Page 58 of The Brooklyn Way

Brooklyn and I had gotten married in an intimate ceremony during the All-Star break. Because we spent so much time by the water and because it was such a huge element in our relationship, Brooklyn decided that she wanted something different for the wedding. We flew our immediate families and a few friends to a luxury mountain hideaway in Oregon. We spent three short days making love and enjoying our surroundings. The minute we stepped out of our love cocoon, the shit hit the fan.

When news of our wedding broke, so did the fact that we had only “met” eight months earlier. Vince’s ex, Kelly whatever-the-hell, appeared out of nowhere, posting receipts about Brooklyn and the fact she was still cohabitating with Vince up until three months before we got together. The pundits on social media tried to drag Brooklyn and label her as everything from a ho to a gold-digger to an opportunist. My media team came through with their own receipts—pictures of me and Brooklyn from across the years. Of course, neither of us ever copped to the fact that even though we’d known each other for years, I never paid her any attention until the summer she lived in my guest house. Once people found out that she was Carrington’s college roommate and close friend for over a decade, they backed off.

“Happy four month anniversary, Mr. Field. I knew I would find you here blowing off some steam.”

“Yeah, I had some nervous energy I needed to work off. How was your meeting?”

After the second set of social media attacks, Brooklyn came very close to giving up her business completely. She was on the cusp of making the decision to only create for herself, close friends and family members. That was exactly when opportunity came calling.

Journey Watson of Freedom Journey luxury brand asked to do a collaboration with Brooklyn on a small capsule collection of summer staples. Months after Nyrah had worn a dress created by Brooklyn, Journey finally reached out. Within five weeks, Brooklyn created prototypes for three different sundresses, a pleated tennis skort, a miniskirt, two tops, one pair of shorts, a blouse, a graphic tee, and three swimsuits—one one-piece and two bikinis, all in her signature bright colors. The collection sold out in one day. Journey asked for a meeting to acquire a fall capsule collection.

“It was excellent.” She was all smiles, which made me smile. “Journey liked everything I presented—the sweater dresses, the wrap dress, a long-sleeved flounce dress, two pairs of slacks, and two blouses. I’m going to fall back on my bright colors for this one. I’ll use mostly muted, autumnal shades with a few pops of my signature brights.”

“Yo, I’ve been thinking. If this collection for Freedom Journey does well, what do you think about doing your own line of clothing? Would that be something you would be interested in?”

“Possibly.” She eyed me. “You know how I get when I’m on this island. I see inspiration in everything. I feel like I can create anything.”

I winked at her because, to me, she could create anything. She was everything.

“Speaking of creating things… I spoke to Big Red on my drive home from Charleston. She was crying about how she and Pop-Pop aren’t gonna be around forever. She said they would like some great grandbabies from us before they get too old to enjoy them.”

“Tell Big Red to say less.”

“Yeah. I already made an appointment to get the patch removed. I need to get my fertility back.”

“Yeah, you do. And once you get the patch removed, know this—you won’t need any form of birth control for the rest of your life,” I told her.

She laughed. “Nope. I wanna have as many Field babies as you’ll give me.”

“As long as I’m making money, we can have a football team.”

The expression on her face was hard to read.

“What?” I asked. “Why are you looking like that?”

“I think I forgot to tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

“Uh, I lost both my parents in a train accident—”

“I know that, baby.”

“TrailTrack, a multi-million dollar company was at fault. Pop-Pop and Big Red got me a lawyer. We sued them. After my lawyer got through with them, they settled with me for thirty-seven point five million dollars. I’m a millionaire.”

All of the oxygen left my body. “And you’re just now thinking to tell me this?”

“Well, Pop-Pop and Big Red had the money put in a trust for me that I can’t access until my thirtieth birthday. I guess I’m not technically a millionaire until November twelfth. Still, my point was that the number of babies we have doesn’t have to be contingent on your money.”

I sighed heavily, walked over to the bleachers, and snatched up my phone.

Brooklyn hustled over to me. “What are you doing? Who are you calling? Are you mad at me? I wasn’t trying to be slick and—”

“I’m texting my attorney. You didn’t disclose the money, Brook. It wasn’t accounted for in the pre-nup. We have to do a post-nup so we can protect it.”

Her face was twisted up. “Protect it from who?”

My face twisted up. “From me, baby. If anything goes wrong with this marriage, I shouldn’t be able to access that money. It’s yours. It’s from your parents.”

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