Champion At Heart (Sequel of Breaking Ice)

Chapter Twenty

Brooklyn was shocked.

Not believing Marshall's vulnerability, as she has known him to be a tough, no nonsense type of man, really made her think how heartbroken he must have been at her departure. How truly selfish she was for not wanting to talk to him, or let him know at least where she was.

He deserved that much, and that made a huge hole in her heart, feeling guilty. How many nights he could have been thinking about her, or wishing she would have at least called?

"The night I had the accident, I foolishly believed I was a father," he said, pulling her out of her thoughts. "I even mentioned it to aunt Dolly, and she was probably blaming it on some hallucination due to the injuries."

Brooklyn bit her lips, as tingles ran up her skin and she hugged herself. He had that gut feeling, and she still made him suffer all these years. Maybe things could change, and maybe if she came to a decision, he would stop being angry at life all the time.

"Marshall?" she called, putting her hand on his arm, forcing him to look at her, his blue eyes making her smile, as they had before. "Do you want us to stay?"

"Of course I want to, but I can't force you to stay, Brooklyn. I know you have your life back home, in Italy, or wherever it is you live. But at least..." he blew out a deep breath, reaching for her hand, feeling its softness as he ran his thumb over the knuckles. "Stay longer than a week, and maybe we'll see what happens after that. I deserve to have our daughter for longer than that."

Brooklyn's lips tilted on the side in a smirk, staring down at their joined hands. "That's a promise I can make. Maybe the rest of the summer. Would that be okay with you?"

Marshall nodded, smiling back at her. "That's more than perfect."

"Then it's a done deal. Abilene will be happy to hear the good news."

"Yes, I am sure she will." Looking at her beautiful eyes, he leaned over, throwing in the wind his own precaution as he wanted to taste those delicious plump lips again, also begging to be kissed.

But a knock on the door interrupted their moment, bringing them back to reality. Marshall stood straight, put on his usual expression and headed to open it; his uncle was standing there, seeing them both together in his office with the door locked had him smirking.

"Did I interrupt anything?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, amused. Brooklyn fixing some of her stray hair was a dead giveaway that he, in fact, had bad timing.

"No, you didn't. We were just talking about Abilene," she replied, smiling shyly at Jacob.

"Among other things," Marshall added with a mischievous glance at her, making her blush.

"Well, whatever it is you two grown ups were doing in there, it's none of my business. Just wanted to say I have to go back to my ranch, and Sophia has calmed down. She's preparing lunch early."

"Thank you, Pa," Marshall said before the older man tipped his hat at them, walking out of the barn, but not before they heard him chuckle, as if knowing what had gone down between the young couple.

"You might want to talk to Sophia about what happened. She was really scared," Brooklyn suggested as soon as Jacob was out of earshot. "She looks up to you and she loves you."

She put her hand on his chest, right by his heart and felt it beating fast, hers going at the same rhythm. With his hand on top of hers, Marshall was falling more into the abyss, and giving his heart to her once again could be his doom.

But at that exact moment, he just didn't care. He was feeling head over boots for this woman, and the gift she has given him was more than he could ask for.

"Why don't we go in? I'll help Sophia with lunch and maybe she and I can have a conversation. I need to apologize to her as well."

"Well, I am too ashamed to face her, so why don't you break the ice and talk to her first?"

Brooklyn gasped and giggled, "You coward."

Walking ahead of him, they both made their way back to the house, where Sophia was slicing lettuce and tomatoes for a salad and Abilene sat on the table, watching videos on her tablet. As soon as the little girl saw them come in, she squealed, forgetting her device. She ran towards them, ignoring her mother to hug Marshall.

A pang of jealousy crept inside her, but it was not a surprise Abilene preferred her father at the moment, as it was someone new to her, and she had been wanting that figure in her life.

Not even her dates were deserving of her smiles and her giggles. Because she knew there was no one like her own father.

While they went to the living room and bonded over kids videos on the tablet, Brooklyn made her way towards the kitchen counter, where Sophia had all the fixings for sandwiches and soup.

"Can I help you with anything?" she offered, picking up the loaf of bread. Sophia gently pulled it away from her hands, setting the bag on the counter.

"Don't worry. I can make lunch for myself. Why don't you join my brother in the living room?" She kept slicing the tomatoes, when Brooklyn held her arm, forcing her to stop and face her. When Sophia turned to her, there were unshed tears in her eyes, and she felt like her world was breaking in pieces.

"Oh, sweet doll," Brooklyn mentioned, raising her hand to cup her cheeks as she almost shed tears herself, but tried hard to keep her at bay, "I am so sorry, my little princess. I didn't mean to hurt you that way. I just didn't want Marshall to find out and..."

Letting go of the fruit, she wrapped her arms around Brooklyn's waist, sobbing once again on her chest. "I just missed you," she hiccuped. "It truly hurt my feelings when you told me to stop calling. I love you, Brooklyn. You were my best friend."

"I know, Sophia. You were mine, too. Like the little sister Bexley and I wished for. But I am here, and we can catch up. I love you, too."

Both young women held onto each other, not wanting to let go as they both wept, missing those days filled with joy.

As they pulled away, they couldn't help but laugh at their tear-stained cheeks, wiping them off before Sophia finally agreed to let her help.

"My brother was shocked to see you, but I am sure he's happy you're here," she mentioned.

"Oh, you have no idea," Brooklyn replied, smiling internally at the memory of what happened earlier.

"So, are you and Abilene staying?"

"For the summer at least. Marshall and I agreed on it. We'll see what happens then."

The sound of a ringtone interrupted their conversation. Frowning, she put the bread down and wiped her hands, grabbing her cell phone from the table. A call from Italy appeared on the screen. It was sure to be her boss as she had left the country without notice, risking getting fired.

"Hello?" She answered the call.

"Brooklyn Evans. Where are you?" her boss asked.

"I'm in the States. Sorry I didn't call you, but it was an emergency."

"Emergency? Just when we need you the most? You need to come back here or else..."

She closed her eyes, waiting for it.

"Or else, you're fired."