Brody's Redemption

by Kay Lyons

  She believed him.

  The future would have to be faced, the police chief dealt with. But for now she accepted the truth and that was enough.

  “I love you, Ashley. I think I loved you the moment I saw you climbing out from under your kitchen sink.”

  * * *

  JOE AWOKE WITH A START and wondered where he was. An instant later he felt Ashley’s body tucked up against his on the couch where they’d fallen asleep and smiled.

  Max whimpered, and Joe recognized the sound from the monitor as the same that had woken him. He glanced at Ashley and saw her sleeping deeply, her mouth parted slightly.

  The soft shadows beneath her eyes had him getting up and ignoring the voice in his head telling him not to push too hard, too soon, and chance screwing things up.

  Still, he padded to Max’s bedroom, the nightlight allowing him to see replicas of Ashley’s eyes staring up at him. “Hey, buddy. You hungry?”

  Max rolled onto his rump and pushed himself up to a sitting position.

  “You’re not going to scream if I touch you, are you?” Joe braced his forearms on the crib, his hands out, and waited to see what Max would do. If he didn’t want him to pick him up, fine. Either way the choice was up to Max.

  Tiny hands, their strength unimaginable, latched on to his fingers. Max pulled himself up and took a step toward him in the crib. Joe smiled and carefully lifted Max into his arms.

  “Okay, it’ll be us guys then. We’ll let your mama sleep.”

  Slowly so he didn’t frighten Max, Joe made his way back down the stairs to the kitchen. He’d watched Ashley make Max’s bottles countless times so he did the same now, holding Max in one arm while he measured the powder into a prepared bottle of water.

  Hesitant, he nearly panicked when Max whimpered and reached for the bottle before it was ready. Joe shook it harder to get the mixture to dissolve and Max glanced up at him, then laughed his little baby laugh at the jostling.

  “You like that, huh?” He shook the bottle a bit more to hear the sound again. “Okay, it looks ready. Here, try it out.”

  Max took the bottle in both hands and leaned his head against Joe’s chest while he drank. Legs weak from the whole process, Joe headed back upstairs to the nursery.

  Joe eased himself down into the rocking chair with a sigh. “You keep staring at me. Am I doing something wrong?”

  He got a blink in response.

  “You want a story, don’t you?” He shook his head. “Sorry, buddy, I don’t know any.”

  Another blink. Max pulled the bottle from his mouth and stared up at him, a pout forming on his lips. Joe gently bounced the baby boy in his arms. “Okay, okay, I get it. You gotta have a story ’cause your mama always tells you one.”

  As though understanding or at least willing to give him another chance, Max put the bottle back in his mouth with a sigh.

  “Once upon a time,” Joe began uncomfortably. “That’s how they’re supposed to start, right? Okay, so…once upon a time, there was an unbelievably beautiful woman with a son named Max…”

  * * *

  ASHLEY STRUGGLED THROUGH the fog of sleep.

  Max.

  She sat up so fast her head spun. Had he really slept through the night for the first time ever?

  She glanced around the living room, trying to clear the cobwebs from her head before realizing she was downstairs in nothing but her nightshirt and undies.

  Last night she and Joe had made out like teenagers, talked, snuggled. Fell asleep in each other’s arms after agreeing to take things slow despite their desire for more. But that acceptance, that willingness to wait, made her love Joe even more.

  Humming one of her favorite country love songs, she hurried upstairs before Wilson saw her and entered Max’s room only to stop in her tracks.

  Joe sat sprawled in the rocking chair dressed only in his jeans. Max was held firmly against Joe’s bare shoulder, both sleeping soundly, an empty bottle on the floor by Joe’s feet.

  She stared at them, her hand over her mouth to muffle her gasp.

  How could she have ever thought Joe would harm a baby? Even now, in sleep, Joe was protective of Max. Tender. His arms firm and guarding.

  Just like he’d protected her from the lightning. Risked himself in their fall. Volunteered to stay in the shed.

  One after another the images came. Joe at the nursing home reading to those whose eyesight wouldn’t allow them to read for themselves. Joe fixing a wheelchair and hanging a picture, moving a hospital bed for a woman who didn’t want to lose her job. All thoughtful, wonderful, considerate things. Things an uncaring, selfish, mean-spirited person wasn’t capable of doing on a regular basis. Things he could’ve blown off but didn’t.

  She must have made some sound because Joe awoke, but unlike the way he’d startled awake in the shed, this time he merely opened his eyes and smiled a sexy, sleepy smile as he pressed his bare foot to the floor and set the rocker in motion.

  Then he saw her. His face darkened, he stiffened, the rocker stopped. “Ashley, I—”

  Joe shifted in the chair as though to stand and Ashley quickly stepped forward and placed her hand on his shoulder before leaning over him and pressing a kiss to his lips. “Would you mind holding him long enough for me to shower?”

  She let the impact of her words sink in, knowing it would take Joe a while before he understood that she trusted him with Max. Joe had spent the last ten years fighting to protect himself, and that wouldn’t change overnight. Nor would it be easy to face a town that already thought them different. But together they could and would stand strong. Lean on each other.

  He blinked at her as though unsure he’d heard her correctly and she kissed him again. “I won’t be long, but if he wakes up and cries just… let me know.” She smiled tenderly at the raw emotion she saw reflected in his eyes. “I love you. Me and Max both. We’ll figure this out but until then enjoy the snuggling.”

  * * *

  TWO HOURS LATER Joe was still shaking his head at how fast things had changed. When he’d opened his eyes to find Ashley standing beside the rocking chair, he’d expected her to be angry, upset at least. Instead she’d given him a kiss that broke through the last of his reserves, and made him hopeful.

  “So what do you think? You like it?”

  He turned to find her holding a paint stick up for his perusal, the light brownish color pooling off the end. “It looks good.”

  “Uh-huh, you couldn’t care less, could you?” she asked, her tone amused.

  He winked at her, but didn’t respond. At the moment the only thing he wanted to do was take her into his arms and hear her say a million more times that she loved him. He’d never hear it enough, never feel it as much as when he was in her arms.

  Max played on a blanket on the floor, mouthing every toy he picked up and staring at him with his mama’s eyes. Ashley had still been in the shower when Max had awakened and Joe knew he’d never forget the moment Max lifted his lashes and yawned sleepily before smiling up at him.

  Whether she knew it or not, Ashley had given him the most precious gift imaginable by trusting him with her son. He was still afraid of doing something wrong, still afraid of someone saying something to Ashley that would make her doubt him. But regardless of the future, Ashley and Max were worth whatever risk he took with his heart.

  “Okay. The paint’s mixed but I forgot to get a clean pan. Can you keep an eye on him while I find one?”

  He nodded. “No problem,” he murmured, still working his way along the wall with the double-sided tape.

  Ashley flashed him a smile of thanks before she left the room, and he watched the sway of her hips with an appreciative leer. “Max, you’ve got one hot mama.”

  The boy gurgled out a response and picked up another toy. Chuckling, Joe turned his attention back to the wall and shifted so he could flatten the tape along another couple feet.

  He glanced over his shoulder at Max and found him turned around on his rump, facing the
door as though looking for his mom. “She’ll be right back, bud. Just hang on a second.”

  Joe fingered the tape in a couple spots to press it down and then glanced at Max again. “Hey, Max?”

  The baby boy ignored him and didn’t turn but just when Joe was about to move farther along the wall, he noted Max’s head had taken on a reddish color.

  “Max?”

  The boy turned then, his little eyes watery and wide, his face going from red to blue in the space of a heartbeat. The air rushed from Joe’s lungs and in a split second he held Josie, watched as she couldn’t breathe anymore, and panicked because he didn’t know what to do.

  Right then and there his heart stopped, but with a rush of adrenaline he tossed the tape aside and scrambled across the floor.

  This time he knew CPR.

  This time, he knew what he had to do.

  This time a baby wouldn’t die.

  * * *

  ASHLEY HEARD Joe’s shout in the utility room and took off running, but the sight that met her eyes when she made it through the kitchen and down the long, long hall was one she’d never forget.

  Joe hunched over Max, his face white as a sheet and his hands around her baby’s head and neck. Max strained weakly away.

  “What are you doing?” She rushed toward them and tried to shove Joe out of the way to see what was wrong with Max, but Joe shrugged her off with superhuman strength. “Joe! Let me—get away!”

  Joe ignored her prying hands, ignored the accidental scrape of her nails when she tried to get Max from him. Then suddenly Max gagged, coughed, inhaled deeply and screamed for all he was worth. Ashley tore at Joe to get to her son.

  Joe finally let him go and she pulled Max away and held him tight, rocking him back and forth and trying to calm him down. Joe got up and quickly staggered out of the room.

  “Max, oh God, Max, what happened? What happened?”

  Max quieted some, enough that Ashley was able to really see him. A trickle of blood mingled with the slobber at his mouth and she gasped. “Max?”

  That’s when she saw it. Lying on the floor where Joe had knelt with Max was one of the plastic outlet plugs she’d been installing throughout the room for Max’s protection. It was covered in water. And blood.

  “Joe?”

  No answer. Shaken beyond measure Ashley picked Max up and ran from the room, grabbing her purse on her way out the kitchen door. She’d find Joe later. Thank him for saving her son and make sure he was okay.

  The scene must have made him think of Josie. Had to have brought back the nightmare. He’d need time. Distance.

  And she couldn’t do anything about that now. She had to get Max to the doctor.

  Five minutes later she’d broken every speed limit between her house and town and arrived at Bryan’s office. She carried Max inside, past the patients waiting and the screeching receptionist who demanded she stop, down the hall to the exam rooms.

  Bryan left his office once he heard the commotion. “Hey, you aren’t due in for a couple more hours,” he said, referring to Max’s appointment later that afternoon. He stilled when he got a good look at her face. “Ashley, what’s wrong?”

  “We have to see you now.”

  Bryan tossed the chart aside and indicated the room behind him. “This one’s open, come on.”

  She ignored the receptionist hovering behind her and carried Max into the exam room, Bryan following.

  “What happened?”

  “He choked on this,” she said, pulling the two-pronged plastic outlet cover from her pocket. “I heard Joe shout and I ran as fast as I could and Joe was hunched over him and—”

  “Joe?”

  She nodded and tried to breathe. Now that the crisis was over, now that her son was safe and with Bryan, she was rapidly falling apart. The shaking she’d held in check breaking free. “Joe B-Brody.”

  Bryan gave her a quick glance she interpreted easily. “He’s—I hired him as my handyman. Joe isn’t what people say he is, though. He’s not, Bryan.”

  Bryan took Max into his arms and laid her son on the exam table, his stethoscope in his ears. “What was Joe doing to Max when you saw him?”

  “He— I don’t know. He had his fingers around Max’s head and—and in his mouth.” She ran her hands through her hair and tried to calm down. “I freaked. Max wasn’t moving and Joe wouldn’t let me near him—”

  “Was Max crying?”

  “No.”

  “Not at all?”

  “No. There—there was blood at the side of his mouth after Joe let me have him though.”

  Bryan frowned at her comments, but then smiled down at Max. “Hey, little man, can I see your throat? You’ve got to open up, okay?” Gently but firmly Bryan inserted a tongue depressor past Max’s lips to shine a light inside. “Looks like it scraped the top of his mouth and the back of his throat. He’s cried since then?”

  She nodded. “At the house. After— He started screaming. That’s when Joe gave him to me.”

  Bryan felt Max’s neck and throat, listened to his heart again, checked his pupils and took his temperature with an ear thermometer before picking him up off the table and turning to face her. “Looks to me like Max is fine.”

  Ashley pressed her hands to her cheeks and sobbed. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure. You on the other hand…” Bryan’s expression softened even more. “Ashley, Max is fine. He choked, and as scary as it was, he’s all right now.”

  She inhaled, over and over again. Tried to pull herself together.

  “Hey, don’t hyperventilate on me.”

  “It’s just—I just—”

  Bryan pulled her against his chest, one arm around her and the other holding Max. “I know. It’s scary when it happens to you but scarier when it happens to someone you love.” He patted her back soothingly before drawing away to look into her eyes. “Joe’s the guy you were thinking about the other night, isn’t he?”

  She wiped the tears from her cheek with a hand that wouldn’t stop trembling. “I’m sorry. Yes, he was—is—but I know he wasn’t trying to hurt him,” she added firmly, afraid Bryan might say something to the police chief.

  Bryan’s mouth twisted into a smile. “You don’t have to convince me, Ashley. I’m holding Max, remember? Despite Joe’s past, looks to me like he saved Max’s life by getting his air passage cleared.”

  More tears leaked out. “Oh, thank you, God.”

  “Where’s Joe now? Did he drive you?”

  She shook her head. “After he gave Max to me, he left and I know he thinks I probably think the worst but honestly, I just wanted to get to Max. To hold him because I knew something was wrong. I didn’t think he was hurting him. He wouldn’t hurt him, Bryan, but I know he probably thinks—”

  Bryan rubbed her back again. “Calm down, Ashley. You can explain it all to Joe as soon as I give Max his shots and drive you home.”

  Ashley took Max from Bryan and held him close, kissed him repeatedly. Bounced him and patted him, unable to keep from touching him. “Are you sure he should get them today? After all this?”

  Bryan flashed her a tolerant smile. “He’s fine. You’re welcome to reschedule if you like, but it is good to stay on track with these things. Max is healthy, high in his percentile for weight and height. And you didn’t have any history of gestational problems so we don’t have to worry about any of the weird complications cropping up like they can with a preemie or sick child.”

  She searched her mind for what she’d read in her baby books, but drew a blank after the trauma of the day. “Tell me again what his weight and percentile ranges have to do with the shots?”

  Bryan settled his hips against the exam table behind him, patient tolerance etched into his features as though he’d heard the question a million times before. “If a baby is underweight sometimes it’s best to wait and give the inoculations when they’re bigger and stronger. If a child is really small due to premature birth, or a candidate for the side effects for o
ther reasons like severe illness, I like to break them down into smaller, more manageable doses. But Max doesn’t have to worry about that, do you, big guy?”

  Ashley stilled when Joe’s voice filled her head. Josie had been underweight. Tiny, according to Joe. And she’d been to the doctor days before. For shots?

  “What about the preemies?”

  Bryan’s smile turned into a frown. “What about them?”

  “Could they be in more danger from the shots? For the complications? What are the complications exactly?”

  “Ashley, vaccinations are safe and the reactions are very, very rare. Besides, Max wasn’t a preemie.”

  “But what are they?”

  “Some vaccines can lead an already ill child to have blood vessel irregularities, which means the brain may not receive enough blood.”

  “Can that cause seizures?”

  Bryan shook his head back and forth as though he debated whether or not to answer. “If the dosage was full strength and too much for the size of the child or if—”

  “So it’s possible?”

  “Possible, yes,” he finally confirmed with a reluctant nod. “But it’s extremely rare. I can’t stress that enough. Now, tell me why you—”

  “What about other problems? Overwhelming stress? Blood pressure problems with the mom, problems delivering? Could all those things add up to increase the probability that the baby might react?”

  Joe swore he didn’t hurt Josie, and she believed him with her heart and soul. But Joe also believed Melissa was innocent which meant—

  “That could certainly add into the equation, yes, but—”

  “Bryan, did you know Melissa York and Joe had a baby girl that died?” She blinked up at him, afraid to get her hopes up too high.

  He pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. “I was afraid that’s where you were going with this.”

  She looked at him, stared into Bryan’s eyes and hoped the compassion she sensed within him ran deeper than any river on earth. “He saved Max’s life, Bryan. And he swears to me he didn’t do it. And yes, I believe him because after all these years, after going to prison for it, why would he bother to lie about her death now?”