She stepped back because if she didn’t now, she might not let him go. And he needed her to let him go.
She looked up into those blue eyes of his. “I understand. But if you ever change your mind, you call me and I’ll be there for you. Take care of yourself, Deputy Major.”
He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “You take care of yourself, Brynn Pearson. It was . . . well, it was good to get to know you.”
She turned and strode down the path as quickly as she could. She needed to get inside her cabin, have a good cry, and then clean herself up so she could talk to her mom about what they should do. She could start to make this whole thing right for Major.
She got to the cabin and slid the keycard in as the tears began to fall.
“It won’t go well,” her mother was saying. “You should have called me the minute you realized she was getting involved with that man.”
“She’s an adult, Diane.” Gavin stood in the living room, pointing at her mother, who was on the couch with Duke on her lap and a martini in one hand. “You have to let her make her own choices and have her own life or you are going to lose her.”
She should have known they would be here. They had their own rooms, but they wouldn’t think twice about taking over hers.
“I’m not a monster,” her mother insisted. “She’s not threatening to leave.”
“I wasn’t talking about her leaving you,” Gavin replied. “I was talking about her losing herself, the core of who she is. This industry is going to kill a piece of her soul if you don’t watch it. She’s not like us.”
“Don’t be so overly drama—” Her mom looked up and went a little pale. “Brynn?”
“I’m not seeing him anymore.”
Her mom stood and put down her drink. “Oh, sweetie, I’m sorry. Come here, honey.”
Brynn took a step back. “Isn’t this exactly what you wanted? Isn’t this why you flew all the way out here?”
“This is exactly what I didn’t want,” her mom said with a sigh. She moved in and brushed back Brynn’s hair. “That look on your face is what I was trying to avoid. I didn’t want you to get your heart broken. What happened?”
She fell into her mom’s arms. No matter what had happened along the way, her mom had been there. She was tough but she’d had to be.
And Gavin was there, too. He put a hand on her back, patting her the way he would when she’d skinned her knee on set or taken a fall. “Tell us what happened, sweetheart. We can find a way through this.”
She cried and told them her story.
chapter nine
Two days later Major watched the screen in the conference room at the station house.
“I was happy to help the deputy,” Brynn was saying. She smiled at the camera, sitting on the big patio of the B and B. Morning light shone down on her, making her hair even more golden. She practically had a damn halo, and someone had gotten her makeup perfect. She was gorgeous, and yet he thought he could see the strain. Her smile was bright but not vibrant. “Apparently things can get sticky down here on the bayou, but I’ve learned that the people are always willing to help.”
“There you are.” Roxie poked her head in. “I was looking for you. Hey, is that Brynn?”
He turned. “Yeah, it’s her third interview in the last couple of days. I saw she did one from the shelter.”
He’d watched them all. In every one, she’d talked about how much she loved the town and how she felt so welcome here. In the one she’d done from Papillon’s shelter, she’d been surrounded by dogs and cats, and a pet rabbit who’d been surrendered.
“We nearly cleared out the shelter in one day.” Roxie walked in, letting the door close behind her. “She’s been busy. We were supposed to have breakfast this morning, but she canceled because she had to do this show. She’s recording a podcast this afternoon, so she’s not going to get much time in today. I don’t know why she came out early if she was going to do nothing but press. I’m staying far away from that part.”
“It’s not her choice.” He hated the fact that she was doing all of this for him.
He also hated the fact that he’d thought of nothing but her for days. He couldn’t get those tears in her eyes out of his head.
I can’t stand the thought of not being friends.
They’d gotten to be more than friends. In a short time, she’d become important to him. It had taken everything he had to not go out to the B and B to check in on her. He’d texted her when he’d watched the first interview. Nothing more than a simple thank-you and request to know if she was okay.