Page 74 of A Class of Her Own

“Betty is kind of a jerk, actually. She tried to eat Jake.”

I scoffed. “Betty is the best person I know.”

“Mer?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m going to let you go because it’s late and I have hot cocoa and a hunky man waiting for me in front of a fireplace. But your cat is not a person. Merry Christmas, Sis. May all your dreams come true.”

“Brooks is not my dream!”

“Uh-huh. Bye.”

Thanks to my sister, Brooks VanOrman was actually my dream . . . because he took up residence in my dreams for the entire night.

CHAPTER TWENTY

The next morning I was loading groceries, cleaning supplies, and tools into the trunk of my car when Brooks casually walked up my driveway. Thanks to Ash and my humiliating dreams the night before, a tugging, wary feeling appeared in my chest as he approached with a smile. It felt unsafe to like him more than I knew he liked me even as I couldn’t ignore the happiness I felt at seeing him. I put the bag full of freezer meals into the trunk and turned to face him. So much had flip-flopped, and I was a wreck of roller-coaster emotions.

“Merry Christmas,” he said, offering a green bag to me. It was tied with a red bow and felt light as I took it out of his hand.

“That was yesterday,” I replied.

“Christmas spirit lasts even after the 25th,” he replied with a chuckle.

I opened the bag and took out a small, homemade, wooden ornament. The wood itself was a light-colored disc shape with an angel silhouette cut out of the center. It showed skill, and it was thoughtful. I looked up at him.

“You made this?”

“Yeah. I like to give them as gifts to friends and neighbors.”

I dropped it gently back into the bag. “Wow, I made the list this year. I’ve reached neighbor status,” I joked.

“Maybe next year you can reach friend status, but I don’t think we should set unreal expectations.”

I rolled my eyes and put the gift bag on a shelf near the house door. “Thank you. I’ll take that inside when I get home. I’m sorry I didn’t get you anything.”

“No problem.” He looked into my trunk and then back to me. “That’s an interesting collection of items. What are you up to today?”

I wiggled my toes in my shoes, wondering how much I wanted to share. If Ash hadn’t pestered me the night before, I probably wouldn’t be having these erratic thoughts as I stood there staring at my feet. In the end I decided to try to keep that wall down like I’d promised.

“Oh, just over to my dad’s house to help with some cleaning and get his freezer stocked up.”

Brooks looked at the tools and back at me. “Does he need some help with home repairs, or are those his tools that you’re returning?”

“He needs some help with repairs.”

“Could you use an extra hand? I’m free, and, as you know, I have a few Boy Scout credentials that are pretty impressive.”

“You planning to cut his shirttails off?”

Brooks laughed. “Really, let me come lend a hand.”

I wasn’t sure how to reply. Would my dad care? No. He probably wouldn’t even notice we were there, depending on what he was working on today. Did I want Brooks to see the reality of my life and put some more pieces together about me? Not especially. He might see it, feel pity, and then things would get all messed up. I liked getting to know each other without all this childhood baggage coming front and center.

At the same time it sounded so nice to not face this task alone. I knew Brooks had the skills to help, and it was hard to look at him and not want to spend the entire day around him. I was drawn to him, thinking about him incessantly.

So, I said, “Okay, jump in,” and watched with a crooked grin as he clapped his hands once and jumped into my car. I stayed outside for a few heartbeats before I willed my hands to close the trunk and pull my keys out of my pocket. When I did get in the car, it smelled like Brooks, warm and comforting and actually the yummiest scent in the world.

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