The Return of Brody McBride (28 page)

“Rain, you want to help me out here?”

He’d never outright asked her to marry him, even though he’d made himself clear on what he wanted. Her. So she smiled and said, “I believe Autumn just asked what your intentions are.”

“Maybe we should get Eli over here, too. I’m sure he’d like an answer to that question.”

“Oh, I think he’s got your number.” Owen gave Brody a wolfish grin. One brother always loved seeing the other backed into a corner.

“Okay, baby girl, you want to know if your mom and I are getting married. The answer right now is I hope so.” Autumn and Dawn both wanted to interrupt, but Brody held up his hand to stop them. “I love your mother. I love her more than anything. I came back to find her and a way to take the best of our past and see if we can turn it into a future together. Your mom and I talked last night and even managed to take a step toward that future, but a couple of dinners and one good long talk isn’t enough to build the future I want with her.”

“Why not? You said you love her.” Autumn’s eyes remained intent on Brody. It had been a long time since Rain had seen her this worked up and forward.

“I love both of you, and I love her. I know your mom. I believe she forgives me for what I did to her. I also know she needs time to think about what my coming home and being a part of her life means to her.”

“You’d be our dad all the time. We’d live together and Roxy couldn’t take me. It would be two against one. We’d win then.”

“Autumn is right,” Brody. I need your help this time. I have possession of Autumn. I’ve raised her as my own. She’s my daughter as if I gave birth to her myself.

“Roxy is still her biological mother. She has rights.” Rain kept things vague so as not to frighten Autumn, but the message was clear. A judge could grant Roxy visitation, or the unthinkable, full custody.

“You have to marry him,” Autumn burst out. “You have to. You can’t let her take me.” Sobbing, Autumn flung herself into Rain’s lap and wrapped her arms around her neck, holding tight. Dawn’s eyes were glassy, the tears ready to fall for her sister’s pain and anguish. Rain had no doubt she wanted what Autumn wanted: she and Brody married to save them from Roxy. Too bad life was never that simple.

Brody looked wrecked. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Like most men, he had no idea what to do with a crying female, especially one so small and traumatized.

“Sssh, baby. It’s all right,” Rain crooned to Autumn, rocking her in her arms.

“Baby girl, listen to me. Marrying your mom will not make Roxy stay away. As much as I want her to be my wife, I want her to marry me because it’s what we both want more than anything and not because it will make things easier in dealing with Roxy.”

“She’ll marry you. She wants to. Tell him, Mom.”

Rain held Autumn away from her and smiled softly. “I’ve told you and your sister how much I will always love your dad.”

“See,” Autumn said over her shoulder to Brody.

“Listen to your mother,” Brody replied, reading Rain as well as he used to.

“Your dad and I aren’t saying we aren’t getting married. We’re saying we need time. I haven’t seen your father in eight years. I’d like some time to get to know him again. Discover all the wonderful things about him I fell in love with years ago, all the new things I don’t know yet. I’m sure your father would like to discover those things in me.”

“You’re easy. We live in the same town he grew up in. Only now you’re our mom.”

Rain tried not to laugh, but some of it escaped. Leave it to a child to put things so simply. What more was there to her than the fact she was their mother. They didn’t see her as anything more. Maybe that was the safety and security every child needed.

“He knows what being your mom has meant to me over the years. Besides being your mom, I’m a woman. That’s very different to a man than being a mother.”

“You mean the kissing stuff,” Dawn said, her cheeks turning pink and her lips turning into a sour pucker. Brody, Owen, and Rain laughed.

“The kissing stuff along with a lot of other things. When your father and I get married, we’ll live together for the rest of our lives. Before we do that, we both should make sure that’s what we really want. What if he leaves his socks on the floor and puts mushrooms in the spaghetti sauce?”

“Ew,” both girls chimed.

“Well, the military has drilled into me how to be neat and organized, so I don’t leave my socks on the floor. Who would put mushrooms in spaghetti sauce? Yuck,” he agreed with them, earning a giggle from both girls. “So, those two questions are answered, but your mom and I have a lot of other things we need to learn about each other. This won’t happen tomorrow, but we aren’t saying it won’t happen soon.”

Brody gave her a look that told her he agreed with them taking some time, but he wouldn’t be patient for very long. Rain had a feeling he already had a timeline in his head. Look at the way he was dealing with the cabin. He intended them to live in the house within months. A house with several extra, unfilled bedrooms. Brody had come home intending to win her back, make her his wife, and have babies with her. She had to admit the more she thought about that house, those empty bedrooms, carrying his child again, the more it grew on her. The girls were getting so big. They’d gone from babies to second graders in the blink of an eye. She’d been an only child and dreamed of having a family with several children. Time to stop the spinning, settle all her thoughts, and figure out exactly what she wanted. Soon, Brody would ask her to answer that question, and she needed a good answer, or he’d tell her what she was going to do, because he already knew what he wanted. His wife and children under the same roof.

“Be patient girls. We aren’t saying it won’t happen.” Rain laid her hand over Brody’s where it rested on her knee.

Hugging Autumn close, Rain kissed her temple. “Autumn, your dad and I have something to tell you. I know you’ll be upset, but I want you to know we’ll keep you safe.”

“Roxy is coming back.” She guessed the news easily. “Because Dad came home.”

“That’s part of the reason. Your dad has worked very hard to open and run a very successful company.”

“So he could come back and be with us?” Dawn asked.

“I started out helping a friend of mine,” Brody answered. “But in the back of my mind, I knew if the company did well, I could come back and prove to your mom I had grown up and was responsible. I can take care of her . . . and you.”

“Because you have a job?” Dawn asked.

“Yes. And with that job I earn a very big paycheck.”

“Roxy wants more money.” Autumn spoke the cold hard truth. Even a child understood the bottom line when it came to Roxy.

Rain cupped her face and met her wary gaze. “Yes, baby. She wants money.”

“She never wanted me.” Autumn’s lips trembled and her eyes filled with tears.

Rain’s heart ripped open and bled. Her own eyes glassed over, but she fought the tears. “I’m sorry, baby. I know it hurts you a lot to know Roxy didn’t want you. Always remember I want you very much.”

Brody kneeled beside her chair and rubbed his hand up and down Autumn’s back. “I want you, baby girl. More than anything. I love you so much. If you ask me, you got the best mom in the world. You’re a very special girl, and you deserve to have a great mom. I want you to know something else. If I had known Roxy was pregnant with you, I would never have left you with her. I would have taken you and made sure she never hurt you in any way.”

“Really.”

“Yes.”

“But you were gone.”

“That’s why I’m so grateful Rain raised you and loved you until I came back to love you, too.” Brody wrapped his arms around both of them and kissed Autumn on the side of the head. He slid his hand up Rain’s back and cupped the back of her head and drew her to him. His lips brushed hers. “Thank you,” he said against her lips. He kissed her then, slow, soft, a wealth of love seeping into her skin, spreading warmly through her system. She melted.

Brody ended the kiss. Before he stood to take his seat again, she ran her hand over the side of his head, his short hair brushing her palm and fingers.

“So, Autumn and Dawn, I want you both to be extra careful when we’re out. If you see Roxy, you let me know. The two of you stick together. Stay close to us. When Roxy arrives, your dad and I will talk to her. We’ll settle this once and for all. Okay?”

“Okay,” both girls answered.

“Why don’t you both go and watch TV. Your dad and I need to talk with Uncle Owen.”

Rain waited for the girls to leave the kitchen. Cartoon music and high-pitched character voices played on the TV in the family room. She took her plate and coffee mug to the sink. Her gaze fell on her garden blooming outside the window in the bright sun. The sight usually made her cheerful. Not today. A black cloud had descended, overshadowing everything in her world.

“I’m going up to take a shower. I’d appreciate it if you guys cleaned up the kitchen. When I come back, we’ll talk about Roxy’s invasion.”

She turned from the window, detoured from walking upstairs, and went to Brody instead. He wrapped his arm around her waist and looked up at her waiting. She didn’t know what she wanted to say, what there was to say. “I’ll be back soon.”

“I’ll be waiting for you.”

She leaned down and met his lips. Aware Owen was watching them, she kept the kiss brief. She needed to taste him, feel his breath on her face. The special connection they shared vibrated around them. She rested her cheek against his, her fingers digging into his shoulders, and whispered into his ear, “Take your medicine.”

She stood when he said, “You taking care of me again?”

“I can’t seem to help myself.”

“Want to do it every day for the rest of your life?”

“Probably.”

She stepped out of his light embrace and left the room. The girls were on the couch, sitting close together, watching a show. When Autumn saw her, she got up and came into her arms.

“It’ll be okay, baby. I promise.”

Rain swore to herself Roxy would not make a liar out of her. If she touched one hair on her daughter’s head, she’d kill her.

Chapter Twenty-Two

B
RODY AND
O
WEN
cleaned the breakfast dishes in silence. Brody needed the space and time to collect his thoughts, think about what happened that morning and last night. What to expect when Roxy arrived, and the impact it would have on Autumn—and his tenuous relationship with Rain.

“Things seem good between you two.” Owen broached the subject with tact, even if his voice held a lot of concern, but Brody had no doubt he wanted the real scoop.

“Last night started off kind of rough.”

“She told you what Roxy did to Autumn.”

“The whole sordid story. She sold my child.” Anger laced every word and vibrated through him. Without an outlet for his rage, he took a deep breath and sat heavily in his seat at the table.

“Best thing that ever happened to Autumn . . . and you.”

“Rain is the best thing that ever happened to Autumn and me. She’s . . .”

“Exceptional,” Owen supplied.

“Absolutely. After what I did, I thought the most I owed her is a huge apology, show her I’ve grown up, taken responsibility for my life, changed my ways.”

“You’ve done all those things. She accepted the apology. After all, time has a way of putting things into perspective.”

“The fact we share two children doesn’t hurt,” Brody admitted.

“Definitely makes it easier.”

“I’m afraid the obstacle between Rain and me is her.”

“Huh?”

“She gave up college, every cent she had, her freedom”—Brody hated to admit the next part—“dating, finding a man to love and marry, have a family with on her terms.”

“The last she did with you. Any other guy would have been a substitute.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“Can’t get around the truth, man. It is what it is.”

“She’s smart. She shouldn’t be working in her father’s garage. There’s no challenge in it for her.”

“She loves working with her dad. Maybe it’s not what she wanted to do with her life, but she’s good at it. The hours are flexible. She can be with the girls when they have school events and other activities.” Owen leaned in. “Did you ask her what she wants to do now that you’re back?”

“Not specifically. We talked about the house, her living with me. We skimmed the topic of having more kids.”

“Stop sweating it then. If she agreed to all that, you’re golden.”

“We didn’t make any definite plans. Given time, and the money I gave her, she may decide she wants something else.”

“Are we talking about the same woman who not half an hour ago kissed you, told the girls you two were getting married sometime in the near future, and who did everything she could to keep this family intact?”

“She gave up all her dreams,” Brody said, frustrated Owen didn’t get it.

“So, I’ll dream a new dream,” Rain said from the door. “Owen, could we have a moment alone.”

“I’ll get the paperwork Brody asked me to complete.”

Brody bowed his head for a moment. When he faced her, she stood in the doorway, her shoulder propped against the frame. God, she was beautiful. Her hair softly waving down past her shoulders. Dressed for the softball game, she wore black leggings, a billowy white top that skimmed the tops of her thighs, and white socks. Her black high-top Converse shoes dangled from her hand. The bruises on her arm stood out against her satin, cream skin. A touch of makeup on her eyes highlighted the understanding in the brown depths.

“I don’t want to force you to do anything you don’t want to do,” he said.

“You never forced me to do anything I didn’t want to do in the first place.”

“You wanted to go to school.”

“I wanted to be a mother more.”

“You didn’t have a choice.”

Rain’s eyebrow shot up. She pushed away from the doorframe and walked toward him, standing just out of reach. “Every decision we make has a multitude of choices. We make the best ones we can and live with the consequences. The choices I made are the ones I could live with without regrets. Given the choices again, I’d do the same thing.”