Page 13

CHAPTER 13

After that Sunday dinner with the Armstrongs, quite a few things changed.

Mainly for Rhea.

She couldn't deny the strength of her feelings for Brody, but she wasn't about to admit it to anyone.

Brody knew. He seemed to know just how to tempt her.

But he kept things... professional.

On the job.

At least in public.

If there was someone around, everything was professional.

In private, where no one could see them?

He'd touch her.

The back of his hand across her cheek.

A kiss against the back of her neck.

And off hours?

He was coming around the house, spending time with Chip. With her.

The only hitch in it was Bea's watchful eye.

She didn't say anything or demand answers, but Rhea had the feeling that she already knew what was going on.

She just chose to remain quiet about it.

That went on for weeks and weeks before things changed again.

* * *

Finishing up a call at the Gennesy house, Brody headed the rig into town thinking to head to The Sweet Tooth for a snack, but as they headed past the Post Office Silas Warren flagged them down, waving his baseball cap over his head.

Thinking something was up, Brody pulled in along the curb and they both got out.

"Morning, Silas."

Silas put his cap back on and gave them a nod. "I was hoping you two would be driving by and save me the trouble of tracking you down.

Rhea frowned at him, giving Silas the once over. "What's wrong? Are you feeling okay?"

Silas pulled up his spine a little straighter with a bit of bluster. "Of course I'm feeling okay! I'm as healthy as a horse."

He lifted his chin at Brody as if to prove a point.

Arthur Lever sat back in his chair, the straps of his overalls loosening with his movement. "I've seen some pretty sad lookin' horses in my time, Silas."

Silas turned his head toward his friend, giving him a hard look. "Nobody asked you."

Otto took a sip of his coffee and beamed at Rhea. "Does that mean he's asking me?"

Rhea reached out and put her hand on Otto's shoulder. "I'm not all that sure at the moment."

"Hey, I'm the one who waved you two over here."

Brody saw the way Rhea reacted to Silas' grumbling.

She wasn't shaken at all. She smiled and looked at the older man with a sweet look. "What can we help with?"

Silas shook his head. "More like I'm helping you, young lady."

Rhea's cheeks flushed with color.

Anytime someone called her young she looked like she couldn't quite believe it. This age thing was a chore. He didn't care. Rhea was still waiting for the matter to 'settle in' to his brain as if he wasn't able to understand that she had a few years on him.

Years that he couldn't care less about, but she obviously did, since she kept bringing it up.

"There's this young man looking for you."

Brody frowned at Silas' words.

Rhea didn't look like she was taking it much better.

"Did he give you a name?"

Silas folded his arms across his chest. "Nope. Which is why I told him that I'd give him your information over my dead body."

Arthur almost smothered a snort of laughter. "That's not much of a threat, Silas."

Rhea put a hand on both of their shoulders. "Be nice."

Otto chuckled. "Those two?"

Silas started in again. "He was driving a Ford POS."

Rhea looked up at Brody and the corner of his mouth quirked up at her confusion. "POS. Piece of sh-"

"Okay. Did he say why he was looking for me?"

Arthur shook his head. "He was tight lipped, that young man. Looks like he could use a barber though. Told him so and pointed him down the street."

Brody smiled. He knew the barber shop. Everyone in town did.

And he knew the three older men who hung out outside the Post Office. They liked to see clean haircuts and didn't have any problem offering their 'advice' to others.

"What did he say to your suggestion?" Brody asked Silas.

"He muttered something under his breath and that's when I told him he better watch himself."

Brody looked up at Rhea and saw that she was trying to hide her concern.

"What color was his car?"

It was Otto who spoke up. "Blue, but it was soft blue. Not like those bright blue cars they make."

Arthur added in. "It's one of those hatchback cars. Two doors. Not four. Looks like someone just loped off part of it and glued the damn thing back together."

And not to be outdone, Silas ended it with a huff. "Virginia plates. Didn't catch the whole number, but there was a four at the end of it."

Brody was already on his phone, giving the information to his cousin.

He ended the call and gave the men a thank you. "Gabriel's going to look for the car. If you see that guy again, can you call me or Gabriel?"

Silas reached up and pinched the brim of his baseball hat and nodded. "Will do, Brody."

Silas looked up at Rhea and his expression softened a little. "We take care of our own, Rhea. Don't you worry."

Brody watched her blink back tears and she leaned in to peck a kiss on his cheek.

The other two grumbled and she made her way around the table giving each of them a kiss.

By the time she finished her round of the table, Brody leaned his cheek toward her and she placed a kiss there, too.

He saw the moment she realized what she'd done.

Rhea ducked her gaze down, her chin lowering toward her chest.

The three men didn't have a problem with it. They had different reactions. One chuckled, another grinned, and the last clapped his hands and told them to, "Make sure you invite us to the wedding."

Oh boy. By the time they both got back into the rig, Brody knew that Rhea's cheeks were burning.

She had her hands over her cheeks and still he could see the healthy flush of color around her hands.

"Honey," he reached out and put his hand on her thigh, out of sight from anyone who might be looking at them. "They're old men who spend their days arguing with each other and planning out everyone else's lives."

"But we've been careful."

He heard her protest and nodded. "I know, but sometimes people can see what you're trying to hide. And they're not being mean about it. Nosy? Sure. But they like you, honey. They see you as part of Fallport. You heard them. 'We take care of our own.' They consider you and Chip part of Fallport."

She nodded, lowering her hands from her face, she covered his hand where it lay on her thigh. "I'm beginning to see that."

He tightened his hand on her thigh. "I'm hoping you'll believe it, too."

Brody's phone rang and he picked it up.

"Gabriel?"

He listened to his cousin and saw that Rhea was focused on him, waiting for him to tell her what the call was about. "Okay. Yeah. I hear you."

He ended the call with a, "Thanks, man."

She looked at him as he lowered the phone back down to the holder on the console.

"That was..." He smiled. "You know who it was."

She nodded.

"Gabriel said that dispatch had already received a handful of calls reporting an unfamiliar vehicle driving around. So he's going to track the man down and see what's going on."

Rhea looked at him, tense through her shoulders. "Does he want us to go with him?"

He shook his head, had already been shaking it when he realized what she was going to ask. "He doesn't want you anywhere near this guy until he finds out what he wants to talk to you about."

He saw the way her jaw tensed. He saw the straightening of her spine.

"He's not saying that you can't see him, Rhea. He just wants to make sure he knows what's going on before you see him. We don't know if he's dangerous."

She started to shake her head and deny his words, but she stopped just as soon as she started.

"I guess that's a good idea."

Brody managed to hold back his smile, almost.

"He cares about you, Rhea."

He saw her listen to his words.

Absorbing the feelings it brought to her.

Rhea took it in and let it settle, and he got a chance to look at her.

So damn beautiful and so fierce in her own way.

"Damn it," he mumbled under his breath, "I couldn't love you anymore if I tried."

Her gaze lifted up to his, her eyes wide. Her lips parted.

"It's true, honey." He leaned in and kissed her lips before she could start to argue with him. Then he sat back and looked at her sitting there in suddenly stunned silence. "It's true. And you don't have to say a damn thing back. I'll wait."

"What if I can never say it?"

He shrugged. "I believe in you. I'll wait for you to say it. It's worth it. You are worth it."

She offered him a smile.

"I hope you will, Brody."

"I will, honey. No worries there."

* * *

Gabriel got out of his patrol car and Roland jumped down onto the street after him.

The dog was everything he'd hoped for and more. A hit with everyone he'd come in contact with, including Rhea's son, Chip.

And Roland? Roland loved people, pets, and treats.

Equally so.

He walked up beside the blue Ford Focus that looked like it hadn't just seen better days but better decades.

He knocked on the window of the car and the kid inside jumped.

Kid. At least he kind of looked it.

"Yes, officer?"

"Would you step outside, please?"

The kid dropped his gaze to his steering wheel. "Uh... is there a reason, why?"

Gabriel sighed and pointed toward the street. "I'd like to talk to you and not put a crick in my neck doing it. Please step outside."

The kid gave him a look and reached for the door lock.

Gabriel stepped back and the door swung open.

As the kid stepped out, he could see a yellow-orange envelope with a string and button clasp. The name written on it was Rhea Russell.

Yeah. This was going to be interesting.

He'd already informed his Chief that he was looking for a stranger and Simon had instructed him to make sure that the stranger was there on business and wasn't trying to do anything unlawful in town.

Gabriel had a feeling that the kid was there to serve Rhea with papers, so it would be legal. He just didn't want her to be upset.

That, he couldn't stop, but he was planning to help her with whatever it was.

He knew that Brody would do the same. For different reasons.

The kid was likely in his early twenties. How early? If Gabriel were to guess, it would be on the low end of the scale. He didn't think they'd send someone without a TWO at the beginning of his age.

He was wearing slouchy jeans, a shirt that looked like it came off of a Peanuts character. And from what he'd heard, yes, the kid needed a haircut, not for style but Gabriel doubted the kid could see much through that heavy curtain of bangs over his eyes.

He had to toss his head back to even show an eye. "What's up, officer?"

"We've had a few calls about an unfamiliar car in town."

"Unfamiliar?" The kid lifted a hand and brushed his hair back from his face. "Wow, they weren't joking when they said small towns were no joke."

Gabriel only lifted a brow at the kid's words. "What are you doing here in town?"

The kid shrugged. "I got paid to deliver an envelope."

"There's this thing called the post office. Have you heard of that?"

"Hey, it ain't my envelope, man. I'm just the messenger."

"Why don't you let me have it. I can deliver it for you."

The kid showed some backbone, shaking his head. "Sorry, no. I need to put it in her hands to prove that she's been served."

Gabriel was half a second from balling his fists in frustration when the solution presented itself.

"Oh, dude! That dog is so cute."

Gabriel looked down and saw that Roland was sitting beside him, ears perked up and head tilting as he regarded the young man in front of him.

"Hey, can I pet him?"

Gabriel smiled and unhooked the leash from Roland's collar. "Roland? Such ."

Roland got up on all fours, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as he trotted over to the kid.

The kid's hands reached down as Roland sat down beside his right leg and dropped down to the ground, scritching Roland between his ears.

Gabriel reached for his belt and freed his handcuffs.

The kid looked up when Gabriel's shadow fell over him. "Hey, what... What's going on?"

"Roland is a police dog. A K-9."

"Well, duh." The kid chuckled and continued to scratch Roland down his back. Roland was enjoying it immensely. "So?"

"He's been trained in all kinds of policing activities."

"Well that's good," the kid continued the laugh. "He's got a good job. Don't you, boy?"

Roland tipped his head back, tongue lolling, and looked up at Gabriel.

Damn, he loved this dog.

"He's also been trained to sniff out drugs."

Gabriel saw the kid go stock still.

"What?"

Gabriel nodded and reached out to snag the kid's wrist. "You're under arrest for possession of illegal drugs."

"What?"

It didn't take long to put the kid in cuffs. He didn't fight, but he also wasn't all that cooperative. He spent precious time trying to argue that carrying pot on him was legal in Virginia. And he had a medical marijuana card in his wallet.

When Gabriel searched him before putting him in the cruiser, he found the pot the kid was talking about. "You have to have it in a marked dispensary container, kid." Then, when he cleared that pocket, Gabriel went around to check the other pockets and came up with a bit of a recreational medicine cabinet. "And these," he told the kid, "are just plain illegal."

As he took hold of the kid's shoulder to steer him to the backseat of his cruiser, he sighed. "Welcome to Fallport, kid. You might be here for a while."

* * *

While she'd told Brody she could wait until the end of their shift to go to the police station and get the envelope, he wasn't about to let her wait all night and into the morning to get it.

She didn't even ask him to wait in the car when she went inside.

And he certainly didn't offer to stay outside.

He walked beside her, not holding her hand, but close enough that when they walked, his hand brushed against hers every so often.

Simon, the Chief of Police in Fallport, greeted them as they walked into the building. "Brody! Good to see you."

Brody shook his hand even though he knew the man almost as well as Gabriel did.

Simon had already met Rhea and treated her with caution. "Rhea? How are you doing?"

Her gaze lowered to the envelope that he held in his left hand. "I'm... okay, but curious."

Simon smiled and held out the envelope. "We haven't looked inside. We don't think there's anything dangerous in the envelope."

Rhea nodded and swallowed hard. "Thanks, Chief."

"Simon, please."

She nodded again. "Simon. Thank you."

He gestured across the room. "Do you want to use my office?"

She shook her head and felt horrible. "Sorry," she offered, "I'm a little... off."

Brody stepped closer and pulled her into his arms, trapping the envelope between them. She laid her head on his shoulder, and he kissed her on the crown of her head. "It's okay, Rhea. It's going to be okay."

They'd heard from Gabriel that the kid came to Fallport to serve her with papers.

She couldn't think of anything that she'd be served with that would be a good thing.

Still, it didn't seem that Brody was about to let her put any distance between them.

She was glad. She didn't want to face this alone, but...

"Brody?"

"Yeah, honey?"

"I need a little room to breathe."

He lowered his arms but kept them wrapped around her body. "Do you want me to step back?"

She met his gaze and shook her head.

She wanted his comfort. Or maybe his strength.

Even though she was plenty strong on her own, she liked the feel of his arms around her.

Lifting the envelope, she unwound the string and opened the flap. With a deep indrawn breath, she pulled out the papers inside.

She knew it would be a lot of legal jargon that she wasn't going to be able to understand, but she could get the gist of the papers and the legal filing.

With her heart sinking in her chest, she barely resisted the urge to tear the papers in half.

"Rhea?"

She swallowed hard but had a feeling that her voice would be rough no matter how she tried.

"It's the Russells." She lifted her gaze to meet his. "They're suing me for guardianship."

She felt the color drain out of her face and her knees went weak, but she didn't fall.

Brody held her up.

He held her together.

And she was glad that he was there.

She wrapped her arms around him, the edges of the paper scratching against her palm, but she didn't let him go.

Not for quite a while.