Page 54 of Brooke
Locating the key from its secret place under a loose brick, she opened the door, eager to catch up with Nanine and share her news. Walking inside, she froze at the sight before her as Nanine’s famous chandelier gave a playful melody of chimes.
Nanine’s horrified brown eyes locked with hers before she jumped out of a silver-haired man’s arms. Brooke’s mouthgaped before she gave a tentative smile. Ah…Nanine had a lover. That explained everything!
“Sorry to interrupt,” she said brightly, only to stop short as the man turned around.
“Well, good morning, Brooke,” her father said, clearing his throat.
Something must have struck her. Nanine’s chandelier? Because she was in total shock.
Her father was Nanine’s lover?
He punched a smile, his round, cherished face tightly drawn. “You’re not at yoga, princess.”
“No, I—” His words were still buzzing in her ears. Maybe she was going blind from a brain aneurysm or something because the image before her tilted. Her father was wearing the navy robe she’d bought him for Christmas while Nanine had on a red silk number that stopped above her knees, one Brooke had never seen before.
Her head swam, stars appearing in her vision.
They were together. Liketogethertogether. Holy sweet fucking hell!
“I imagine this is a great surprise to you, Brooke,” Nanine said in husky English, taking her father’s hand. “We were not certain about telling you. I thought more time should pass…”
“And I know how weird and awkward this must be to you, princess,” her dad continued, a nervous tic pulsing in his jaw. “Your good old dad and the woman you look at as your mother. Together.En déshabille.”
Her mind couldn’t take the French. Her English-self yelled,In your underwear!
“We’ve known each other for years,” he explained, as if she didn’t remember meeting Nanine with him at her restaurant when she was six. “I expect it’s still a little surprising, perhaps.”
“Yes,” she rasped before clearing her throat and shakingherself to bring her brain back online. “But while it’s shocking, it’s…I’d hoped you two might…”
Her father smiled brightly when words failed her. “I did as well, princess. I’ve always thought Nanine was an exceptional woman, but given how much you loved her, I didn’t want to step in and hurt anything. Besides, I didn’t live in Paris and she still wasn’t over Bernard.”
Nanine’s sadness was evident in her pallor. “Now it seems I must be, just as I must move on from the other thing I so loved. My choices are as clear as my chandelier crystals: move on or perish. I choose to move on. Nanine Laurent is no coward.”
Brooke suddenly had to fight rare tears. Nanine’s chandelier gave a mournful but somehow hopeful tinkle as Brooke’s father stepped forward and caressed her back, watching her with a grave face.
“My life has changed,” Nanine continued with her chin held high, “and I must change as well. Your father is a welcome part of this new journey, Brooke, and I hope you will be happy for me. For us.”
Brooke practically babbled, “Of course I am. I really had hoped it might happen. It was on my unwritten list of things?—”
Her father’s loud burst of laughter cut her off. “You didn’t write it down in your day planner? Brooke, I’ve been tempted for many years to read what you have in there about your old man.”
But he wouldn’t, which was one of the many reasons why she loved her dad. “There is a lot about you, Daddy—and Nanine—but I couldn’t make myself write this one down,” she confessed. “It was more like a dream, which started the day I saw you two walk together into our new home here in Paris.”
“Brooke, you are the best daughter in the world to want to fix your father’s life and Nanine’s and dream about us gettingtogether, but this time I am delighted we have managed it all on our own.”
Nanine had said she was exactly where she needed to be. Clearly, she hadn’t been exaggerating. Her feet were like heavy blocks as the new gravity of the situation filled her body. Her father and Nanine! God, the Universe kept the surprises coming.
“I hope you will be pleased for us, my dear Third Course,” Nanine told her softly, her watchful gaze both confident and vulnerable. “I know my heart, and while this may seem fast, I trust it. So much so that your father has asked me to move into his new apartment with him.”
Brooke’s entire body seemed to jerk even taller in shock. Move in? My God, what else was she going to find out?
“Non, chérie.”Her father touched Nanine’s cheek, gazing into her eyes. “To share it with me. For it will be ours.”
The soft glow on Nanine’s face pinged Brooke’s shaking heart. The way her father had sounded in French then…
She’d never heard that thread of romantic love in his voice. Ever.
“I stand corrected,” Nanine said, continuing in French.
