“I can at least be thankful for… what?” Henry’s eyes grew bigger as he stared at his daughter.

“Da-ad,” Brooke sing-songed out, “I’m joking,” she winked at him and laughed.

“I should hope so, young lady.” Henry started to relax again.

“Nope, we can’t get each other pregnant, which might be a real pain in the ass down the road, but we’ll worry about it then.”

“You expect it to go that far? Brooke, are you telling me in a roundabout way then, that Sam’s the one…” Henry swallowed hard, “the one you want to…”

“Settle down with?” She looked to her father and saw his slight nod. “Yes, but not in a roundabout way, Dad. I’ll tell it to you straight out. I love Sam and I know that she loves me. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. Heck, Dad…” Brooke let her hand go to the box in her pocket, “I’m going to marry her someday and then you can bet you’ll be a Grandpa again.”

Henry could see the determination in her eyes. “I see.” He slowly began to nod his head, believing in what he was about to say, “I believe you will, Brooke, I truly do.” The man took in a deep breath and let it out. “So, I guess I can tell your mother that I’ve done my part and not have to worry about it, right?” He eyed his daughter as he got up from his chair and walked around the desk.

“Yeah,” Brooke stood up and clapped her hand on his shoulder. “You did good, Pop.” She walked with him toward the door, “Come on, I got a bird out there waiting on me.” She winked at her father, then smiled.

Henry chuckled, “I wish they were all as easy as you, Brooke.” He reached for the door, opening it just as his youngest child passed by. “I can’t wait until your mother has to have this talk with C.C.”

Peter first spied Brooke standing out in the backyard when he rounded the corner of the Gordon house. His ex-band mate and soon-to-be boss looked rather pensive in her thoughts as she held something in her hand, staring down at it, causing Peter to stop, giving her just a little more time to herself. He waited until he saw her nod, then shove the small box into her jacket pocket before resuming his walk over to where Brooke stood.

“Hey, there you are,” Peter called out as he started around the last shrub. “So, what’s up, Brooke? Your dad told me you were out here when he met me at the door. He thought it might be best if I’d come find you before greeting the rest of the family.”

Startled at first by the voice, Brooke turned to see her friend, “Hey!” She held out her arms to embrace him in a roughhousing kind of hug at first, then latched on to the man and gave him a real one. “Not much.” They stepped back from each other and stood there gazing away from the house. “I just came out here for some air, when Randi tried to corner me.”

“Gee, if I get hugs like that, I’ll move every week,” Peter laughed.

“Nah…” Brooke waved her hand at the idea, “I’d offer them to you freely, no strings attached.” Brooke looked over to the man and smiled.

They shared a friendly smile before Peter ventured to ask, “Randi, huh? What’s she on the rampage about? Warn me now.”

Brooke smirked, “Me and Sam.”

“Huh? What do you mean… you and Sam?” Peter’s brow furrowed with puzzlement.

The tall woman shrugged, “She doesn’t approve of us being together. You know how high and mighty she can be.” Brooke turned to face Peter, “Christ, Peter…” blue eyes conveyed her feelings of hurt, “…she had Sam investigated.”

Peter’s eyes nearly popped out, “Investigate that sweet thing? You’ve got to be kidding, right?” He could tell by the serious look on Brooke’s face that she wasn’t, and looked away from his friend, saying exactly what was on his mind. “You know, sometimes I think Randi was a lawyer in a previous life,” he shook his head, “and a devious one at that.”

“Yeah…” Brooke whispered under her breath and nodded in agreement. “I’m not kidding, Peter, she tried to tell me shit she thought I didn’t know.” Brooke’s eyes narrowed as she looked off into the distance, “Little did she know that I knew more about it.”

“You were always thorough, even when you were little.” Peter studied his friend.

“Yep, I tried to be.” A smile came to her lips as she thought about the box in her pocket and touched it with her hand. “Always have the next step planned.”

Peter caught the subtle movement of her hand. “So, what’s in the box?” He reached out and patted the lump in her pocket, himself. “I saw you eyeing it up pretty good when I turned the corner of the house.”

Brooke grinned as she pulled it out and offered it to him.

“It ain’t my birthday,” Peter joked as he took the box in his hand and opened it with a ‘thunk’. “Holy shit!”

“Don’t go getting any ideas, Petey. It’s not for you,” Brooke cautioned the man.

The ex-band mate picked the delicate ring up out of the box, looked it over as he let out a long low whistle, then promptly put it back in the small slot. “I didn’t think so. My finger’s not that small,” Peter turned to look at Brooke, “and neither is yours.”

Brooke scratched the side of her face worriedly, “Do you think she’ll like it?”

The man held it up and looked at it approvingly, “Yeah, I think she will.” Peter looked over at Brooke, “Say, isn’t this one of the rings that we looked at in the jewelry shop up in New Jersey before you left?” He watched, as her smile grew bigger. “But you didn’t buy it then. I was with you.”

“Nope, I called them the following Monday and had it sent.” Brooke’s mind drifted back to her homecoming from that New Jersey trip and the blonde that had been waiting to greet her.

Her friend looked at her and wondered what was going through her mind that could bring such a serene expression to her face. He let her have her moment before gently nudging her shoulder with his and asking, “When you going to do it… tonight?” He held the box out for her to take.

The dark-haired woman let a tiny laugh slip out as she closed that chapter in her mind. “Ah…no.” She took the box and toyed with it. “Not yet, maybe Christmas,” she offered, then shoved it back into her pocket.

“Not sure yet or just waiting for the right time, Brooke?” Peter looked into her eyes, seeing that far off gaze that was so familiar to him. “You’re zoning out on me there girl. Just like the old days when the three of us would work on the music.” Peter snapped his fingers in front of Brooke’s face.

“Huh? Sorry.” Brooke sighed, “Yeah, I want everything to be perfect. I want to make sure she has absolutely no reason to say nnn…nnn…” she tried to verbalize the word, but couldn’t.

“And I’m sure you’ll make it that way, too.” Peter encouraged her, “With you asking her, there’s only one answer that I’d be expecting to hear and that’s yes.” Peter placed a hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eye. “I envy you, Brooke. You know that?”

“Why?” She searched for a reason in his face.

“You know what you want. Me, I…” he took in a breath and let it out, “I just dream. Take today for instance. I should have asked Crystal to come with me, but I was afraid that she’d say ‘No’.” Peter shrugged, then hung his head at his own misfortune. “So here I am, playing third wheel to you and Sam.”

“No,” Brooke shook her head, “You’re not a third wheel.” She grabbed his hand and started back toward the house, “I have a little surprise for you, my friend.”

“Surprise? What kind of surprise?” Peter suddenly dug his feet into the ground halting any further motion forward as he tugged back on his hand. “You’re not sitting me next to C.C. are you? Brooke, I know she’s your sister and all but I’m thinking that matching me and her up would not be a good thing.”

Brooke looked back to see terror-filled eyes and she couldn’t help but laugh. “Nope. Trust me, Petey. You’ll love it. I promise.” She beamed a brilliant smile at him and wiggled her eyes, “So, what do you say we go in and say ‘Hi’ to everyone?”

Peter gave the tall woman a long glance out of the side of his eyes, trying to decide if he believed her or not. “Okay,” he started out slowly, “but I’m trusting you, Boss. Let’s get it over with and then we can eat.”

Letting Peter follow her at his own pace, Brooke crossed the yard to the kitchen door and yelled inside, “Honey…” Brooke looked back at Peter, then into the bustling room filled with women until she made eye contact with the only blonde there. “Look who I found.” Brooke stepped aside, letting Peter enter the doorway first.

“Peter…” the smile on Sam’s face grew bigger. “How nice to see you here. Brooke never told me when you were coming.” She invited him into a hug, then kissed his cheek.

“Hi ya, Toots. How have you been? Did you miss me?”

“Always, Petey, always. The phone conversations with Brooke aren’t the same without you.” Sam smiled and stepped back from his embrace.

“I told you to call me whenever you’d like. Hell… now you’ll be seeing so much of me, you’ll be sick of me,” Peter grinned and winked at the blonde.

“So, Brooke finally talked you in to working for her, huh?” Sam grabbed Peter’s hand and pulled him out of the way of Mrs. Gordon. “Sorry, Mom. Come on, Petey, we’d better get out of the kitchen here before we delay the serving of dinner.” Sam winked at Brooke as she led her little party out into the hallway.

“Yep,” Peter eyed the food that was being prepared around him as he followed Sam’s lead. “Although, it didn’t take much convincing on her part. I was ready for a change. I have been for a long time.”

“I bet.” Sam turned to look at him once they were out of the kitchen. “Why don’t you tell me all about how she enticed you into that job?”

Brooke leaned in toward Peter and whispered a few choice words before they both turned to exchange knowing glances and smiled. The older woman motioned toward Sam, “Keep her company for me, Petey. I’ve got something to take care of.” She turned and kissed Sam lightly on the cheek. “You introduce Petey around and I’ll catch up with you in a bit.”