Second Chances: A PAVAD Duet

by Calle J. Brookes

  “One day at a time,” Ed said. “So how did the girls get here?”

  Dan gave a short bark of laughter. “Emma kidnapped Gracie and raced across state lines. Because by their way of reasoning—if their mother comes looking for Gracie here, I have a legal say-so.”

  “You do. As custodial parent. You were living in this state when you filed, correct?”

  “Yes. She wanted to live close to her family in Kansas City. We moved here from Jersey in summer of eighty-eight. Kelly was just a preschooler. Everything was normal then. My ex was normal. I don’t know what went wrong. Maybe I left her alone too much, especially after Emma came along. I don’t know.”

  “Maybe you did do something wrong, Dan. But dammit—so did she. She took your kids, and left. And now you’ve got your girls back. So congratulations.”

  “Hell, Ed—what am I supposed to do with a teenager around? A girl, at that?” Dan lifted wide eyes to his. “One teenage boy comes sniffing around and I’ll lose what’s left of my sanity.”

  “From one who knows—you’ll get through it.” He slapped Dan on the back. “And if you ever need anything, just ask. Georgia drove me around the bend on numerous occasions.”

  “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me. Come on, I’ll throw another steak on the grill. And there are plenty of hot dogs for Matthew.”

  “So how did Dr. Glendower and Dr. Brewster end up on your deck?”

  “Came with Kelly and the girls. I asked them to stay, make it easier on Kelly to have some of her friends around.”

  “Easier for you, too. If there’s people around, you don’t have to be alone with your girls,” Ed guessed. Sometimes a father needed time to prepare. “Buys you some time. So the girls are just going to stay with you from here on out.”

  “Youngest will. Kelly is staying with the little doc. I’m, uh, not sure what Emma is planning on doing. Damn, Ed, I don’t even have a room ready for my daughter—how can I raise her?”

  “Get her furniture. Enroll her in school—I recommend Brynlock. And go on with your lives.”

  “Easier said than done.”

  Chapter 10

  Marianna sent the kids straight to bed, knowing they were exhausted. She carried Bobby, sound asleep on her shoulder, up the stairs and into the room he shared with the younger twins and tucked him in. He was almost too big for her to carry, and her heart hurt for a moment, remembering how she’d carried him as a baby.

  He was her last. And as of this year, was in school all day. Her baby. Soon he’d be as old as Nate, a teenager just on the verge of getting his license and independence. She sent up a wish that time would go just a little bit slower.

  “Good night, Mommy,” Timothy said, dragging her attention to the bunk beds he and James shared. Not that they ever slept in separate beds, instead choosing one or the other. “I liked Mr. Dan’s house, can we go there again?”

  “Maybe someday, sweetie,” She pulled Bobby’s blankets around his shoulders than moved to her slightly older sons’. “I’m glad you guys had fun.”

  “Mommy.” James—the more serious of the younger two twins—said. “Can we get a puppy like Mattie’s?”

  “Maybe. After we’ve been here for a while, I think.” They’d always wanted a pet, but the house they’d rented in Indianapolis had had a no pets clause in the lease. But this house—she’d bought with her savings and with the relocation allowance. It was hers, hers and the boys. If they wanted a puppy, she’d get them a puppy.

  “Like for our birthday?” Timothy asked, his blue eyes shining.

  “Maybe.” She made a note to give it some thought. If something as simple as a puppy made them happy, why not? They were all old enough to be able to help with the responsibility of a pet. “Mommy has to think about it, ok?”

  “Ok,” They said in complete unison, something they often did.

  “I love you guys.”

  “We love you, too!”

  Then she was on to Ted’s room, which was once probably the house’s study. It was small and cramped, but it worked. She hadn’t wanted to shove him in with his older brothers or in with the younger three. Poor Ted, always stuck somewhere. He was still awake, his bedside lamp burning bright as he read a book.

  “What have you got there?” She sank on to the foot of his bed.

  “A book Agent Reynolds said I could borrow.” Ted sat the book aside for a moment. “It’s about this guy who goes around the world in a hot air balloon in like 180 days.”

  “Jules Verne? Around the World in Eighty Days? It’s a good story.”

  “Yeah. Do you think it’s possible? To go around the world in that many days in a balloon?” Ted’s eyes shone with the excitement of possible adventures the way only a half-grown child’s could. Marianna smiled softly.

  “I don’t know, maybe. Depending on the wind conditions and on the weather. I suppose it’s possible.”

  “Mom?” He hesitated a moment before going on. “Why did Aunt Kelly think her dad was dead if he wasn’t?”

  Wow. What was she supposed to say to that? “Aunt Kelly’s mom did a really mean thing to her dad, Ted. She took Aunt Kelly and her sisters and hid them from Agent Reynolds.”

  “Like you’ve hidden us from our dad?”

  The words were like needles through her skin one million times a minute. “Maybe. But she did it to hurt Agent Reynolds, without thinking of what it would do to Aunt Kelly and her sisters. You know why we don’t see your dad anymore, right?”

  “Yeah. ‘Cause he was mean and liked to hit people. Nate said he hit you. And Nate, a lot.”

  Marianna shivered. “Ted, do you remember your dad?”

  “A little. He was real tall. And he had scary eyes.” Ted twitched his feet beneath the covers. “And he had blond hair like mine. Nate says I look like him instead I’m real short.”

  “Ted, you may look like him, but that doesn’t mean you are just like him. Just like the twins are different from each other even though they look alike. You are all separate people.”

  “Ok. Can I read for a little longer? I’ve only got about eight pages left.”

  “Twenty minutes. It’s already past midnight.”

  “But tomorrow’s Saturday!”

  “I know. Finish that chapter then it’s sleep, ok?”

  “Deal.”

  The older twins were stretched out on their beds when she stuck her head in after knocking once. “Good night, Collin, Bryce. Soccer game tomorrow at nine. Don’t forget.”

  “We won’t. Good night, Mom.” They were at the age where independence was fierce so she didn’t linger.

  Nate’s was the last stop. Poor guy was actually crammed into the attic, but he never complained. He never had. He’d seen so much in his early years. She’d never stop feeling the guilt from that. “Night, Nate.”

  “Good night, Mom.”

  “Did you have a good time tonight?” She paused just inside his room. It was almost too neat.

  “Yeah. I talked to Grace a bit.”

  “What’s your initial impression?”

  “I don’t think she likes me. Likes Bryce and Collin, though.”

  “What makes you think she didn’t like you?”

  “Nothing. It doesn’t matter. Her dad seems pretty cool. I heard he got shot two months ago.” Nate tossed his dirty shirt toward his hamper. His shoulders had broadened some over the last few months. He was more of a man than a boy now. He’d start driving in two months. Driving—her little boy.

  “I knew he’d been injured, but I haven’t heard the specifics.”

  “Josh and J.T.—Agents Compton and Tompkins—said Mr. Reynolds is a real hero. That he’s saved a lot of people’s lives.” Nate fell onto his bed, casually. “Mom—what makes a person choose to be a hero?”

  Deep thoughts, tonight. It didn’t surprise her; this kid had always been this way. “I don’t think most of them choose, sweetheart. I think most of them just do the right thing when it’s required of them. Why do you ask?”
r />   “Just thinking. Grace said her father was hurt and her mother stole her. That her sisters told her he wanted to be a good dad but couldn’t because he couldn’t find them.”

  “And that got you thinking about your dad? You’re not the only one. Ted had some questions about what happened.” She’d always been more open about things with Nate than the younger boys. Because he’d remembered more. And she’d always vowed honesty where her kids were concerned.

  “Are Uncle Fin and Lorcan heroes for what they did when they helped you?”

  “I think so. They helped me find the courage to do what I had to do. And they helped with you boys for months afterward. They were good friends to us, Nate. I’ll never be able to repay them or thank them enough.”

  “I hope if I ever have to, I can be a hero for somebody.”

  “I don’t doubt you’d step up to the plate.”

  “Yeah. I hope so. Good night, Mom.”

  “Good night. I love you.”

  She thought over Nate and Ted’s questions long into the night, remembering the night she’d laid broken and bloody on the floor of the three bedroom apartment she’d rented right after she’d left her husband. She’d come to a realization that night when Fin McLaughlin and Sebastian Lorcan had burst through her door. Nate had found her cell phone and hit the redial button. Nine years old and too afraid to call 911, he’d called one of mommy’s ‘friends’ at the FBI because Mommy wouldn’t wake up and his baby brothers were crying. Redial had saved her life. And Bobby’s. She’d never forget that. McLaughlin—the last agent she’d called while on the job—and his friend Lorcan had been at a ball game, and had rushed over to her home immediately. She hadn’t even known them that well-hadn’t even known their first names. Yet they’d been there when she needed them. Because her little boy had called them and because she’d needed help. That was the kind of men they were. The kind of men she’d wanted her boys to become. It was one reason she’d taken the relocation assignment—to be closer to Lorcan and Fin.

  She’d vowed never to be that vulnerable—to make her children that vulnerable—ever again.

  Chapter 11

  Matthew had tried to sneak the puppy into his parents’ car. Hellbrook caught him, ordered him to carry Lucifer back to his kennel. It took ten minutes for the boy to stop pouting. Ed’s mouth twitched ever so often as he thought of Michael Hellbrook patiently explaining why the dog was not allowed in the school. Hellbrook was good with the boy, and he respected that.

  If Hellbrook still got under his skin occasionally, well, old habits die hard. The Brynlock Academy gymnasium was filled with close to two thousand people and Ed’s hand tightened on Matthew reflexively. He caught Hellbrook do the same to Georgia out of the corner of his eye. Even in this type of crowd, the urge to protect was instinctive.

  “Where were we supposed to meet the McLaughlins?” Hellbrook asked.

  “North bleachers. I’ll text Ana.” Georgia said, her hand in Hellbrook’s. It always caught him askance to see them side by side. His daughter was so petite. Hellbrook stood four inches taller than Ed.

  His son-in-law was a large and intimidating man. And Hellbrook worshiped Georgia. So Ed could tolerate him. Maybe a little more than tolerate. But he’d not let Hellbrook know that any time soon.

  Five minutes later he was holding one of the most beautiful females he’d ever seen. At least in recent memory. Daniella Joy McLaughlin was a tiny bundle with the sweetest face and her mother’s beautifully shaped eyes. The silkiest red hair covered the tiny head. Ed was totally in love. A goner, and he knew it. “You are the world’s most beautiful baby, and Grandpa Ed is going to spoil you rotten.”

  He almost missed the look his daughter and Ana shared, the laughter shining in two pairs of bright eyes, one green and one brown. “What? I am. I’m allowed.”

  “So much for the big, terrifying Director Ed who scared me witless my first week in St. Louis.” Ana adjusted the blanket around her daughter.

  “Me? Big and scary? You must be thinking of Hellbrook.” Ed knew Ana had no real family nearby, that the small redhead considered Georgia and Matthew her only real family other than her husband. And in Ed’s mind that made Ana and the baby—and McLaughlin—Ed’s family, too. “Big, scary director isn’t allowed to cuddle his grandchildren? I don’t think so!”

  “You can cuddle Daniella as much as you’d like. Spoiling her, however, we’ll have to talk about that later.” Ana laughed that tinkling laugh that Ed always enjoyed hearing as she led the way to her husband.

  Ed looked up from the baby when Matthew shouted a greeting at the three small boys standing with McLaughlin. His eyes met Marianna’s and he smiled. She was dressed more casually than he’d ever seen her and the jeans fit her beautifully. Her gaze dropped to the pink bundle in his arms and widened slightly.

  “Hello, Marianna.” He adjusted the baby. “Welcome to your first official Brynlock Academy Carnival and Fundraiser. James, Timothy, Bobby, are you three having fun?”

  Marianna’s youngest son pulled on Ed’s shirt. “Yes. Can I see the baby? Uncle Fin said Daniella gets to be my cousin. I don’t have any other cousins.”

  Matthew crowded close to his grandfather’s side. “Cool. Daniella is my cousin, too.”

  “She certainly is.” Ed pulled the blanket back so the children could see her wide-eyed gaze. “Isn’t she pretty?”

  “She looks kind of wrinkly.” Bobby scrunched up his nose as he looked at her. Ed smirked seeing the familiar expression. The boy’s mother did that when she was thinking.

  “All babies do.” Ed ruffled the dark hair on the boy’s head before looking back at Marianna. The desire was clear in her eyes. He shifted the baby and Marianna smiled in that sweet way women did with babies and stepped closer. He passed her the baby.

  “Oh so small. It seems like forever since Bobby was this little.” She almost cooed the words. Ed’s gut tightened inappropriately. She did that to him quicker than any other woman ever had. Even in just the short time he’d known her.

  “Probably because Bobby was a nine-pounder, Mari.” McLaughlin laughed, pulling Bobby up to rest on his hip.

  “True. But James and Timothy didn’t even weigh five pounds each.” Marianna rocked the baby gently. “I could hold them at the same time easily enough.”

  Ed looked at her for a moment, wondering exactly what it was like responsible for three infants and a preschooler, as well as three children in elementary school. She would have been alone and scared of her ex-husband—the one person who should have helped her.

  He tucked the blanket around the baby, deliberately letting his hand linger on Marianna’s. Her skin was nearly as soft as the baby’s. He wouldn’t mind touching more of her.

  “Makes you nervous when they’re that small,” he said, “Took me nearly two months before I was comfortable holding Georgia as an infant. She was just over five pounds and I’d repeatedly been told not to hold her like a football.”

  “The way I’ve heard it from Aunt Carolyn, you fumbled me a couple of times, Dad,” Georgia said.

  “Your first Easter…my sister had dressed you in one of those silly frilly girl dresses. The kind with all the horrible ruffles and the little white socks with all that fishnet material. That dress was slick. You slid right out of my arms.” Ed shook his head, remembering the guilt and panic he’d felt. She’d landed in the middle of the kitchen floor, flat on her back.

  “No lasting damage, although there is a funny looking scar on my hair line,” Georgia smirked.

  “No damage to you, but I felt guilty for years!”

  “Is that why she got everything she wanted?” Hellbrook asked, settling Matthew on his shoulders where the boy could see over the crowd.

  “Of course,” Ed said.

  “So what are we going to do first?” Ana asked.

  “All of it!” Matthew yelled, “Come on, Grandpa, let’s go!”

  It was a good day, Ed decided several hours later, despite the fact that Hellbr
ook and Georgia had been called away for a case--even though it was a local one. The baby was back in her mother’s arms, and he’d somehow wound up packing Marianna’s youngest son while McLaughlin packed Matthew. The twins held each other’s hands under the watchful eye of their mother. She walked beside Ed, her shoulder bumping his occasionally; it was nice, the feeling of being with a woman in a relaxed family setting, even with the McLaughlins along with them.

  He eyed her out the corner of his eye as he had a radical thought—what would it be like to ask the beautiful doctor out on a real date? Just the two of them? Or was he starting to lose his mind?

  Chapter 12

  Later that night, Marianna opened the door and let Ed in, feeling underdressed and vulnerable in her pajamas. He still wore a suit coat and tie and carried a black leather duffle in one hand. "Director Ed, is this absolutely necessary?"

  "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't."

  Marianna still had a hard time getting her mind wrapped around the fact that Kelly had been shot outside Smokey's Bar earlier that night or that Ally had gone home to find her house had been ransacked. Ed had told her on the phone that he would be coming to her house to protect the Brewster children, on the off chance that there was a connection between the shooting and the burglary. On the off chance that the children could be a target. He'd even threatened her; told her that it would best if it was someone all the children were familiar with instead of some unknown agent. Marianna had found herself giving in, then found herself angry at the both of them; him for giving her orders and her for giving in so easily.

  "Whomever is responsible for this did a real number on Dr. Brewster’s home. If it was the ex-husband I want to make damned sure those kids are safe. Even if it wasn't the ex, I am going to make sure those kids are safe." He kept his voice as a whisper while she led him into the kitchen. What was she supposed to do with him?