Page 22 of Falling for Brody

He'd pay through the nose to avoid that.

Oh, he could vacuum. And wipe things clean. But tiny crumbs? Or dirt? Nope.

So many things he'd avoid like the plague.

He never thought that he'd enjoy looking for a place for Rhea and Chip to live.

The first was a house that was huge. It was likely the definition of 'HUGE.'

And one look at it made them all sit back and gape.

"Whoa."

Brody had laughed softly. "Yeah. Whoa."

Rhea had looked at the listing and sighed. "I don't think we'd ever use every room. Can you imagine what the dusting would be like?"

Brody looked at her and shook his head. "I'd have to hire someone. That's just too much house."

"Yeah.”

The second was an apartment but the instant that the apartment manager saw Chip, he'd closed the door on them.

Brody started knocking on the door, trying to get the man to open it.

"Brody," Rhea put her hand on his back and as good as it felt to have her touch him, he was good and angry. "It's okay. We'll move on."

He turned to look at her. "It's not okay." He raised his voice a little, turning partially toward the door. "It's illegal to deny someone an apartment because they have children."

A moment later, he'd winced and turned to look at Chip.

The young boy was standing there, wide-eyed and staring.

"Oh damn..."

Then he clamped his lips together and looked at Rhea. "I'm sorry."

She gave him a weak smile. "It's okay."

Turning back to the door, he saw a small window to the side of the door and moved over so he was standing there, speaking right into the glass panes. "I'm right, sir. My name is Brody Armstrong. My cousin Gabriel is an officer with Fallport Police. I'm going to let him know what happened today."

He started to turn, and the door opened up beside him.

Putting a protective hand on her hip, he situated himself between her and the door.

The older man glared out at him through the screen door. "You don't get to say who I rent to."

"I'm not saying I am, sir. But taking one look at a child and turning them away? That's not legal in this town."

The other man folded his arms across his chest and huffed. "Kids are loud."

"So is your bad attitude, sir."

Brody shook his head.

"You don't have to rent to her, sir, but she's the new Emergency Medical Technician in town and her son is a smart young man. You'd be lucky to have them rent an apartment from you, but we're leaving and I'm going to find them a safe place to stay."

The man behind him was audibly flustered, muttering words until he blurted out his displeasure. "My building is safe! You come back here! I'll show you!"

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