After All (Cape Harbor #1)(81)

Brooklyn wasn’t much better. She should’ve known there was a chance Bowie could be Brystol’s father, and yet, she had refused to ever consider the possibility. Standing there, looking out over the ocean, she felt his arms wrap around her and his lips press against her collarbone from behind. She didn’t deserve his affection. He should be yelling at her, calling her every name in the book, making her feel like she was nothing more than a huge mistake he had made all those years ago. But that wasn’t Bowie. He was forgiving and sweet. He saw the good in everyone, even when they didn’t deserve it. He was kind and gentle, and despite everything, he was still in love with her.

“Stop beating yourself up.” His voice barely rose above a whisper. How did he always seem to know what she was thinking?

“You’ve lost all this time with Brystol. I should’ve known.” A mother was supposed to know these things, right? She should’ve been able to look into her daughter’s eyes and tell that she was a Holmes and not a Woods. But she hadn’t, she couldn’t, nor had she ever even thought of doing that, because in her heart she had thought she knew that Brystol belonged to Austin.

She felt him shake behind her. “B, let me tell you something,” he stated as he turned her around in his arms to face him. He cupped her cheeks with his big calloused hands, and smiled. “From the second I saw Brystol, I thought she was Austin’s. I never looked at her and wondered if she was mine, so if you’re going to blame yourself for me not knowing I had a daughter, you might as well blame me too. I could’ve questioned you from the start. I should’ve known by looking at her, but I didn’t. Do you know why?”

Brooklyn shook her head.

“Because I know you well enough to know that if you knew—or even thought—she was my daughter, you wouldn’t have kept her from me. You wouldn’t have raised your daughter, telling her that her father was dead, if you thought for one second I could be her dad. So, just stop. Stop with the ridiculous thoughts going through that pretty head of yours. Do you want to know if I’m mad? Hell yes, I am, but not at you. At Carly. I’m pissed because she kept my daughter from me. She’s known for years and chose to keep that a secret, which is something I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to understand.”

Brooklyn couldn’t disagree with what Bowie was saying. Carly was in the wrong in more ways than one. When she had suspected Brystol wasn’t Austin’s, she should’ve said something to Brooklyn instead of having a DNA test done behind her back. She wasn’t even sure if that was legal and would have to ask her father about that later. Not that it would make a difference in the end because Carly was dying. But to keep the results to herself, to continue acting as if Austin were Brystol’s father, hurt Brystol more than anyone else involved, and that damage would have to be fixed now by Brooklyn and Bowie.

“Are you hearing me, B? Do you understand that I’m in this forever?” Forever was a long time, especially when there were so many unknowns. He pressed his lips to hers and held them there. She could taste the salt water on his lips and knew that salty kisses were something she wanted to get used to.

“Can I ask you a question?” she asked after pulling away. His hands dropped to hers, their fingers locking together.

“You can ask me anything.”

“If I choose to sell the inn and go back to my job, would you come with us?”

“Does your SUV have a trailer hitch?”

“Yes, why?” She was confused by his question.

Bowie smiled. “Because we would need it in order to tow my work trailer. I mean, I’d have to buy one, but there’s no way in hell you’re leaving Cape Harbor without me, Brooklyn. I would’ve gone with you last time if you had asked.”

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life.”

“I’ve made two,” he told her. “The first one was letting Austin stake a claim over you. I should’ve told you from the beginning how I felt. Longing for you for six years was pure torture.”

“And the second?”

“Not following you. Not chasing you. Not looking for you.”

“That’s like three.”

He shook his head. “It’s one. I should’ve gone after you, but I was a coward and thought you would return . . . when you didn’t, I was hurt and angry. I felt like I had wasted so much time being there for you through everything with Austin. I couldn’t understand why you would turn your back on me, of all people, and yet you had. I let my pride get in the way, and I let anger rule my thoughts. When I met Rachel, I tried . . . I really did . . . I went through the motions, but it just never felt right.”

“Not that it matters, but why are you getting divorced?”

Bowie sighed. “Because I can’t . . .” He paused, and all the color drained from his face. “Oh my God.”

“What?” Brooklyn demanded, frightened by the tone in his voice. “What is it?”

“She left me because she couldn’t get pregnant. She said it was me, that I was the problem. But clearly that’s not the case.”

Brooklyn laughed. She hadn’t meant to, but it sneaked out. “Nope, there’s a live wire teenager here to prove her wrong.”

Bowie put his hands on the top of his head and looked to the sky. He started to laugh.