Nathan trampled into the house looking like a wet rat. Lucas took one look at him and began to laugh.
"What in the hell happened to you?"
Nathan just shook his head.
"You don't want to know, man. I've been at the Den all damned day and it was a rough day."
"Actually, I do", Lucas said, grabbing a cold beer from the refrigerator. "Considering I'm the one that has to be there all day tomorrow, I'm not really in the mood for surprises, besides I could use a good laugh and you brother, look pretty pissed off."
"I'm glad you find the humor in this. It sucks, Luke. I spent all morning interviewing people because we could use the extra help. Then I spent all afternoon trying to figure out how the hell we were going to pay them. And because we're so short handed, today I was cook, waiter, busboy, bartender, janitor and manager all in one."
"Thos are the breaks", Lucas sighed as Brooke emerged.
"Hey", she smiled. "Rough day?"
"The worst!"
"Go for a swim in the river afterwards to clear your head?"
Nathan rolled his eyes.
"I may as well have. One of the pipes burst and I had to deal with that."
"Did you get it fixed?"
"Yeah. I had no choice. We can't afford to call a professional plumber."
Brooke sighed.
"Well, at least this day is over. You can get a hot shower and crash. That'll make you feel better."
"Sounds good but today is Daytona's last night in town. I kind of wanted to hang out."
"Is she coming over?"
"Probably but I wanted to do something special for her."
"Special?" Lucas frowned.
"Yeah. Look, we've never been on a real, actual date before."
Brooke put her hands on her hips.
"You mean, you've never taken that sweet girl that's practically your girlfriend on a real date?"
"We've hung out", Nathan volunteered sheepishly.
Brooke swatted his arm with her hand.
"That, sir, does not count. Men! You should be ashamed of yourself. You should march yourself right into that shower, get all cleaned and prettied up, give her a call and then give her a night to remember."
"Believe me, Brooke. I'd love nothing more than to do that. But it's already almost dark and we're in Tree Hill. There's only so much I can do."
Nathan did have a point but Brooke wasn't so easily defeated. She thought for a minute.
"Okay, I got it. Tell me, what do girls want?"
Nathan looked puzzled.
"I don't know."
"An orgasm?" Lucas piped in with a huge grin.
Brooke rolled her eyes and tried to ignore the older brother.
"Besides that. Guys, come on! Girls want romance. They want to be pampered and treated like royalty."
"I don't know how to do all that stuff, Brooke", Nathan shoved his hands in his damp pockets. "That's not me. I'm not the romantic type."
"Duh! Unfortunately none of you men are. It's just not in your bumbling male nature. It's definitely more of a learned trait but lucky you that I'm here to teach and share my expertise."
"Yay!" Lucas pretended to squeal.
"You so don't exist right now", she scowled at Lucas before turning her attention back to his brother. "Now onto you, the good brother who can be helped…let me help you."
Nathan took a deep breath and folded his arms.
"And how do you plan to do that?"
A grin spread across Brooke's face.
"You go downstairs, pick out something nice to wear, shave, shower, slap on the cologne and all that good stuff and leave the rest up to me."
"Brooke, I don't know…"
"Be at the Market Street Docks in two hours, okay?"
Nathan conceded. It wasn't like he had much of a choice anyway. All he could do was follow her directions. Brooke giddily clapped her hands as she watched Lucas pick up his cell phone and dial a few numbers.
"Tim, it's Luke. Where are you, bitch? I wanted to see if you were up to hitting up that new club we were talking about in Greenville. I have to be at work tomorrow around 7 in the morning so we'll be cool as long as we get back before, say, 6:45. Anyway, quit being a douche and give me a call back."
"What were you doing?" Brooke asked.
Lucas made a face.
"That's a little nosy but I'll throw you a bone. I was calling a buddy of mine to see if he wanted to hang out tonight."
"But you can't. At least not for the next couple of hours."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm putting together Nathan and Daytona's big night."
He shrugged.
"Okay. So what does that have to do with me?"
"You are so impossible sometimes, you know that? I swear! Anyway, I need help."
"You can say that again."
"I'm in a good mood so I'll let that little remark slide. I need your help."
Lucas smirked.
"My help, huh? Moi? Little old stupid me?"
"You said it, remember that. Anyway, no you're not my favorite person in the world but I don't see anyone else around and time is of the essence so it looks like I don't have much of a choice, now do I?"
"Give me one good reason why I should help you."
Brooke looked him right in the eye.
"Because it's not for me. It's for your brother", she said softly. "This means a lot to him."
Lucas sighed. Maybe it was the beer but she had appealed to his good side. Cursing under his breath, he grabbed a jacket and waited while she chatted on the phone.
"Okay. Let's go", she said when she hung up.
"Who was that?"
"I called Daytona at her motel. I told her to get dressed and be at the Den in 30 minutes."
"What's there?"
Brooke just gave him a smile as she instructed him to drive there. She hopped out and went in the back office and rummaged through a drawer until she found where Deb kept the good stationary. Taking a pen, she scribbled a few words on it, sealed it an envelope and told Skills to hand it to Daytona when she arrived. Smiling, she climbed back in the waiting truck minutes later, a bag in her hands.
"Next destination, please", she chirped.
"What was that all about?"
"I had to leave a note for Daytona. When she gets to the Den, she is supposed to walk up to the corner of Main."
"Why?"
"Drive there and find out."
Lucas shrugged and continued to chauffer on Brooke's wild goose chase. The ride was short and she hopped out and talked for a few minutes to the man that gave the horse and buggy rides around town. Then she gave him a card.
"Alright", Lucas sighed. "Now I'm really curious."
"Do you happen to have a blanket in here?"
"I guess. In the back. Why? You trying to cozy up to me?"
She made a vomiting motion.
"Not hardly but we'll need it for setup at the docks, which is our next and final destination."
A few minutes later they were there. Lucas parked and followed her to the table that set in the very middle. He watched her spread out a pretty lace table cloth she had borrowed from the Den. Then she reached in the bag and pulled out two candles. Placing the final not card between them, she walked over to the edge of the dock and spread out the blanket. Finally she was done.
"Now what?" he asked.
"How does it look?"
"Okay, I guess."
"Good. Here is the plan. Daytona should be arriving shortly at the Den. When she gets there, Skills will hand her the card and she'll go to Main Street. There, she will be driven here to the docks on a nice carriage ride. And when she arrives, someone from the diner will have delivered the dinner at this romantic candlelight setting. Best of all, Nathan will be here looking very handsome with a dozen red roses, a gesture sure to win any woman over. They will eat and talk while enjoying a fantastic view of the water and as the last card instructs, they will enjoy a few hours underneath the stars over at the dock before a moonlit carriage home. Now what do you think? Do you love it?"
Lucas had to admit with limited supplies and time, she had gone all out.
"That's pretty cool. I'm impressed."
"Hopefully Daytona will be too. Now it's getting late so we need to get back to the house and make sure Nathan knows what to do."
"Okay. Let's go."
"Oh shit", Brooke muttered. "There is a glitch in my near perfect plan."
"What?"
"I totally didn't think about where we'd get a dozen roses at this hour."
"Things do close kind of early in Tree Hill."
Brooke stamped her foot.
"Damn! It's so much better with the roses."
Lucas thought for a minute.
"Come with me", he said.
"Where are we going?"
"Let's just say all might not be lost."
He stomped on the gas and floored it to midtown. Some of the nightclubs were just beginning to jump into full swing. A nightlife frequenter, Lucas had remembered the old peddler like lady who liked to walk the main strip selling flowers to drunken couples who stumbled out of the various bars. Just as he suspected, she was there. He hopped out, paid her, and returned with flowers.
"I certainly never thought I would say this but you are awesome! Sweet idea! This totally rocks!"
Lucas smiled.
"See? I guess I'm not the evil bastard you think I am", he said as they hurried back to the house.
Thanks to his expert driving, they were there in no time with just enough to alert Nathan of the entire plan. The truck came to a stop in front of the house. Luke's phone beeped indicating there was a new text message.
"Well, thank you very much for tonight", Brooke began. "I couldn't have pulled this off without you driving so thanks."
He shrugged.
"It was no big deal. You didn't get on my nerves too bad and it was something nice for Nathan."
She nodded and half smiled, pointing at his phone.
"Looks like your friend called you back."
Lucas briefly scanned the message.
"I guess he did. I guess we're partying tonight in Greenville."
"Okay. Well, um, have a good time."
"I always do."
She opened the truck door and Lucas handed her the roses. The bundle of a dozen were in her hand but Lucas was left with a single.
"What's that?"
He gave her a charming smile.
"For you."
"For me?" she laughed out loud. "Why?"
"I don't know. Maybe for being a semi decent human being tonight and for helping out my brother so much."
"Thanks but no thanks", she went to shut the door.
"Brooke, wait", his voice softened. "I mean it. I want you to have it. Look, I know you didn't have the best impression of me and maybe I haven't been the nicest guy. If you take this rose, it could be a reminder of how it felt to do something nice for someone else…and maybe when I lose sight of things and I relapse and act like a dick again, it can remind you that I'm not all bad."
He seemed sincere enough and he was even smiling. Brooke pondered his words for a few minutes before smiling herself.
"On that note, why don't you keep it? Maybe it'll remind you that I'm not the spoiled, bratty bitch you think I am. Maybe you'll remember how good it feels to help someone else out. And when you look at it, who knows? Maybe you won't be tempted to be such a dick again."
And with that and a wink, she was gone.