Sandy turned to Adam. “So, have you reconsidered living in the bunkhouse?”
Brooke almost choked on her meat loaf, and took a big gulp of milk before embarrassing herself. They’d offered Adam the bunkhouse?
And she was about to protest when some sort of sanity resurfaced, and she realized how she would sound. After all, if she didn’t have any feelings for Adam, why should she care where he lived? They’d offered her the bunkhouse months ago, when Josh had first broached the idea of taking over part of the barn loft for himself, but she’d turned them down.
She glanced to the side and saw Adam’s profile. He didn’t look at her, but his hesitation spoke volumes. What excuse would he give for why he couldn’t accept—
“Thank you, ma’am,” he said. “I think this time I’ll take you up on the offer.”
Brooke forced a smile and continued eating, even as her dad clapped his hands together and grinned.
“I knew winter travel would prove to you how much easier it would be to live here,” Doug said. “I told Sandy, ‘Just give the boy time.’ ”
“Your grandmother won’t mind, Adam?” Brooke asked, projecting deep concern. She had to try something to change his mind.
Adam glanced at her and shook his head. “I think I’m crowding her, and she’s feeling like she has to entertain me. If she volunteers to read my cards one more time . . .” He gave an exaggerated shudder, making everyone laugh.
“Now, Adam,” Sandy said, “she’s pretty talented. She saw a lot of interesting things when she read my cards—not that I’m sharing. People swear by her!”
But Brooke could only think about Adam in the bunkhouse. It was a done deal, she saw with resignation. She was already working with him all day long, side by side. What did it matter where he slept?
But he would be here, where she could literally see him out the window—oh God, she really could see the bunkhouse right from her window.
“It’s good that you have a place to live,” she said. “The town has been thinking about that for returning veterans.”
She could tell he stiffened at her words even though it was subtle.
“Oh, I forgot about that!” her mother said brightly. “There’s a new committee that’s been renovating houses for veterans. In fact, I think your grandmother—both your grandmothers,” she said, looking from Brooke to Adam, smiling, “have been involved in securing grants. Adam, I’m surprised Renee didn’t mention it to you.”
Brooke wasn’t surprised at all. Surely his own grandma knew how little he wanted to talk about his life in the Marines.
“No, ma’am,” Adam said, his voice neutral. “But it’s good to help people who need it.”
But he didn’t need anyone’s help, she guessed.
Later, Adam insisted on clearing the table before he left, enduring teasing from Josh. When Adam was gone, and Brooke felt like she could breathe again, she joined her mother in the dining room to work on the decorations for the Thanksgiving table, little candy and cookie turkeys made with a flat chocolate cookie, a chocolate kiss, and mini M&Ms for the feathers. It was amazing how they actually stood up like little birds. Surely she wouldn’t enjoy this as much as she did if she really was restless, looking for something else in life. With the snow falling outside, and gossip she and her mom exchanged, she felt a peaceful sense of the approaching holiday.
She’d been lucky that her parents had always been involved in her life. Before she knew it, she was telling her mom about the science fair years ago, when Adam’s drunken mom had treated him so horribly.
Sandy put down the frosting she was using to keep the chocolate kiss and the cookie together. “That is just terrible. No wonder the poor boy thought so little of himself in those days.”
“Thought so little of himself? I think he had the opposite problem.”
“That’s just what he showed the world, sweetie. He was proud even then.” She hesitated. “It’s hard to forgive his parents. They were pregnant at seventeen, and instead of trying to make a better life for their son, they wallowed in their self-pity. I don’t think either of them held a job down for long, and the way they used that boy to control Renee? Just terrible. Your father kept trying to help by giving Mr. Desantis work now and then, but . . . he had no discipline, could never last long. He’d either get too drunk to come to work, or lose his temper over something trifling. I wasn’t surprised when Adam got into trouble himself. Who knows what would have happened if Coach McKee hadn’t taken a chance on him. It’s simply remarkable what Adam has accomplished.”