Jordan squeezed her shoulder, tormenting her with all the things they shouldn’t do this weekend. “Consider it done.”
Brooke advanced the rest of the way up the stone stairs, a smile firmly in place, and blessedly she saw nothing but welcome in Cassie’s outstretched arms.
She stepped into the hug she had needed so desperately since telling her family about the baby.
Beside her, she could see the men shaking hands and thumping each other on the back as Brandon extended his congratulations.
Brooke’s eyes filled with tears, and Cassie pulled back,tut-tutting . “No, no, this is a happy time. Dry up those tears.”
“Hormones. I can’t help it.” She swiped the back of her hand along her cheeks.
“I’m sad, I cry. I’m happy, I cry.”
“Fair enough, then. Let me look at you while you finish sopping up those tears.”
Her sister stepped back, smiling. “Pregnancy most definitely suits you. You’re gorgeous.”
Brandon whistled low. “Amen to that.”
Cassie swatted him lightly on the stomach. “You could be a little less enthusiastic in saying that, my dear.”
The high-powered attorney slung an arm around Cassie’s shoulders and dropped an unabashedly adoring kiss on his fiancée’s cheek. “I’m a one-woman man, and you know it.”
Cassie softened against him, her marquise-cut diamond engagement ring glinting in the early-afternoon sun. “Just so you don’t forget it.”
Rings, rings everywhere. Brooke resisted the urge to stomp her foot in frustration.
It was as if Jordan had special ordered all these engaged couples and their happiness just to tempt her. Instead she felt tormented by the ease in the relationships of her siblings with their loved ones. This was how things should be.
She was right to stick to her guns about dating rather than jumping into some marriage of convenience.
Jordan clapped Brandon on the shoulder. “How about you give me a tour of the place while our ladies here talk baby stuff?”
“Sounds like a plan to me, Jefferies. Let’s start out by the pool house bar.”
Their voices drifted on the sea breeze, leaving the sisters alone.
Brooke reached to hook arms with Cassie, relaxing when her sister seemed to have no problems with the continued affection. “Thank you for welcoming us on such short notice.”
“It’s no trouble at all.”
“Are you sure? Our visit is so last minute. We can stay at the hotel.”
Since the reading of their father’s will, her sister controlled the Garrison Grand-Bahamas nearby.
“Don’t be silly. I have plenty of room and kept Mother’s staff after she passed.
We’re fine.”
“Okay, then.” Brooke walked alongside her over the threshold into the splendor of Cassie’s home, a busy, wonderful mix of contemporary, colonial and Queen Anne. “I must admit I welcome the extra time with you. We have a lot of lost years to make up for.”
“I always thought my life was full here, and my mother truly was okay without the trappings of a wedding ring or marriage certificate.” Cassie’s eyes lingered on a portrait of John Garrison with Cassie’s mother, the bronzed beauty who had held his heart if not his name. “But now that the tension has passed since the reading of our father’s will, I am enjoying having siblings. Of course the big family is nothing new to you.”
Brooke tore her gaze away from the image of her father and continued with her sister toward glass doors leading outside to a dense garden. “Just because I grew up with brothers and a sister doesn’t mean I value you any less. It just took me a while to see past…”
“My getting such a large portion of your family’s estate?” Cassie sat on a stone bench near a huge fountain.
Brooke sagged to sit beside her, the verdant scents from the tropical flowers not strong enough to override the acrid air of betrayal. “Dad lying. You had the truth all those years. We had a lie. That was—still is—hard for me to see past.”
She slid her hands protectively over her stomach. “I want my child to have a life filled with the truth.”
“So you came here for more than a place to prop your feet and sun your face.”
Her mind crowded with images—that portrait of her father with his other family, so many engagement rings, and largest of all, Jordan ’s face coming toward hers for a mind-numbing kiss. “I think perhaps I came here for answers.”
“Ah, sister dear, the problem is, just because I found a way or your other siblings did for whatever reason, doesn’t mean that’s right for you. Everyone has to find their own path.”
Which left her with nothing more than a host of questions and two swollen feet.
If only life were as simple as tossing a penny into that sparkling fountain so she could wish her world right again. She stared into the bubbling waters, her mind mixing around the images of the portrait, rings— Jordan ’s handsome face.
Simply the thought of his kiss made her skin tingle all over as if she’d plunged herself into the fountain.
At this rate, how would she ever manage to resist falling into bed with him?
Moonlight glistening on the surf, Jordan looped his arm around Brooke’s side and enjoyed the gentle kick of his child against his fingertips. The little one seemed restless tonight.
And something was up with the baby’s mother, as well. He wasn’t sure what churned around in that beautiful head of hers, but she’d been jittery since they’d arrived.
Not the reaction he’d planned for.
He’d hoped bringing her here would advance his cause. With luck, this midnight walk by the water would calm her and romance her. But he wanted more than romance from her. He wanted commitment. He wanted to plant his ring on her finger the way Cassie Sinclair’s hand sported Brandon’s rock.
No question, Brandon was one astute dude on a lot of points. Brooke Garrison was a hot pregnant woman.
Her pink dress with the gauzy wrap draped around her shoulders complimented her new curves. The simple elegance seemed all the more perfect with her bare feet furrowing in the sand. He couldn’t help but notice how her dress tied at the shoulders, simple little strings he could so easily tug and undo…
Stop. Many more thoughts like that and he would have her ducking behind a dune.
“How was your time with Cassie?” He thought of all those photos packed in every corner of the house. The outward structure of the place might resemble the South Beach Garrison mansion, but no question, John Garrison had found a home here. It was that element that had been missing from Bonita’s house, even Brooke’s condo.