Page 118 of Falling for Brody

"Are you okay?"

Chip leaned back, his hands fisted in Brody's shirt. "I was scared!"

Brody's eyes were filled with tears. "We've been looking for you."

"Brody?"

"Yeah, buddy?"

Chip broke down into sobs. "I want my mom!"

Brody hugged him close and nodded. "Yeah, buddy. Let's go get you to your mom."

* * *

By the timeBrody walked out of the tree line, Rhea had already burst into tears three times.

The moment they got the call that Chip had been found she was already worn out and more than ready to hold her son.

In fact, she only remembered Chip's homecoming as if she'd seen it through a camera.

She'd lost whole chunks of time, but all she knew was that she was still holding Chip in her arms.

Now, she was sitting on the couch, Chip sound asleep on her chest, and her arm was asleep.

Brody sat down beside her, holding out a cup of water for her to take a drink.

When she handed it back to him after a long, thirst-quenching drink, she saw him looking at them both with tears in his eyes.

"I'm so glad we found him."

She nodded and used her fingers to untangle a few strands of Chip's hair. "I still can't believe that they tried to take him away."

Brody shifted on the ottoman. "The Chief called while you were napping and told me what he found out."

Rhea looked up at Brody and prepared herself.

"Margo found out that Charles had a life insurance policy."

Rhea frowned at him. "You mean other than the one we received through Charles' work?"

Brody nodded.

"The policy is payable to Chip."

As the words sank in, her heart dropped.

"Margo wanted Chip so she could get the money."

Brody nodded. "She'd promised Blane a thousand dollars to take Chip, but after spending a few hours hiding in the woods with bugs andnature,he was out. It was just his bad luck that you remembered what he looked like. Otherwise he would have disappeared in the crowd and left town.

"He said he never liked Margo much anyway."

Rhea looked down at Chip who was passed out on her chest, drooling on her shirt. "I can't believe it was all about money. Part of me was hoping that they would realize that they were losing out on his life. Now I know it was just over, what? A few thousand dollars?"

Brody let out a breath. "It's a little more than that." He laughed softly. "You don't have to worry about working long shifts ever again."

She frowned at him.

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