Chapter 31 Brooke
THIRTY-ONE
Brooke
One week later, Brooke scanned her last order of the night and began collecting the required items. Only two days on the job and the work was already mind-numbing.
Money or not, there was no way she could accept this as her new life.
It was just so… monotonous. And sterile.
Rushing around the warehouse all night, a frenzy of scanning, finding the items, scanning again, packing, taping…
repeat. How could people do this for a living when there was an entire world outside this massive tin shed?
There had to be something else she could do.
After clocking off, she climbed into Hayley’s borrowed car and fished out her phone.
A photo of the Barossa sunrise beamed back.
No notifications. Nothing.
JJ had done exactly what Brooke had asked and given her space. And that damn well hurt. Couldn’t that frustrating play-by-the-rules woman skew from the rulebook just this once and say hi? Of course not, because she was too damn perfect and thoughtful for her own good.
“Argh!” Brooke clenched her fists around the steering wheel, then took a huge breath, blowing it out with force.
This wasn’t like her.
She started the car.
Now she had a job and she’d started to integrate herself a little more around Hayley and Marie, she’d thought things would be on the up and up—that life would get better.
She was fixing things and building things.
But over the last week, JJ still took up the majority of her headspace.
And for someone she hadn’t seen or spoken to during that time, it was too much.
She was meant to be using this time to move on so she could at least have a friendship with JJ.
She had to get those feelings under control.
But they were growing like mould on fresh bread, doubling each day.
Brooke let herself into the house, quietly closing the front door.
She checked her phone again. Still nothing. Not that she expected JJ to message at eleven at night. But one could hope. Brooke closed her eyes, chest squeezing. She refused to give up.
“Hey.”
Brooke jumped, fumbling with the phone and catching it at the last minute. “Shit, you scared me!”
“Sorry.” Hayley’s small smile had Brooke’s lips tugging up, ever so slightly. Her sister was reading by the dim lamp once again, curled up at the edge of the couch with a blanket draped over her.
Brooke walked around, collapsing next to her with a groan.
“I was gonna ask how work was, but I’m thinking you’ll probably want to skip that question?”
“Thank you. Next!” Brooke kicked her feet up on the coffee table and let her head fall back, facing Hayley. “Nah, that place isn’t for me. I thought I could do it for the money, but I’d literally do almost anything else if it means not going back there for another shift.”
“And there were no other positions at the airport?”
Brooke’s jaw twitched. For fu—stop. She swallowed down the retort. She could do this. Hayley was only trying to be helpful.
“Nothing,” Brooke said. She hadn’t snapped. A neutral response was good.
Hayley closed her book and slipped it onto the side table. “Have you thought about what else you’d like to do?”
“Well, I definitely don’t want to be a chartered accountant like you. Too many numbers—ew.” Brooke’s jaw relaxed, and she allowed her shoulders to sink back into the couch.
It felt weird having such a normal conversation with her sister. While there was still work to do, this progress helped. The old memories still ebbed and flowed, but Brooke didn’t allow the emotions to take over like they used to. That said, she’d also avoided any serious discussions.
One step at a time.
“I wouldn’t expect you to.” Hayley chuckled. “What about when you were younger? Any pursuits you considered but never did?”
“Aside from travelling? Nothing that comes to mind.”
“And there’s nothing else in travel you could do?”
Brooke’s mind flashed back to her trip with JJ, when the American—Clark? Cliff? Clive!—commented on her well-thought-out holiday planning. Hmm.
“I mean, I could be a travel agent,” Brooke said. “Then again, I wouldn’t want to work for an agency. Only having access to certain places or flights…” Her nose wrinkled. “I’d feel like I was handcuffed trying to recommend things to people.” She kicked her shoes off and pulled them onto the couch.
Hayley threw the blanket over Brooke’s feet. “So work for yourself.”
“I couldn’t run my own business.” Brooke scoffed, eyes down as she traced the edges of her phone.
“Why not?” Hayley sat up, frowning.
“Uhh, because I’m not, like, smart enough to do any of that stuff.” Brooke ticked off the reasons. “I have no money, no idea where to start and—”
Hayley caught her hand. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Put yourself down like that. You’re Brooke Mayfield.”
Brooke rolled her eyes. “Don’t remind me.” She freed her hand and pulled the blanket up further.
“Brooke, enough.” Hayley’s mum voice was back.
Brooke forced herself to sit still, inhaling slowly. Don’t run.
“You’re an incredible person, and all I’m hearing tonight are excuses—not facts.”
Brooke’s eyes shot to Hayley. That was unexpected.
“If you’re not smart enough, how the hell did you look after yourself for ten-fucking-years flying and travelling around the globe like it was no big deal?
” Hayley didn’t wait for an answer, she barely took another breath, voice firm.
“And no money? Pretty sure these days you only need something like forty bucks for a business name. Whip up a free website and you could be helping people travel tomorrow.”
Hayley smoothed out the blanket. “Actually, I have no idea, but you’d figure it out.
You’re Brooke. You always do. As for where to start—hello?
It’s called Google. Or Remi and JJ run their own businesses—ask them!
What’s it going to take for you to start believing in yourself?
” Hayley angry-whispered the entire thing, ever so courteous not to wake Marie.
“Yeesh, don’t hold back or anything.” Brooke tried to smile but it faltered. There was a lump in her throat again.
These words were… everything. Her eyes burned. She blinked, gaze on the kitchen, the lounge. Everywhere but Hayley.
“I'm serious, Brooke.”
“No, I know you are.” Brooke fiddled with her bracelets, then slid her eyes back to her sister. “You're as bad as JJ with all this pep-talk stuff.” Again, she forced a smile but her chin quivered.
“Oh yeah? Well maybe that's because we see something you don't.”
Me.
That’s what they saw.
Brooke Mayfield. Just Brooke.
Hayley and JJ saw straight through her bullshit.
It should anger her or have her running straight back down to the river.
Instead, for once, Brooke leaned in. Even if there was a frown on her face and arms crossed tight against her chest like a naughty school kid, she wanted to take in Hayley’s words.
“I'll sleep on the idea,” was all Brooke said, her limit reached. She slipped off the couch and paused at the bottom of the stairs. “Thank you.”
With each step, her mind buzzed.
Maybe there was a way out of this mess after all.
Brooke had tossed and turned all night, finally falling asleep at god-knows-what hour.
She yawned and stretched, the sun streaming through her blinds as she wiped at her eyes and kicked off the covers.
Downstairs was quiet; Marie and Hayley would have left for work ages ago.
Brooke had thought her mind was messy enough with her JJ drama, but last night’s conversation with Hayley had thrown a real spanner in the works, and it had nothing to do with the business idea they’d discussed.
This was about Hayley.
This was about them, who they were as sisters.
And who Brooke was to her family. She had no intention of reconnecting with her parents, but the thought of Hayley being a bigger part of her life had her thinking of reaching out to Steven too.
Maybe not right now—it was still too much, too soon.
But she was considering it. And that was new.
Baby steps.
Her next one, however, was going to be one giant leap.
Brooke blew out a breath and swung her legs over the side of the bed, heart racing at what she was about to do.
She padded down to Hayley and Marie’s study, grabbed a pen and paper, then took up camp at the dining table.
With her notes app open for guidance, words spilled onto the page, an arrangement of thoughts and feelings all wrapped up with a little bit of hope.
An hour later, her wrist ached and the tips of her fingers were numb, but she looked down at the letter before her and smiled.
The words had finally come. JJ had been right. It worked.
Brooke folded it neatly into thirds and placed it onto the bench, Hayley’s name in cursive on the front.
Now, she just had to wait, filling her time with internet searches like ten steps to run your own business and how the hell do you work for yourself?
That afternoon, the door slammed shut downstairs and Brooke froze. Her fingers hovered over her laptop keyboard as she listened. High heeled shoes sounded down the hallway, a bag placed on what must’ve been the kitchen table. Those long strides had to be Hayley.
Brooke swallowed, hands clammy as she closed the laptop and tossed it beside her on the bed. She strained her ears, but they were met with silence. Only her own heartbeat and someone mowing their lawn down the street. Her stomach growled, and she couldn’t remember if she’d eaten anything today.
Brooke closed her eyes, stomach lurching. Hayley would want to talk soon, and this was the part Brooke sucked at.
Fuck.
JJ’s brown eyes flashed in her mind. “If I was Hayley, what would you want to say to her?”
A knock sounded on the doorframe, and Brooke jumped.
“Sorry.” Hayley stood in the doorway, a smart work suit on with bare feet, her hair pulled out of her ponytail and Brooke’s letter clutched in one hand.
Brooke gave a hesitant smile.
“Did you write this?” Hayley held it up like something sacred, eyes shining. “I mean, I know you wrote this, but—” She didn’t finish, crossing to the bed and flinging her arms around Brooke instead. Brooke stiffened, her body at war with her head.
Relax. Be the sister you want to be.
She wrapped her arms around Hayley and held on. Hayley sniffed into her neck, the paper crumpling at her back.
“I’m sorry,” Brooke mumbled, jaw coming unstuck, the words finally spilling free. “I’ve been such shit person to you. And Marie.” Tears spilled down and Brooke bit her lip to stop her chin wobbling. It was unsuccessful.
Hayley pulled back, grabbing Brooke by the shoulders. They had the same eyes. Ice blue and so caring it hurt to look into them, but Brooke didn’t turn away.
Not this time.
“It’s okay,” Hayley said. “Thank you for putting into words what’s been going through that head of yours. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. To understand you and just talk to you. I never, ever, ever meant you to feel anything less than. Though, I can’t say the same about Mum and Dad—they’re arseholes.”
Brooke’s jaw dropped, and then she laughed. Brooke had never heard Hayley speak about their parents like that.
“What! But you never said anything, and they loved you. Miss Golden Child. I thought you felt the same way about them.”
Hayley looked stung as she reeled back. “Of course not. They were only nice to me because they wanted me to do everything.”
“And because you got straight A’s.” Brooke rolled her eyes. “At least they saw you. Paid attention to you.”
“Hey, it’s not a competition.” Hayley sat back, eyes softening.
“And I’m not trying to fight you on this.
We got the crap end of the parent straw in different ways.
Funnily enough, I thought by helping you more when we were kids, you’d be protected from their shittiness.
I never thought about how it would feel from your side not getting their attention from them. I’m sorry I didn’t see that.”
“Me too. I guess there’s a lot we didn’t know about each other. But—I’d like to try… to get to know you.”
“I’d like that a lot.”
Brooke was grinning so wide it hurt. At her sister. Who was absolutely beaming back. There was no curl of Brooke’s lip. She wasn’t trying to vault off the bed and get out of there. Her mind didn’t feel like a storm. Just calm.
“Can I give you another hug?” Hayley asked with puppy dog eyes.
“That might be pushing it.” Brooke tried to be serious but the edge of her mouth betrayed her.
Hayley leaped on her anyway.