Gabby’s expression stiffened. “We never thought it was.”
“And New York…it had a lot to offer. But not you, or Jenna, or Mom and Dad.
“Or Kyle.”
Brooke looked back at the trunk and all the memories it held. “Kyle and I weren’t meant to be. Other things in life always got in the way.”
“But that’s all in the past,” Gabby insisted. Ever the romantic. “The future is wide open.”
Was it? Once, Brooke had felt that way, when she and Kyle were dreaming of their life together. But those dreams were separate, and ultimately, it was those dreams that drove them apart.
“It doesn’t have to be all or nothing anymore, does it?” Gabby scooted forward. “I get it. I do. You wanted to go to the city, Kyle wanted to stay here. But now you don’t have to make that choice.”
Brooke thought of the loan and her plans for the shop. Of Kyle’s plans for the pub.
“I’m not sure it’s that simple,” she said sadly, because oh, how she wished it was.
“If love was simple, I’d be married by now,” Gabby joked, lightening the mood. “It wasn’t all bad, Brooke.”
Brooke gave a little smile. “No. It wasn’t. I guess my memory was tainted by…everything.” She took the album back and carefully set it in the trunk.
“It was a beautiful wedding. The flowers weren’t too shabby either,” Gabby remarked with a grin. They were part of her early efforts, with shades of apricot and cream that had been the perfect complement to the navy bridesmaid dresses.
“They were perfect,” Brooke said quietly.
“But you know what really sticks out to me?” Gabby continued, even though Brooke was standing up now, wanting to end this conversation, wishing that she’d never come up here at all and had instead made do with the furniture she had or ordered something online.
“What’s that?” she said flatly, shifting aside Jenna’s old clarinet case. Piano had definitely been her calling.
“How happy you looked,” Gabby said.
Brooke didn’t want to mention that she noticed it too.
“You know, you’re pretty lucky, Brooke,” Gabby said.
Brooke frowned at her. “Let me remind you that my marriage ended, rather quickly, too.”
“But you were happy, even if it was short-lived,” Gabby said. “You were in love, truly, deeply in love, and you were loved back. And that’s not something everyone can say.”
Brooke knew that Gabby was referring to herself. She also knew that her sister had a point.
“Candy was in my shop this week,” Gabby said.
Brooke hoped they were shifting the conversation back to Candy’s endless indecision, but Gabby gave her a knowing look and said, “She told me about you and Kyle having dinner at the café.”
Brooke brushed a hand through the air, even though her cheeks were hot. “It was just two old friends catching up.”
“Is that all you want to be? Friends?”
Brooke thought about that for a moment. Until recently, she wouldn’t have even thought they could be that much to each other anymore, but her anger had faded, landing somewhere been acceptance and resignation.
“Maybe it’s all we can be.” She’d moved on. And now, she realized, thinking of the plans that Kyle had made, he had too.
15
Kyle had managed to avoid Ryan for days thanks to an uptick in customers mostly due to the tourists filling the more desirable spots in the town. By midweek, though, he knew there was no sense in pushing things off any longer.
He finished washing down the bar and turning over the chairs, then went back to the small office that his father used to sit in, right off the kitchen, which had been dark for hours since they stopped serving food by nine.
“Ready to talk?” he asked, coming to drop onto the spare chair in the corner, next to the filing cabinet that bore years of receipts and tax information, in case they were ever audited. He’d always told himself he’d go through it sometime, clear out the unnecessary paperwork, and get rid of the clutter. Instead, he’d managed to toss a dried-out houseplant. For the most part, he’d stayed clear of this room. There was too much history here, even for him.
Ryan looked up in surprise and closed his laptop, showing that he was giving Kyle his full attention.
Kyle pushed out a breath. It was time to get this off his chest. This time, with no regrets.
“I’m not selling the house.” There. It was out.
Ryan nodded thoughtfully, not revealing any emotion. Still, Kyle felt the need to explain.
“I’ve put my entire adult life into this pub. I’ve given up a lot for it. And I tried my best to keep it running, the only way I knew how. The way I thought that Dad would have wanted it done.” He chewed the inside of his mouth. This wasn’t easy, but then, nothing about any of this had ever been easy. “It’s still hard not to feel like I’ve let Dad down in a way. He loved this place.”
He looked around, at the stacks of paperwork, the odd coffee mug resting on the file cabinet. Another on the desk.
Ryan gave him a small smile. “You did more for this pub than I ever did. More for Dad too. I never said it before, but I owe you an apology, Kyle. It was because of you that I was able to keep my job, keep my relationship for a while at least, and still know that when I came home everything would be exactly as it was when I left.”
“Right down to the limited customers and the stale menu and the dark ambiance?” Kyle said wryly.
“I never said it when Dad died, but it
