Page 55 of Brooke
“This is why I told you I did not want to do anything with my apartment yet, Brooke.” Her dad rubbed the back of his neck as he turned back toward her. “I’m sorry if you felt like I was being difficult. Because, princess, your father would like to be your very first client now that Nanine has agreed to move in with me. By that, I mean I will be a paying client, Brooke, and I won’t hear a peep of protest.”
A great trembling began from deep within her bones, concluding at her dermis. “But Daddy?—”
“Not a peep.” He made a zipping motion over his lips.
Nanine extended her hand, her mouth tight with strain. “And Brooke, I would ask… I feel it is wise…”
“Oh, tell her, Nanine.” Her father lifted her hand andkissed it. “We’ve both been walking on a bed of eggshells. This is Brooke you’re talking to.”
“Oui.”She gave a hesitant smile. “I do not like asking, but perhaps you might wait a little longer to tell the other Courses. I fear there is so much change all at once, and Madison and some of the others have so much on their minds. I would like to?—”
“She wants to make sure our relationship is a sure thing, honey,” her father said with a calculating wink. “Even though I’m convinced. Heck, I’ve told her I’d like her to start thinking about marriage.”
Brooke rocked back a step in shock as the chandelier clanged out the first notes of theWedding March.
“He is like you, Third Course.” Nanine gave a shaky laugh. “A go-getter. My heart is still trying to keep up.”
“Your heart is doing beautifully,chérie,and not only because your doctor says so.” Another kiss to the back of Nanine’s hand before he turned back to Brooke. “You’ll be able to keep this to yourself, right? I don’t think Dean and the others sensed anything when we went to the Loire Valley.”
Nanine made a very French sound. “Had they not been enamored with their intendeds themselves, they surely would have seen it. I could not keep it from my face.”
“Nor I,chérie.”
She watched as they stood together, gazing at each other as if nothing and no one else existed.
“I won’t say anything to anyone,” she assured them, feeling like she should turn and tiptoe back out the way she came, leaving them to…
Yeah, she wasn’t going to think about that.
“Good.” Her father turned and clasped Nanine’s hand with a proud grin. “We might go away to Burgundy for a couple of days before the big dinner at the restaurant. Keep her mind happy and contented amidst so many changes.Plus, there are a few vineyards there I think might have some of the bottles we’d like to stock in the cave.”
Her dearest Nanine caressed her father’s neck in a way Brooke could only describe as deeply intimate and so very French. “Now that your father helped secure another cave to replace the one that was stolen from me, all he speaks of is wine.”
“Not only that, Nanine.”
Again, she tried not to look at them with bug eyes. A part of her brain was starting to chant:Her dad and Nanine. Her dad and Nanine!She wanted to cheer. She wanted to pour cold water over her head to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.
“If I don’t see you before you go,” she said, “have a wonderful trip.” With parts of her face frozen in shock, she struggled to give them a full smile.
“Thank you, princess,” her father said as he touched his heart, beaming back at her.
“Yes, thank you, Brooke,” Nanine said softly, touching her lips as if lost in thought. “I know it will not be easy with your roommates.”
“Don’t worry.” She waved a dismissive hand. “I…understand.”
And she did. Both she and Nanine wanted to keep their secret love affairs hidden. While she’d been prepared to tell the mother of her heart, she wasn’t ready to tell her father.
“Trusted friends and confidants are like treasured spices,” Nanine murmured. “We will see you soon, my dearest Third Course.”
“Count on it,” her father assured her with a nod of his unshaven chin.
That was her cue. She turned and walked out slowly because tripping or running into something was highly possible. Her limbs were jiggly. Her sense of direction was momentarily shot.
When she closed the door behind her, she fell back againstit. Her father and Nanine! She hunched over at the waist, breathing hard, before a smile started to flicker on her lips. It was everything she’d ever wanted.
And she hadn’t had to do a thing to bring it about.
God! Was she losing her mojo? Was something wrong with her? She touched her torso and then her forehead. Maybe she did have an imbalance somewhere. Axel would know. Suddenly, all she wanted to do was rush over to his home and tell him about all of this.
