Page 105 of Broken Pieces

“Dad, Brooks is a different man than the one he was when he moved in here. Rae changed everything for him. She isn’t just a girl that he is going to forget. And I am sure he will fight like hell to get her back. The two of them…” he rubs the back of his neck, searching for words, “…the two of them work, Dad. I have never seen two people that were so unalike bond so quickly. They were both broken, but somehow, they mended each other. And right now, I can’t imagine what Brooks is thinking about when he knows what he is going to face when he walks through the door of that cottage. But you need to know Dad, he will never do anything that will jeopardize his life if it wasn’t worth it. If she wasn’t worth it.

“Yes, he was wrong to fight Hardy, but I don’t doubt there was a reason behind it. And I am sorry Brooks for what you are going to find when you get home.”

My eyes snap to his face. “What do you mean--?”

Before I can finish my question, Dad cuts in. “I still think he needs to move back in with me.”

“And I told you I need him here,” Brett replies. The two of them obviously having discussed this before.

“He can’t take care of himself, Brett.”

“He’s been taking care of more than himself. And he hasn’t gotten into trouble,” Brett replies.

“So what? Just because he’s been takin’ care of some girl who he supposedly loves you think he is gonna change. He loved Leigh, look how that turned out.”

My blood is boiling, but before I can say a word, Brett snaps, “You have some balls, Dad. I know first-hand Rae is nothing like Leigh. Brooks loves her more than he ever loved Leigh. And if he could have killed that asshole the other night for telling him he wanted a piece of Rae’s ass, I would have been there to help. This isn’t some teenage romance. This is the real deal. It’s real, Dad, you can’t take that away from Brooks.”

I am shocked at how Brett stood up for me. I am even more shocked that it shut my dad up.

We pull into the drive of the farm and the second we are at the cottage I bolt out of the truck.

“Brooks, wait,” I hear my brother yell. But I don’t. I can’t. Not after that conversation.

I slam open the front door, but no one is home. I run into her room and mine to look for her, but she isn’t here. I run back out to the living room intending to check the house when I see a bag sitting beside the couch.

My brother walks in the door and notices what I am looking at. “I was trying to tell you.”

Rage filters through my vision as I bark, “Tell me what?”

He sighs. “She quit. She is moving out.”

I fall to my knees. “Fuck.”

Brett kneels in front of me, grabbing my shoulders. “You’ll get her back man. I know it. She loves you too much.”

I look up at him, the emptiness that used to be in my chest returning at an astronomical rate. “She won’t. She won’t,” I mutter. “She didn’t want to be with me to begin with because she was afraid if anything happened it would tear her apart. And I fuckin’ did it man. I ruined her.”

Brett puts his hand on my back. “I don’t think it’s too late.”

I have nothing to say to him as I feel my entire life slip away at my fingers. I did this. I fucked up in the worst way. I broke her trust.

My dad clears his throat. I look up to see him standing in the doorway. I don’t want him to see me like this. He already thinks so little of me and now I am a grown man kneeling on the floor, fighting back tears over a woman.

“You can stay here, Brooks. This is your home. But no alcohol. That’s my compromise.”

I nod to him and stand. “Brett, do you think she will talk to me? Let me say goodbye at least?”

“I’ll see what I can do. She is probably saying goodbye to Summer,” he says as he turns to the front door.

I watch him walk away and then head to the kitchen to grab whatever alcohol is in here. I grab the three beers out of the refrigerator then head to the cabinet above the sink to grab the whiskey.

I set my hand on the counter into something wet. Very unlike Rae to not keep this place clean. I grab the bottle and set it down next to the beers.

“I’ll have Brett check this place every week for booze,” my dad says.

I nod my head in acquiescence and rub my hands on my face. I still can’t comprehend the fact I have lost her.

“What the hell is that?” my dad asks.

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