Free Shameless (St. Martin Family Saga) by Gina Watson Page B

have what you have?”
    She ended on a deflated sigh and her body slumped forward.
    Cory put the car in park and jumped out.
    “Just a damned minute. You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” He circled the SUV and stopped next to Brook.
    “You have no right to say that.” He stabbed a finger into the air near her chest. “Who are you to say that?”
    Brook simply shook her head. She didn’t back away and she didn’t blink at his anger.
    “You know it’s true. Do you deny that you have so many gifts? Not all of them were handed to you—I know you worked your butt off to become a vet. I know you take care of the family property. But you have been blessed. You have it all.” She reached out both hands and trapped one of his between them. “Or almost all.”
    He froze. And then he was the one pulling back, the one stepping away. She’d nailed him. It was all true—he had a lot of support but he habitually dismissed it because he didn’t have the support of the one person who meant the most to him. His mother. She’d left, had turned her back, and he’d turned his back on anyone who offered him the support he’d wanted from her. He squeezed his eyes closed. If she, his own mother, hadn’t considered him worthy of support, of love, he knew he had no business accepting it, searching for it, from others.
    Shit. Wasn’t he fucked up?
    And now that his mother was trying to reinstate herself into their lives like nothing had happened, he pushed even harder against anyone who reached out to him. He didn’t want to be reminded of that time, of not being enough for her. Of not being enough.
    But Brook hadn’t pulled back. And she had seen straight into him.
    He grasped her hips and slid his hands up to her slim waist. She seemed so thin. Thinner than when they’d met. Her body went limp in his hands and her head fell back. Oh God. He opened the car door and placed her on the seat. He shook her shoulder and patted her face.
    “Brook?”
    Her eyes rolled under the lids before they opened as tiny green slits.
    “Brook?” His voice cracked, and his heart hammered in his chest.
    “Hmm.” She smiled softly.
    “Brook, baby, look at me.”
    She opened her eyes wider and slowly sat up, balancing herself with one hand on the dash. “I’m so tired.”
    “You passed out.” He brushed the hair out of her eyes with a shaky hand.
    “Will you please drive me home?”
    Despite his questions, she was quiet the entire drive to her house.
    He unlocked her front door with the key he’d made for himself and let them inside. Eagle and Teddy were there to greet her. She bent to pick up Teddy, but he leaped from her arms and into Cory’s. She dropped onto the daybed, and Eagle hurried over and rested his head in her lap.
    Cory remained by the door, unsure of what to say. She hadn’t wanted to stop for food, but now he wondered if he shouldn’t have overruled her. She looked pale as she rubbed Eagle’s head. Maybe she was still stewing. He’d never seen her as angry as she was back at the stables.
    “I’m sorry for upsetting you earlier.”
    She nodded before she caught his gaze. Her forehead wrinkled, “It’s important for me to know that you understand, I don’t sleep around.”
    He didn’t really believe that she did. Seeing Parker’s hands on her had him instinctively territorial and he’d acted like an ass. “I never believed you did.”
    She held her hand up indicating she had more to say. “After my parents died, I went to live with my uncle and his wife. I was nine. I’d lived in Whisky Cove my entire life. New Jersey was different. Their house was different. It seemed cold and unloving. At nine years old I realized my old life with my parents had been like a really good dream, a dream I could always go back to when things got tough and I needed to feel real comfort and sincere love. I dreamed of them every night for months.”
    Her voice lacked inflection and she stared, unfocused, at Eagle.