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

“Fine by me!” Brooke was happy for her cousin. She and Robbie had been high school sweethearts, and even though life had taken them in different directions, it had also led them both back to Blue Harbor. And each other.

Her stomach shifted uneasily. Not that the same could be said for her and Kyle. No, their problems ran too deep.

“Love is funny,” Candy said airily as she walked over to a rack of dresses, flinging a pointed look over her shoulder.

Brooke took her time rolling up the bakery bag. She’d save the rest for later. Maybe freeze them for another day when she needed a little pick me up.

“How so?” she asked, refusing to feed into Candy’s obvious suggestion.

“Oh, you know, sometimes things have a way of working out when you least expect it.” She paused, and perhaps sensing that Brooke’s pleasant, neutral expression wasn’t going to crack, continued, “I mean, look at me and Denny. I had been dating a man whose favorite past time was spitting cherry pits clear across the kitchen. I’d all but given up on the notion of romance! And then this man falls off a ladder, and his daughter calls for someone to tend to him for a bit. And I opened the door, and I just knew that everything was about to change. But only because I was willing to let it.”

Brooke took a measured breath. “Yes, and sometimes it doesn’t.”

Candy’s eyes burst open. “Don’t say that too loudly, dear. It’s bad for business.” She marched over and squeezed Brooke’s hand, giving her a look of concern. “Still nursing that broken heart over your marriage? You and Kyle Harrison seemed to be getting along just fine from what I could tell.”

Brooke nodded. “It’s a small town. There’s no room for bad feelings.”

Candy opened her mouth to protest, but Brooke quickly said, “Did you have any more thoughts on your dress? I haven’t quite finished the sketches, but I can run you through my preliminary designs?”

Candy’s face fell, and something told Brooke it had less to do with not seeing the sketches and more to do with not getting a little gossip out of Brooke.

“Oh, no rush. You did just get back to town and I’m sure that there are a lot of people that you’re busy…catching up with.” She stared at Brooke brazenly.

“Oh, I’ve seen most by now,” Brooke said airily. “It was so nice seeing what Amelia did with the café. And the bakery! You must be so proud of Maddie.”

She tipped her head, smiling pleasantly, watching as Candy struggled not to push things back onto her dinner with Kyle last night.

Eventually, she seemed to give up, thankfully.

“Well, speaking of the café, I need to get back,” she said, looking so disappointed that Brooke almost felt bad for her. “I thought I’d…pop by for a minute. Get to know my future niece a bit more. We didn’t have much time to talk last night.”

Brooke smiled to show her appreciation. “Well, this was lovely. I’m always happy to have a visitor, especially one who brings me breakfast.” She made a point of picking up her agenda and clicking her pen. “Did you want to make an appointment to look over those sketches?”

Again, frustration swept Candy’s expression. “Whenever, dear. Amelia is always supportive for me to take a break or two throughout the day.”

Brooke hid her smile and set down the book. “Let’s check in next week.”

Candy’s eyes seemed to sparkle again. “It is exciting, getting married. But then, you already know that.”

Oh, for crying out loud. Rather than be annoyed, Brooke was amused. Candy would soon learn that there was no story to be had here. That she and Kyle were just a thing of the past, and the most salacious thing about them was that they were technically still married.

Technically.

*

By the close of the day, Brooke could think of nothing but a hot bath and a cold glass of wine. It had been another good day, at least for the business, and she knew that she should focus on that rather than worry about anything that might go wrong. Design, like anything creative, was subjective. She couldn’t take someone else’s opinion personally, even though, when it came to people like her previous boss, that often felt impossible.

After Candy had left, most disappointed, and only after she had finally admitted defeat about dragging any good gossip from Brooke’s lips, there had been three drop-ins, one follow-up consultation made, and a good meeting with the bride from Pine Falls, who was thrilled with the bridesmaid dress sketches. They’d narrowed it down to two designs, and Brooke decided to use the few remaining minutes of her workday selecting fabric samples from her back room. The space was small enough that if anyone came in, she’d hear the door jangle its bells.

She sighed happily when she flicked on the light in her fabric closet, where bolts of fabric were arranged by color and texture. The bride wanted her bridesmaids in blue, and Brooke had a very specific chiffon in mind—something that was soft, but not too literal. A shade that tended toward grey in certain lighting, and wouldn’t compete with the bride. Something that would look gorgeous with the lake shimmering in the backdrop of the photos that would no doubt rest in frames for the next fifty years.

Or, in her case, more like fifty days.

She pulled in a sharp breath. She should have expected this. New York had been full of distraction. Every day brought a new face, and as the years passed by and her new life became less new and more regular, thoughts of Kyle faded into the past.

Which was where they belonged. The only reason that she was even thinking about him now