Chapter 21

Phoebe had refused the offer of a drive from Brody, and when she finally reached the cottage, she felt like she'd worked a forty-eight-hour shift in a classroom with sixty kids. Exhaustion dogged her every step.

After a shower, she dressed in a long T-shirt that had once been Caleb's and a pair of sleeping shorts. Brewing tea, she took it to the living room. Phoebe put on some music and sat on the sofa, not quite ready for bed yet.

The night had been long and emotional. Dealing with that little shit Jack and his father had left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Resting her head on the sofa cushions, Phoebe thought that if she had children, she was going to try really hard to not be like Mr. Little.

A tap on the door had her closing her eyes on a sigh. Surely Caleb or Jonathan was not calling at this hour? Opening an eye, she saw it was only ten p.m. but thought it felt like midnight. Getting to her feet, she went to answer the door, and it wasn't who she'd thought it would be.

"Brody? "

"Hi. Can I come in?"

Phoebe felt the need to cover up, very aware that under her shorts and shirt, she wasn't wearing underwear. Instead, she folded her arms.

"I've seen you naked."

"Ten years ago."

"You don't forget things like that. Plus, we kissed?—"

"What do you want, Brody?"

"Hell if I know, but one reason I think is I need to thank you for looking out for Ally."

"You couldn't have done that over the phone or tomorrow?"

"Possibly, and if I'd arrived here and seen no lights, I would have gone home."

"I'll turn them off, and you can do that."

"I don't remember this attitude before."

"I don't let people walk all over me now."

"Like me?" He stood there in jeans and a sweater, staring at her intently.

"Look, Brody, I'm tired. It's been a hell of a night, and my nose hurts. If you come in, it's for tea and that thank-you, and then you're leaving so I can sleep for two days."

"Okay." He looked on edge to Phoebe.

She opened the door wider, possibly making a mistake but too tired to care. "Come in."

Leading the way back to the lounge, Phoebe waved him to a chair. He took the one beside her on the sofa.

"You want a drink?" He shook his head. "Is Ally okay, Brody?"

"She's fine. Sit. You look ready to fall down."

"I'm tired."

"I know. You told me."

Sighing, she dropped onto the sofa. Picking up her tea, she then curled her legs beneath her .

He stared at the wall opposite, behind which was her bedroom. She watched his hands ball into fists.

"That's a really ugly shade of orange."

"The worst," Phoebe agreed.

"What was Birdie thinking?"

"That she likes it, is my guess."

"McAllisters have never been good with colors."

"I'm telling Blue Jay you said that."

"I'll say you were lying." He didn't look at her as he spoke, and then they both fell silent.

She watched as he clenched and unclenched his hands.

"I didn't know you'd called to see me that day Ally was born, Phoebe."

"I'm sure it slipped your mom's and Ryder's minds. Besides, Brody, you were having a baby, so there's that."

He looked at her then, his eyes locking on hers like a heat-seeking missile. Phoebe felt the breath catch in her throat. "Why did you come and see me that day?"

"You were a friend. I was home." Phoebe shrugged and hoped it conveyed it was no big deal, when it had been a very big deal.

"I don't believe you, and when you left, we were both hurting and angry. Friend was the last thing you would have thought I was."

"Why are we discussing this, Brody? You were having a baby, so why I came doesn't matter. It's in the past."

He ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know why it matters. But since I found out about you coming to see me, it does."

"Where's Ally?"

"With my mom and Dan, so you don't have to worry again that she's home alone."

"I know you wouldn't do that. Go home, Brody. I'm tired," Phoebe said .

He took his eyes from her and looked back at the hideous burnt orange wall.

"When Melanie came to town, I was lonely. I was still angry and hurting, but inside there was also the deep ache of missing you."

She'd ached, too, but what surprised her was his acknowledgement of feeling the same.

"She was in Lyntacky for a rafting trip and wanted to have some fun, and I needed the distraction, so when she approached me in the Rollaway, I thought why not."

"I don't need to hear this, Brody. We'd broken up, and you were free to do what you wanted." And your simple fling broke my heart again.

"We enjoyed each other's company and obviously had sex, but it was only that," he continued, ignoring her words. "I'd hoped being with her would remove you from my head."

Phoebe thought about putting her fingers in her ears so she didn't have to hear any more of this.

"Eight months later, she walked back into my life pregnant with Ally. Melanie had only just found out. Doctors said that can happen to some women, apparently. They don't even know they are pregnant."

Phoebe couldn't imagine what that would be like. The fear and disbelief that everything in your life was about to turn on its head.

"Melanie was in her third year of law school. She told me she wouldn't have had the baby if she'd known earlier." He looked at Phoebe again. "I would never have even known that she'd been pregnant."

"She must have been so scared, just like you were."

"Yeah, we were both reeling. I asked her what she wanted to do and said I'd support her. Her family were highflyers. Rich and powerful, and they weren't happy about any of it. They said they'd wash their hands of her if she didn't finish law school after the baby was born. That they'd get a nanny to watch the child but didn't want the father involved in its life. Melanie, thankfully, came to tell me she was pregnant."

His voice was low and even, but she could see reliving this was hard for him.

"My family were understandably shocked when I plucked up the courage to tell them, but they said they'd be there for both of us."

Phoebe wondered how she would have reacted in the same situation. If she'd gotten pregnant with Brody.

"I told Melanie I'd stand by her. She stayed and had Ally three weeks early. We lived with Mom. Melanie stuck it out for one month. Then one day she texted me to say she wanted to meet me at the Do-Si-Do. I thought she just needed some time away from the baby. The moment I saw her seated in the booth, I could tell something was off."

No one had told Phoebe about Melanie or the baby that was coming, and she guessed that was because they probably hadn't known how. But she wished they had. It would have saved her from coming back to Lyntacky and learning the news here.

"Melanie told me she was leaving and going back to law school that day. She handed over all rights to our child and wanted nothing more to do with Ally or me."

"I don't know her, so I'm not judging. Plus, there were likely all kinds of things at play, like missing her old life and friends?—"

"I was in shock honestly," Brody interrupted Phoebe. "I tried to talk to her, but she just got out of the seat and walked away. By the time I'd woken up enough to follow, she'd driven out of town and our lives. I thought she'd go home and pack, but she'd already done that, and her things were in the car. Then it was just me and Ally. Mom and my family helped, of course, but I was a single dad."

When he finished, the silence settled around them. What did she say to that? How could she speak to something she knew nothing about? Phoebe couldn't begin to imagine the pain and fear both Melanie and Brody had suffered.

"My family holds it against her, but I try not to. She was scared, and this wasn't her life. But to not even contact me to see how our daughter is, is something I struggle to forgive her for. But I got my girl, and I will be forever grateful to Melanie for that, Phoebe."

Phoebe breathed in deep as she felt the sting of tears.

"Are you crying?"

"N-no."

"You always had big emotions, Phoebe Stanway. Don't lie to me. You're crying." He gave her a gentle smile.

"I-I need another drink." She got off the sofa before he could stop her and hurried to the kitchen. Once there, she pulled off a wad of paper towels and pressed it to her face.

So much pain, she thought. He'd suffered just like she had. After coming home and hearing he was having a child, Phoebe had vowed to forget him. He'd moved on, so she would. But he'd been forced to because of a mistake. A single night had changed the course of his life.

"You all good in here?"

She sniffed. "Sure. I have wine."

Hands touched her shoulders, and then she was turned.

"I told you because you deserved to know the truth. I didn't tell you for judgement, and I thank you for not giving me that."

"Welcome," she rasped .

They stared at each other for long moments, and then he tugged her closer and into his arms.

"Brody—"

"I'm just hugging you because we both need it, Phoebe."

It did feel good… too good.

"Thanks for looking after my girl tonight." He whispered the words into the top of her head. "She's a fighter, but I worry about her never taking a back step."

"Welcome," she said into his shirt. "And I love her spirit."

"Me too."

"Brody, I think you should go home now."

"You're probably right, but I don't want to. What I want to do is kiss you."

"But that would be a really bad thing to do, Brody." She could feel herself leaning into him again.

"Real bad." His mouth brushed hers softly. "I really missed kissing you."

"I missed it too."

It was gentle, but then he'd always been that with her. This man had taken her virginity, and he'd done it with soft kisses and whispered words.

"How is your nose?" He pressed a kiss to the tip.

"On my face." Phoebe gave up the fight then and climbed to her toes. She kissed him back. Brody deepened the contact, and one word slid into her head: finally.

A large hand slid around her back and under her shirt. It then settled on her spine. A finger slid beneath the waistband of her shorts as he eased her closer—so close, she could feel the hard ridge of his erection pressed to her belly. Heat filled her, and she lost the ability to think about anything but Brody and this moment. She lost the ability to think that this was a bad idea, and tomorrow they'd both regret it. Right then, she didn't care.

His hands slid up her body and dragged off her shirt, and then his mouth was moving down, kissing each patch of skin on the way to her breasts that ached with need for him.

"Handy I know you like this," he said, glancing up at her with a wicked look in his whiskey eyes. He then stroked his tongue over one nipple.

A strangled moan slipped from her lips as he did it again and again. His warm fingers slid up under the baggy hem of her shorts, reaching for her. The first stroke of a finger along the damp seam between her thighs had her shuddering.

"Handy I know you like this too," he whispered, pushing his finger inside her as he drew her nipple into his mouth.

She couldn't think, could only pant. Only moan and arch into him as he continued to torment her with hot pulls of that mouth on her breast while his fingers thrust in and out of her. She came hard with a shuddering release that rocked her, and she knew that once again her life was about to take another U-turn. Right then, she couldn't decide if that was good or bad and didn't care.