She shook her head in disbelief. “No, they’re still working on it.”
“Well, I imagine my name will be on there when you do.” I was thrilled for him. Herman deserved some happiness after the shit deal he’d been saddled with the first time around. Aunt Cynthia had not been a nice woman. In fact, she was remembered fondly as a fucking hydra. My mother would be beside herself when she heard the news. Imagine a former servant marrying into all that money. I could hear her moaning the words over her chardonnay. I’d be lying if the thought of my mom’s distress over Herman’s news didn’t amuse the goddamn hell out of me.
“So your father and Herman are brothers?” She frowned. “I thought he just had one brother—”
“He did. My father, John William, or JW as he was known, was his only brother and ten years younger than Herman.”
Her expression grew compassionate and I figured she had now finally made the full connection. Such a smart girl.
“Oh, Caleb, I am so sorry for your loss. It happened right before I came back to Boston to help Nan. She thought the world of your father and was heartbroken to hear that he’d passed away.”
“Thank you. I miss him every day.” I took some comfort in knowing his passing had been relatively peaceful with all of us right beside him when he died.
She studied me thoughtfully for a moment, focusing on my eyes mostly. “Caleb, I assume you’ve figured out my nan was housekeeper at Blackwater. Why—why then did you hire me for your renovation after those terrible things I said to you and the hideously disrespectful way I spoke about your family?”
She blinked several times as if she was trying to hold back tears. So tenderhearted.
“Brooke, please let it go.”
“But I don’t understand. I don’t know what you’re doing here, Caleb. With me. The flowers, the job offer, the fifty thousand dollars of damages you paid on my behalf for destroyed suits.” She turned toward the window and stared out at the rain. “My old boss stopped in to deliver my final pay and to thank me in person for having my boyfriend pay for the extensive damages.”
She turned back from the window to hit me with her blazing amber eyes. Sensuous eyes I fantasized about at night when I was alone in my bed—how it would be, having them locked on me while I was buried balls-deep inside her. And I had no doubt it would be fucking spectacular.
“You didn’t even know me that night, Caleb, so why did you do all that for a stranger?”
I reached across the table and took both of her hands in mine. I caressed the back of each one with my thumbs, admiring the delicate bone structure. You’re a banquet for my starving soul. My brother believes I love you. You’ve completely owned me since I first laid eyes on you. “I don’t know why. That is the honest-to-God truth, Brooke. I do not know why I offered to pay the damages, or why I followed you outside to see if you were okay, or why I listened in on where you told your cab driver to go, or why I sent you flowers the next day, and then purposefully gave you my number. I don’t know why I did any of it, except for the fact I wanted to help you . . . when you so obviously needed some kindness from another person. I couldn’t stop thinking about you and needed to know you were all right the following day. You intrigue me, Brooke. I feel like it was fate meeting you, especially now with Herman and your grandmother getting married. We will be connected by their marriage from now on anyway. What are the odds of that happening? I don’t want to think too hard about it; I just want to give fate a fighting chance here.”
“But after I was so horrible to you on the phone?”
“You know what? You were right about everything you said to me. It took me a bit of time to find out the truth. I had no idea Blackwater had been shut down and all employees terminated. No one told me, and possibly even went out of their way to keep me ignorant of that fact.” I didn’t want to say it was my own mother who’d done it, but once Brooke met Mom, she’d understand much better. “But please know I am working on fixing it. Your grandmother and everyone else will be compensated for absent wages and benefits since they lost their jobs. That is a promise.”