Tyler’s voice drifted down the hallway as Brody made his way to his bedroom. It didn’t seem like that long ago that Tyler would fit into the crook of Brody’s arm. He’d pick the baby up, gaze down into the boy’s eyes so much like his mother’s, and wonder if he’d ever laid eyes on anything more precious. Brody hadn’t known jack shit about kids and had been nothing more than a kid himself when Tyler had come along, a scared-shitless kid who wondered time and time again how he’d gotten himself in that situation. As the provider for his family, it’d been up to Brody to be the strong one, to never let Kelly know how uncertain he’d been through her whole pregnancy.
When most other twenty-year-olds had been getting shit-faced at frat parties and banging as many girls as they could, Brody had been elbow deep in baby shit. When not doing that, he’d exhausted himself working long hours. Despite that, the time following Tyler’s birth had been priceless for him. During that time Brody would gaze down at his newborn son and see that unrequited love and hero worship children had for their parents. Tyler would blink up at him as if to say “I trust you to always take care of me.” Brody had damn near killed himself living up to that expectation for his son and wife. In the end he’d failed miserably.
Now Tyler was leaving him.
Brody landed face-first on the bed and didn’t bother with the sheets. He was too restless and antsy. His brain was pulsing up against his skull and his gut felt like it had a ten-pound bowling ball in it. There had to be a way around this. Some alternative to them packing their bags and moving to freakin’ Michigan. Maybe he could talk Kelly to moving her mother to Trouble.
He inhaled a deep breath and flopped over onto his back. That position didn’t feel any better. But he stayed there because he simply didn’t have the energy to flip back and forth like a fish out of water.
In addition to the confusion in his son’s eyes was the wounded look on Elisa’s beautiful face. There was no denying he’d behaved like an absolute prick. What he felt for her was completely foreign and scared the piss out of him.
I think you love me.
Those were the other words that refused to give him peace. They whispered through his mind day in and day out, taunting him, daring to admit she was right. They were the cause of his sleepless nights and his lack of concentration at work. Bad enough were the memories of being inside Elisa, of feeling her silky softness and her hands caressing his back. All those things had caused him to be a ticking time bomb for the past several days.
Wasn’t it just his shitty luck to go and fall for a woman, only to have her leave? Why couldn’t he have met her years ago? Why couldn’t she have another job? Why did she have to steal his heart so damn fast? Despite the looming end of their relationship, Brody didn’t think he could bring himself to stay away from her. The smart thing would be to walk away from her now before either of them got any deeper. The problem was, he couldn’t. Not only that, he didn’t want to. Her deep eyes and soft voice was only light in his darkness. He knew they had no future, but he also knew he’d keep going back to her for the short time she’d still be there.
He folded his arms above his head and gazed at the dark ceiling. But instead of the blackness, he saw Elisa’s face, the confusion and hurt in her brown eyes. She thought he’d been brushing her off, like she’d been some one-time bang and run. If only she knew what she really was to him.
If only he could tell her.
Charlene practically vibrated with giddiness when she went into Brody’s office, holding a piece of paper. He’d been going over the week’s numbers and welcomed the distraction. His eyes were crossing from his tedious task.
“Have you seen this?” she asked while waving the paper in the air.
He leaned back in his chair. “No, what is it?”
She dangled the paper between her thumb and index finger. “It’s a customer review. I’ve been monitoring the sites closely since Anthony took over. Want to see what it says?”
“Read it to me.” If his eyes focused on one more thing, his head would explode.
A delighted grin lit up her eyes. “I thought you might never ask.” She cleared her throat and started reading. “ ‘The last time we came to the Golden Glove, the experience was downright painful. We swore up and down we’d never return. Then we heard from a friend the place has a new chef, and their meal was very good. So we gave it another chance. What a surprise. Our meals were fresh tasting and delicious. We will definitely be back for more.’ ” She slapped the paper down on the desk and leaned on her hands. “O ye of little faith,” she taunted.
“I had plenty of faith,” he replied with a smile.
“Liar.” Charlene straightened from the desk. “You were scared.”
Rightfully so. He still wasn’t ready to count his chickens before they hatched.
“I’m going to quote this for our website,” she muttered after snatching the review back up. “By the way, Avery and another lady from the youth center are here. What’s this about a catering job?”
Brody swiveled back and forth in his chair. “Avery’s organizing a fundraiser for the youth center. She mentioned she was having a hard time finding a caterer with suitable food.”
Charlene’s eyebrows shot up her forehead in surprise. “So you volunteered the Golden Glove to feed that many people? You think Anthony can handle that kind of volume?”
“This could be a perfect opportunity to show the town we’re better than what we were. And yeah, I think Anthony can handle it. He’s got a good support staff in the kitchen.”
Charlene stared at him for a moment, then glanced down at the review in her hands. “You’re the boss,” she said with a shake of her head.
“You don’t think it’ll work?” It wasn’t like Charlene to be doubtful.
She lifted her attention back to him. “Have you told your father yet?” she asked, ignoring his question.
He paused before answering. A cloud of uncertainty hovered over her, as though she didn’t agree with his decision. “I’ll deal with him when the time comes.”
“If anyone can calm your father down, it’s you. Oh, when’s the photo shoot been rescheduled for?”
“Elisa’s coming back next Friday.” And the thought of having her here again, of having any sort of excuse to see her, had his heart jackhammering against his ribs.
Charlene nodded and opened the door, then halted before going through. “Are you coming? Avery’s waiting.”
It was only four in the afternoon and Elisa was already ready for bed. At seven a.m. she’d been bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at a nearby bakery to snap pictures for their brochure. The whole thing had taken about three hours. Then she’d had to make a trip into Cheyenne to replace about half her supplies, which had barely been covered by the check she’d received from her work that morning. Around lunchtime, she’d gone out to take photos for the sheer pleasure of it. Only there hadn’t been any pleasure in her trip. Her normal iron-clad focus had gone MIA on her and she’d given up after an hour and a half.
On her way home, she’d picked up more dog food for Brinkley and tried coaxing the dog into eating. After that, she’d taken the time to reread her contract with the crooks who’d been stealing from her. The McDermott family lawyer had yet to get back to her on that issue, and her patience was wearing thin. But the damn bundle of papers didn’t make any sense. The clauses had funky language and may as well have been written in Sanskrit. Sometime after three p.m. she’d flung the papers aside in disgust and left her bedroom in a huff. Luckily Tyler hadn’t been there to witness her black mood.