The Return of Brody McBride (23 page)

“Brody,” she called breathlessly.

He wrapped his arms around her and picked her up off her feet. The entire length of her body pressed against his, her toes scraping against his shins. He buried his face in her neck and held her tight with her arms locked around his neck and her face pressed against the side of his head.

“I’ve missed you so damn much,” he confessed. “There were days I thought I’d never breathe again without you. In my happiest, normal, saddest, darkest moments, I held on to your memory. You were with me every second of every day. God, how I begged for you at times. Just to hear your voice, see you smile, smell your skin, feel your body pressed to mine. Anything. Everything. I needed you so damn much. You were the keeper of my heart and without you, I wasn’t whole. This. Right now. I feel whole.”

Her arms wrapped around him tighter and he held her close, his face buried in her mass of brown hair. “I’m here, Brody. Right where I belong. I swear, I’ll never let you go again.”

Just those simple words and all the air went out of his lungs. He crushed her to him. Her body tensed at the powerful embrace, but she held tight, knowing he needed her.

“I’ll never leave you again, Rain. I can’t live without you. I can’t breathe, think, be. Not in any kind of way that exceeds existing. I want to live and be happy the only way I can when I’m with you.”

“Okay, Brody. It’s okay.”

“I’m sorry about the past. I’m furious with Roxy about what she did, what she put you and Autumn and Dawn through. I promise, I’ll never let her hurt you or the girls again. I swear, I’ll never hurt you again.”

“Enough,” she said, her words choked out on a soft sob.

“It’s not enough until you love me again. Until you’re mine again.”

“Not again, Brody. Always. I’ve loved you my whole life, since the day I met you in the school nurse’s office. You were sick and I’d skinned my knees because that awful boy pushed me down.”

“Scott. You asked if my mother was coming to take me home.”

“You were green. You confessed you didn’t have a mother or a father who cared. We swapped stories about how your mother left you and my mother died. The nurse let me sit with you until after school and I asked my dad to drive you home. The next day, you stayed close while I played on the bars. When Scott tried to pick on me again, you shoved him to the ground and told him to leave me alone.”

“He was terrified,” Brody remembered.

“You were older and six inches taller than him. He never bothered me again. No one did, because they didn’t want to go up against you. I worshipped you from that moment on.

“I’m yours, Brody. I always have been and I always will be. There never was and will never be anyone else but you.”

She was his. He was the only man who’d ever touched her, loved her completely. The only man she’d ever loved. He’d make damn sure he was the last.

He took a step toward the house and his leg gave out with their combined weight. He fell forward, but she caught him when her feet thudded to the floor. She took his weight, braced her hands on his shoulders, and helped him stand on his own again.

Looking at the floor and the toes of his boots, he said, “Sorry. I guess I’m not up to carry you off to bed.”

She took his face in her hands and made him look at her. “How about dinner then?”

“Are you going to keep making things like this easy on me?”

“Your body still needs time to heal. Of course, I’ll give you a break and be there for you when you need me. More important is the fact that in addition to your leg, you’re hurt here,” she said and took his head between her hands. She placed her right hand on his chest over his heart. “And here.”

“Rain. You have no idea how it feels to stumble on my leg or lose myself in a war that isn’t there. My world falls away and I’m in a living nightmare and I can’t escape.”

“The only thing I ask is that if you can’t take care of the girls on your own, you let me know. No recriminations, I’ll just be sure to be there with all of you.”

“Why are you being so cool about all this? You have every right to use my past against me, use my muddled mind and my injuries to keep them from me.”

“Punishing you only punishes me. Isn’t that what you’ve finally realized you’ve done to yourself the last eight years? Isn’t that why you really came home? Because living apart is a torment for the both of us.”

“I wish I knew what I did to deserve you. I’d do it every day for the rest of my life just to keep you.”

“The only thing you need to do to keep me is love me. And our girls.”

“I do love you. With everything I am. I won’t screw this up again. I promise.”

“Don’t make that promise, Brody. We both know you’re going to do something supremely stupid that I’ll have to forgive.”

“But you will forgive me because you love me.” This time, the cocky grin came easy. He squeezed her hips where he held her close.

“I can forgive you most anything, Brody. I have before. But don’t ask me to forgive you sleeping with another woman. I just don’t have it in me to live through that again.”

“Never. I don’t want anyone but you. I swear it, Rain.”

“Will you do something for me?”

“Anything.” He leaned down to kiss her upturned mouth. Before his lips met hers, she said, “Feed me.” To prove her point, her stomach rumbled, making them both laugh.

“Come on. I’ve got most of dinner ready. You can set the table while I toss the steaks on the grill.”

“Perfect.”

“Yeah, you are,” he said under his breath and followed her to the door.

Chapter Eighteen

B
RODY WALKED INTO
the kitchen through the mudroom, a platter of steaks and baked potatoes in his hand. He stopped and stared at Rain as she leaned over the table and set a glass of iced tea in front of a place setting. The table looked great. Rain simply took his breath away. Two candles burned in the center. Their soft glow highlighted her long hair, sparking off the reds and golds throughout the thick mass. Her red sweater fit snug over her breasts and hugged her body to her slightly curved hips. Her breasts were still high and round. Her hips tapered to lean thighs. She’d held her athletic physique all these years. Probably from running after two active little girls.

She caught him staring at her. Without a word, she came to him and took the platter. He hadn’t seen the slice of carrot in her hand, but she popped it into his mouth and patted his cheek.

“Let’s eat, big guy. I’m starving.”

“Me, too.” It had nothing to do with the food on the table and everything to do with her. She made his mouth water.

He took his seat and looked at the dishes she’d set out.

“I like the new dishes and glasses you bought. They’re lovely.”

“I thought you’d like them. The place is kind of a disaster right now . . .”

“Not really. The new furniture is great. I see you’ve set up your computers in the living room.”

“Yeah, I’ve got some work I need to do. In case you haven’t noticed, the back wall is nothing but plastic sheeting.”

She gave him a lopsided smile and looked thoughtful at the same time. “I thought there was something different.”

A bite of steak disappeared into her mouth, her lips skimming over her fork. He swallowed hard. “I’m meeting with an architect. When I arrived, I thought I’d just expand the living room and out the back, adding another bedroom, bathroom, and expanding this room. But when I found out about the girls, I knew we’d need a bigger place.”

Her fork stopped halfway to her mouth. Potato and sour cream suspended in midair. Her face stilled, her eyes narrowed on him. “We need a bigger place?”

“I know you like your house, but it’s kind of small for you and the girls. I don’t know how Eli feels about living over the garage. I thought he might like to have the house back and you and the girls would live with me. I have plans for this place and building the new stables. I thought we could do it together. I have a condo in Atlanta. I’ll have to go there a couple times a year for business. I thought you might like to go with me. Sometimes it’s necessary for me to travel here and overseas. Maybe you could come along when it’s convenient. You could see some of the world. We could see it together.”

“What about the girls?”

“They can come with us when they aren’t in school. Or, we could take them out for a few days, a week, and give them a real adventure. Life experience.”

He took a big bite of steak and smiled broadly. He’d taken her off guard. He’d made it plain he wanted her back. She just hadn’t realized that he’d also made plans for their future.

“You’re serious.”

“As a heart attack, sweetheart. It’s easy to talk about having a life with you. I want you to understand I didn’t come back on a whim. I’ll admit, I’ve had to adjust my plans to include the girls, but I have to say, they’re a wonderful bonus.”

“I can’t just travel with you.”

“Why not? Eli and Owen will babysit the girls. We could hire a full-time nanny if you want. Hell, we could bring the girls and a nanny. That way you and I can do the town at night while the girls sleep. I’ll get my business done, and we’ll all get a chance to see some interesting places around the world.”

“Like where?”

He had her attention now. Her tentative question didn’t mask her interest and curiosity.

“I have to go to China in a couple of months. We’ve got a new prototype and we’ll work with a manufacturer to mass produce the product.”

“China,” she said, astonished.

“Of course, I’d like you to take a look at the blueprints for the expansion of the house. I don’t expect you to just agree with my plans, but tell me what you want and need, so we can work together to make it happen. I want this to be our home.”

“You mean that?”

“Yes. What good is building this place if you’re not happy here, or you hate it.”

“What are your plans?”

“The entire back of the house will be blown out. We’ll expand the kitchen and living room into a huge great room. I’ll have an office downstairs. There’ll be a bathroom and a couple of closets. Upstairs, we’ll have a master suite and three or four other bedrooms. Two or three more bathrooms depending on the number of bedrooms. I figure we’ll need the bathrooms when the girls get bigger. I’d really like to have another baby with you. More if you’d like.

“What do you think?”

“The kitchen will need to have a breakfast room and an island. The stove should have burners and a griddle. The girls like pancakes for breakfast several times a week. Keep the mudroom, but enlarge it so there is space to fold laundry and keep the baskets. The master suite and four bedrooms upstairs. The girls will want to share for now, but eventually they’ll want their own room. Maybe,” she said thoughtfully. “They’re really close. And, yes.”

“I’m sorry, yes?”

“Yes, I’d like to have another baby. Maybe two. We’ll see. Oh, and I’d like to paint the house white with dark blue trim. Hardwood floors and a stone fireplace that you’ll make love to me in front of when the girls stay at Uncle Owen’s house for a sleepover.”

She forked up another bite of steak and chewed, a thoughtful smile on her face.

“I’m having a hard time believing you’re just going along with this.”

“Between now and the house being done we still have a lot to work out. Owen goaded me into coming tonight, laying my cards on the table, and taking a risk. Because of what we once shared, and the future I think we can create together with our girls, I’m betting on us.

“Besides, the only thing I had planned was a softball game on Saturday and grocery shopping on Sunday. Your plans are much more detailed.”

She barely contained the smile creeping up her face. Her eyes sparkled with suppressed laughter. His heart felt lighter knowing she wasn’t fighting him anymore. Whatever her reasons for putting aside her anger and thinking about a future with him, he didn’t care. He hoped this was the start of many conversations about joining their lives permanently.

She leaned forward and her eyes turned serious again.

“Just because I agree doesn’t mean it’ll be easy or happen overnight. We have to consider the girls. They want us to be together, for you and me to be their mom and dad and be a happy family. You and I have a lot of catching up to do before we make any promises to Dawn and Autumn.”

“Every time they see the two of us together, their little faces look so hopeful.”

“Didn’t you ever wish for your parents to be back together when you were a kid?”

Brody thought about it. “I wished my mother would come back and take me with her. Then again, I didn’t want to leave Owen. My life growing up wasn’t anything like normal. I’d like the girls to have normal at the minimum. If you and I can find our way back to happy, they’ll have extraordinary.”

Tears gathered in her eyes and he reached out and took her hand. He brought it to his mouth and kissed her palm. He held her hand against his cheek and met her glistening eyes. “I know you missed your mother. Probably wished a million times to have her back, but never so much as when you found out you were pregnant. I bet you wished she was there with you.”

“Pop was great. My rock as usual. But I really wish I’d had my mother there to give me advice about being a mother. How did . . .”

“I know you. We both grew up with only our fathers. I was always jealous of you and Eli. Of course, you shared him with me. He always welcomed me into your home. Even when he realized I wanted to sleep with his daughter.”

She smiled, remembering those months Eli seemed on edge, always watching them like a hawk. “You did make him nervous. You should have seen him trying his best to give me
the talk
.” She giggled. Her whole face lit up with a smile bright enough to banish the darkest night. “I’ve never seen him sweat so much, or stumble over his words like that. By the time he was finished, I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew he had enough faith in me to let me make my own choice.”

“What did he say?”

“He told me the basic technique using a very strange baseball analogy.”

“Whatever he told you, you blew my mind that night.”