The next morning, Brooke quickly got out of bed, grabbed her clothes, and hurried into the bathroom to dress. Not wanting Garrison to wake up and ended up having a vocal discussion about her returning to her house, she quietly tipped-toed out of his apartment.

When she got to her house, seeing Derrick’s car was still parked in her driveway, she frowned as this wasn’t a good thing. When she entered her house, she heard Derrick snoring from the bedroom, and if she were lucky, he would stay that way until after she left for work. She went into the kitchen and started the coffeemaker, then went into the bedroom to take her shower.

When she entered the bedroom, she noticed Derrick’s underwear was lying on the floor next to the bed, causing her to grimace. Since she didn’t want to see her now ex-husband naked, she grabbed the clothes she was going to wear today and hurried for the bathroom. After she closed the door, she locked it to prevent her unwelcomed guest from entering while she took her shower and surprising her in the buff.

She’d been hoping to get out of the house before Derrick woke up, but her luck ran out just as she was stepping out of the shower. When Derrick pounded on the door, she let out a scream, as she hadn’t been expecting the loud knock on the door.

“I’m sorry baby; I didn’t mean to scare you,” he muttered when he heard her cry out. “I hope I was good in bed because I don’t remember a thing.”

Brooke just shook her head thinking he was an arrogant ass. Was he like this the whole time they were married, or did he change after meeting the other women? Maybe it was the remaining alcohol talking, whatever it was, she was glad they weren’t married any more. “Last night was great,” she uttered through the closed door, figuring it was easier to lie, than to tell him the truth. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

“Open the door and I help dry you.”

“No, I’m running behind this morning, I can’t be late to work,” Brooke said as she quickly dried herself off. After she was dressed, she opened the bathroom door, and gasped as Derrick was standing against the doorframe.

His proximity had startled her, causing her to back up a step. She didn’t want to look, but she had to know if he was decent, so she glanced down to his waist, relieved to see he wasn’t buck-naked any longer. Brooke hoped he behaved himself this morning, because if not, she knew with his strength, she wouldn’t be able to fight him off. “Derrick, you need to go home, as I don’t have time to talk to you this morning.”

“Honey, I am home, as this is my house.”

He was really pushing her buttons, as he refused to listen to her. “Weren’t you in court yesterday when the judge declared us divorced?” she asked him sarcastically.

“Yes, so what of it?” he asked, his eyes filled with his bewilderment of her question.

“That same judge declared this was my house, not yours. Period, end of conversation. Now I’m telling you for the last time, get out of my house,” she said furiously.

“Honey don’t be mad at me. Like I told you last night, I want us to get back together.”

“How strange you didn’t want to get back together before the divorce was finalized, so what happened between then and last night?” she asked, as she really wanted to hear his answer.

He turned away. “I don’t know what you mean?” he answered with fake ignorance.

When he refused to look at her, she knew there was more to it than he was telling her. “Yesterday you wanted Peggy Morales, then last night you wanted me. What happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about Peggy,” he replied with an icy tone.

“Well I do. I want to know what happened between you two?” she asked.

“Peggy thought I would get the house in the divorce.”

Baffled by his words, she looked at him suspiciously. “She left you because you didn’t get this house?” Brooke asked, as she closely watched his expression. “That seems like a lame excuse to me. Are you sure there isn’t more to it than that?”

“If you must know, we had a big fight,” he told her frostily.

“What about?” she softly asked him.

“Babies,” he said, but didn’t elaborate.

“What about them?” she questioned him.

“She wants them, and I don’t.” Derrick turned and walked away from her.

His reply confused her. “Since when haven’t you wanted to have children?”

“Brooke, what differences does it make? I have just changed my mind is all,” he said, still refusing to look at her.

Brooke shook her head. “I can’t stay and discuss this with you any longer or I’ll be late for work. I’ll fix you a cup of coffee for you to take with you.”

He reached out and touched her arm. “What about us? You can’t just let five years of marriage go to waste.”

“There isn’t any us any more as our marriage ended at your request so you could be with Peggy. I warned you if you ended our marriage, you would have to live with the consequences of your actions, so now that’s exactly what you have to do.”

Brooke walked to the kitchen where she grabbed a travel mug, poured coffee into it, and handed it to Derrick. “Here’s your coffee. Don’t worry about returning the mug.”

“I want to talk to you some more. Can I see you tonight?” he softly pleaded.

Her head was beginning to pound from dealing with Derrick. “No, you can’t come over tonight, as there isn’t anything left for us to talk about. Now will you please leave so I can go to work?”

“I guess I better, as I need to get to work myself.”

The two of them walked to the front door, and as soon as he was out the door, Brooke shut and locked the storm door. She waited until he’d started backing out of the driveway before she closed the main door to the house, as she would be going through the garage door when she left.

Brooke waited until she was at work to call Garrison to tell him what had happened with Derrick. She mentioned that the first thing she had to do when she got home was to change the locks on all her doors, as she couldn’t have her ex-husband walking into her home anytime he felt like it.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

He told her not to worry about the locks, because he was going to change them out for her as soon as he got off work at five. They talked a few minutes more and then they said their good-byes.

Sure enough, when Brooke arrived home that evening, Garrison was twisting in the last screw of the new lock he’d bought after work.

“Oh Garrison, how can I thank you? I should have done this when Derrick first left, but . . .,” she said as she reached him.

“I understand,” he interrupted before she could finish. He was hurt, as he assumed that Brooke had been hoping Derrick would have come back to her. Though he felt betrayed, it didn’t stop him from taking hold of her hand. “You thought the two of you would get back together.”

“No.” Her eyes watered up knowing she’d unintentionally hurt Garrison. “The truth is I was I was hoping I wouldn’t have to go to the trouble of changing the locks, but Derrick proved that theory wrong. Can you stay for dinner?”

“Are you afraid Derrick will show up tonight and cause some trouble?” he asked, watching her like an eagle searching for his prey.

“I don’t know if I say I’m afraid, but for some reason he thinks he can just barge back into my life.”

“Maybe it has something to do with the fact you were married to him until recently.”

“I heard that once your trust is gone in a relationship, it’s hard to get it back. Since this situation with Derrick, I believe it’s true.” She turned to face him. “Garrison, I want you to know that even if you weren’t in my life, I’m never going back with Derrick. I don’t love him anymore; I love you and want to be your wife.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, with his heart in his throat.

Brooke walked up to him, moving so close to him that her breasts pressed against his chest. “Yes, I’m sure. You want me to prove it to you?” she whispered seductively as her hand went to his pants zipper.

Garrison smiled at her. “I like the way you think.”

They had just gotten into bed when they heard a hard knock on the front door causing them both to jump at the unexpected sound.

“Brooke, open this door,” Derrick shouted through the metal door.

Brooke and Garrison didn’t move, but simply looked at each other. Neither of them took a breath while they waited to see what happened next.

A fist pounded on the door. “I know you are in there.”

“What do you think we should do? We can’t ignore him, as he’s seen your car in the driveway.”

“I guess we should get dressed and go answer the door.”

Clothes were quickly thrown on and once Brooke was dressed, she started towards the living room with Garrison buttoning his shirt as he hurried after her. She looked at him to make sure he was dressed, took a deep breath, and then opened the front door.

Brooke wasn’t surprised that Derrick was ready to step into her home, but she moved to block the door to prevent him from entering. “Hello Derrick. What do you what?”

“I want to come into my home. Why doesn’t my key work anymore? Why did it take you so long to answer the door?”

“Well, first of all, this isn’t your home any longer. Secondly, I have new door locks and lastly, but not least, it isn’t any of your business why I took so long to answer the door.”

“Why is Garrison here?” He looked past her at his brother standing behind her watching them, remaining quiet.

“That too, isn’t any of your business.” It was the perfect time to tell Derrick that Garrison was soon going to be her husband, but the words wouldn’t come.

“He’s my brother,” he shouted at her.

“You don’t say,” she replied sarcastically.

He stared at her for a moment before changing the subject from his brother. “Where is my key for your new locks?”

“You won’t be getting a key, as I had the locks changed in order to keep you out of my house,” she informed him.

Derrick’s face changed to one of anger. “You can’t lock me out of my own home.”

“Derrick, this isn’t your home anymore, so go away and leave me alone.”

“It will be my home if you let me move back in,” he said as he looked expectantly into her eyes. “I want another chance. Please, Brooke let me come home,” he begged.

“The answer is still no, no matter how many times you ask.”

“One of these days you’ll be sorry you kicked me out,” Derrick said hatefully before he turned and walked down the steps to return to his car.

As Brooke stared out the door, Garrison came up behind her and put his arms around her. Together they watched Derrick get into the car and loudly pulled out of the driveway.

“What are you thinking?” he asked as they stood there looking at the empty spot where Derrick’s car had once been.

“He has changed, and it scares me, it’s to the point, I’m almost afraid to be alone with him. I think he’s already suspicious about us, but I don’t want him to know we’re getting married until the very last moment.”

“Ok, we’ll wait until after the wedding before I move in, unless you change your mind.”

Brook reached out and took hold of his hand. “Garrison, it isn’t that I don’t want you to move in.”

“I know. You feel guilty for having feelings for me and our relationship.”

Tears filled her eyes. “No, you’re wrong. I feel guilty for not feeling guilty, as I feel as our relationship was always meant to be.”

“Oh, honey.” He pulled her into his arm and kissed her.

Derrick was quickly forgotten as they returned to her bedroom to finish what they’d started just moments before.

* * *

They may have forgotten about Derrick, but he certainly hadn’t forgotten about them. When he entered his apartment, he grabbed a can of beer and went to sit in front of the television. He was hurt Brooke had refused to let him into his home, but what made him angrier was the fact his own brother could be there. Somehow, that just didn’t seem fair.

As he sat there drinking, he began planning on how to get his wife back. First thing was to quit asking to move back home, as it only made her mad. Second was to ask her out on a date, as he knew from courting her before, just what to do to get her to fall in love with him again. He smiled widely, because once that happened; he and Brooke would get married again. Lastly, they would get remarried.

It was a great strategy, but each time Derrick asked Brooke out, she told him no, which made him furious. How was he going to patch up their marriage if she wasn’t willing to spend time with him?

Brooke hated refusing Derrick, but to accept would only give him false hope. With her wedding to Garrison getting closer, time was running out to tell Derrick about her relationship with his brother, but she still couldn’t find the nerve to tell him.

* * *

Knowing that Garrison was on good terms with her, Derrick drove over to his brother’s apartment to get his advice, but when he arrived, he found that his brother wasn’t home. As Derrick sat in his car, he dialed Garrison cell number.

“Hello, Derrick.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m at a friend’s home,” he said, hoping his brother didn’t ask who it was.

“Are you going to be home soon?” he asked as he strummed his fingers of his left hand on the steering wheel.

“No, we are just leaving to go out to dinner.” Garrison wished his brother would hang up before he said something that would give away who his date was.

“Hey, would you mind if I join you so I can meet your new friend?” Derrick asked, as he wanted to sabotage his brother’s happiness. This was selfish on his part, as he’d had Brooke in his life for the past ten years, while his brother hadn’t had anyone special in his at all.

“Derrick, you aren’t invited.” He hated saying that, but he wasn’t ready to tell him about his relationship with his ex-wife, wishing they never had to tell him.

“Hey, is that any way to talk to your older brother?” Derrick couldn’t believe Garrison had spoken to him that way.

“I’m sorry, but this woman is very special to me. Our relationship is sort of fragile, so I need to take things slow.” Of course, this was the perfect time for him to tell his brother that he and Brooke were getting married soon, but like Brooke, he chickened out.

“Fine, we’ll make it another time.”

“Yes, soon.”

The two brothers said goodbye. When Derrick put down the receiver, a plan began developing in his mind of how to meet his brother’s new girlfriend. He decided he would find out when their next date was, wait for Garrison at his apartment and follow him to her home. It was a good plan and would have worked too if Garrison hadn’t skipped going to his apartment after work that next night and gone straight to Brooke’s home to take her out to dinner.

Derrick parked outside his brother’s house again the next Friday night, and this time he was able to follow Garrison. When he stopped at Brooke’s house, he never realized she was the woman his brother was seeing, just assumed he was there to talk to her.

Remembering his brother saying his relationship with his friend was fragile, he decided they must have broken up and he had gone to there to talk to her about his pain. He would call Brooke tomorrow and get the dirty details of his brother’s breakup with his girlfriend.

That being the case, Derrick decided to quit spying on his brother, but if he had continued his snooping, he would have seen just how much time Garrison and Brooke were spending together. Not being a stupid man, he would have been able to figure out that some kind of relationship was going on between his brother and his ex-wife.