So Good: A Ribbon Ridge Novel (Love on the Vine Book 1) (28 page)

She flashed him a ready smile. “Yep. Just going to brush my teeth.”

Ah. Yeah, he should do that too. Except his toothbrush was still in the car. He’d brought an overnight bag in the hope that she’d invite him to stay, then had forgotten all about it. He’d been too caught up in her.

He jumped out of bed and pulled his pants on. “I’m going to run out to my car for a sec,” he called toward the closed bathroom door. After throwing on his shirt, he slipped on his shoes and shivered his way to his car. Mornings on the Oregon coast were always chilly.

By the time he got back, he heard the shower running, so he made himself at home in the other bathroom.

He finished before she did and went to the kitchen, where he made coffee. His phone went off just as Brooke came in. Cam smiled at Hayden’s text—a picture of him beaming while he held Ripley, all red-faced, wearing a tiny blue cap.

Cam held the phone out to Brooke. “Look at how goofy happy Hayden is. He can’t wait to have his own kid.”

Brooke smiled and turned toward the fridge. “I bet. I don’t have much in the way of breakfast. I usually snarf down a protein bar or make a shake, but I didn’t bring any shake stuff.” She pulled out creamer and set it on the counter.

“That’s okay. I’d be happy to take you to breakfast.”

“The breakfast restaurant options in this town are awful. We’d be better off going to Starbucks.”

He laughed, agreeing with her. “Then we can do that.” Another text vibrated his phone. He looked down and this time it was a picture of the proud papa—Kyle—holding his swaddled son. The image of the former beach bum with a baby made Cam think that maybe the impossible wasn’t impossible after all.

He stared at the picture and realized Brooke hadn’t been all that excited. Didn’t women typically fuss all over cute babies? He thought about her reaction to Emma the other night—also not quite what he might’ve expected. She hadn’t even asked to hold her. Did she maybe not like children?

“So, uh, do you plan to have kids some day?”

She pulled two cups down from the cupboard and poured coffee into them. “I assume you want coffee since you made it.” At his nod, she asked, “Cream or sugar?”

“Whatever you’re having. My only preference is that it’s strong. Okay, and bonus points for caramel.”

She arched a brow. “I remember you like that. This is, in fact, caramel-flavored creamer.”

He watched her pour a liberal amount into both cups. “Hmm, maybe you hoped I would surprise you here.”

Taking a spoon from the door, she stirred both concoctions then handed one to him. “I actually didn’t—at least not consciously.”

“To caramel and the subconscious.” He clacked his mug against hers. She hadn’t answered his question. Was that on purpose, or had the coffee conversation simply derailed her? When she didn’t answer, he decided to ask again. “So, kids, yea or nay?”

She winced. “Last night was great—and I like where we’re headed. But that’s a conversation for another time. A way other time.”

She was right, of course, but something scratched at the back of his mind and gave him an unsettled feeling. He sipped his coffee and tried not to dwell on it. Things were great right now, and he wanted them to stay that way.

She sipped her coffee. “As much as I would love a Starbucks date with you, I need to drive south to Newport for the first part of my day. I’m going to finish getting ready, and then I should head out.”

He exhaled. “If you weren’t shilling my wine, I’d take umbrage and demand you stay, but I guess I’ll let you go.”

Her eyes widened, and she barked out an offended laugh. “Like you get to tell me what to do, mister. In bed, I’ll allow it—as long as I get my turn. Out of bed? Not a chance.”

The mention of a bed started his engines purring. He wished they hadn’t gotten up so quickly. He’d fallen asleep planning round three for this morning and was disappointed it didn’t look as though that was going to happen.

He set his coffee down and circled the island to take her in his arms. She still held her cup and didn’t move to put it down. He found that a bit odd but didn’t want to make something of it.

“Should I come back tonight?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I’m going to be working late and I’ve got an early start tomorrow. I need to catch up on my sleep—you kept me up pretty late last night.”

Instead of going to sleep after making love that second time, they’d sat up talking about movies and television shows and music and bands. It had been fun, and they’d later fallen asleep in each other’s arms. “I still can’t believe you’ve never watched The Walking Dead.”

She made a face and stuck out her tongue. “And I can’t believe you have. Okay, I can, but ewww.”

He smiled, glad that things were still good. Of course discussion of children was too soon. If he wasn’t so damned out of practice, he would’ve known that.

She leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss. “Okay, I need to get moving. Stop distracting me.” She winked at him as she stepped around him.

“I guess I’ll take that as my cue to leave. Unless you’re sure I can’t help you get ready?” He looked at her suggestively, letting his gaze rake her from the top of her damp head to the tips of her turquoise colored toenails.

“You’re a bad influence, Cameron Westcott. Get out of here.” She bestowed him one last smile before presenting her backside and marching from the room.

Chapter Seventeen

B
rooke stepped out of her car at the Ribbon Ridge Cemetery just as Kelsey drove up. They met in the gravel parking lot and exchanged greetings. A moment later, Crystal arrived.

She jumped out of her mini SUV and immediately apologized. “Alaina isn’t coming, unfortunately. Alexa has a fever.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” Kelsey said. “I hope she’s all right.”
 

“It’s minor, but she’s cranky and sad, and only Mommy will do.”

Brooke knew about this from experience. While she was babysitting her nephew when he was about a year old, he’d come down with a fever. He’d screamed until Rhonda had come home. “That’s how it is.”

“Poor dads,” Crystal said.

Kelsey shrugged. “Or lucky, depending on how cranky the kid is.”

Brooke shuddered. “Or if they’re puking.”

Crystal nodded vigorously in agreement. “Don’t get me started on diarrhea. Alexa had a horrific episode when I was watching her one night. It was a terrible thing to do to one’s godmother.”

They all laughed, and Brooke felt a rush of relief. See, she could talk about children without suffering a pang of loss or a burst of anxiety.

Which hadn’t been the case yesterday morning. The pictures of Kyle’s new baby and the unadulterated joy on his father’s and uncle’s faces had pierced straight through her heart, leaving a hole the size of Jupiter. No, that wasn’t quite right. It had been the glee in Cam’s gaze that had nearly been her undoing. She had seen with her own eyes just how much the baby’s birth had affected him. Then he’d asked her about kids and she’d just…faltered.
 

She’d hidden behind the coffee conversation, hoping the topic would just fade away. Then he’d pursued it, so clearly the issue was important to him. Her mind had stumbled and then shut down. She’d grasped at anything to keep him and that discussion at bay. In the end, she’d been relieved at his reaction—that he’d dropped it and said it was too soon to talk about it. Little did he know that it would be too soon pretty much forever.

“So where should we start?” Crystal asked. “We’re looking for any tombstones with the initials BNR, right?”

“I think we should actually look for anything with a last name that starts with R. Take a picture of it with your phone.”

“And what time period?” Brooke asked. “The brick said 1879, so anything between that date and…?”

“That’s a good question,” Kelsey said, looking from Brooke to Crystal. “What do you guys think? If BNR was a person who made that brick in 1879, he or she could’ve died anytime.”

“Well, let’s say they weren’t over a hundred. So how about anything prior to 1970?”

Brooke nodded. “Okay, sounds good. Any ideas on how to tackle this?”

“Why don’t we start at one end and each take a row?” Kelsey suggested. “That way we’re still together in case we find something.”

“Perfect,” Crystal said, whipping her phone from her back pocket. “Let’s do this.”

They walked to the back corner and each took a row. The headstones were an amalgamation of sizes and shapes and conditions. This section was old, and some of the lettering was impossible to read due to weathering.

“How was your trip to LA?” Brooke asked Crystal as they walked.
 

“Busy,” Crystal said from the row behind Brooke. “We crammed a lot of meetings in and a couple of interviews. Alaina doesn’t like to invite people here, so she usually does that stuff in LA.”

Kelsey, who was in the row in front of Brooke, turned and looked over at Crystal. “Any new movies coming out?”
 

“She’s voicing an animated feature in a month or so. That’ll be fun.”

“Oooh, is it the sequel to Frozen?” Kelsey laughed. “I’m kidding.”

Crystal laughed with her. “I wish! It’s still cool, though. I’d tell you about it, but then I’d have to kill you.”

“Of course. That’s top-secret intel right there,” Brooke said, smiling. She liked both of them and was glad they’d met. Forming connections made her think she could maybe stay in Ribbon Ridge long-term. Or maybe something else was making her think that…

She shrugged the thought away and focused on the headstones. “I’m not finding any Rs yet.”

“Me neither,” Kelsey said. “Ironic given that the town is Ribbon Ridge.” She rolled the Rs for emphasis.

“Totally.” Crystal chuckled. “Wait, here’s one. Joseph Rollins died 1889. Not a B or an N, but I’ll take a picture.”

Brooke saw the same name on the headstone in front of Crystal’s. “This is a Rollins too. Ann Bedelia. There’s a B, at least.” She took a picture.

“And an N in Ann,” Kelsey said. They continued for another minute in silence. “How was your beach trip, Brooke? Sell a lot of wine?”

“I did, actually.” West Arch Estate had been quite popular. She’d shared her sales information with Cam earlier via text and was sure they’d talk about it later—assuming they’d get together.
 

“And how are things going with Justin?” Kelsey asked.

“Who’s Justin, your boyfriend?” Crystal chimed in.

Brooke suddenly wished she hadn’t overshared with Kelsey last week. But why? They were friends, right? “No, he’s not my boyfriend. He was a blind date, and I told Kelsey I was thinking of calling him again.”

Kelsey turned to look at her. “Uh-oh,” Kelsey said. “You didn’t?”

Brooke shook her head.

“What happened?” Crystal asked.

Brooke pivoted so that she could see Crystal too. “Uh, Cam happened.”

Crystal came into Brooke’s row. “Cam as in Cameron Westcott? Are you two a thing? Wait, I think I heard he was seeing someone. That’s like major news in the Archer circle.” She rolled her eyes, grinning. “Small towns. You gotta love ’em. I come from one in North Carolina.”

Kelsey moved closer so that she was just on the other side of a headstone. “Did you have sex again?”

“Yes. He came to the beach.” Where they’d had sex. But he’d called it making love. Did he always call it that, she wondered?

Crystal’s grin didn’t fade. “Sounds hot.”

“It was…romantic.” Aside from the baby disaster, she’d felt incredibly close to him. He’d been an amazing and thoughtful lover—as gentle as he’d been aggressive in their other encounters. She’d loved seeing that side of him.

“Uh-oh, sounds like you’re falling for him.” Crystal’s tone was teasing, while Kelsey was watching her skeptically. But then Kelsey knew a little about Brooke’s history and Crystal didn’t.

“Are you ready for that?” Kelsey asked, her gaze laced with concern.

“I don’t know.” Brooke turned her head toward Crystal. “I got divorced a couple of years ago, and it was kind of ugly. Cam’s the first guy I’ve dated—the first guy I’ve paid any attention to really—since then.”

Crystal nodded. “I get it. And that sucks. Sorry about your ex.”