Second Chance at Love (The MacKenna Born & Bred Trilogy) (16 page)

“In that case,” he quipped, “I think I should give it
another shot. I've just started to get some of the feeling back in my lower
extremities,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows. “Wanna take a guess where,
exactly?”

Brooke squealed again when he tossed her onto the massive
bed and dove on top of her.

It was nearly dawn when Brooke slipped into her parents'
house through the back door. Xena lumbered over to greet her. She licked
Brooke's hand, and Brooke leaned down to ruffle her fur before she settled near
the back door, waiting expectantly. Brooke opened the door to let her out,
following her  to the treeline at the rear of the property. It seemed to be
Xena's favorite spot. She gave the pup a few minutes to do her business, then
led her back to the house.

Stopping in the kitchen to grab a bottle of water from the
fridge, she drank deeply. Taking it with her, she continued through the lower
level of the house quietly, not wanting to wake her parents. She knew that they
would be up soon enough, as both of them had always been early risers.

She climbed the stairs toward her bedroom, with Xena padding
after her, playfully tugging on her hand. Once inside, she closed the door
quietly and turned the lock, hearing it click into place. She stripped off her
rumpled dress and climbed into the softness of her big bed, pulling the
comforter up to her breasts. She was thoroughly exhausted. She heard her new
pup plop down next to the bed with a thud.

 She and Logan had shared an incredible night together,
exploring each other in ways that made Brooke blush from the top of her head
down to her pretty, red-tipped toes. He'd fallen asleep only an hour before,
and Brooke had lay cuddled up in his warmth, waiting for him to drift off. 
That had been at 5:00am, and she'd rolled out of Logan's bed, reluctantly,
which was warm and cozy, trying not to wake him. He hadn't stirred, not even
once.

 She made her way downstairs, where she gathered up various
articles of her clothing, and dressed. Then she slipped quietly out of Logan's
house, locking the door behind her. She'd wanted to make it home before her
parents woke up. She didn't know why, exactly. She was pretty sure they knew
there had been men in her life. That she'd had sex before. She was thirty years
old, after all. So then why did she feel like a teenager sneaking in past
curfew?

 She had a lot to think about. Falling into bed with Logan
wasn't part of the plan, but it was a simple matter to adjust her plans.
Falling in love with Logan...well, that was another matter entirely. And
something she had no intention of doing. She'd already broken her first rule,
and she damned sure wasn't going to break her second.

Brooke yawned and snuggled deeper into her pillows.
Happy
Birthday to me,
she whispered, a half smile tugging at her lips. Her tired
eyes fluttered closed, and within seconds she drifted off to sleep.

Summer in Montana had always been Brooke's favorite season.
In Western Montana, particularly, typical summer highs ran about seventy
degrees, and as far as Brooke was concerned, that was perfect. The one thing
she'd had to adjust to living in California was the heat. That had been the
hardest thing. In every other way, they were a perfect fit.

Brooke had slept for only a few hours. There were too many
things running through her mind for her to sleep soundly. The few hours she did
get were restless. She'd gotten out of bed and showered at nine-thirty, and was
down at the stables by ten, preparing Gypsy for a morning ride.

Rather than take her usual route through the woods to the
stream, she'd decided to head out over the hills, where she had the freedom to
soar. She wanted to feel the wind in her face and enjoy the freedom that she so
desperately needed. Now, as she sat high on top of Gypsy, she looked out over
the ridge. It was beautiful. So beautiful that it awed her. She'd grown up here
and had enjoyed this view many times over the years, but she felt as if it were
the first time she was seeing it. The first time she could really appreciate
it.
It's funny how things were put into perspective as you grew older,
Brooke thought. Her thoughts immediately went to Logan.

 She didn't know what she wanted.  All she knew was that
she'd missed him, she admitted to herself now. She'd known him since the
cradle. They'd shared sorrows and joys. Dreams. Up until they'd broken up and
gone their separate ways, they'd spent a lifetime together, literally. He was
her best friend, her lover, and everything in between. She should have known
that it would never be completely over between them. Not when they'd shared a
history, and a bond, like theirs. But how was she supposed to forgive him and
go on as if none of it had happened? As if everything was normal?

Logan had been her first lover, and her first love. She'd
made a commitment to him, promises to him. Brooke believed in the sanctity of
that. She would
never
have betrayed Logan the way he betrayed her, no
matter what had happened between them. When you loved someone, truly loved
someone, you just didn't do something like that. You didn't.

The thought of him with someone else made her physically
ill. The thought of him touching another woman, kissing her, inside her. Brooke
couldn't stand it. It made her feel as if she would go insane. Brooke didn't
know which was worse ~ that he had sex with someone else, or that he had thrown
away everything they had by having sex with someone else who he claimed to have
no feelings for. He'd said it hadn't meant anything to him. He'd been drunk and
he made a horrible mistake.

Maybe it would have made more sense to her if he had had
feelings for the tramp. Then at least she could understand or could at least
try to. He still would have been a cheating bastard, but at least she would
have understood his reason for it. He threw away everything they had,
everything they'd been to each other, for nothing. For just a tumble in the
sheets with the biggest whore on campus.
That
is what Brooke couldn't
wrap her mind around.

She knew that Logan hadn't been with Jennifer after that.
Brooke's friends had made sure to mention it when they'd been in touch.
Jacqueline had kept in touch with her for a while, but then gradually they'd
lost touch. She'd even come to California to visit Brooke once. They'd had an
awesome time, and promised each other that they'd do it again. But then life
had gotten in the way. Brooke was busy with medical school. Jacqueline had
gotten married and spent a lot of time traveling with her very wealthy husband.
And her life was exactly the way she had always wanted it to be. Brooke was
happy for her.

It had been about five years since they'd spoken. She
thought that the real reason she hadn't tried harder to keep their friendship
strong was because of the history. They'd been best friends for four years
through college, had been roommates all of those four years. They'd spent a lot
of time together. She and Jacqueline, the two of them and Logan, the entire
group of friends they belonged to. Logan and Jacqueline got along well, and it
made for a peaceful and easy friendship. But with Brooke's determination to put
Logan and her past behind her once she'd moved to Los Angeles, she felt that
she needed to distance herself from Jacqueline, too. In retrospect, Brooke
wondered if it had, or hadn't, been the right thing to do. She'd wondered it
many times over the years.

Not long after Brooke had moved and gotten settled into her
apartment, Logan came to California to see her. He showed up on her doorstep
one day. She was shocked to see him standing there. It hurt all over again. She
couldn't do it. He wanted to talk, to explain to her. He said that she'd never
given him a chance to explain, to try to make her understand. He pleaded with
her to give him another chance, to try to work it out. She was reluctant to let
him into her apartment. He wanted to come in for just a few minutes, to talk.
She gave him those few minutes. And that was all she'd given him. It was
incredibly emotional, for both of them, and it tore Brooke's already broken
heart into even smaller pieces.

Brooke was just going on twenty-two years old at that time.
It was the most devastating thing that she imagined could happen to her. But
she'd been wrong about that. She discovered a couple of weeks later that she
was pregnant. She was scared to death about the idea of facing it alone, of
being a young, single mother. But at the same time, she couldn't have been
happier. The baby was the only part of Logan she had left. She
wanted
their child, and there was never any doubt in her mind about that.

She didn't tell anyone about the baby, not Logan and not her
family. She couldn't handle the thought of having to deal with Logan if he knew
about the baby. She knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't let anything
stop him from being a part of his child's life. So she kept it from him. She
thought that once she'd healed enough to a point where she could handle telling
him, and she could handle having him in her life, even if only for their baby's
sake, then she would tell him. But as her pregnancy progressed, it became
harder and harder to tell him. She knew it was wrong to keep it from him. It
went against everything she believed in. She didn't want her parents to be
disappointed in her. And she didn't want them to be put in the middle between
Logan and his family. Of course, Karissa tried to talk her into telling
everyone, but Brooke made her promise to keep it a secret. And now, eight years
later, she was living with the guilt and the regret of her choices, still.

He heard the horse's hooves before he saw them, a steady
pounding on the earth as they crested the hill and came into view. Brooke sat
atop Gypsy like a queen on her throne. Classic, regal.  The mare slowed from a
gallop to a canter, and the wind caught the thick mass of Brooke's dark hair
and blew it wildly around her face. She looked serene. Beautiful. Urging the
mare forward, she closed the distance between them quickly. By the time they
reached Logan, Brooke had slowed the mare to a walk and pulled in the reins.

Brooke was surprised to see him, and pleased at the same
time. He looked amazing. Rested and fresh. She didn't know how he possibly
could be considering that he couldn't have had more than five hours of sleep.
Yet, there he was, standing in front of her, the energy flowing from him. She
dismounted in quick, easy movements that had Logan wondering if she'd continued
riding over the past eight years that she'd been away.  He couldn't imagine her
not. It had been as essential to Brooke as eating and breathing.

Logan secured the mare to a nearby hitching post. Brooke
removed the tack, passing it to Logan as he reached for it. Next, she unbuckled
and took off the bridle, and then unhitched the cinch. She began to groom her
horse with competent hands, brushing out her coat thoroughly, followed by her
mane and tail. Gypsy nudged Brooke's shoulder gently, and Brooke responded by
rubbing her nose. She picked out the horse's hooves, making sure no shoes or
nails were missing. Finally, Brooke watered her and took her for a slow walk to
cool her down and stretch out her muscles. Brooke gave her a chunk of apple,
and watched as the mare devoured it. She returned her to the paddock, giving
her one last nose rub before joining Logan near the corral.