“Still cute,” Brooke said with a sigh as they watched him walk away.
“Still a player,” Bella said with an even heavier sigh.
“I think he’s just waiting for the right girl to come along,” Gabby said. They all looked at her until her cheeks flamed. “What? Don’t go saying I read too many romance novels again!”
“I didn’t say a word,” Jenna said, raising her chin a notch.
The girls were still laughing when Amelia and Maddie appeared with Heidi and Natalie at their side, all eager to catch up and share their news. Maddie was especially proud of her new bakery, and maybe even more excited about her newfound romance if the flush in her cheeks gave anything away. It was like old times, the ten of them together again. Even though Brooke’s cousins on either side weren’t related to each other, they had all hung out together on holidays as children, and there was no escaping the fact that here in Blue Harbor you knew just about everyone.
Bumped into them too. Brooke’s eyes shifted to the bar, where Kyle was now leaning an elbow into the wood, laughing with Jackson.
Her heart began to race, and she swallowed hard as her mind spun. What was Kyle doing here? Shouldn’t he be down at Harrison’s, working?
Jackson must have called him over. But no, she was flattering herself. Even if Jackson had tipped him off, why would Kyle care enough to stop by? He hadn’t cared enough in their short-lived marriage to make concessions for her.
And she was best to remember that, wasn’t she?
“I’ll grab your drinks,” she offered to the cousins who had just arrived.
“You sure?” Amelia asked. Ever the mother hen, Brooke thought, loving that about her cousin. Even as a teen, she was always wise and mature, and a patient listener. She had been one of the few people other than her sisters and parents that Brooke had confided in when she and Kyle had broken up. The rest didn’t know the details, or wouldn’t understand them. It was perhaps why they couldn’t accept that after dating since high school and going through with the wedding, Brooke was ending it.
“Yep,” Brooke said firmly, which she covered with what she hoped was a breezy smile.
She took a large sip from her glass and strode to the bar purposefully. Now that she was back in town, she wasn’t going to dodge Kyle every chance she had. They’d have to learn to coexist, share space. Something that they hadn’t done very well the first time around, had they?
Jackson saw her coming and quickly excused himself to wash some glasses. Kyle took a long pull on his beer and turned, surprise flickering through his gaze when she sauntered up to where he stood.
“Well, this is a surprise,” he said.
“The surprise is on me,” she said, using his words. “Shouldn’t you be down at Harrison’s right now?”
It was a sore spot between them, and especially for her, even now, if she were to judge it off the tightness in her chest.
“Ryan’s covering things tonight,” Kyle said with a shrug.
“I heard he was back,” Brooke said, and then, catching the flash in his gaze, felt her cheeks heat. “My family mentioned it last night at dinner.”
She didn’t know why she should care that he knew they had discussed him. Of course they had discussed him! He was once her husband.
Still was.
“So, he’s helping out at the pub, huh?” She could hear the bitter sting to her tone.
He shrugged. “Help might not be the best word.”
Brooke resisted the old habit to ask what was going on, to listen, give advice, or just roll her eyes. She knew the history better than anyone, but it wasn’t her place anymore. Kyle had made his choice, years ago, to take over the pub and let his brother pursue his career as planned.
He’d made his choice, she reminded herself. And it wasn’t to be with her.
Instead of bothering with old wounds, she decided to focus on the future. “I was hoping that we could talk soon.”
She eyed him, hoping that he picked up on the urgency of the matter, on the unspoken topic that both of them knew, and only them.
At least, she assumed it was only them. Surely if word got out that she and Kyle had never officially filed for divorce, it would have spread through town faster than a barn fire.
Still, she felt shifty when Jackson reappeared, barely able to suppress his amusement at their expense, and asked if he could get her anything.
“Four glasses of wine for my cousins,” she said.
“On the house, as promised.” He winked.
Nope. Nothing unusual there. Just Jackson being Jackson. Still, she’d breathe a lot easier once she and Kyle had cleared the air. It was easy to not worry about papers and legalities when she was hundreds of miles away. But being back here, there needed to be rules. And boundaries. And signatures.
A clean break for a fresh start.
Jackson set the glasses on the bar and began pouring.
“What is it you’d like to talk about?” Kyle asked blankly.
Brooke’s eyes darted to Jackson, who didn’t bother to hide his interest.
She stifled an eye roll. “Now isn’t the time. I thought…” Oh, she didn’t know what she’d thought! That she could waltz over to him, tell him they needed a divorce, and be done with it?
That would certainly be nice, but she had the sense it wouldn’t be so easy.
“I thought that we should talk.” She gave him a long look, trying her best to ignore the pull in her gut that came from being this close to him again, from staring
