The Return of Brody McBride (27 page)

Her eyes held his. She hadn’t moved her hands, and she knew he could see the anger in her eyes, feel it in her body beneath his.

“You mean that.”

“You’re damn right I do.”

His forehead touched hers and he kissed her softly. “I’m being stupid.”

“For a smart man, you say some stupid things,” she agreed, and was happy to see a slight smile cross his face.

“I thought when I came back, the scars, my mental state . . . other things would be another black mark against me.”

“I’m not keeping score. I don’t have a blackboard in my mind where I’m ticking off things for and against you.”

“It’s me. It’s just that getting you back is the most important thing I’ve ever tried to do.”

“Mission accomplished. Scars, past deeds, everything between our past and present doesn’t seem to matter more than the fact that I love you. I don’t want to be sad and angry and lonely anymore.”

Brody rolled to his side and kept her pulled close to him. They lay face-to-face. “You’ll never be lonely again, sweetheart. I’m sorry I left you alone to raise our girls. The sacrifices you made, all the hard work and care you’ve put into raising them. They’re beautiful, smart, happy little girls because of you. Autumn is safe and knows she’s loved because of you. I’m sorry and thank you doesn’t seem to be enough to show you how much I appreciate what you’ve done. From now on, you won’t have to do it alone.”

“Good. Because the scariest thing is knowing if Roxy pushed for her parental rights, I’d lose. We can’t lose, Brody. For Autumn’s sake, we have to end this and make sure Roxy never takes Autumn again.”

“We will, sweetheart.” He kissed her forehead and held her close, the morning blooming brightly through the window above them. “We need to get up and go have breakfast with the girls. We’ll talk to Owen this morning and start planning our strategy.”

“Spoken like a true military man going into battle.”

“If we’re dealing with Roxy, you’re damn right it’ll be a battle. She never makes anything easy, and usually makes matters worse.”

“Enough about her. You take a shower, I’ll make the coffee.”

“Deal.” He smacked her on the bottom, threw off the covers, and stood next to the bed stretching his arms high over his head and leaning side to side to stretch his back. When his arms came down, he automatically rubbed his hand over his thigh.

“I don’t know how you could possibly think something so small could take away from how sexy and beautiful you are.” She lay in bed, her eyes devouring every inch of skin stretched over taut, well-defined muscles. The scars and burns were there, but she didn’t really see them as she took in the whole of him.

He turned back to her. This time, no apprehension in the way he moved or in his eyes. “Remind me never to buy you the pair of glasses you so obviously need.” He planted his hands on either side of her shoulders, leaned down and kissed her with such reverence tears came into her eyes. Her hands came up and smoothed over his shoulders. As he stood, her hands slid down his arms until their hands met. He held hers, gave them a squeeze, then walked to the bathroom, completely unfazed by her intent gaze.

She’d helped him get past his uneasiness over his physical injuries. Now, if she could only help him with his anxiety and those terrible nightmares he had when he was both awake and asleep. She’d find a way to bring him peace. She’d surround him with love and family. They’d make a home and a life together.

First, they had to find a way to keep Roxy out of their lives.

Chapter Twenty-One

A
UTUMN AND
D
AWN
screeched with excitement when they came down to the kitchen that morning and found Brody sitting at the table, watching Rain make breakfast. Both girls ran to him and threw their arms around his neck. Rain’s heart melted seeing them with their father. They’d waited so long to have him in their lives and Brody didn’t hesitate to pull them close, engage them in conversation, and, of course, provide the promised piggyback ride for Autumn. Not to be outdone, Dawn got hers, too.

Owen came down just as Rain put breakfast on the table. “What’s going on down here?”

Rain stood in the doorway, her shoulder propped against the frame. The girls attacked Brody, wrapping their arms around his hips and legs. They stood in the living room surrounded by shredded wrapping paper and ribbons. Their shriek of delight filled the room and her heart.

“Brody bought the girls new computers.”

Owen came to stand beside her. He kissed her on the forehead. “Good morning, beautiful.”

Brody kept his eye on them, despite the girls begging him to set up the laptops immediately. A ripple of pleasure coursed through her seeing that small show of jealousy.

“Morning. Did you sleep well?” she asked.

“I slept alone.” He pointedly looked at her clothes, the same ones she had on last night. “Did you?”

“She slept with me and will from now on.” Brody planted his fists on his hips and glared at Owen.

Rain’s cheeks flushed immediately. Owen smiled broadly. The girls looked at each other, then Dawn asked, “You slept at Dad’s last night?”

Before she left last night, she hadn’t told the girls she’d stay at Brody’s. She wasn’t sure she would, or if it would be a good idea to give in to her need for him when there was still so much unsettled between them. Besides, she didn’t want to get the girls’ hopes up too much.

“Your dad and I had a lot to talk about last night. Let’s have breakfast. We need to talk to you about a few things. Your softball game is later today. When we get home, your dad can set up your computers.”

“Ah, Mom. Can’t we set them up now? Just one game?”

“You heard your mom. After the softball game. Let’s eat. I’m starving.” Brody smiled to let her know he was on her side. They were a team.

“I’ll bet you worked up quite an appetite,” Owen said with a knowing grin.

“Jealous.” Brody took his seat next to Rain at the table and brought her hand to his lips, kissing her palm. She brushed her fingertips over his cheek and smiled.

“Actually, yeah. She’s been mine for more than four years.”

The truth of Owen’s words settled into her heart. They’d been a family these last years, Owen helping her out with the girls, picking them up from school, coaching softball, breakfasts, dinners, Saturdays at the mall, or out for a movie. He didn’t have romantic feelings for her, but still, they’d been close. If the girls couldn’t have their father, he was the next best thing because he was there, and he told the most wonderful Brody stories.

Rain wanted to say something to add weight to Owen’s casually spoken words. Brody spoke first, showing her just how much he’d changed. Gone was the wisecracking, take-next-to-nothing-serious man he’d been. This Brody understood where his brother was coming from, because Brody understood everything he’d missed with the girls and everything his brother hadn’t.

Brody leaned forward and braced his forearms on the edge of the table and looked Owen in the eye. “I know it seems like I’m taking your place in the girls’ lives.”

“You’re their father. Your place is with them.”

“It’s where I’ll stay, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a place here for you. I’d really like it if you and I could stick together to take care of them. We may have had our differences, but we’ve always had each other’s back. What you did for Rain and my daughters while I was gone, well, there are no words to thank you enough. We always wanted to have a real family when we were young.” Brody looked at all of them sitting around the table, pancakes, eggs, and bacon piled on platters. “This is it, Owen. We finally have it.”

“This is your family, Brody. I don’t want to get in the way of that.”

“It wouldn’t be a complete family without you,” Brody admitted.

Rain hadn’t ever heard the two brothers talk like this. They’d never been so open and honest. At least, not in front of witnesses.

“Brody’s right. We need you, Owen. Who else will play catcher, or take the girls out on dates. They love spending time with you.”

“She’s right,” Brody added. “I can barely make it upstairs. There’s no way I can play ball with them.”

“I look forward to the time we share, having breakfast together, sharing our days over coffee. You’ve got the juiciest gossip in town,” Rain added.

Owen laughed. “Is that a roundabout way of saying I’m your best girlfriend?”

Not rising to the joke, she gave him the serious answer. “You’re my best friend. You have been all these years. Just because Brody’s back and we’re trying to work things out, that doesn’t mean I don’t need my best friend. Besides, if he gets out of line, I expect you to come to my defense.”

“Seems only right,” Brody said around a bite of syrup-dripping pancakes.

“Uncle Owen is really good at playing checkers. He lets me win,” Autumn said, and gave her uncle a huge smile.

“He said we could sue David Murphy for defamation of character if he called me ugly on the playground again,” Dawn added, and everyone laughed.

Smiling, Owen conceded. “Well you, my little hothead, will need me to defend you if you stomp on his foot and pull his hair again.” Owen grabbed Dawn and hugged her to his side and gave her a kiss on the head. “You’re your father’s daughter.”

“Mom taught me the foot-stomping thing. It works real good.” Dawn gave Brody a huge smile, her eyes pleading for his approval. When he gave her back a huge smile, she sat even taller in her chair. Rain laid her hand over Brody’s and squeezed it to let him know she appreciated his show of pride in their daughter’s less than reputable, but very much like their father’s, behavior.

“Yeah, David couldn’t play kickball for two days.” Autumn nodded her approval to Dawn and both girls shared one of those looks that says so much without saying a word.

“Eat your breakfast, girls.” Rain had trouble eating her own. She kept looking at Brody and everyone else at her table, wondering how they’d gotten to this point so quickly. She’d been so angry with him for what he’d done. Yet, she’d found it easy to forgive him, fall back into bed with him, and start planning a life with him. Well, not really plan. They’d only had a few words about the future, but still, it seemed so set in her mind. Here they were sitting around the breakfast table. So normal. She had no trouble imagining this is how things would be from now on.

Thinking forward, she pictured them in the house Brody was building. The girls in their own rooms. Brody would have his office and work from home. He’d be there when the girls came home from school. They’d have dinner together and talk about their day. She’d sleep in his arms every night.

Memories of last night surfaced. The way he’d been so apprehensive about her seeing his scars. How they’d come together with such intense heat and need. The feel of his hands, his mouth on her breasts, the weight of him covering her, his heat sinking into her bones, the way he filled her body and at the same time her heart to the point it went beyond pleasure and into some kind of melding between their souls. Maybe that’s what happened years ago, but in her youth she hadn’t recognized it for what it was.

She’s spent the last several years waiting for him, because for her, he was her everything.

Brody’s fingers slid along her cheek and into her hair. He pulled her head to his and whispered into her ear. “If you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to eat you up rather than my breakfast.” His hand dropped between them and he squeezed her hip and sent heat into her belly.

“Mom, are you okay?” Dawn asked.

Brody let her go, his hands not leaving her without touching every inch of her skin at his fingertips.

Turning to Dawn, she smiled softly, her mind still spinning with thoughts of Brody and the future. A future they had to plan carefully because their daughters’ happiness needed to be considered.

“I’m fine, honey. I just got lost in thought. It’s been a crazy few days.”

“Because Dad’s back.”

“Yes. Your dad and I had a long talk last night, but we still have a lot to discuss and work out. Nothing has really been settled.”

“Although I’m home, it’ll still take time to earn your mom’s complete trust. We need time to get to know each other again,” he said to the girls. “I’m adding on to the cabin, turning it into a real house. Eventually, I’d like your mom and you to come live with me on the ranch.”

“With the horses?” Dawn asked.

“Eventually. The house and stables will take time to build. During that time, we’ll get to know each other. Your mom and I will plan our future, learn to live with each other.”

“Are you going to get married? She’ll be my real mommy then.” Autumn’s eyes held so much hope.

Dawn leaned forward, waiting for Brody’s answer.

Rain loved Brody as much today as she did years ago. More. Not just because of their daughters. Since the moment she’d seen him lying in that hospital bed, burned and so near death she could feel it in the room, she’d known her life, her happiness, her reason for being was him. When she’d seen him at the shop the day he’d come to pick up his truck, she’d seen the pure joy and wonder and gratitude when she’d told him she’d had his child. She’d also seen the relief that Dawn bound them together. He needed her, and she needed him, too.

“Autumn, baby girl . . .” Brody began, and paused searching for the right words.

It was a loaded question, and Brody didn’t want to make promises when things were so fresh and new between them. They had a foundation of love, but they still needed time to build on it.

Roxy was coming back. Brody knew as well as she did that meant trouble.

Frustrated, Brody ran his hand over his hair. He opened his mouth, but closed it again. Rain didn’t say a word. She’d spent the last four years trying to console Autumn and make her feel safe. Nothing worked for long. Something always made Autumn feel like any minute Roxy would pop out of a dark corner and take her back to hell. This time, Autumn had a very good reason to fear, and they hadn’t even told her Roxy was coming back to town. No doubt to see Brody. Maybe to try to get him back into her bed. Certainly to get as much money from him as she could.