The Cowgirl's Forever Family by Helen Lacey

Author:Helen Lacey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2016-08-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

“So,” Kayla said as she stirred her coffee. “How are things going with that lawyer you’re shacked up with?”

Brooke scowled and ignored the wicked gleam in her friend’s eyes. “Fine.”

They were at The Muffin Box café on Wednesday morning, having a quick catch-up over coffee and cake and talking about Lucy Monero’s recent engagement to Brooke’s cousin Brant and the upcoming wedding.

Ash offered a gentle nod. “Are you sure? You look a little far away.”

“I’m right here. And I’m good, I promise.”

But she hated lying to her friends. She wasn’t good. She wasn’t even remotely okay. The last couple of days had been some of the hardest of her life. With no word from Matt, and with Brooke getting more attached to Cara each day—plus her attraction for Tyler seeming to have a will of its own—things had never been more complicated. And there was the financial mess hanging over her head. But she also didn’t want to dissect her life with the other women. Oh, they’d understand, and they’d offer sympathy and reassuring words...but she wasn’t in the mood for pity or compassion. Not even from three people she cared about.

“Any word from Matt?” Lucy asked.

She shook her head. “Not yet.”

“When does Pretty Boy leave?” Kayla asked, grinning.

“Don’t call him that,” Brooke said firmly and pushed a fork through her raspberry muffin.

The three women were instantly silent. In the end it was Ash who spoke first. “Brooke...is something going on between you two?”

“No,” she replied honestly. “Not...exactly.”

“Do you mean not yet?” Kayla, always the frankest of the group, asked.

“It’s complicated.”

“Sex generally is,” Lucy said and smiled. “Whether you’re having it or not.”

“Well,” she said, mortified that she was actually having the conversation. “We’re not. I like him, okay,” she admitted. “He’s successful and handsome and charming and single, so of course I like him. I’m only human. I may have been off the dating scene for the past couple of years, but I haven’t been in a coma.”

The trio laughed and Kayla spoke next. “Off the dating scene?” she echoed. “Seriously? Is that what you’d call it?”

“Sure,” Brooke replied and grinned sweetly. “How is Liam O’Sullivan, by the way?”

Kayla rolled her eyes. “Nice try. But we’re talking about you today.”

“No, we’re not,” Brooke said as she pushed the barely touched muffin aside, “because I have to bail. I just came into town for a doctor’s appointment and need to get back. I’d like to spend as much time with Cara as I can while she’s here. And since my brother hasn’t shown up or called, I may only have a few more days to enjoy being an aunt.”

Or a mother.

She didn’t say it. But she knew her friends would be thinking the same thing. They all knew about her fertility issues and long battle with crippling endometriosis that ended with several surgeries and a load of heartache. They all knew she would never be a mother. Brooke had resigned herself to the fact years ago, but

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