“Yeah, he told me about how he met Jaidon.” Brodie spoke quietly and she had to strain to hear what he said next. “Some sicko had taken Jaidon’s girlfriend, and she’d started a fire to try and get away from him.”
“Oh wait, I remember who you’re talking about now.” And she was grateful Brodie had lowered his voice so Finn didn’t have to hear what he said. “I can’t believe I didn’t put two and two together.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, flicking her a quick look before turning his direction back to the road.
“Last year in April there was a community event in Hunt. It was a fundraising event as well as a thank-you to the HVFD for all they did that day in rescuing Bridget and saving her life. That’s where Nadia and Mitch met for the first time. I didn’t know it at the time, but Nadia helped Mitch when he had a PTSD attack. They didn’t get together until months later. I think the night of the tornado was the turning point in their relationship. Nadia tossed her cookies in front of Mitch, and he fell head over heels in love with her.”
A burst of laughter came from Brodie. “If Mitch hadn’t told me that himself, I wouldn’t have believed you.”
“Why? Would you walk away if I tossed my cookies in front of you?” The second she said the words, she wished she could take them back.
He reached across the console and picked up her hand where it was resting on her thigh. Her nerve endings jangled and tingles tiptoed up her arm. “Never. I’d hold your hair back until you stopped throwing up. Then I’d pick you up and get some water.”
Her heart melted. Was it too much to hope that Brodie was one of the good guys? She didn’t think he was faking his answers just to get on her good side.
“What else will we do, Brodie?” Finn asked.
Cerise swiveled in her seat and smiled at Finn. He looked so little in the back of Brodie’s big truck. The boy’s eyes had almost popped out of his head when he saw Brodie’s vehicle. He’d rushed over and touched it as if it were made out of glass, not metal. “How about he keeps it a surprise? I love surprises. How about you?”
The next instant all animation was wiped from his face, like a television screen going black. Immediately her heart dropped to her stomach, knowing that somehow she’d unwittingly hurt the boy. She wanted to reach over and pull him into a huge hug.
“What is it, Finn? What did I say?” she whispered and gripped Brodie’s hand a little tighter, grateful that he still held it.
“I don’t like surprises. Every time Aunt Poppy said she had a surprise for me, it was always her taking me back to the boys’ home. She said that it was for the better because I would be back with my friends.” Finn paused and Cerise held her breath waiting for what else he was about to say. “What she didn’t know was that all the boys there were ones I didn’t want to be friends with. None of them were like my best friend, Andy.”
He turned his face to the window and Cerise had to look away, blinking rapidly to stem the flow of tears that threatened.
“I’m sorry, Finn. I promise I won’t talk about surprises again.” And she never would, not around Finn anyway.
“I know.” His voice sounded so little. So far away, not just a couple of feet.
Silence descended inside the car. Brodie had turned the music down when they’d started talking. Right this second she wished that he hadn’t. At least music would be a welcome sound.
Brodie gave her hand another squeeze and she looked over to him. They were stopped at one of the random four-way intersections that happened in the country.
“It’s okay,” he said in a low voice. “Finn knows you meant no harm.”
“I really didn’t.”
Brodie lifted their connected hands to his lips and gently kissed her knuckles. “We’ll make this better for him. That’s my promise to you.”
That’s my promise to you.
Brodie’s words echoed in her mind. He didn’t strike her as the type of man who would say something and not follow through on it. But could she trust him to not let her down? Over her life she’d had too many broken promises handed to her. Foster homes that promised to be the best but turned out to be horrid.
Brodie wasn’t a foster home though. He was a man who had opened his arms to a boy he didn’t even know and was now determined to make good memories with him.
Once it was clear to go, he redirected his attention back on the road in front of him. There wasn’t much around them except bush and grassy plains. Although there were pockets of wildflowers starting to spring up. Peak season would be in a couple of weeks and she was sure there was a wildflower festival in Hunt. She’d have to check because that might be a fun thing to do with Finn.
Why couldn’t she have met Brodie last month? Or even last year? Although that would have been impossible since he’d only arrived in Hunt recently. But still, if only she had known him longer than a couple of weeks. He was doing and saying all the right things. If they were in a relationship, then perhaps she could’ve convinced him to help her with her adoption plans. As it was there was no way she could do that to him, even though the thought had been going on a constant loop in the back of her mind ever since her appointment with Gordon Woods, the adoption lawyer, the previous day.
Eventually the silence got too much for her ,and she reached out and turned the radio volume up in the truck. She knew shewas taking a liberty she didn’t have, but it looked like Brodie didn’t mind as he tapped the fingers of his free hand on the steering wheel in time with the music.
Fifteen minutes later they turned into the entrance of the natural area.
“Look, there’s a deer,” Finn shouted, his excitement returning now that they’d arrived at their destination.
Cerise turned enough to see it bounding away. “Yep, I’m pretty sure you’ll be seeing more of those as we go. Not to mention many other animals and birds.”
