The Sergeant's Unexpected Family

by Carrie Nichols

  Brody made a chalk mark on the wall before turning. “What was your plan? To eyeball it and hammer in a nail?”

  “Something like that.” Which was sad, because then she wouldn’t have had the pleasure of seeing him with his tool belt.

  He tsked his tongue and turned back to hammer the hanger in place.

  Despite her initial reluctance, Mary liked her office and, considering how many times a day Brody popped in, she no longer believed he’d been trying to get away from her. Aside from Elliott, Brody was by far her most frequent visitor, but she’d also had a few prospective clients drop in. Her boss, prodded by his wife, had retired earlier than expected and she’d taken over the accounting business. Although she wondered how much of her foot traffic was urgent need of her services or curiosity over Brody and his farm.

  The days were turning warmer, and Brody had installed a screen door so she could enjoy the gentle breeze and the wind chimes he’d purchased. Somehow a week had morphed into a month, and she had to keep reminding herself that this wasn’t her life but a temporary arrangement. She and Brody had agreed to explore their chemistry with a no-strings-attached policy. She wouldn’t have minded strings, but Brody wasn’t ready and maybe never would be. That was something she would have to accept when the time came. And that time would come, because she couldn’t carry on this way forever. It wouldn’t be fair to Elliott to let him get accustomed to having Brody in his daily life and then snatch it away. And she needed to think of herself, as well. She wanted someone who could make a lasting commitment.

  “Mary?”

  She mentally shook herself. “Sorry.”

  He held up the framed photograph. “Do you want the honor?”

  “That wouldn’t be fair, since you did all the work.”

  He motioned with his head. “C’mere and we’ll do it together.”

  It was as if her heart had outgrown her chest. She wanted nothing more than to do things together with him. “Deal.”

  After hanging the picture, they stepped back to admire it.

  “We do good work.” He bumped her shoulder with his. “I’m going to remove the sock from the crow today. Want to help?”

  Before she could respond, Elliott, who’d been sleeping in the playpen, woke up. She picked him up and cuddled him. “I guess this will be the big test to see if the wing has healed.”

  “We’ll see,” Brody said and patted Elliott’s back as he snuggled against Mary’s shoulder. “I built an enclosure on the side of the barn.”

  “What was wrong with the cage?”

  “It will need—”

  “Serenity.”

  He huffed out his breath. “Serenity will need a week to see if the wing is healed and to regain strength.”

  She grinned, because the twinkle in his blue eyes told her his annoyance was all pretense. “You built another enclosure?”

  “This one’s more like a lean-to on the side of the barn.”

  He lifted a shoulder and let it drop as if his actions were no big deal. Except to her they were and one of the reasons she was falling more in love with him each day. By staying she was opening herself to heartache, but if she didn’t stay and try to get him to see this could work, that they could work, she’d regret it for the rest of her life.

  “Mary?”

  “I’m sorry, what?” She needed to concentrate on reality, enjoy the present instead of fantasizing about a future that might never come to pass.

  “Did you want to see the enclosure?”

  For the next week they watched Serenity regain its strength and ability to fly. She would soon have to find that within herself. She and Elliott couldn’t stay in this suspended animation forever.

  Last night they’d attended the party given by the Coopers for Kevin’s high school graduation. Their arrival together didn’t go unnoticed, and people had started treating them as if they were a family.

  Brody came into the kitchen as she finished giving Elliott his breakfast.

  “I think we should release the crow—er, Serenity—this morning,” he said as he poured himself a coffee. “I would say the wing is healed.”

  “Then it’s time.” Mary sighed. “Let me get his diaper changed first.”

  After she’d gotten Elliott cleaned up, they walked across the yard to the enclosure Brody had made. He’d dismissed the structure he’d put together as a mere lean-to, but it was so much more than that. The care that had gone into building it was evident, like the care that went into everything on this farm.

  She had to clear her throat before she could speak. “What do we do?”

  “Open the door and leave it open. It might get skittish and not want to fly out if we’re standing around, so we’ll go inside the office. We can watch from the window in the door.”

  The crow was still a wild creature, despite becoming accustomed to human care, so that made sense. She nodded and sniffed.

  “Hey.” He touched her shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

  She gave a quiet little laugh. “I can’t decide if I’m happy or sad.”

  He squeezed her shoulder. “It’s okay to be both.”

  “We may never see it again.” She should be rejoicing at saving a wild creature and releasing it to its natural habitat, but she was feeling selfish and couldn’t shake her melancholy. Backbones, not wishbones.

  “Would you prefer keeping it locked up?”

  Her head jerked up at his words. “What? No, of course not. Not if it can fly.”

  “Would you have preferred leaving it to its fate with those boys?” he asked with a significant lifting of his brow.

  She let out a laugh. “I know what you’re doing.”

  He ducked his head to look her in the eyes. “Is it working?”

  “Absolutely not.” She grinned and pushed his shoulder. “Now go open the door. I’ll be inside.”

  In the office area, she put Elliott in his bouncy seat. Brody stepped in and shut the door. She joined him at the window, and they watched as the crow hopped out of the cage, glanced around and took off, flapping its wings and then gliding away until it was out of sight.

  She couldn’t prevent another sniff as she turned away from the window. “Do you have any tissues in here?”

  “Don’t cry,” he said, a twinge of annoyance lacing his tone, but he eased her against him. “You did a good thing.”

  “We did a good thing,” she corrected him. “And I’m not crying. I happen to have sweaty eyes.”

  “Ah, I see.” He touched her cheek and motioned toward the desk with his head before stepping back. “Check the top drawer for tissues.”

  She pulled out the top drawer, and Brody’s smiling face stared up at her from a creased and dog-eared snapshot. Standing next to Brody were three other smiling men, their arms thrown around one another’s shoulders, mugging for the camera. They all wore tan T-shirts and desert-camo pants.

  She picked up the picture and sank into his office chair. How young and carefree he looked. He’d told her about why he’d left the army, but not about what that decision had done to him. But he must’ve hung on to that picture for a reason. Brody didn’t strike her as a sentimental guy. His home wasn’t full of those tchotchkes people kept as reminders of people or places they loved, nor had she seen any pictures anywhere.

  He’d said he’d come to the farm after getting out of the army. Had he needed the peace and solitude of this place?

  “Mary?” He glanced at her over his shoulder. “Did you find any?”

  “Uh, I found this.” She held up the picture, tissues and tears forgotten. “Who are these guys?”

  “My Delta Force team.” He took a few steps toward her and reached for the photo.

  She handed him the picture. “You looked like great friends. Was this picture taken in Afghanistan?”

  “No.” He stared at the
photo, deep creases marring the skin between his eyebrows. “The exact location is classified, but let’s just say it was somewhere on the African continent.”

  “Oh, so you didn’t just go to Afghanistan?” She’d assumed his military service had all been there.

  “Delta Force gets sent all over the world.”

  “Are those guys still in the army?” She wanted to know all she could about this man. Do you think knowing more will help convince him to ignore your situation?

  “I didn’t stay in touch.” He shrugged as if it was of no importance, but she had spotted the longing in his eyes as he stared at the photo, as if he missed them.

  He set the photo back on the desk and she picked it up, glancing at the back, but it was blank. “What’re their names?”

  He paused for a moment before using his index finger to rest under each face. “Landry Collins, Jeff Bowen and Sean Kennedy.”

  “The surfer dude?”

  He nodded and she glanced at the photo again. It was as if the camera had caught not just their likenesses but their closeness, as well. Brody’s eyes were filled with sorrow when he looked at the picture. “What happened?”

  “A central retinal vein occlusion happened.”

  Her stomach churned. She hated feeling so ineffectual. “But the eye thing wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t help it.”

  He clicked his tongue. “Fault or not, I let them down.”

  Damn, the man was stubborn. “You make it sound like it was my fault for being in foster care.”

  His head jerked back. “What? No. That makes no sense. You had no control over what happened to you.”

  “Exactly. It stinks, but it’s not your fault. Had that happened to one of them, would you have just walked away? Left him to his fate?”

  “No way. We didn’t leave anyone behind.”

  “I guess they felt that way about you, huh?”

  He expelled his breath. “I see what you’re doing.”

  “Is it working?”

  He chuckled, but before he said or did anything, tires crunched on the gravel in the driveway.

  Disappointed, she checked her watch. “That must be my new client. I better get into my office.”

  She reached for Elliott, but Brody put his hand on her arm. “Leave him here. He’s fine. I’ll keep my good eye on him.”

  Her jaw dropped. What was she supposed to say to that? And before she could stop herself, she grinned and it morphed into a laugh.

  “I love it when you laugh,” he said and leaned over until his lips pressed against hers. A car door slammed.

  “You’d better go,” he whispered.

  * * *

  Brody stared at the door she’d walked through. When was the last time he’d been able to joke about what had happened with his eyesight? Had he ever? For some reason, talking to Mary was easy and helped to put things in perspective.

  He picked up the old picture and rubbed his fingertip across the familiar faces. Was Mary right? Should he have kept in touch? After their last mission went sideways because of his condition, he’d shut himself off. But he wouldn’t have blamed any of them if the situation had been reversed. So why was he blaming himself?

  Needing to do something physical, he checked to be sure the straps on Elliott’s little seat were secure. Satisfied, he picked up Elliott and the seat and walked around to the front of the house. When he’d first moved in, he’d removed most of the overgrown bushes around the front porch. They’d been in such bad shape, he’d decided starting with new growth seemed easiest. He hadn’t gotten around to replacing the ones he’d removed. The last time they’d been to the Coopers’, Mary had admired their rhododendrons and he figured those were as good as any other bushes. His choice had nothing to do with the fact Mary had said how much she liked them.

  Brody set Elliott and his seat on the porch, and a small pile of trinkets on the top step caught his eye. “What the...?”

  He hunkered down and poked at the bottle cap, a piece of discarded foil from a cigarette pack and a... He picked up the piece to examine it and realized it was a Lego brick. Rising, he glanced around, but the deserted yard held no answers. The pile was too neat to be anything but on purpose, as if a child had laid treasures out for someone to admire. Brody scratched his head and glanced over at Elliott. He could imagine Elliott doing something like that, but not for another couple of years.

  He pulled out his tape measure and pad and pencil. Much like he’d done with the bunkhouse and Mary’s office, he sketched plans for rhododendron bushes along the front porch.

  A car drove past. Mary’s new client, he thought, and nodded his head to acknowledge the driver’s raised hand.

  Soon after the car disappeared down the driveway, Mary came to the front door. “There you are. What are you doing out here?”

  He slipped the pad into his back pocket and pointed to the pile of trinkets. “Wondering what this is.”

  She stepped onto the porch and peered down at the items. “It couldn’t have been blown there. The pile is too neat...unless you...”

  “Nope. Found it like this.”

  “That is strange.” She shook her head. “Do you think it could be Serenity?”

  “Has enough time passed to gather this stuff?”

  She shrugged. “Maybe the other crows helped.”

  He quirked an eyebrow at her. “More of your crow trivia?”

  “Don’t laugh. I—”

  Elliott woke up with a startled cry.

  “Oh, sweetie, did you have a bad dream?” Mary reached down and unfastened him. “How ’bout we sit on the swing for a few minutes.”

  With Elliott perched on her hip, she started for the swing, but he reached out and tried to grab the sun catchers. When she skirted past the tantalizing hangings, he kicked his legs and began to cry in earnest.

  She kissed his cheek. “Sorry, sweetie, those are pretty to look at, but we can’t touch.”

  She sat with him on the swing, but he continued to fuss, pointing to the delicate glass.

  Brody stepped over and reached out. “Here, let me.”

  He lifted Elliott into the air and made airplane noises until the tears dried up and the baby was giggling.

  “Would you like to go to the lake this afternoon? We can play hooky.” He lifted Elliott above his head. “Would you like that, big guy?”

  “Hooky? I didn’t even do that as a kid.”

  He sat next to her on the swing with Elliott on his lap. He bumped shoulders with her. “Bet you were one of those girls who followed all the rules.”

  She laughed. “Pretty much. I kept my head down and tried to blend into the background.”

  He reached over and captured a lock of wavy dark hair between his fingers, marveling at how soft it was. “I find it hard to believe you blended into the background.”

  “Yeah, well, I did.”

  She stared straight ahead, but he’d bet she wasn’t seeing anything. Her eyes were clouded, and he wanted to wipe out her bad memories. He brushed the backs of his fingers across her silky cheek.

  She blinked and turned her head. “I didn’t want anyone to notice me.”

  “Why?” How could someone so vibrant go unnoticed?

  “Because then they might remember I was ‘that foster kid.’” Her smile was sad as she continued, “I preferred going unnoticed to that, especially in high school.”

  What? No way was he buying that. “Guys had to have noticed you.”

  “There was one boy I liked. He was quiet and seemed nice. He used to tell me about a video game he was designing.” Her tone had taken on a wistfulness. Then she grimaced and braced her shoulders. “The other kids in the foster home called attention to us, and I was forbidden to go out with him. One of their other foster girls had gotten pregnant, and they said it wouldn’t happen again on their
watch.” She spread her arms and smiled wryly. “It didn’t happen then, but it did happen.”

  He didn’t say anything but in a perverse way, he was glad it had happened. If not for Elliott, they might not have found one another. He wouldn’t have had the pleasure of getting to know Mary Carter.

  Their current arrangement wouldn’t last forever. Loon Lake was a small town, but there were single men, one of whom might want something more than he did. She and Elliott deserved a forever family, considering her background. He could understand—and accept—her wanting more than he could give. But not today.

  Chapter Eleven

  Brody glanced at his watch as he checked the horse stalls for fresh water and oats before going to the pen he’d constructed for Lost and Found and giving them some chopped carrots as a special treat. Elliott always got a kick out of watching the alpacas eating their vegetable treats, but Mary had taken him with her into town that morning. She had volunteered to help with the luncheon at the church. Brody had offered to watch Elliott, but she’d said it wasn’t necessary because the church had a nursery available. And he wasn’t disappointed by that. Not one bit.

  Going about his chores was a lot faster without Mary and Elliott here to distract him. He’d come to the farm looking for isolation and had taken on the abandoned animals because he couldn’t turn his back. Now, taking care of them was the price he paid for his solitary lifestyle.

  But Mary had jumped in with both feet, taking care of the animals with enthusiasm. He glanced at his watch again. What had delayed her? He shoved a toothpick into his mouth. Concern for her safety was the reason for his thoughts. It wasn’t as if he missed her or anything like that. He enjoyed living alone and he—

  Her car interrupted his thoughts, and he went toward the front of the house, all the while telling himself he wasn’t rushing out to see her.

  And when did you start lying to yourself?

  She was bending over, getting Elliott out of the back seat when Brody came around the corner of the house. He swallowed hard at the sight of her backside extending from the open door.