Page 24 of Saving Luke

Inside are a coffee mug, some coffee, and a card. When Brooke opens the card, her jaw drops, and her eyes tear up.

"What is it?" I ask, and she turns the card towards me. Inside is a grocery gift card with a note that they want to pay for her groceries and gas for a year. The amount on the gift card is crazy high.

"Wow. That's amazing," I say in shock.

Brooke stands and walks over to Teddy and pulls him in for a hug, and then does the same to Mia. When she turns to Ellie, Ellie is pulling her in first, and while Owen refrains from hugging her, he still places a hand on her shoulder.

I know it's all friendly, but having another man’s hands on her is irritating me. When Brooke walks back over to me, she’s just shaking her head.

"I wasn’t Teddy's nurse, but I worked with him on days his nurse was off, and the progress he's made, well, it's just night and day." She says, watching him.

We hang out for an hour, talking and enjoying the Christmas mood, before she helps me back to my room.

"Listen, I'm having dinner tomorrow at my place with my brother, his wife, their two kids, and my grandma. I'd like you and Gabbie both to come."

I turn to face her and can't imagine why she would want Gabbie at her house after the way she has acted towards her. Like she can read my mind, Brooke sighs.

"For better or worse, Gabbie is your sister. Since she’s the only family you have, I won't stop trying to reach out to her. Maybe seeing my family isn’t much different than hers will help. Or maybe my brother can get through to her, or maybe it will all blow up in my face, and five years from now, I’ll turn to my brother and say remember that dinner when? Who knows, but I have to try,” she adds.

Putting a finger under her chin, I tilt her head towards me and place a kiss on her lips. With just this small kiss, a jolt of electricity runs between us.

"We will be there, and Gabbie will drive me. Lord, help me," I smile at her shining eyes.

As Brooke heads back to check on her other patients, I sit on the couch and try to think of how I could bribe Gabbie to be on her best behavior. That’s if I can even get her to agree to go at all.

Chapter 9

Brooke

I'm running around the house, making sure everything is in place when my brother steps in my path and pulls me in for a hug.

"It's going to be okay. Everyone here is on your side, so she won't dare try anything tonight," he says.

I broke down and told my brother everything, including that Gabbie doesn't like me and our run-ins so far. He knows what this dinner means to me, and I know he’ll do everything he can to make it a success.

"This has to work. If I can't win her over, I will lose Luke, and I'm too far down that road to be able to accept that," I say what I mean without saying the words, but thankfully, my brother gets it.

When the doorbell rings, I know there’s no turning back. So, I open the door to find Luke smiling at me and Gabbie just staring. She isn't glaring or looking pissed off, so I take it as a win.

"Hey, guys. Come on in. Oh, and drink whatever my grandma hands you at your own risk. The stuff she makes could be used to remove tar," I warn them.

Luke chuckles and leans in to kiss me on the cheek.

Guiding them into the living room, I introduce them, “This is my brother, David, and his wife, Jill. Their kids are running around somewhere, and their names are Clark and Cassie. This is my grandma..." I say but get interrupted.

"You can call me Betty. Want a drink?" Grandma says.

"Ahhh, no. Can't have any with the medicine I'm on," Luke says.

Grandma looks at him with a twinkle in her eye and says, "Damn, doctors are always putting you on something.”

"I'm driving, so I'll pass," Gabbie says.

"Plus, she isn't old enough," Luke adds.

"Oh, posh," Grandma says.

"Anyway, this is Luke and his sister, Gabbie," I say as we sit on the couch.

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