Alyssa again, p.22
Alyssa Again, page 22
Brooke visualized the list. “What did you want to talk to Gary about?”
“Without Rick, Trish was having a hard time keeping up with the business she and Rick had started. I was going to get Gary to help her get back on track.”
“Only a good lawyer can save her now.”
Alyssa plucked at the edge of the blanket. “She was never good at losing.”
Brooke gently jostled her sister’s shoulder. “Neither were you, as I recall.”
“At least I can admit defeat now and then.”
“True. Sometimes you used to let me win.” Brooke reached an arm across Alyssa’s shoulders and hugged her tighter. “What about making Cullen walk the straight and narrow. What’s that all about?”
A smile twitched at Alyssa’s lips. “Cullen’s really not a bad guy, just a bit of a braggart. He hated losing real estate deals over what he called ‘silly stuff’. He bragged about having a housing inspector in his pocket. I told him he was smart enough to deal with his problems legally. He scoffed. I videotaped him in the act and told him about it.”
“You didn’t! How did he react?”
“Predictably.” Alyssa ran a hand through her hair. “He pitched a tantrum worthy of a two-year-old, then he calmed down. I told him I was keeping the tape as insurance until he proved he could walk the straight and narrow.”
“That must be why he followed Jack and me, to see if I’d remembered the videotape and what my intentions were.”
“Well, he said Stephanie had already chewed him out and I couldn’t dish out anything harder than she could.”
“Good for her!”
Alyssa clucked and shook her head. “Threw me for a loop. I never thought of Cullen and Steph as a couple, but you know, she can cut his ego down to size. All he needs now is a little push to help him get over his fear of commitment.” Alyssa giggled. “The video’s in the office safe. Why don’t you give it to Stephanie when you get home?”
“You’re wicked!” Brooke said, loving the plan. “What about the negatives?”
“They’re in the safe, too.”
“What’s that all about?”
Alyssa shrugged. “It’s Tim’s secret to tell, not mine.”
“Not even to your long-lost sister?” Brooke teased.
“No.” Alyssa turned to her sister. “Hey, with you staying, it looks like I’ve also found a new manager for the resort. One Dad would approve of.”
“I can’t wait.” A mixture of anticipation and trepidation swirled though her. She loved the idea of running the resort, but worried about Jack’s reaction to her relocating. “Remember how scared I was of the place when we were kids?”
Alyssa nodded.
“I love it now. Everything about it. The woods, the people, even the water.”
“Especially Jack.”
“Especially Jack,” Brooke agreed, wondering what he was doing now, if he missed her as much as she missed him.
Alyssa touched the scar on her temple. “It took a coma to knock some sense into me. As soon as they let me out, I’m going to start rebuilding my collection of equipment and my stock of photographs.”
“You’ll have those back in no time. You’re free to follow your dreams now.”
“Yes.” Alyssa’s gaze searched the horizon outside the hospital window.
Brooke nudged her. “Scared?”
“Petrified.”
“Me, too.”
Arms linked, drawing comfort from each other, the twins leaned back against the pillow.
“We’ll be okay,” Alyssa said.
“More than okay. We’ve got each other again.”
Epilogue
Standing in the airport lounge, waiting for Brooke’s flight to land, Jack had never been so nervous. The daisies and forget-me-nots in his hands felt alien. The collar of his shirt was choking him. And he was sweating buckets by the time the jet rolled up to the arrival gate.
Brooke had proven she could take care of herself. She didn’t need him. She’d even told him he wasn’t what she needed. Yet she was coming back to Comfort, coming back to him.
In just a few short weeks, she’d become his sunshine, the center of his life. Through her, he’d learned to love, to dare to dream.
Examining his life since Brooke’s departure had shown him that, in truth, Alyssa and his mother were both lost souls before he’d entered their lives. He’d done the best he could to protect them. His failure had been in not insisting they take part in solving their own problems.
While growing up and in his job, he’d experienced only the negative side of emotions. Love had come at the price of duty and responsibility. Brooke had shown him a whole new side to passion—one that would require a lifetime of exploring to appreciate completely.
What else could he do, but be here waiting for her?
Passengers started flowing out of the gangway. And there in the middle, bright as a summer day with her green shirt and flowered skirt, was Brooke. When she saw him, she smiled.
He couldn’t help himself, he smiled back, and at that moment all of his anxieties fled. He opened his arms and welcomed her with all of his heart.
“Hi,” she said shyly and she snuggled up to him. “What are you doing here?”
The sound of her voice was a melody. As he hugged her closer, he inhaled her soft summer scent, absorbed her feminine warmth. He was in heaven. “I came to get you.”
“Why?” She looked up at him, her eyes bright with hope.
A full sweep of emotions trampled through him as he held her. She was exactly where she was supposed to be. And he was alive. Fully. Completely. “Because I love you.”
“Oh.”
“I want you to spend the rest of your life with me.”
“Oh.”
He saw doubt and hesitation in her eyes. There was only one way she would believe him. With the heavy tramp of hurried travelers all around them, he got down on one knee.
“Jack?” Embarrassment coloring her cheeks, she plucked at the sleeves of his shirt. He took her hands in his, stilling them.
“Brooke Snowden,” he said in a loud, clear, authoritative voice, then let it soften and carry all of the emotions pouring from his heart. “Will you marry me?”
Traffic slowed around them. Travelers no longer seemed in such a hurry to get where they needed to go.
“Well, come on, girl,” someone said, “don’t keep the poor sap waiting. What’s it going to be?”
She reached down and pulled him up. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she looked at him with those wonderful eyes full of life and sunshine and said, “Yes, Jack, I’ll marry you.”
A roar of cheers and clapping sounded around them, but lost in a kiss, neither of them heard.
ISBN: 978-1-4603-5052-2
ALYSSA AGAIN
Copyright © 2001 by Sylvie L. Kurtz.
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Sylvie Kurtz, Alyssa Again
