After All (Cape Harbor #1)(82)
“Look, if you need time—”
“For what?” he interrupted.
“To figure shit out. To make sure this is what you want.”
“The only thing I need to figure out is how to spend as much time as I can with you and Brystol. I mean, I want to be with you in every way possible, and on the other hand, I want to ditch out on work and spend days on end getting to know my daughter. I am completely in love with you, Brooklyn, and you better love me back, or we’re going to have some issues,” he said, smiling. “Do me a favor?”
“What’s that?”
“Stay. At least until Brystol graduates, and then we’ll go wherever you want. Give my parents four years to be grandparents.”
“We’ll stay,” she said as she leaped into his arms. They kissed deeply as he held her to his body, waves lapping at his feet and drenching his shoes. As he set her down, a big wave crashed to shore, soaking them both. They briefly gasped for air before laughter took over. It had been years since she had laughed this hard.
“We have to tell Brystol,” Bowie said, changing the mood.
She nodded in agreement yet offered nothing else in return. She wasn’t sure how they would break the news and feared her daughter would be so hurt that she would reject them both.
“First, I think she needs to see us together like this.”
“Is that so?” Brooklyn asked, raising her eyebrow.
“Unless you’d rather have some secret romance. I mean, that could be pretty exciting, sneaking away to make out.” He pulled their joined hands up and kissed hers. “I’ve waited over twenty years for this moment, to tell you freely, without judgment. I’m too old to play games. And now with Brystol, I think we could give her the family she’s never had. If that’s what you want.” He shrugged. “I don’t know—maybe I’m reading things that aren’t there.”
She exhaled. “You’re not. I want to be with you, Bowie. I have since long before that night. Life threw us off track a little bit, but I don’t think it’s too late for us.”
“Neither do I. As far as telling her, I’d like to wait until after Carly passes. They’re close, and I don’t want Brystol upset with her grandmother during this time.”
Brooklyn wiped a tear away from her cheek. “I can agree with that.”
Together they started back toward the house, Brooklyn picking up her shoes before climbing the wooden staircase. Inside, the house was fairly quiet with the exception of the construction going on next door. Brooklyn felt like they should go check on the day’s progress but also had faith in their crew to get the job done.
Once in the living room, they saw Brystol lying on the floor, using Luke as a pillow as usual. If the dog cared that Bowie had entered the room, he wasn’t showing it. He had barely lifted his head. Brystol, on the other hand, made an effort to at least acknowledge them. She was watching a documentary on whales in the Pacific Ocean, and Brooklyn didn’t want to interrupt her. She needed these moments to still be a teen and not be consumed with pain over her grandmother. Brooklyn watched Bowie as he glanced at Brystol. He was looking at her as his daughter now, and not the child his best friend had never seen grow up.
Sensing it was a good time to let their daughter in on part of their secret, Brooklyn reached for Bowie, pushing her way under his arm as he kissed her forehead, and Brystol chanted, “Mom’s got a boyfriend.” She smiled and leaned up to kiss Bowie on the lips . . . an action she knew her daughter would never let her live down.
“What do you know about boyfriends?” Brooklyn asked.
Brystol shrugged. “All I know is that Nonnie and Simi think you’re perfect together.”
“How do you know this?”
She looked at Bowie. “Sometimes, after Nonnie has had too much wine, she talks very loudly.”
The three of them laughed. This was a good moment for them, even with the impending passing of their matriarch; they would be able to look back on this and say, “Remember that time Nonnie had too much wine . . .”
“Does this mean we’re staying, Mom?”
Brooklyn nodded and couldn’t hold back a smile as Brystol’s face lit up. She went to her mom and hugged her tightly. After she let go, she crouched down, lifted Luke’s snout, and said, “You’re stuck with me now.”
THIRTY-ONE
After Brystol stopped teasing Brooklyn about having a boyfriend, Brooklyn took Bowie upstairs to show him the paperwork she had found in Carly’s desk. In a sense, he was relieved. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Brooklyn, but seeing the report that there was no possible way for Austin to be Brystol’s father was liberating. Still, he was plagued by the lingering voice in the back of his mind that said it was entirely possible Brooklyn could’ve been with someone else. As much as he refused to believe that was the case, he couldn’t discount the suspicion. He glanced from the report to Brooklyn. She smiled.
“I know what you’re thinking,” she said.
“You do?”
She moved toward him. She lifted the sheet of paper from his hand, revealing another page. “Don’t ask me how she had your DNA. Right now, I don’t want to think of what went on in this house when my daughter wasn’t here. I just know she did, and this report shows that you’re her father.”