Page 23 of Broken Pieces
Chapter Eleven
Brooks
That was the best blueberry pie I ever tasted.
But that wasn’t the only thing I had on my mind.
I don’t know what it was about Rae, but I couldn’t get her out of my head. It wasn’t just the fact that she was beautiful, because she was. Drop dead gorgeous. But the way she tried not to laugh when I teased her, the way she would look off into the distance and I knew she was sad, I could see it in her eyes, the way they would ghost over, like she wasn’t in the present, she was somewhere far away and I could tell it was somewhere she didn’t want to be.
Maybe that was why I was attracted to her. Because I could tell her secrets went just as deep as mine did.
And maybe that was why I was staring at her now. Thinking about the past just as she surely was.
I try to stay in the shadow of the eaves of the cottage I am staying in as I watch her sit on the back porch of the house, a half-full glass of wine in front of her, untouched for the last thirty minutes. The moonlight touching her face in just the right spot to highlight the sharp cut of her cheekbones. Her sad eyes taking up most of her face. I suppose I am waiting for the tears to fall but the longer I wait none come. It’s almost as if she is angry. The way her fist clenches every now and again. Her jaw tightens before she releases a breath that blows her loose strands of hair off her face.
She glances my way, but from the way her eyes move along the cottage, I know she can’t see me. She gets up from her chair and grabs her wine before going inside. As I watch her leave, I am not even sure she was ever there.
My chest tightens as flashbacks of my greatest mistake flash through my mind. Maybe Rae will disappear as quickly as her and then this beating in my chest will fade again.
* * *
“Did you finish plowing the east side?” Brett asks me.
I jump off the tractor and wipe the sweat off my brow as I pull my earbuds out. “Yeah, just finished. I got the north side done earlier too so if you want to finish up the south we will be good to start fertilizing tomorrow.”
“Thanks, man. Sorry I couldn’t be of much help today.”
“You needed to go to Summer’s doctor appointment. I didn’t expect you to be plowin’ all day.”
He claps me on the shoulder. “Well if you wanna get a later start tomorrow you can. You were out there for nearly ten hours today. I can get up early and you can sleep in.”
“Thanks, but it’s not necessary. You know I like being out there. Keeps my mind busy.”
“You work too hard sometimes.”
“That might be true, but then your farm would fall apart and then what would you do?”
Brett smacks me upside the head. “Smartass.”
“I’m gonna grab a few beers with Mac later, want to join us?”
“I would, but I told Summer I would work on the nursery with her.”
“Oh to be young and in love.”
“You sound like an idiot.”
“You sound like a pansy.”
“Well, at least I am gettin’ some.”
“Not for long. Once those babies come, you’ll be on the back burner. And you know I get plenty of ass.”
“You don’t know Summer very well if you think she won’t be wanting any of this,” he says while gesturing to his body.
“She’ll take what she can get I guess.”
He punches me in the arm. “At least I get it on the regular and don’t mind being around her unlike you who starts talking about damn conspiracies to get those poor girls to leave your bed before they even have a chance to get comfortable.”