Brody (35 page)

Brody’s fingers laced with mine when we made it outside the hospital doors, and when the cavalry arrived in the form of trucks with members of the Chandler family sticking out of them, Brody palmed his cheek again. They had signs, balloons, and happy grins of arrival on their faces. Brody looked to have his own personal parade to escort him on his way home.

He shook his head. “These folks are going to be the death of me,” he said, though he definitely smiled a little when he said it.

That evening consisted of backyard barbeque at Brody’s trailer, though Brody’s diet definitely consisted of applesauce and other foods on his approved list for his heart. Ann, the woman Brody’s dad was with, ended up being a nurse and made sure to get a good list going for him. He grumbled, but a few harsh gazes from his gram and Aunt Robin had him shutting up quickly. They sentenced him to more bed rest, but he wouldn’t have that. He sat on his couch with his brothers and dad, watching sports and the whole thing made me feel some kind of way. This family was so huge, so warm and full of love, and on the floor sat my little man. Aiden had his back to the couch, taking in the game with the rest of the men and that had me smiling so hard. In the kitchen, the women cleaned up from the barbeque Brody’s dad had made for us all, but I noticed the kitchen was minus one.

I left the area of clanking dishes, moving around little Sarah, Brody’s niece, as she played on the floor. Her sister slept in a traveling crib set up in one of the trailer’s spare bedrooms. The boys were of course were enjoying the game and I bent, shaking Aiden a little. He looked up at me.

“Where’s your mama?” I asked him, rubbing my hand on his head. Even still, his gaze didn’t leave the television. I smiled.

He shrugged a bit. “I saw her go outside earlier. Probably there.”

Outside? Had she gone to smoke?
Standing, I went to go that way, but a hand shot out.

Brody’s fingers slid down my wrist. He maneuvered a bit. His eyes crinkling a little in the corners and I knew moving took him some effort.

“Everything good?” he asked, and I lowered, sitting on the arm of the couch.

Turning my head, I stared across the living room and over the bar into the kitchen. There, the women of his family laughed, tossing their heads back as they conversed with each other and in the living room, there was a similar setting. The boys drank beer, jostling each other, and Brody’s gaze followed me to both places. He smiled and I brushed his arm.

“I think you know the answer to that,” I told him, actually physically feeling all this support, his family around him. I squeezed his arm. “I’m just going to check on my sister. Aiden says she went outside.”

He nodded, watching while I stood. In front of me, Roxie passed and went to her husband, Griffin, in the armchair. He made room for her, allowing her to sit in the space between him and the chair. She ended up being partially on his lap and she definitely didn’t mind that, her head moving to tuck underneath his neck. Brody looked up at me.

“Hurry back,” he said, letting my wrist go. “Because I’m thinking I’m trying to do some of
that
.”

He winked at me, making me feel all kinds of warm. All this love and affection I could definitely get used to. Definitely.

He let me go and I found my way out front. Elena was there, but she wasn’t smoking, no. She sat to herself on the mobile home’s steps, arms crossed over knees. Her head turned, eyes glancing over her shoulder when the door snapped behind me. Her lips moved into a small smile and that was something else I could get used to, my arrival doing that to her, making her happy. She made room for me on the step and I asked her what she was doing when I sat beside her.

She shrugged, playing with her hands. “Just chillin’ I guess,” she said, watching the neighborhood.

Others out here were doing the same as we were, grills lifting smoke into the air. We sat together for quite a little bit before we spoke again.

“I see where you fit in here,” she said suddenly, her lashes flickering my way. She smiled again. “You fit right in with them inside. You guys just make sense.”

It was funny she said that, because I felt the same way, too. It was something about Brody’s family. It was just something about
him
.

“Even Aiden has found his place,” she went on, nodding. Her shoulder lifted. “I guess I’m just trying to see where I go from here.”

That seemed like quite an easy solution to me, and I brought my arm around her, bringing her in.

“Anywhere I am,” I told her, because I had a feeling with as big as Brody’s family was, as big as their hearts seemed to be, they wouldn’t mind making room for one more.

Epilogue

Alexa

“Brody!” I giggled, stumbling forward. I couldn’t do anything else with his hands over my eyes. My foot caught on something. Grass, I assumed since we were outside. I giggled again. “Where are you taking me? We’re going to be late.”

We literally had minutes,
minutes
before we had to be clear across town. His childhood church was quite a drive, a cute little white chapel and it was cute. I’d seen it both decorated and without.

Brody spun me around and his face replaced his hands, his lips on my mouth.

Giving in, I slid my hands up a broad chest and over thick material I knew to be fine lapels. He was so handsome today. Well, he was handsome every day, but this one in particular. I should get him to wear a suit more often. His mouth grinned against mine.

“You trust me?” he asked, his voice light, excited. “I know we don’t have a lot of time, but we won’t be late. I’d never hear the end of it.”

No, he wouldn’t. His family, his dad, would kill him. I sent my own nephew over there early to hold down the fort in our absence. Well, I guess he’d be there anyway, as he was in the ceremony. He went down to the church with Brody’s sister-in-law, Karen, and her kids. Elena drove with them, my eyes and ears. We shared that role now. We relied on
each other
now to care for our family and I was right about something. The Chandler Family?

They definitely had room for one more.

My eyes still closed, I nodded. I trusted Brody with everything, my life and so much more. Since his accident, he regained his physical strength, but really, it had never really left him.

He popped a kiss on my mouth, but didn’t put his hands back over my eyes. He asked me not to cheat and keep my eyes closed, so I did.

Thick fingers laced through my hands and he tugged, turning me to guide me around. We continued on by his lead off grass and then onto something harder, sidewalk. I hit his body a bit when he stopped, but not hard. His hand went to the small of my back, his fingers laying delicately on the chiffon dress that hit just above my knees. He told me to wear yellow today. He loved yellow on me. He said it brought out the sunshine even more.

He said the most wonderful things.

Holding onto me, he brushed his fingers along my back. “Almost there.”

I grinned again, able to do nothing but listen. I heard a click, then a creak, and I was pulled once more.

“Watch your step.”

I did as told, off the concrete down and on something different. The flooring clicked under my heels and I drew in a breath, trying to find any indicator as to where I was. I smelled nothing but air, a bit stale, but nothing more.

His hand clasped around mine and then he took both, squeezing. “You ready?”

I laughed. “Not sure,” and that sent a laugh from him, deep and hearty. I could bask in it.

“Open them,” he said, and I did, my eyes adjusting to the dim room. Only the sunshine lit it and I let go of Brody’s hand, walking through. To my left was a ballet barre, it went on for a few feet and was surrounded by wide mirrors. The sun in the room gleamed off them, bouncing and shining on the hardwood floors. And it was wood, solid with a thin layer of dust. My heels left tracks and I turned, seeing more mirrors and barres.

“What…?” I didn’t understand, turning around, but Brody did. His hands in his pockets, he came over to me, just as handsome and beautiful as when I’d last seen him outside. A yellow tie complimented my dress and matched wedding colors and his dark suit formed over the broadest body, and the thickest shoulders. He grabbed my hand, pulling me to him.

His eyes lifted to the room. “Do you think you can do something with it?”

I gasped, trying to find breath, trying to understand. “Do what? What do you mean?”

His hand left mine now, spinning on the heel of his leather shoes. The sunlight did all kinds of things to his golden locks, caught every varying shade of dirty blond he had slicked back. I would never see him this clean again, but that didn’t matter. He did debonair well, but he did messy sexy even better.

He grinned a little. “I got a good deal on it if you want it. If you want to teach in it. It’s your call, but if you want it? You can have it.”

I could have it. I could have
this;
mine. I went up to him. “Brody, I could never afford this. I could never pay you back.” My hours had been cut even more at the gym and my savings was non-existent since we moved. We’d moved into a house, a place for me, him, and my family and it had been great so far. It had been
amazing
so far.

“You’re right,” he said, sliding our fingers together. He raised them in the air, bringing me to him by them. “
You
can’t afford it. But
we
,” he paused, lifting a finger and gesturing between the two of us, “can. You’ve been wanting to get out of that gym, Alex. You can teach classes here and be your own boss.”

He’d been so full of dreams lately; being a businessman now himself seemed to bring it out of him. He took charge of the delivery unit of
Chandler & Sons Furniture Co.
recently. Who better than the best driver this side of El Paso?

And he cracked the whip on those boys, too, like a boss.

He was right. I did want this.
This
was a dream, but what if I wasn’t like him? What if I couldn’t run a business?

But I was willing to try.

“You’ll help me?” I asked, beaming up at him. “I don’t know anything about being an entrepreneur.”

“Mmm, well that,” he said, his lips getting closer, so close. “We can both muddle through. We can both learn along the way. We can grow along the way.”

We would grow, wouldn’t we? We’d done nothing but since we got together. We pushed each other. We leaped together.

His full lips found mine and we did something else together. We kissed in
our
new ballet studio.

And still made it to his dad’s wedding on time like champs.

Bonus Scene

Blake Chandler

“Pop?”

My eldest, Hayden, stood behind me. He’d even lopped of some of that hair of his for today, dressed in a tux to match his brothers, Griffin and Brody, standing around the waiting room with me.

I’d never get over my boys in all these suits. It seemed to be commonplace these days, my boys settling down and getting formal for it. Griffin had married his wife last year and then of course, Hayden had done the same what seemed like yesterday before him. Even Brody looked to be heading that route. He gave no indicator of that. The boy was private and stubborn in the sense of sharing his business like me, but I could tell by the girl he was seeing, the aisle wasn’t far off. She seemed invested heavily in family, valued it just like my son and that right there, told me there’d be another one of these weddings soon. Honestly, I thought he’d be next to hitch up if someone were to ask me.

I never in my life thought it would be me, that I’d be blessed enough for it to be me.

Hayden stepped back and that blessing, my blessing, walked into the room. Colton, my youngest, escorted her by the arm, and I now knew where he’d wandered off to.

I turned around completely, my boots hitting the hardwood of the chapel’s back room. I had the tightest suit on, constricting and such, but I was now glad I wore it. I felt worthy enough of standing next to her.

A lacy white dress fit the curves of a woman, making her more pretty than I had ever seen her, and she sparkled everywhere. A thin shimmer, a sash, draped around the flare of her waist and a bracelet looped the span of her tiny wrist. She also had on these earrings, like drops of rain dangling from her ears. They matched the two fine strands of rhinestones that rested delicately across her forehead, making her look like royalty; a queen.

“Ann…” I took a step toward her, then another, trying to will myself, and if this woman didn’t look more beautiful as I got closer. Her lashes long, the tight coils of her dark hair framing around her face.

How did a man like me get so lucky?

I took her hand, mine like mitts around hers and so coarse compared.

“She asked to see you,” came Hayden from behind me, and a fierce race hit my heart. I guess I couldn’t help that as a thought immediately surfaced.

Had she changed her mind?

My boys left the room, filing out one after the other to give us space. Colton lowered Ann’s arm. Nodding, he backed away and then closed the door behind himself, quiet as he did.

I brought Ann to me by her soft hands.

“I’m not supposed to see you,” I said, mentioning tradition. “You all right?”

The moments she made me wait for a response were some of the hardest. They couldn’t have been longer than a few seconds, but I definitely felt them shudder through me. I also felt something else, too, when she reached up, her bracelet sliding down her arm. Her palm touched my check and I let that very touch flow through me. I let
her
flow through me.

She always knew what I needed.

My heart calmed immediately and even more when she smiled at me.

“I’m perfect,” she said, running the pad of her thumb along my cheek. She brushed a whisker and the nerves connected pulsed, warmed under my skin. Her other hand joined and her lips, so full, turned down in the corners.