Page 42 of Dreams on the Ice

He knows there is more to it than her leaving and me letting her go. “I’ll be getting her back as soon as all this shit with my parents and the social media parade with Kiki is handled.”

“Good,” he grunts. “Ayden sent me a text about how she is trying to get the girls to buy her out of the salon and said she wouldn’t be coming back to live with them either.”

I almost laugh, only because I knew that’s what she was going to do. I didn’t expect her to do it all immediately, but then again, that’s Brooklynn. She doesn’t do anything half-assed, and she doesn’t sit around when she’s made a decision.

Before I can respond, my cell phone rings and the number isn’t one that I recognize, which makes me think it’s the publicist.

“Westwood,” I say as my greeting.

“Forrest Westwood,” a woman’s voice calls out. “This is Elizabeth Persson. I researched your little issue, which is kind of a big issue, but I think we may be able to get you out on the other side.”

That is all I needed to hear.

Coming out of this with Brooklynn by my side is all I could ever ask for or want.

BROOKLYNN

There is a knock on the bedroom door, and as much as I wantto tell the person on the other side to go away, I don’t. Mainly because I’m in my parents’ house and it’s either my mother or my father. Glancing at the clock on the nightstand, I surmise that it’s likely my mother since it’s so late in the morning that, without a doubt, my dad would already be at work.

Bringing the sheet and comforter to my chest, I call out for the person on the other side to come on in. There’s no hiding from my parents. I love them, but they are always in my face about everything, not in a bad way, but in a loving, smothering way. It’s why I don’t live at home.

It’s the burden of being an only child, I guess. Not bad, not good, just the way it goes. So I moved away for cosmetology school and then moved into the house with the girls instead of coming home.

Maybe I should have come home. At least if I had, my life wouldn’t be in shambles the way it is right now. I wouldn’t have met this beautiful man. I wouldn’t have fallen in love with him, and I wouldn’t have had some selfish bitch try and ruin everything I worked my whole life for.

The door slowly opens, and I expect to see my mother standing on the other side, but instead, it’s Grace, Karlie, June, Ayden, and Sky. They move through the door as if they are a single unit, even though they have to squish through.

It’s a sight to see.

Then they all stop at the side of the bed, lined up, their chins tipped and their eyes narrowed as they stare down at me. A throat clears, but I have no idea whose it is. Sitting up, I rest my back against the headboard before I bring my knees to my chest.

Resting my chin on my knees, I study my friends. They are all waiting for me to say something. They’re not saying a word, watching and waiting. Then I let out a heavy sigh and close my eyes.

“It’s for the best.”

“Fuck that,” Ayden snaps. “You aren’t leaving the salon, and you aren’t leaving us.”

“Unless it’s for Forrest. That would be the only acceptable reason to move out,” Karlie states.

I shake my head, and my eyes fill with tears again. They are too good to me, far too good. I can’t do this, though. I can’t just accept this. As much as I want to go back to the salon, back to our home, I also know that it’s best I don’t.

Pressing my lips together, I try to figure out how to tell them that isn’t going to happen. The words don’t want to come, though. In fact, no words want to come.

Instead, I want to run away again.

“Brooklynn,” Ayden whispers. “You’re not leaving us. We won’t let you.”

“I have to. There is no way to protect the salon from these crazy-ass people. I don’t want you guys to lose business because of me.”

Karlie clears her throat, then leans down and places her palms on the mattress, her face shifting close to mine. I stare at her, my eyes wide and my lips parted. “You aren’t going anywhere, Brooklynn. If someone doesn’t want to come to our salon, then that’s their problem, not yours.”

“But—”

“No,” Ayden snaps. “Nobutsat all. Fuck that. We are not buying you out. We are not letting you leave. If you want to take a few months off as a sabbatical, that’s fine. But you are not leaving.”

Her words and tone are full of so much conviction that I want to do exactly what she says I’m going to do. I don’t want to fight her. She believes that a sabbatical is going to fix this, but it won’t.

We aren’t going to agree on any of this right now. So, instead of dragging this out and fighting with these women, who are allincredibly kind and generous, I smile at her and jerk my chin in a little nod.

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