Return to Me (Blue Harbor Book 5) by Olivia Miles (most popular ebook readers .TXT) 📕

And that was all the more reason to see this through. It was his only chance to nail her down, talk things out in a way they never had before.

It was his last chance.

“It’s filling up quickly,” Brooke said, motioning to the room. “I thought I’d get us a table.”

“You picked a good one,” he said, omitting the fact that it was their usual table, back when they used to come here together. Had she chosen it on purpose?

From the controlled flatness of her expression, he doubted it.

“I’ll get our orders,” he said.

“Raspberry—”

He smiled broader. “I remember.”

He remembered everything: the brand of shampoo she used and the way it smelled, leaving a scent on her pillow that he never wanted to wash away; the sound of her laugh when she talked with her sisters, the way her arms felt when she slid them around his waist and pulled him close. And that was just the problem. Early on, in the months after she’d first left, he still stiffened every time the door to the pub opened, expecting to see her walking through, her blue eyes gleaming, her smile radiant, waiting for her to plant a kiss on his mouth before excitedly telling him about an apartment she found in her internet search or a spot in New York they’d have to try once they got there. They’d talk about it every evening, too, sitting side by side on the chairs he’d carved, looking out over the lake, dreaming of the life they’d have together.

But there was no New York, not for him. And she never did walk through the door again. Or plant a kiss on his mouth. So why was it that he could still feel it like it was yesterday?

He placed the order, hoping that Brooke was in a better mood when he returned to the table. He didn’t like the strain, not then, not now. It wasn’t how it was ever supposed to turn out for them.

Five minutes later, he returned to the table, just in time to catch a woman’s eye as she grabbed some extra napkins from the service station near the back wall. He realized with an internal groan that it was Jackie Walker, easily the chattiest classmate from first through twelfth grade.

“Brooke!” Her eyes popped in surprise. “Brooke Conway? I thought that was you!”

Brooke stood up and greeted Jackie with equal warmness, leaning in for a hug before resuming her seat. It didn’t go unnoticed by Kyle that Brooke hadn’t given him the same warm greeting. Not even given a handshake, even though that would have been…weird. But then, everything about this was weird. He was sitting across the table from his wife. His wife! And he didn’t know anything about the last six years of her life at all.

“I’m only in town for the weekend,” Jackie went on. “Thought I’d finally show my kids where I grew up. My goodness, since my parents moved away, I haven’t been back!”

Evidently, Jackie was out of the loop since moving away. She had no idea that Brooke herself had just returned.

“Oh! It’s so good to see the two of you. When was that wedding again?”

“Six years ago this June,” Kyle stated.

“Six years! Of course, right before my parents moved. Most couples don’t make it that far nowadays.” Jackie clucked. “But then, you two were a perfect match. Cute as buttons. Pretty as a picture. And Brooke was the most beautiful bride.”

“She certainly was,” Kyle agreed.

He saw Brooke firm her mouth. Clearly, she wasn’t finding any of this half as amusing as he was.

“Any kids?” Jackie asked. She blinked at them, expecting an answer.

Kyle coughed, only entertaining a moment of panic that while he didn’t have children, it was possible that…but no. No, surely he would have heard word about Steve and Miriam Conway having a grandchild.

He needed to get a grip. He may not have been face to face with Brooke for almost six years, but that didn’t mean he didn’t know her. He did know her. He knew every inch of her. He knew her dreams, her goals, and her biggest secret.

And he knew her heart. After all, he’d had it once.

“No kids!” Kyle grinned broadly, playing along. “Yet.”

He felt Brooke’s kick under the table. Her eyes glimmered against her frozen smile.

“Just…focused on our careers,” she said tightly.

Careers. The word felt sour to his ears, and he licked his cone, hoping that Jackie would get the hint. Fortunately, a tow-headed boy with an ice cream stain down the front of his striped shirt called out impatiently from the doorway before closing it again.

Jackie gave an apologetic shrug and said, “Duty calls. Better run before they get into trouble! It was so good seeing the two of you again!”

“Why did you entertain her?” Brooke accused the moment Jackie was out of earshot.

Kyle shrugged. He was still staving off a grin as he bit into his cone. “What would you rather me have said? That my blushing bride bolted the moment things got rough? Or that this is our first night out as a married couple since a couple of months after our wedding day?”

“You’re making it out to sound like it’s all my fault,” Brooke said.

“Isn’t it?” He pulled in a breath, told himself to get a hold of his emotions. This wasn’t what tonight was supposed to be about. It was supposed to be a chance for the two of them to catch up, even reconnect a little. It wasn’t supposed to end in an argument.

“Well, it seems like we’ve had no problem sliding right back into the place where we last left off,” Brooke said wryly, but there was hurt in her eyes that matched the heaviness in his chest. She poked at her ice cream with her