Chapter 52—Brekka
Geo’s face shines the next morning, like she’s lit from within. I have no idea how her skin, her eyes, her entire face is so transcendent, but it always is.
“You are hard to look at,” I say. “You’re so pretty.”
Geo rolls her eyes. “Good morning to you too, miss exaggerator.”
“I’m starving. How about you?”
Geo shrugs. “An omelet, maybe. Ethan says those are their cook’s specialty.”
“I had one yesterday and it’s not bad at all, but I’m trying the French toast today. He makes it with lemon curd, I hear.”
“How was it with Rob yesterday? I noticed you ducked out early.”
I try not to grit my teeth. “It was amazing, except…” I’m not sure how much to tell Geo.
“Except what?”
“Have you ever kissed him?” I blurt out.
Geo’s mouth drops open. “You’re kidding, right?”
I shake my head.
“Never.” Geo covers my hand with hers. “Rob didn’t even tell me he had a crush on me until I was already in love with your brother. Trust me when I say, I never felt that way about him. But beyond that, I don’t think Rob ever loved me for real.”
I seriously doubt that.
“I mean it,” Geo says. “Paisley has a whole long theory, but it boils down to this. Rob’s the consummate giver, and I needed him.”
“Explain more,” I say.
“You know how Rob and I met?” Geo asks.
I shake my head again.
“I was about to be pelted in the head with a kickball,” she says. “One of the kids on our block didn’t want a girl to play, and I was trying to force my way into the game. Before I could even dodge the ball, someone hit it off course and spared me. Then Rob, who had intercepted the ball, shoved the bully on the ground and told him that if the kid didn’t let girls play, the bully wasn’t going to be playing either.”
“So he’s always been protective.”
“Always, but it’s more than that. Rob protects anyone who needs it. Kids, women, weaker men. He’s a champion of people who don’t have champions, but for people he loves, he goes further. He will give up anything, do anything, to help them reach their goals.”
“He told me he joined the Marines for Mark.”
Geo nods. “He did. And he played basketball for his dad. And he left Miami for me. And he’s running the dealerships for his whole family.”
“I knew that.”
“He loved me because I needed someone to love me. I was so broken after Mark died, that I closed up like a clam, tight as could be. I let no one in. Then when I started to loosen up a bit, my mom got sick. Then my dad died. Rob took the kickball defense to a whole new level. He checked on me all the time. He took me to see my mom. He handled everything about the funeral for my dad. He took me out to dinner every Monday. His dealerships became my first and my largest client, paying me enough to cover all my bills and then some. He was everything I needed, on top of being what his family needed. Rob would have just kept giving to me until it killed him.”
That’s a little discouraging to hear. “And you’re saying that means he didn’t love you.”
Geo sighs. “No I mean, he does. He’d have done the same thing for his sisters, Beth, Jennifer or Christine. He’d do the same for his mom. He loves me the same way he loves them, unconditionally.”
“Great.”
“But he’s different with you. He wanted to sit by you tonight. He ditches my wedding rehearsal celebration with you, to spare you any discomfort.” Geo meets my eye pointedly. “He’s got a higher priority now than me.”
“He told me he loved me last night,” I confess.
Geo beams. “I knew it. I could tell. And Brekka, I swear, what Rob would do for me pales in comparison to what he’ll do for you.”
“We have a lot to work out,” I say. “We don’t even live in the same place.”
“Snap and he’ll move to Colorado, I know it’s true.”
Geo’s flippant remark upsets me. He wouldn’t really just follow me around like a puppy dog, right? I don’t want that. I don’t want someone who obeys my orders and lives his entire life just to stare at me with devotion in his eyes. I want a partner, a supportive one yes, but a man.
“What’s wrong?” Geo asks. “You look kind of nauseated.”
“Nothing,” I say. “Nothing’s wrong. Except I don’t think you’re quite right about the moving thing. We only just said I love you. It’s not like either of us is moving any time soon.”
The waiter comes and takes our order, but when he leaves, Geo taps her lip. “This is the last thing I’ll say about it, but Trig moved after knowing me for a few weeks, and Rob’s way more giving than Trig at his baseline. I’m just saying, don’t rule out the possibility. It’s so much easier to get to know someone when they’re spending every day in the same place as you. And you’d kind of be doing him a favor. He hates running those car dealerships.”
Geo’s words stick with me all through breakfast, and when I return to my room to change. I’m wearing a red one-piece swimsuit with loose board shorts over it, when I hear a knock at my door. I open it to Rob’s smiling face, and my anxiety melts away like a pat of butter on hot toast.
“Ready to go?” he asks.
In answer, I wheel through the doorway. We head for the elevators.
“Did you sleep alright?” I ask.
“I did,” he says. “The hotel bed is much nicer than mine at home.”
I laugh. “It’s terrible compared to mine. Maybe I need to toss out my amazing, super expensive mattress. It makes traveling a trial, no matter where I stay.”
“Rich people problems,” Rob says. “I feel for you, really I do. And I’m sure the food poisoning you get from only using silver and gold spoons is rough, too.”
I’d like to whap his arm, but it’s a foot and a half too high to reach. I’m trying to be positive, and I should be grateful I’m able to move thanks to Gladys, but I still hate being unable to walk.
I glance at his backpack. “Where are we going?”
He smirks. “You weren’t so happy about my surprise last time. This time I thought I’d let you pick. I have two options. First, we go to a beach and relax. I’ve been working on how to gracefully manage our dear friend Gladys.”
The elevator dings.
“And my other option?”
He steps into the elevator and puts his hand over the doors while I wheel inside. “Behind door two is a hike, just the two of us. It’s about five miles. And before you freak out and say no, let me explain. It’s an amazing hike. I’ve done my research. It’s called the Wai Koa Loop Trail.”
“I can’t do a hike,” I say. “It’s not practical.”
“You could if you let me carry you,” he says. “And I’ve been practicing. You had your physical therapy, and I had mine. If I want to experience things with you.” He drops to one knee to face me. “And I do.” He kisses me quickly on the mouth. “I needed to prepare. So I went for jogs, daily, with a backpack loaded with a hundred pounds. Five miles with a hundred pounds is nothing compared to basic training, trust me on that.”
My very own Marine. My heart lifts. He’s been training so he’ll be ready to spend time with me. It shouldn’t be this hard, but he doesn’t seem annoyed or frustrated. Just excited, like a puppy or like Luke’s son Chase at the prospect of the Flash shoes.
I frown. “Carrying a person is different than running with weights.”
He grins and taps my nose. “I knew you’d say that.” The elevator dings and we exit, but he stops at the sofa in the lobby, opens his backpack and pulls out a pile of black straps. “I made two harnesses. A beach one I can explain later, and this one. It goes around my back and shoulders like this.” He wraps it around and then clips something in the front. “Then your legs hook on here. I know you can’t hold them around my waist, but you can wrap your arms around my neck. And once your legs are secured, it leaves my hands free, and spreads your weight evenly.”
My throat closes off and tears threaten. I gulp in air to beat them back. “You, uh, you made this? So we could go for a hike?”
He nods. “I want you to know that I don’t care. We can head for the beach, and I think that’s great. But with me, you’ll always have options. We aren’t limited. Together, the world is completely open to us. We can do anything we can dream up.”
I want to go to the beach. It sounds easier, relaxing even, but he’s clearly put forth a lot of effort for this. I don’t want to disappoint him.
“Let’s do the hike,” I say.