Chapter Forty
“OKAY, LADIES, NO PRESSURE, but this podcast episode has to be the most amazing one ever.” I gazed around the table at Eden, Lola, Camila, and Marianne. These women meant so much to me. So, when SoundWave said they were thinking of acquiring my podcast and bringing it under their umbrella—but wanted to see how well I would do with guests before making a final decision—I’d known exactly who to ask.
Eden and I had already planned something, and we would still do our episode, just the two of us. But I knew I needed all these women with me for this. I could feel my mom pushing me toward this idea, just like she had brought them all into my life.
The woman was a legend.
All the ladies laughed, but I knew they were taking this as seriously as I was.
“No pressure, right?” Eden chirped. “Just the fate of your career.”
“Exactly,” I said, grinning but feeling a tad sick.
Marianne leaned forward. “We believe in you, Brooke.” It was something my own mother would have said, but she would have added something like, “And even if you screw this up, I’ll believe in you even more.”
I swallowed, nodding. “Thank you.”
Marianne’s words, coupled with the ones from my mom in my head, made me even more determined to make this moment count. I knew one of the reasons she’d sent me there was for this shot to make a career out of my podcast. Even if it meant that I accepted some help from Maxwell.
Honestly, she would probably like that too. She wanted him to be the man she’d fallen in love with. Jury was still out on whether he was. And ... there was the little matter that I needed this deal to go through so I could afford to stay in Aspen Lake. I think more than anything, Mom had wished that for me.
I could be an Aspen Lake girl, right? Logan sure thought so. Even Camila had tried to convince me to stay. She wanted to get to know her stepdaughter, her daughter’s sister. It meant the world to me. Once she’d started talking to her husband again, she’d offered to throw a party to introduce me to all their friends and associates in Aspen Lake.
It was very sweet, but I wasn’t ready to be Maxwell Harrington’s daughter yet. I wasn’t sure I ever would be. Besides, I already got plenty of stares whenever I went into town. Word about my parentage was getting around. To me, I would always be Roxanne Crawford’s daughter.
“All right,” Lola said, clapping her hands together. “Let’s do this. What’s first?”
I flipped through my notes, heart pounding with excitement. “First, I’ll do my intro and make a brief introduction of you all. Then I’ll announce the song and try to tie it into the theme of tonight’s episode. After that, we talk about life and play more music. And somewhere in between, we make magic.”
Logan slid behind me and kissed my cheek. He’d helped me set up all the equipment around his kitchen table, and, of course, he wanted to be there to cheer me on.
I mean, we were in love, after all. So in love.
“You are certainly magical,” he whispered for my ears only in sultry tones that invoked all the good shivers.
I leaned against his towering figure, taking a moment to soak in his comforting presence.
No one said anything, not even to tease us about our PDA, which I admit there was plenty of. I figured they knew I just needed a moment. Needed my person. There was a lot riding on this .
“All right,” I breathed out. “We got this. My mom used to say that there was nothing more invincible than a group of women coming together. So, thank you.” My voice pitched, but I held it together.
The women around the table nodded. Camila reached for my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Her manicured hand looked much different from my mom’s, frequently bruised from treatments, but the motherly warmth was all there, and I needed it.
I took my seat at the table in front of my mic.
Logan kissed my head before retreating to the great room.
“Headsets on, ladies.”
As weird as it sounded, anytime I put on my headset, I immediately felt connected to something greater than myself. Music was a powerful thing. I pressed the record button and did what I was meant to do.
“Welcome to another episode of The Babbling Brooke Show . Today is a special episode because I’m not just babbling by myself. Today, I have with me some very remarkable women, whom I will introduce in a moment. These amazing women all came into my life this summer in an adventure that, at first, I wasn’t even sure I wanted. I was afraid to leave home and my comfort zone. But as always, my mom knew best. She led me to these rock stars, who have not only welcomed me with open arms but reminded me it’s not DNA or even time that make relationships or families. Sometimes, it’s the neighbor who invites you over to help you make cookies.” I smiled at Eden, who flashed me a big grin.
“Or it’s the woman who compliments your clothes.” My focus shifted to Lola, who was making the heart sign with her hands. “It might even be some moms who have some extra love to give and know when you need it the most.” I glanced at Camila and Marianne. They clasped their hands together and held them up like they’d just won a prize. Honestly, they were the real MVPs.
“My mom always used to say that women and moms are the backbone of all the love, resilience, and strength in this world. They hold families together, uplift communities, and shape generations. I was lucky enough to be shaped by such a woman. Many of you know that earlier this year, I lost my mom, but she didn’t leave me alone. Like the amazing woman she was, she gave me Eden, Lola, Marianne, and Camila.”
I felt that with every fiber of my being. Her bucket list was a masterpiece.
“Say hello, ladies.”
“Hello!” they said in unison into their mics.
“I can’t wait for you to get to know them. But first, a song. Can you guess it?” I asked my invisible audience. “If you’re thinking ‘We Are Family’ by Sister Sledge, you’re right.”
I looked around the table, and such love filled me. The kind of love that told you exactly where you belonged. And I realized it wasn’t about belonging to a place. That wasn’t why my mom had sent me there. She’d sent me because I belonged to these people. They just all happened to be in Aspen Lake. They were the magic.
They were my family.