Brooke paused to wipe it away with the tip of her thumb. “And your reasoning for this being?”
“Most dads don’t shepherd their kids through a mall in the middle of the week if there’s a mommy in the immediate picture,” Heather informed her smugly. “They do it on the weekends if they do it at all.”
Brooke remained unconvinced. “Maybe he’s trying to be nice, give his wife a break.” She inserted a tall storybook in between two others, careful not to bruise the spines. “He said they’d just moved here recently. Maybe she’s home unpacking and needed some time to herself.”
Heather drained her container, then sighed. “Why are you always so willing to look at the gloomy side lately? I can remember when there wasn’t a pessimistic thought in your head.”
“Yeah, well, so can I, but then I grew up,” Brooke said. “And what gloomy picture? There’s no gloomy picture. There’s no anything. We’re just speculating about a customer.”
“You’re speculating about a customer, and I’m speculating about a possible hunk.” Crumpling the container, Heather tossed it into the wastebasket. “I mean, he’s a hunk either way, but the question is, is he an available hunk?”
“No, that isn’t the question, because that doesn’t interest me in the slightest.”
Obviously frustrated, Heather threw up her hands. “And that’s exactly what I’m worried about. When are you going to get over it, Brooke?”
Brooke had no idea why her temper suddenly snapped. She’d been fine a minute ago. “Over what? Marc?” Her laugh was entirely without mirth. “I was over him the minute I filed for divorce.”
Heather shook her head. “I don’t mean over him—I mean over him.”
Brooke stopped replacing books and looked at her younger sister. There was no one she was closer to, but that didn’t mean the sisters understood each other all the time. “Are they teaching you English in that college of yours?” She looked back at the last book she was holding, trying to remember where it went. “Because if they are, I’d ask for my tuition money back if I were you.”
“You know what I mean.” Heather moved around until she could look directly into her sister’s face. Brooke was trying hard to ignore her.
That had never stopped Heather before. “Over what Marc did to you. Just because he cheated—”
Brooke looked at her sister sharply. “Cheated?” she hooted. “Cheated is having a one-night stand, not a touring season. Or seasons, as the case was,” she said. “I think the only one Marc didn’t wind up getting naked with was the mayor’s wife and her dog, and that was probably only because he couldn’t arrange a convenient meeting.”
Heather knew all about Marc. Her sister had broken down one night and given her all the gory details. Aside from seeing red, her main emotion had been concern about her sister’s health, until Brooke had assured her that she’d had herself tested for every sexually transmitted disease possible. She’d done it despite Marc’s assurances that he had taken proper precautions. The way she saw it, nothing he said was trustworthy.
Heather continued to press her sister. No matter how awful her ex-brother-in-law had turned out to be, it was time to leave the past behind and move on. “Still, one rotten human being doesn’t damn the whole species.”
“Maybe not,” Brooke allowed, “but it certainly makes you stop and think, doesn’t it?” An almost bitter reproachful smile twisted her lips. “About how blind you can be.”
Heather slipped her arm around Brooke. Five years younger, she was taller by two inches. “You loved the jerk. You saw what you wanted to see and he was clever.”
Brooke wasn’t about to excuse herself. “I thought I saw what was there.”
Heather wasn’t going to stand by and let her sister beat herself up. “You tended to think the best of everyone, remember?”
“Yes, I remember. But that was the old me. I’ve grown up.” Squaring her shoulders, she stepped back. “I’m a lot more suspicious now.”
Heather looked at her thoughtfully. There was nothing more in this world she wanted than to have the old Brooke back. The one who could laugh without reservation. Love without reservation. “But not a lot happier, are you.”
Picking up the shipping list, Brooke waved her hand at Heather. “Practice your child-psychology skills on someone else, little sister.” She waved the list in front of Heather’s face. “In the meantime, we have a large shipment of books to distribute over the shelves. Let’s get to it.”
Heather gave her a smart salute. “Aye-aye, Captain.”
“Good.” Brooke nodded. “Obedience. I like it. And while we’re at it, you can tell me exactly why you only got three hours’ sleep last night.”
Heather stopped short. “Four, and how did you know?”
Brooke grinned. “Because we live in the same house, remember? And I can hear the front door. And even if I couldn’t, I know you, little sister.”
She laughed as she threw an arm around Heather affectionately. “So, tell me all about it.”
That was as close as she intended to get to a date for a long, long time.
Chapter Three
Three leagues beyond bone-tired, Tyler sank into a recliner that was as close in size, shape and color to the one he’d left behind as he could find. It was the one piece of furniture he’d selected himself. The girls were in the family room, finally settling down to enjoy their new books. They’d had lunch in and dinner out, and somewhere in between, he’d done a fair bit of organizing around the house, but not nearly enough.
He looked at the clock in the den, wondering when he should become concerned.
Tyler passed his hand over his eyes, struggling to sort out his feelings from the quagmire he constantly seemed to find himself in. Mentally he took off his hat to Gina.
Until these past nine months, he’d had no idea just how much was involved in raising three children, let alone girl children. Never mind triplets. It was close to mind-boggling.
Gina had been the one to do most of the work, do it so well that he hadn’t even been aware that there was work involved. She had managed to make raising three girls look effortless. Gina, with her coal-black laughing eyes, had completely fooled him into thinking it was easy being a parent.
It wasn’t.
And even love wasn’t enough, though it helped smooth over a great many rough spots and blunders he’d made. It was hard doing what was required, what was needed, especially since half of him felt as if it was permanently gone.
He hadn’t recovered from being without Gina.
There were times, in the dead of night, when he felt completely overwhelmed by what he faced. When he didn’t know if he could actually manage and continue doing what was being asked of him.
But ultimately there was no way around it. He knew he had to do it. And he had to
