Page 15 of Falling into Place

Chapter Ten

Brooks

Deborah Truman attended college in California, which is where she met Paul Martin.

They fell madly in love, got married three months later, and Paul followed her back to Oklahoma so she could pursue her dream of starting a local news source dedicated to the people and community of her hometown.

Anyone who met Deborah and Paul knew right away they were head-over-heels for each other, and theirs was truly a romance for the ages.

—Reverend Thornhill at Deborah Martin’s funeral

He shouldn’t have brought them up. Dead parents were probably off-limits for a first date, even a pretend first date with a girl he sort of knew in high school and was enjoying getting to know again as an adult.

He preferred not to talk about them at all, truth be told. While he was a master at discussing difficult topics with his patients (occasionally) and their families (often), he wasn’t so great at handling his own baggage. Lucky for him he’d gotten good at avoiding it.

But it just pissed him off, hearing that some dude was out there suggesting love was some unattainable fantasy or something that only existed in movies.

There were couples who experienced passionate, all-consuming love that transcended body and soul and drove a person to dedicate their entire life to making someone else happy.

He knew because he’d seen it.

Carly didn’t know what to say, that much was clear. Even though he hadn’t meant to make her uncomfortable, she had this sort of awkward, agonized look of remorse on her face. Thankfully the server came with alcohol in tow, and they placed their food order. But the interruption was short lived.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly when they were alone again.

He shook his head. “Don’t be. Those memories are the ones I love most. Instead of thinking about how I felt the moment I found out my mom was gone, or the way my dad nearly disappeared as a person after that, I prefer to think about the fact they still held hands wherever they went.

The way my dad had to touch her any time she was close by, even if he was just passing her in the kitchen.

He’d kiss her cheek or slide his fingers across her waist. Or if he wanted to get a rise out of us about how gross they were, he’d smack her right on the ass. ”

Carly laughed a little at that, and he was glad. They were good memories.

“They weren’t so in love that they neglected us, but their relationship was a priority.

They had regular date nights and took weekends away, just the two of them.

They genuinely loved being in each other’s company, even after twenty-three years of marriage and three kids.

The way my dad looked at her sometimes .

.. It was like he felt so much for her he didn’t know what to do with it.

” So much he didn’t know how to live after she was gone.

He couldn’t meet her eyes, afraid he’d find discomfort or, worse, pity in her gaze. But the words she spoke were soft and genuine, and he glanced up.

“That’s so beautiful. You’re lucky to have had such a good example set for you.”

This was veering far, far away from small-talk territory, but ... “Did you not?”

Her gaze dropped to the table and she didn’t reply for a long moment.

Shit. Should have gone with his gut and kept quiet. “You don’t have to answer that.”

She shook her head. “No, it’s okay. I was just trying to think of a nice way to say my dad ran off when I was a baby and my mom loved gambling too much to ever make the effort again with another man, but there’s just not a nice way to say that.

She hardly made the effort with me, so no, I didn’t have that kind of example. ”

“Did Sasha know?” he said without thinking. Really? That’s what you’re going with? Next time try a simple I’m sorry or That sounds difficult .

But ... wow. This was completely new information.

He’d never picked up even an inkling of that from her back in high school, which was especially shocking, given his sister was a major gossip and the worst at keeping secrets.

How was it he’d known all about Trisha Hampton’s pregnancy scare and the dating history of every member of the student council, but not this?

“Yeah. Probably the only one that did, actually. I’m sure you don’t remember this, but I stayed with your family for an entire week during sophomore year because my mom blew all her money at the casino and we couldn’t afford groceries.

Sasha saved me from seven days straight of packaged ramen noodles and frozen peas. ”

No, he didn’t remember that. He’d been pretty focused on everything having to do with himself back then. What would he have done—if anything—had he known? “I’m so sorry, Carly.”

She smiled, but something about it didn’t feel genuine.

“It wasn’t all bad. Sometimes she won big and took me out to celebrate.

We’d dine at the finest restaurants and go shopping for an entire new wardrobe.

I learned quickly to buy a few things in different sizes, so that if my body changed, I’d still have nice things to wear if she lost it all again. ”

He was speechless. His stomach hurt for her and what that must have been like. No wonder she was so cautious about money.

Then her foot tapped his under the table. “She’s been clean for ten years now. She’s doing really well.”

He blew out a breath. “That’s good.”

She scratched the side of her nose. “So, I didn’t mean to unload all that on you. What were we even talking about?”

“You were trying to help me with small talk.”

“Right. That went well.”

He laughed. To get back on track, he tried to think of another good first-date topic of discussion. “So what do you like to do for fun?”

“Shop and watch movies. I love trying new restaurants, and if I so much as hear a whisper about bar trivia, I’ll be there.” She toyed with the straw in her cocktail glass. “This will make me sound like an old woman, but I also like to crochet.”

Brooks couldn’t help it, he laughed. “Really?”

“I made Pepper a sweater last month.”

“It’s May.”

She shrugged. “He’s an indoor cat.”

“Would you make one for Oreo?”

“Sure, what size is he?”

How the hell was he supposed to know? Were cat sizes even a thing?

She laughed, one of those full-bodied ones he still hadn’t forgotten from the first time they got together a few weeks ago. “God, you should see your face. I’m kidding. Cat size is universal.”

He dropped his head back against the booth. Who was this woman?

“Oh, here’s a trick you can use on a date,” she said, hardly missing a beat. “If things are getting a little awkward and I’m looking for something to say, I just look around the room and find inspiration.”

“Like . . . how, exactly?”

Her eyes wandered around the large room until she stilled and pointed to a frame on the wall.

“There. I’d point out that painting and say I liked the colors or something, and ask if they were into art.

Or ... when we’re looking at the menu, I think of some food I’ve never tried but have always wanted to and ask them if they have anything like that.

Or something else food related, like if they had to eat one single food every day for the rest of their lives, what would it be? ”

Brooks just blinked at her. Those were all great ideas, but he didn’t trust himself to come up with anything like that on the fly.

“If I’m already feeling pretty comfortable and we’re hitting it off, I might lean in and ask if he thinks anyone else in the room is on a first date. It takes the attention off us, and it can lead to a fun conversation guessing the backstories of the people around you.”

He glanced around the room, pausing when he landed on a couple at the bar. He tipped his head in their direction. “They’re on a first date, for sure.”

Carly followed his gaze. “Totally.”

“He’s wearing hair gel and trying real hard to make her laugh,” he started.

“And she’s laughing way too loud and keeps touching his arm,” she finished. “Ten bucks says they leave together within the hour.”

“What? No way.”

“Why not?”

“She’s way out of that guy’s league. That would be like ... like you and me leaving together after dinner.”

“Well, we probably will, seeing how I drove you here,” Carly said, grinning. “And that’s ridiculous. I’m not even a little out of your league.”

He snorted. “Please.”

“Why on earth would you say that?”

Maybe he should shut this down, but it was an objective fact that she was gorgeous. He waved an arm in her general direction. “Look at you.”

“I can’t,” she said. “Not when I’m looking at you.”

His heart stopped in his chest.

She leaned forward, mischief in her eyes. “Fix your face, my guy. That’s what it will feel like when a woman flirts with you, and you can’t stare at them like they just said the earth is flat.”

Brooks barked out a laugh and turned back to meet her brown eyes. “You’re an enigma, Carly Porter.”

She raised her brows and took a long sip of her cocktail. “I’m sure you’re right, but what do you mean?”

He tried to put it into words. “You’re just surprising, I guess. Just when I think I’ve got you figured out you change it up on me.”

“I still don’t follow.”

She regarded him across the table, one brow raised. Everything about her was just so damn inviting, and he couldn’t believe how easy it was to talk to her. Something told him even if they “practiced” like this every day for a year, it still wouldn’t be this easy with someone else.

“When I first met you at Coffee Slingers, I’d been expecting the quiet book nerd I remembered from high school.

And you’re still sort of that person, because you work with numbers and you crochet sweaters for your cat.

But you’re also completely different. You go to bars all the time with Sasha.

You’re funny and sarcastic and you say things about my ass and waitresses checking me out, and it’s all very confusing. ”

She seemed amused by his summary. “Maybe I always was that person. I don’t recall you trying to get to know me back then.”

His initial reaction was to think what a shame that was, but then he remembered what happened to anything he touched during that time of his life. “Thank God for that,” he said, shaking his head. “I’d have ruined you.”

“You weren’t that bad,” she said, but they both knew he had been. “But either way, I think you get a pass after losing your mom, and virtually your dad, at the same time.”

Her words startled him at first. On the rare occasion someone had a reason to mention his dad, they offered their condolences for his death, which had happened after a major heart attack during Brooks’s third year of medical school.

But with the way Carly said it, she knew it felt like they’d lost him long before that.

That after his mom had died, his dad had become a shell of his former self, barely able to hold on to his job and having zero energy to devote to his children.

He’d been so absent that Macy’d had to step up occasionally as a parental figure, but she’d been in college and had her own life to worry about.

Most people didn’t know that part, but with as close as Carly and Sasha had been back then, it made sense Carly understood both.

The sound of shattering glass pierced the air, and both of them startled in the direction of a server who’d dropped an entire tray of drinks. The restaurant went silent for a beat before the low hum of conversation picked up again.

Brooks blew out a long breath and directed a wan smile across the table. “Well. I’ve come to the conclusion you and I can’t make small talk. It’s serious business with us or nothing at all.”

“Right? Damn.”

“I hope I can keep it lighter with my dates.”

“Quick, tell me a joke.”

He froze, and she burst out laughing. “Your face! You look like I just asked you to recite the periodic table from memory.”

Now she was talking. “Hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium—”

“Oh my God, stop.” She snorted. “Do not do that on a date.”

“Why? You’re laughing, aren’t you?”

She was really beautiful when she laughed.

“And here I was feeling like the geek at this table with my crocheted cat sweaters. Seriously, berylli-whatever? Who even knows that?”

He shrugged. “I had to memorize it in med school. It’s one of those things that never left me. And I bet some women would find it extremely sexy.”

She scrunched her nose. “Impressive, maybe. Sexy might be pushing it.”

“You’re right, showing them my mediocre garden is what will get them into bed.”

“If that’s your end goal you should be thankful you can’t find those horrid jeans.”

He jabbed a finger at her. “I knew it. What did you do with them?”

There went those eyelashes again, batting. “Nothing. I’m just saying it’s probably best you can’t find them, because they were basically a woman repellant.”

“I’m worth more than the clothes I wear, you know.”

“Believe me, I know that more than anyone. When my mom first started gambling and before I learned to plan ahead, there were times all I had to wear were things we’d picked up at the nearest garage sale.

I refused to let it define me, but it sure as hell stung when kids hurled insults at my back.

” He had the urge to reach across the table and grab her hand, but she said it so matter-of-factly he could almost believe it didn’t bother her now.

“Your clothes should be the least interesting thing about you, but first impressions matter. I just want to help you put your best self out there the first time you meet someone, okay? That means jeans that show her at least a glimpse of your ass.”

He laughed and crossed one ankle across his knee under the table. “Okay, okay. Fine. If I can return the favor, might I suggest that on your next date, maybe don’t bring up the cat sweaters?”

“If you promise not to cite the elements, I won’t bring up my crochet. Deal?”

He grinned, unable to think of the last time he’d smiled this much. The nurses at work should see him now.

“Deal.”