Page 19 of Kiss Me Forever

When I opened the door however, it wasn’t one of my family members. Instead it was the woman who sent the unwanted adrenaline through my system and made my mouth go dry.

Brooklyn Montgomery, with her hair flowing down her back, the sun shining on those freckles that I wanted to count one by one, stood there with a large basket in her hands and a smile on her face.

“Hey there. I know you have the day off, and I thought about just leaving this on the doorstep, but it has food in it, so it’s probably not the best place for it.” She smiled up at me and then looked down and behind me. Her eyes widened, and she winced. “Oh. I had the timing wrong. I thought I would be here before Bella showed up. I’m sorry. Hi Bella.”

“Hi Brooklyn,” Bella said softly.

I moved to the side and gestured for Brooklyn to come in even as I took the large basket from her. It weighed nearly as much as Bella’s suitcase. “I didn’t know you were coming by.”

She winced, her teeth grazing those plump lips of hers. “Because I didn’t tell you. I couldn’t sleep last night because I was excited for Bella.” Brooklyn winked at my daughter, and Bella smiled brightly at her. No reservations, no worries. Just a connection between the two of them that snapped into place. What had they talked about during those thirty minutes they had been together in the conference room? And why the hell did I resent the fact that they were so easygoing?

Then again, Brooklyn was a woman and not related to her. It was just a girl thing. I didn’t need to be jealous.

“I’m going to drop this off and head out. I brought some of my favorite things when I was twelve.” She smiled at Bella, but my daughter just rolled her eyes.

“It’s been like one hundred years since then, right?” Bella asked sarcastically.

“Bella—” I began.

Brooklyn pressed her lips together, laughter still breaking through. “Yes. I am so old, and my bones are brittle, but your dad is older,” Brooklyn said dryly.

“Excuse me,” I bit out, and the girls just looked at each other before giggling.

What the hell was going on?

Brooklyn continued as if I wasn’t standing there…being old and decrepit apparently. “I remember you said you like to draw, so I asked my cousin what pencils to get. I’m sure you already have them, but I didn’t know if you could bring them here or whatever. So Oliver gave me these to give to you, and a notebook, and a couple of sparkly things because I like sparkle, so I’m going to force sparkle on everyone. Then I brought over a cinnamon raisin loaf and a regular sourdough loaf thanks to Jane Dough. And some fried chicken. As well as a few sides. I didn’t know if you guys had any food planned, and I was craving chicken. Not that I’m going to have any. I just need to give things out when I’m stressed.”

Brooklyn said all of that in practically one breath, and I blinked at her.

“Thank you. I was planning on either sandwiches or heading out for lunch. I hadn’t actually gotten that far.” I rubbed the back of my neck as Bella stared at Brooklyn.

Bella leaned forward, wide eyed. “Who’s Jane Dough?”

“The name of my sourdough starter.” That beautiful, freckled face blushed, and I told myself it was idiotic to not only be attracted to someone I worked with, but to be attracted to anyone in the presence of my daughter. I didn’t have time for this.

Bella’s entire face brightened though. “Oh, my friend Natalie’s mom does sourdough too. She has a little micro bakery. I think that’s what it’s called.”

“I have a couple of friends in my sourdough support group that have micro bakeries. I only bake when I’m stressed or for my friends. So I bake a lot. I have a lot of family and friends thanks to being a Montgomery.”

“Oliver Montgomery is your cousin or your brother or something?” Bella asked.

“He is. You know him?” Brooklyn asked, giving me an odd look.

I cleared my throat. “Bella here likes to draw—as you apparently know,” I said dryly. I could tell Brooklyn held back a wince at that. I wasn’t mad at her for knowing things I didn’t, but I already felt two weeks behind. “And there was an issue with summer camp. I was going to call him or Riley to see if they can fix it.”

“Oh, what’s wrong?”

“Grandma pulled me out of summer camp and blamed it on Reece.”

Brooklyn’s face fell. “What? Wait, our camp? Not that it’s my camp, but it has my name on it.”

I nodded. “That’s the one. Do you think I should call Riley, or who’s running it?”

“Riley runs it, but I can do that. Why don’t you guys get settled with the lunch that I’m forcing on you, and I’ll handle it?”

“Stay,” I blurted, needing support. Because I didn’t know what I was doing, and Bella finally seemed relaxed.

Brooklyn gave me an odd look before a smile spread over her face. “I would love to. Because that chicken smells amazing and I was going to steal a piece on my way out.”