keeping your radio tuned to a classic rock station when we drove together. Thank you for letting me ramble endlessly about all the music and band trivia in my head, even though I’m sure you thought I was crazy sometimes. Those songs and stories are like old friends to me, and you welcomed them into your world simply because they were important to me.
Don’t even get me started on how adorable you were with Sophie. Watching you with her, I knew you’d make an amazing dad. I really hope you get the chance one day to have children of your own. Those kids will be the luckiest in the world—and so will the woman who gets to share that joy with you.
Her words pricked my heart, making my eyes sting. I knew she meant every word because that’s the type of woman she was.
I mean this with all my heart: I want you to find a woman who makes you as happy as you deserve to be. Someone whose light is bright enough to withstand Erica’s shadow. I wish I were that woman, but we both know I’m not. I don’t belong with you or in Aspen Lake.
She was wrong. We did belong together. I felt that now more than ever. Her absence was a wake-up call. The thought that I would never see her again was unfathomable. And I was going to prove it to her. I was going to fix this. I had to.
Thank you for an amazing summer and for being the best fling I’ve ever had. I mean, you’re my only fling, but don’t let that take anything away from you.
I chuckled, even though I felt as if her words had punched me in the gut.
Did my best not to fall for you,
Brooke
(Okay, maybe I didn’t do my best, but I’m pinning that on you.)
PS: I swiped the strawberry charm bracelet you made. That’s why I left you mine.
I let the letter fall to the ground. Eden was right. I was an idiot.
“How long ago did she leave?” I refused to let this be the end.
“Um, I don’t know. Maybe thirty minutes ago.”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed her. It rang and rang and rang. “Damn it, Brooke, pick up,” I pleaded. When she didn’t answer, I knew what I had to do. “Eden, keep calling her. If she answers, please beg her to stop. Tell her I’m coming for her.”
“It’s about time.” Eden sounded both exasperated and proud of me. “Go chase that girl.”
I regretted that I hadn’t done it sooner. Now, I hoped it wasn’t too late.