Page 124 of Ever With Me

“Dan can drive you,” Avery said, stopping the swing. “If you don’t mind. I’ve got it covered here without him.” She stretched, revealing a slight baby bump. “When I first moved out here from California, I couldn’t handle the constant curves on the roads. They made me so carsick.”

“You’re from California?” Huh. He wouldn’t have pegged her as anything other than a local. She seemed to blend seamlessly with everyone he’d met. “How’d you end up here?”

“I’m from Florida, actually. Even more reason for the roads to make me sick. Flat, flat, flat, there.” She gave her husband a loving grin. “But my family used to take summer vacations here at the lodge. I met Dan when I was a teenager, fell madly in love, and many years later, found my way back here.”

“There are more transplants to Brandywood than people realize,” Dan said. “Especially in the last few years. The whole town revitalized after Peter Yardley’s businesses took off.”

“Maddie’s grandfather?”

Dan nodded. “The man is a legend around here now.”

A chilly breeze rippled past them, carrying with it a swirl of yellow leaves. “So Maddie’s like...Brandywood royalty?”

Avery laughed. “I couldn’t have put it better myself. The Wagners and the Yardleys are probably some of the best-known families in town. They used to be rivals, but then joined forces when Bunny and Peter married.”

Brooks could hardly keep a straight face. “When you say ‘Bunny and Peter’ all I’m picturing is that Beatrix Potter character.”

“You know, I’ve never thought about that, but you’re right,” Dan said with a chuckle.

“Right about what?” Maddie asked as she pushed open the front porch screen. She sidled up to Brooks and set her hand over his.

“The names Bunny and Peter conjuring illustrated visuals of rabbits wearing blue jackets,” Brooks said dryly.

“Hey, don’t make fun of my grandparents,” she said with mock indignation. She squeezed his hand. “I’ll be sure to tell my grandfather. He’ll get a kick out of it. He hates the nickname Bunny anyway—he never called her that. It’s a nickname her late former husband gave her.”

“I’d forgotten about that,” Dan said, lifting his light-colored eyebrows. He smirked. “Anyway, I was a fierce Yardley loyalist, thanks to Lindsay, so I never liked Mr. Wagner. Bunny, on the other hand, she always gave us cookies.”

“Our little sisters are best friends,” Maddie explained to Brooks, and gave Dan a warm smile. “And Dan and I basically played in the sandbox together.”

A strange stab of jealousy went through him. Not because he felt like Dan was a threat in any way—but that connection. That feeling of belonging to a town and people you’d known your whole life . . . he’d never experienced that. Not like this. Fountain Springs had made him want to flee and never look back.

His parents were buried in the Presbyterian church’s graveyard, and he’d never even gone back to visit their gravestones since he’d left. Not once.

“If it makes you feel better,” Avery said, giving Brooks a knowing look, “these two play up the glamour of living in Brandywood pretty hard. If the Yardleys are royalty, the Kleins are like dukes.” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t let them fool you. There’s plenty of drama, small-town gossiping, little old men and ladies being outraged about inane things. Some people—like your friend Cormac—leave town and don’t move back.”

“Still, it seems like many people stay.”

“Because they make a home here,” Avery said, and snuck an affectionate glance at her husband, her hand curving over her bump. “If you find the right people, then all the petty things are easily overlooked. The good outweighs the bad.”

Brooks didn’t glance Maddie’s way, as a troubled feeling arose in the back of his mind.

Whether he wanted it to be, for now, his life was centered around LA. He might be wealthy enough to play house with Maddie at the lake house, but soon enough, he’d need to go back.

He didn’t want to think about that yet.

“Ready to go?” Maddie asked, holding the keys out to him.

“Apparently, we have paparazzi waiting for us, and Dan offered to drive us. It might be a good idea, so they don’t follow us to your grandfather’s house.”

“We can take my truck or my police cruiser. Windows are tinted in the back of the cruiser, but it might look suspicious,” Dan said.

Brooks had no desire to ride in the back of a police car. “Truck is fine.”

They said their goodbyes to Avery, then headed around to the detached garage off the driveway. “I noticed you don’t have a security detail,” Dan said as he unlocked the garage. “Have you given any consideration to one while you’re here?”

A cop would notice that. He had to give Dan credit, though. He clearly kept a close eye on his property. Knew who was lurking.Also probably a cop trait.“I’m just trying to fly under the radar here for a while. It worked for the first week anyway.”

“Well, it looks like they found you now.” Dan flipped on the light to the garage. “Just something to think about. Brandywood is about as safe as you can get, but it’s not people from here I’m worried about. And we don’t really have a ton of resources here like the big cities might to handle someone of your profile.”

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