Page 4

CHAPTER 4

After dinner, Chip went down for the count and after he was tucked in, Rhea debated if she should go out to the car and get more of their things but decided against it. She had enough to get them changed for two days and that would be enough to get them to the motel. Then she'd feel like she wasn't in danger of over staying her welcome.

While both Helene and Michael had assured her that she could stay as long as it took, she really didn't want to be beholden to anyone in the Armstrong family. It wasn't the way she wanted to start her life in Fallport.

So, she settled down beside her son and went to sleep, hoping that tomorrow would be a productive day searching for a place to call home, her fingers stroking Chip's hair and hoping that he had good dreams.

The next morning, Rhea was up early at the first touch of sunlight on her face.

She didn't feel all that strange since Kay had personally shown her up to the room, revealing it as her own before she'd married and Thomas and the Armstrongs had built them the home they lived in now.

She wouldn't have felt all that comfortable in Joshua or Gabriel's rooms. Joshua was her boss and Gabriel? Well, she hadn't spoken to him or met him. That was going to change in the next few days when he returned with Misty.

By then, she was determined not to be staying in the Armstrong house. If she didn't find something, she'd go to the motel as they'd planned. There she wouldn't worry about owing them.

No, they'd made it clear that they were happy to have her stay with Chip, especially because of what she’d done for Avalon, but Rhea knew how quickly families could turn on you. She didn't want to sour the connections she had there since her job, quite literally, depended on her working with both Brody and Joshua.

And, given that Gabriel was part of Law Enforcement in town, she would be working with Gabriel as well.

She wanted to make sure that she preserved the best relationships there because this town was going to be her home and Chip’s.

Whatever she had to do to make sure that this town would accept him as one of their own, she’d do it. Nothing was going to stop her.

After dressing and leaving Chip to dress himself, she ventured out into the main part of the house to see if anyone else was awake. When she got to the kitchen she was surprised to see Brody at the kitchen table.

"Brody?"

He looked up from the paper and stood. "Morning."

"Uh, morning?"

His shoulders shrugged a little. "Sorry. I came by to see if there's anything I can help with."

She looked down at her phone and then met his eyes again. "I have a few places I wanted to check out, rentals. I was going to head out today and take a look around."

Rhea held her phone out to Brody. "Do you... would you check and see what you think?"

"Sure." He gestured to the kitchen. "Aunt Helene went to see Avalon this morning and take her breakfast. She made more than enough for you and Chip. Do you want me to warm it up for you?"

She hesitated. Debating.

"She made it hoping that you would eat before you started your day."

"I don't want to be a bother."

"Rhea," he lowered his chin and looked into her eyes.

He stole her breath right then.

There was just something magnetic about him.

She couldn't deny that.

Her heart was pounding in her chest, faster than it would be with a hefty dose of caffeine in her blood.

"The breakfast was made for you, for both of you. Go and get Chip and I'll warm it up. Then, as soon as you're both fed, we'll go take a look at the list of places for rent. I can make a pretty informed guess about which ones you can start with."

"And you don't have anything else to do today?"

"Helping my new partner sounds pretty good."

She didn't want to say yes, and she didn't want to say no. She was stuck in that limbo where she didn't want to upset anyone or ask for too much.

"Rhea?"

Her head snapped back so she could look at him and realized that she'd turned away. "I'm sorry. I'm always thinking."

"Over thinking, maybe?"

She smiled at him. "Yeah. It's my superpower."

"Well, I'll try to make things simple. I have the day off like you would since you're on my shift. And normally, I'd go run some or do a hike. Sometimes I do errands for the Moms or Kay... I like helping. So, today. Let me help you. I'll show you around town, or... If I'd be a distraction, I can take Chip to the park and keep him busy while you're going to see the properties."

She lowered her chin, letting his words tumble in her head a little. "So I'm not taking you away from anything?"

"From boredom, maybe?" His smile was infectious, and she found herself giving in just because she wanted to. Something she hoped that she didn't regret later.

"Okay. I'll go get Chip."

* * *

Brody was having too much fun.

House hunting? Apartment shopping?

There was a laundry list of things he was sure he'd never find fun.

Blood draws. On himself. He was really good at drawing blood from other people. Then again, he didn't think of it as fun.

Modern day vampire? Sure.

Organizing files? Nope.

Detailing cars? Never.

He'd pay through the nose to avoid that.

Oh, he could vacuum. And wipe things clean. But tiny crumbs? Or dirt? Nope.

So many things he'd avoid like the plague.

He never thought that he'd enjoy looking for a place for Rhea and Chip to live.

The first was a house that was huge. It was likely the definition of 'HUGE.'

And one look at it made them all sit back and gape.

"Whoa."

Brody had laughed softly. "Yeah. Whoa."

Rhea had looked at the listing and sighed. "I don't think we'd ever use every room. Can you imagine what the dusting would be like?"

Brody looked at her and shook his head. "I'd have to hire someone. That's just too much house."

"Yeah.”

The second was an apartment but the instant that the apartment manager saw Chip, he'd closed the door on them.

Brody started knocking on the door, trying to get the man to open it.

"Brody," Rhea put her hand on his back and as good as it felt to have her touch him, he was good and angry. "It's okay. We'll move on."

He turned to look at her. "It's not okay." He raised his voice a little, turning partially toward the door. "It's illegal to deny someone an apartment because they have children."

A moment later, he'd winced and turned to look at Chip.

The young boy was standing there, wide-eyed and staring.

"Oh damn..."

Then he clamped his lips together and looked at Rhea. "I'm sorry."

She gave him a weak smile. "It's okay."

Turning back to the door, he saw a small window to the side of the door and moved over so he was standing there, speaking right into the glass panes. "I'm right, sir. My name is Brody Armstrong. My cousin Gabriel is an officer with Fallport Police. I'm going to let him know what happened today."

He started to turn, and the door opened up beside him.

Putting a protective hand on her hip, he situated himself between her and the door.

The older man glared out at him through the screen door. "You don't get to say who I rent to."

"I'm not saying I am, sir. But taking one look at a child and turning them away? That's not legal in this town."

The other man folded his arms across his chest and huffed. "Kids are loud."

"So is your bad attitude, sir."

Brody shook his head.

"You don't have to rent to her, sir, but she's the new Emergency Medical Technician in town and her son is a smart young man. You'd be lucky to have them rent an apartment from you, but we're leaving and I'm going to find them a safe place to stay."

The man behind him was audibly flustered, muttering words until he blurted out his displeasure. "My building is safe! You come back here! I'll show you!"

Chip looked up at him as they walked back to his car. "Am I in trouble?"

Brody stopped and crouched down beside the boy. "You are absolutely NOT in trouble, Chip. That man is just a mean guy. And I'm glad you're not going to stay here near him."

Chip's gaze moved up to his mom, standing beside Brody. "Mom? Are we going to find a place to live?"

Brody heard the soft hiccup in his voice.

"Oh, honey."

She crouched down beside him, and Brody felt her sway a little and lean against him for a moment before she steadied herself. "We'll find someplace, but Brody is right. If the man who is in charge doesn't want kids around, then this is the last place we're going to stay. I promise you, honey. I promise you-"

"Cross your heart?"

"Absolutely." She smiled and moved again, lifting her hand and drawing a cross over her heart. "We are going to find a great place."

Brody saw Chip turn to look at him, and without prompting, he crossed his hand over his heart. "I promise we're going to find a great place for you and your mom."

Chip gave him a pat on his shoulder. "Okay."

Brody felt his own spirits lifting. He put his hand out to Chip and the boy took his hand.

"Got you."

"Yeah," Brody nodded. "I got you, too."

* * *

When they finished visiting the fourth of the five listings that she'd written down, Rhea was worried that the last one would be a wash out as well.

So far, they'd hadn't found anything remotely close to what they needed.

She'd wanted to squeeze the last location in, but she knew that Chip was hungry and getting to the point where his good humor was likely stretched almost to its limit and her own stomach was about to complain, loudly.

When Brody beat her to the punch and suggested lunch, she jumped at the option and given him carte blanche to pick the location for lunch, even when he suggested giving them a list to choose from.

Her hunger and the hour put all thoughts of choice out of her head.

When they got out of Brody's car at the Sunny Side Up Diner, she relaxed. It looked exactly like the kind of diner she was hoping to find. A little bit out of time, but clean and quaint. Chip rushed ahead and tried to open the door on his own.

He put his weight into it, using his whole body, but he only got it open a few inches.

Brody hustled on ahead and helped him, taking hold of the door above where Chip's head was and before her son darted in, Brody touched him on the top of his head and murmured something to Chip.

Together they held the door open and waited for her.

As she stepped up within arm's reach she touched her hand to her chest. "Why thank you, gentlemen. Such delightful manners."

Chip grinned at her, sweeping out an arm. "Lady first."

Brody looked down at Chip. "I thought it was ladies first?"

Chip tipped his head back and shrugged. "There's just the one lady."

Rhea laughed softly to herself and stepped up to the hostess area. "Welcome, folks! I'm Sandra and I own the Sunny Side- Brody!" The diner owner looked tickled. "Brody Armstrong! It's always good to see you. Who are..." Rhea saw the way that Sandra looked her over and then looked at Chip before her gaze dragged back up to Brody's face.

Rhea felt her cheeks heating up. The woman was definitely curious. It might be her own imagination, but she was sure that Sandra was trying to determine if Chip was Brody's.

Brody seemed to cut her off at the pass. He put his hands on Chip's shoulders. "Sandra, this is my friend, Chip. And his mom, Rhea."

Brody looked at her and Rhea hoping that her face wasn't flaming red.

"Rhea," he nodded and turned back to Sandra, "is going to be my partner at work."

Maybe it was also her imagination that Sandra's eyebrows had lifted when Brody said 'partner.'

It didn't mean anything more than what it was, but by the overly bright smile she saw on the woman's face, Rhea had a feeling that there might be some gossip starting up.

Gossip that was way off base.

"Well, then..." Sandra stepped back. "Welcome, Rhea and Chip. Where would you like to sit?"

Rhea looked at Brody and he... looked at Chip. "Go ahead, Chip." Brody patted him on the back. "Pick a table."

Looking up at the room, she saw the waitress at the far end of the room turn to watch.

There were a couple of tables taken and Rhea looked up at the clock. It was late afternoon, so the lunch rush had passed. There were a number of open tables in the center and along the front wall.

She had a feeling that Chip would pick a table near the glass to look out. While she loved people watching. He liked it too, but he also liked talking, too.

Chip lifted an arm and pointed at a table near the far side of the room and looked up at Brody. "Can we sit with her?"

Rhea had been prepared to say something. What? She had no idea.

Sandra cleared her throat. "Don't you want a table to yourselves?"

But Brody didn't hesitate. "Let's go ask her. Come on, buddy."

Rhea followed behind the two as they walked up to the table.

"Hello, Missus Hardy."

The woman at the table looked up and grinned. "Armstrong," she grinned. "Brody Armstrong. How nice to see you, son."

"Nice to see you, too, Missus Hardy." He gestured at Chip beside him. "This is my new friend Chip. And this," Brody looked toward her and grinned before looking back at the older woman, "Is Rhea, his mother."

Missus Hardy reached out a hand and tapped Brody's hand where it touched the table. "Good for you, Brody."

Rhea was taken aback at her words and looked at Brody, waiting for him to clarify their relationship.

"Chip? Rhea? Missus Hardy was my third-grade teacher in school."

Chip looked from Brody's face to the older woman at the table. "I love school! Are you going to be my third-grade teacher when I get to third grade?"

Missus Hardy laughed out loud, loosely covering her mouth with both hands. "Oh, dear. I'm sorry, young man. I haven't been a teacher in some five or six years!"

Chip looked down at the table. "Darn."

"But if you need any help," she offered, "I'm happy to help you. Just ask Brody to call me."

"Cool!" Chip bounced back easily with the offer. "Can we sit here with you?"

Missus Hardy looked up in surprise and Brody gave her a wink. "Sandra said we can pick our table and Chip wants to sit with you."

Rhea held her breath, hoping that the older woman wouldn't think the request was too silly.

After a moment of reflection, Missus Hardy turned a little and grasped the back of the chair beside her. "Well, have a seat young man."

Brody helped Chip settle in the chair beside her and took the seat across from his old teacher.

Rhea found her seat opposite of Chip and looked on as her son beamed at the older woman. "What are you eating?"

She looked down at her plate. "Meatloaf. They make a really good one here. It’s hard for me to make it for myself these days."

She looked sad for a moment and Rhea looked down at her own hands. She hadn't thought about it, but at Missus Hardy's age, her hands looked frail. It might be an issue.

Chip looked at her and then back at the older woman beside him. "My mom can help you."

If.

A moment of silence fell over the table at Chip's insistent words.

Missus Hardy looked as if she could blown over like a feather.

And then she smiled.

"Dear me, my young man. That is certainly the sweetest offer, but I'm sure your mother doesn't need any extra work."

Beside him, Rhea leaned in toward his former teacher. "I'm happy to help. I love to make meatloaf. I used to help my grandmother make it along with other dishes. I've just been a little busy the last year or so."

Chip nodded. "It's okay, Mom. You've been busy."

The waitress came over and Brody recognized Karen since he'd seen her there so many times. She took their orders and moved away toward the kitchen, casting curious looks behind her.

Chip looked at his mom. "Maybe we can find a place near Missus Hardy, Mom."

Missus Hardy looked up from her plate and set her fork back down. "What's this about finding a place?"

Rhea was hesitant at first, but he could understand. The four places that they'd visited were... not right for them.

There was just one other available place on her list and if he remembered correctly that house was falling apart at the seams. He wasn't all that eager to take her there knowing that it was going to be crossed off her list as soon as she saw it.

That was why he'd really leaned into the idea of lunch.

He wanted to figure out something before he took them to the final address.

And seeing Missus Hardy was a wonderful extra.

He still remembered what it was like being in her class and wished that she was still teaching because he knew that Chip would love it too.

"... that's why we're looking for a place to rent."

Brody watched something pass over Missus Hardy's features, but Karen arrived with their food and the topic faded into the background.

Every once in a while, he saw Missus Hardy looking at each of them, but he had no idea what the dear older woman was planning.

She'd surprise everyone just a little while later, proving she was still looking out for children, even though she was retired.