Brooke Hart and her husband, Derrick had been married for three years when her beloved grandmother passed away, leaving her a large cash inheritance, with the speculation that it could only be used for buying a house. When Brooke started looking for a house for them, she expected it to be easy, but each one she looked at, had something she didn’t like about it. After looking at over a hundred houses, she was about to give up, when she found a house that was perfect for them.
Not only did she fall in love with the location, it had everything she wanted in a house. After watching the neighborhood children ride their bicycles up and down the street for a while, she knew it was the perfect place to raise their children, as it was located at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac. With it being a dead-end street, she knew she wouldn’t have to worry about cars speeding down the street while children, she hoped to have someday, played outside. As soon as they moved in, they began working on starting a family, but she didn’t get pregnant.
Derrick offered to go to the doctor to be tested and when he came home, he told her he was fine; therefore, she was the one who had the problem. Her dream had been of her sitting on the front porch and watching her own children play here, but she now knew differently. If they wanted a child, they would a have to adopt, but before they could start the adoption process, Derrick started spending less and less time at home.
A month later, Brooke was sitting on her front porch drinking a cup a tea, watching the neighborhood children play kick ball when she saw Derrick’s car coming down the street. Worried something was wrong, she frowned, as he wasn’t due home for another hour.
When he got out of the car, she stood to greet him, but instead of kissing her as usual, he walked right pass her and stepped into the house. Confused by his actions, she followed him into the house; neither of them speaking as she trailed him to their bedroom.
When she saw him grab a suitcase out of the closet and started filling it with his clothes, her forehead wrinkled with puzzlement. “Derrick are you going somewhere?” she asked.
“I want a divorce,” he said as he threw his underwear into the suitcase, refusing to look at her as he continued filling the suitcase.
“You’re kidding, aren’t you?” As Brooke stared at him, her eyes filled with the dullness of her disbelief of his statement.
“Nope, I will get my other belongings later,” he said without any emotion.
She grabbed hold of his hand and pulled him to look at her. “Does this have anything to do with the fact I can’t have children?” Her eyes filled with tears, expecting him to say that was why he was leaving.
He looked away, refusing to meet her eyes before he spoke. “No, of course not,” he muttered, as he looked down at his clothes in the suitcase.
She began wandering restlessly around the room, her mind full of what she could do to change his mind. “If it doesn’t have anything to do with that, then why are you leaving me?”
He glanced over at her. “Haven’t you noticed that we don’t spend much time together anymore?”
“Whose fault is that?” She shouted at him, as he was the one who came home after she’d gone to bed.
His expression turned to one of anger. “Are you saying it’s all my fault? If it bothered you so much, why didn’t you say something to me about it?” He watched her as he waited for her response.
At his comment, she realized she should have talked to him about the fact he came home late each night, but after they found out they couldn’t have a baby of their own, she’d been hurting. So instead of trying to talk to him about how she felt, she went to bed, and the subject wasn’t ever mentioned as weeks turned into months.
“You’re right, I should have talked to you about our situation,” she muttered, but she’d assumed once he came to term, she was sterile, things would go back to the way it had been before the devastating news. When it hadn’t, she should have confronted him about coming home late each night. Still his leaving came as somewhat of a surprise to her.
She returned to the bed and touched his arm to stop him from packing. “We could work harder at our marriage, I’m willing to do anything to save what we have; maybe we could go see a marriage counselor. We’ve been marriage for five years, won’t you give it another try,” she asked softly, hoping he would be willing to try to save their marriage.
He shook his head as he looked up at her. “No, I’ve met someone new, someone who makes me feel alive, something I haven’t felt in a long time. As soon as the divorce is final, we’re getting married and starting a new life together.”
She sucked in a breath from his statement, as she was furious that he had gotten involve with another woman while still married to her. “If you leave me, you’ll have to live with the consequences of this decision,” she threatened, hoping it would change his mind. “So, I’m telling you right now, if your relationship ends with this other woman, don’t you dare come crawling back to me begging for me to forgive you,” she told him with tears in her eyes.
He turned away from her soul-piercing eyes. “I’m sorry Brooke, I hadn’t meant for any of this to happen,” he muttered as he closed his suitcase.
“Yea, sure,” she replied hatefully.
He looked up at her. “I didn’t really know how bad our situation was until I met Peggy.”
“How did you meet?” It didn’t matter, but she was curious how the other woman had come into her husband’s life.
“We happened to meet at a Subway restaurant one day at lunchtime, the place was crowded, and we happened to share a table. We got to talking, and before I knew it, I made plans to meet her there again the next day, and so it began. She makes me feel as if I’m the most important person in her life.”
Brooke wanted to beg him to stay, but realized his moving out was for the best, for if he didn’t love her any longer, what was the point of trying to save their marriage. They had been so much in love on their wedding day, making her believe their marriage would last until one of them died. It was sad that it hadn’t survived much more than five years, which made her wonder if their marriage, had been a mistake in the first place.
“I hope we can still be friends,” Derrick said, with great emphasis on the word friends.
She didn’t respond to his comment, as anything she would say would be hateful, and once she got started, it would only end with more spiteful words being said between them.
Just before he walked out the door, he leaned over, gave her a quick hug and kissed her cheek. “I’ll be in touch.”
Then he was gone.
After Derrick left, Brooke just sat there staring at the front door, as she expected him to come back home to tell her that it had all been a bad joke. When she realized the emptiness she had in the pit of her stomach was probably due more to the fact they had been a couple for so long, than actually being hurt about his leaving, she realized that her marriage had been over for some time, but she hadn’t realized it.
She stood and gave herself a good shake, as she needed to make some decisions, such as should she stay here in her house that she loved, or sell it and move into a small apartment? She cringed at that thought, as she hated the idea of moving out of her home.
Needing to talk to someone, Brooke called her friend, Skyler Collins. They had been friends since they were in grade school and knew each other’s dreams and desires for their future. When one of them needed a shoulder to cry on after a breakup with their latest boyfriend, the other one was always there to comfort and listen to them rant and rave about the no-good boyfriend.
When Skyler answered the phone, Brooke told her friend that her husband had left her.
“What? I don’t believe this.” Skyler shook her head. “Were you expecting this to happen?”
“I must be honest that I’m not shocked by him finding someone new.”
“At least that scum could have divorced you before he started sniffing around other women,” she said heatedly.
Brooke smiled at her friend’s words. “You won’t hear me disagreeing.”
Skyler felt bad at her comment. “I’m sorry. Since technically he’s still your husband, I shouldn’t have said that. I just don’t think highly of people who fool around while they’re still married.”
“I know.” And she did, as the two women had talked about this subject many time over the years. To them, one’s marriage vows were sacred, and you didn’t commit adultery for any reason. If you weren’t happy in the marriage, end it first, then you could fool around as much as you wanted.
“I’m going to sharpen my tongue so it will be nice and razor-sharp. So, you better tell him to run in the other direction if he sees me coming, as I’m going to lash into him and tell him what I think of him for what he did to you.”
Brooke chuckled. “You do have a way with words.”
“I’m angry because he hurt my friend,” she stated loudly.
Brooke smiled. “Skyler, you might find this hard to believe, but I’m not hurt. I can’t explain it, but in a way, I’m relieved this has happened.”
“You aren’t saying this just so I won’t verbally attack Derrick, are you?” Skyler knew her friend well enough to know she would say that to protect the creep.
Brooke laughed. “Though I would love to see you cuss him out, I must be honest with you that it isn’t all Derrick’s fault our marriage fell apart.”
“How can you say that?” she exclaimed, as she knew how long Brooke had loved Derrick.
“Ever since we found out we couldn’t have children; an invisible barrier had formed between us. I could have said something to him about him spending more time away from home, but I guess part of me just didn’t care anymore.”
“You two thought you were in love with each other, and because you were dating, you naturally assumed marriage was the next step.”
Brooke nodded as she took in her friend’s words. “You could be right.”
“Maybe marriage between you two just wasn’t meant to be.” Skyler smiled to herself as she thought of Derrick’s younger brother, Garrison. “Maybe there someone out there who was too young for you when you married Derrick, so much so, you didn’t even think about having a relationship with him. Now that you are both older, he wouldn’t be considered to be too young,” she said knowing from watching Garrison whenever he was with Skyler that he felt something for her friend, something more than brotherly love.
Brooke was confused by her statement. “What on earth are you talking about?”
Skyler would love to come out and tell her what she thought, but on the off chance, she was wrong, she had to keep quiet about her suspicion. “I’m just saying there is someone else out there who will be perfect for you.”
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“I’m not sure how long it will take me to be ready to become involved with someone new.” Since she didn’t want to be alone for the rest of her life, she knew eventually she would have to see about meeting someone new, but that could wait for another day to figure out.
“Just don’t close your eyes to someone you already know.”
Brooke frowned at her friend’s comment. “Do you know something I don’t?”
“I just meant you’re a great catch and any man would be lucky to have you.”
“Skyler, that’s so nice. I think the same thing about you.”
Before saying goodbye, Skyler told her she hoped everything would get better for her, sooner rather than later.
* * *
After she hung up from Skyler, Brooke went to the bedroom to change the sheets on the bed, as it was time to start fresh and just as she started the washer, the phone rang. She hesitated to answer, as she was afraid it might be Derrick. But since they really didn’t have any more to say to each other, she figured it must be someone else calling, so she answered the phone. “Hello?”
“Brooke how are things going with you two this evening?” a woman’s voice happily asked.
Brooke cringed, as it was Katrina, Derrick’s mother on the phone. By her words, Brooke realized she didn’t know about her son’s leaving her, which meant it was up to her to tell her mother-in-law that Derrick had left her. “Katrina, I have some bad news for you.”
“What’s wrong?” she asked with a panic-filled voice.
“Derrick packed his bags and left me,” she told her emotionlessly.
“What? Why in the world did he do that?” Katrina was shocked by Brooke’s statement. “I thought things were going well for you two.”
“He met another woman and after the divorce is final, they’re going to be married.”
“Oh honey, I’m so sorry. All I can say is that I’m shocked, as I never dreamed this would ever happen to the two of you. How are you handling this?”
“I’m okay. I understand why he left as it was time for us to dissolve our relationship,” she muttered sadly.
Katrina gasped, shocked by her statement. “Why do you say that?”
“Our marriage wasn’t working any more. He worked all the time, coming home after I went to bed; we never talked anymore or spent any time together. We both knew it, but neither of us did anything to end it or try to make it better.”
“What are you going to do now?” Katrina asked, hating the thought of losing her as a daughter-in-law.
“I don’t know, I haven’t thought much about it yet.” She fought her tears of frustration, as her future looked vague and dark without her husband. “I guess I’ll put the house up for sale as there won’t ever be any children to put in this one.”
“Oh, I hate to see you sell your house that you love so much. I would ask you to move in with me, but that probably wouldn’t be a good idea.”
Brooke’s eyes filled with tears at her comment. “Thanks for the thought. That means more to me than I can express. Derrick wants this to be a friendly divorce, but I don’t know if it will happen that way or not.”
They talked a few minutes more before Brooke said she needed to go. Since her nerves were ragged by what had transpired here today, she decided to step outside to watch the sun set, as it always had a calming effect on her.
After sitting there for ten minutes, she noticed a car slowly make its way down the street towards her, and as it got closer, she saw it’s was Garrison’s car. Brooke figured Katrina must have told Derrick’s younger brother about the divorce. She wished she hadn’t told her mother-in-law about the divorce, but then shook her head, as the divorce wasn’t something she could hide for very long. Seeing him get out of his car, she bit her lip knowing Garrison was liable to ask questions for which she didn’t have answers.
* * *
Garrison had stopped by his mother’s house for a visit and after he’d kissed her hello, she had given him some shocking news. He couldn’t believe Brooke and his brother were getting a divorce, as the two of them had been an item since the summer Brooke had moved in next door to them. Derrick was eighteen, she was seventeen and Garrison was sixteen, and he’d fallen in love with her from the first moment he’d laid eyes on her. He’d never let her know how he felt, not only was he too young for her back then, but a short time later, Derrick asked her out, and they soon were a couple. Garrison was greatly disappointed by their relationship, but he never let on about his attraction to the woman he’d lost his heart to the first day they’d met.
Even after all this time, no one knew, except maybe his mother that he was in love with his brother’s wife, as over the years, as she’d seen him watching Brooke with love in his eyes.
Brooke was a caring and loving person, one who never had a rude word to say about anyone, she always thought of others first, and went out of her way to help those in need. And because of these traits, Garrison was more in love with her now than he had been when he was a teenager.
After college, Derrick and Brooke were married, which caused Garrison to realize she would never be his, and that being so, he started dating. He went out with quite a few lovely young ladies over the years, but none of them ever touched his heart the way Brooke did, so he never married.
Neither of them were teenagers anymore and with Derrick out of the picture, Brooke would soon be free. Well, at least in the legal sense she would be available, but that didn’t mean she would be interested in a relationship with him. Garrison wanted to help her heal from her loss of Derrick, and hopefully, she would come to realize how much he truly cared for her. And because he loved her, it didn’t matter how long it took Brooke to get over her love for Derrick, he would wait for her.
* * *
Brooke watched as Garrison pulled into her driveway, parked the car, and got out. She had watched him grow from a scrawny teenager and thanks to his regular use of weight equipment, into a muscled bound young man. He outgrown his brother in height by a few inches, had broader shoulders, and was more handsome than Derrick. She had been attracted to him first, but since he was younger than she was, she didn’t give it another thought. Not only that, but she never dreamed he would be interested in her.
Over the years, she’d been confused by the way, Garrison watched her whenever they were together. It was as if he was in love with her, but since he never said anything to her how he felt or made a pass at her, she figured the attraction must just have been just a figment of her imagination.
Garrison didn’t speak as he walked towards her, and once he reached her, he simply sat down next to her and took hold of her hand.
When she noticed a warm tingling sensation where their hands touched, she looked over at him as she was puzzled by her responsiveness to him. They had accidently touched over the years, but she’d never felt such an awareness like this before. She was confused by it, as the feeling was one of a mixture of longing and desire, making her wondered where these new emotions for him had suddenly come from.
Suddenly, she liked the thought of him being in her life as something more than he was now, but since he was Derrick’s brother; she doubted anything would ever happen between them. She waited for him to say something first, but he didn’t, so she knew it was up to her to break the silence. “I guess you’ve talked to your mother recently,” Brooke stated without looking at him.
“Yes, I just left there.” He turned to look at her, waiting for her to tell him it was true.
“Then you know about your brother asking me for a divorce?”
“Yes, but she didn’t go into any details. I’m sorry for what Derrick has done to you,” he said without any real despair.
Brooke hadn’t noticed his tone as her mind was still on their joined hands. “Garrison, it isn’t your fault that your brother left me,” she said, smiling weakly as she looked over at him.
“Did he give a reason why he wanted to end your marriage?” Part of him wanted to hit his brother for hurting her, but the other part was thrilled their marriage was over.
Brooke was sure his mother had already told him why Derrick had left her, but she told him again anyway. “Just that he was in love with someone else, wanted to remain friends and that his leaving didn’t have anything to do with the fact I can’t have children,” she replied, masking her inner turmoil with a fake calmness.
“But you think it does?” he asked as he looked closely at her.
“Yes, as he’s acted strange ever since he had the test done.”
“Why do you think that was?” he asked, as he watched her expression.
Brooke shook her head. “After he took the test it, other than to say that he was normal, he wouldn’t talk about it.” Her eyes filled with tears. “As if I wasn’t normal just because I couldn’t conceive.” Her emotions were churning in her stomach, as she wasn’t ready to talk about this subject yet, especially not with Garrison.
“Why do you think he refused to talk to you about the test?” he asked softly.
Brooke jumped up, turned towards him with anger in her eyes. “How in the hell am I supposed to know the answer to that,” she screamed at him.
As soon as the words left her mouth, she quickly covered it with her hands, as she was mortified for yelling at a man who meant a great deal to her. “Garrison, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t take my frustration out on you, as you’re my friend as well as my family,” she said tearfully, hoping her actions hadn’t caused any damaging consequences to their relationship.
Garrison smiled at her. “Aw, I don’t care. Besides, what’s family good are for, if you can’t vent your anger on them occasionally.” He wanted the grab her and plant a smoldering kiss on her, one that would let her know exact how he felt about her. He refrained, but just barely, as legally, she was still married to his brother.
Brooke sat back down and put her hand on top of his, which was now resting on his knee. “It doesn’t matter anymore why he wouldn’t talk about the test, as I knew the marriage was over long before Derrick asked for a divorce.”
Hearing those words, gave Garrison hope she was ready to hear he that he was in love with her and wanted a relationship with her. He might be making the biggest mistake in his life, but he was willing to live with the consequences of his actions. Giving into his impulse, he stood, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her with all the love he had for her.
Brooke was stunned as his kiss wasn’t the brotherly kind, but one filled with passion and desire. A war of emotions raged within her, as she enjoyed the feel on his lips on hers. Not only that, but with his body up against hers, she knew he was aroused, which caused a thrill of excitement to surge through her at knowing some man other than Derrick found her desirable.
What was even more baffling was her reaction to the kiss, because sexual desire was now raging through her to the point that she wanted to take him inside and make love to him.
Since she had to be strong against the temptation of her desire for him, she started pushing at his chest as she couldn’t get involved with Garrison right now, as legally she was still married to his brother.
When Garrison’s dazed mind finally realized she was trying to push him away, he quickly lowered his arms to his sides and took a step back. “I’m not going to apologize for that,” he said as he tried to calm his fast beating heart, as kissing her had been so much better than simply dreaming about it.
“I think it would be best if you left now.” If he didn’t leave, she was liable to drag him to her bedroom, and that couldn’t happen as then she wouldn’t be any better than Derrick.
Garrison was mad at himself for the way he had practically attacked her on the front steps of her home, but he simply couldn’t wait another moment to feel her lips on his. “Brooke, let me explain,” he uttered, as he was afraid, he had ruined their relationship with his kiss.
Strange and mystifying thoughts were bombarding her mind, as her eyes teared up from her pen up desires for him. “No, just go. I have a lot going on in my head right now and I can’t deal with you and this kiss just now.” The thing that confused her the most was that she wanted Garrison in her bed, but why now, as before the kiss, she hadn’t ever felt this way towards him.
“I’ll go, but this isn’t over yet.”
She watched as he slowly walked to his car. Since he’d kissed her the way he had, she realized he must have romantic feeling towards her, causing her to wonder how long he had felt that way. Maybe that was the reason why he was always staring at her, but why hadn’t he ever let on to her that he felt more than brotherly love for her?
Then Brooke shook her head, as she realized he couldn’t very well tell his brother’s wife that he was in love with her. Besides, she could be completely wrong about the whole situation.
No matter what might happen between them, she knew it had to wait until her marriage to his brother was over. The thought made her melancholy, as a divorce may take months to be finalized, and she found she didn’t want to wait that long before she could be with Garrison.
Before Garrison opened his car door, he looked back at Brooke. Seeing her gloomy expression, he wondered who was to blame for the heartrending expression on her face. Was it his fault because of his kiss or was it his brother’s fault for leaving her for another woman? It was probably best if he didn’t know, as most likely he wouldn’t like the answer.
Maybe he would call her tomorrow to talk about what had happened here tonight. Then again, maybe he shouldn’t, as he didn’t want his calling to her cause her to close down completely with him. He would wait a few days before he gave her a call, as they needed to talk about their situation.
When he did call her, he decided to let her control the topic of their conversation.
“Garrison, I’m glad you called.” Even though he’d been her brother-in-law for all these years, since the kiss, all Brooke could think about was his wonderful kiss, which had affected her all the way to her toes. Thinking of his kiss made her wonder what it would be like to make love to him every night for the rest of her life.
“Really?” He let out the breath he’d been holding, as he’d been ready for her to tell him that she never wanted to see him again.
“I’ve miss talking to you. I thought you should know that I’ve heard from Derrick’s lawyer and the divorced is scheduled for two months from today.”
“That seems quick.” Garrison was thrilled, as that meant she would be his, all that much quicker. That is, if she wanted to have a relationship with him, as they hadn’t talked about it yet.
“That’s what Derrick wants. Besides, the sooner the marriage is over, the sooner I can start living again.” She wanted to say more but didn’t know how to tell him she wanted a relationship with him.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he told her, then he quickly hung up, as he was afraid, he might say something he would later regret, such as he was in love with her.
The next day, instead of calling, Garrison stopped by Brooke’s home, arriving just in time for dinner, and so she invited him to eat with her, and of course, he said yes.
They didn’t speak of the kiss between them or about Derrick, instead they kept the topics on their jobs and the weather. It was a pleasant evening, and he stayed until ten that night. When he left, he had the strong desire to pull her into his arms and give her a breath-taking kiss, but instead, he leaned over and kissed her cheek.