Page 53 of Falling for Brody

“He's great at drug sniffing. Bombs, too, but we're hoping that doesn't need to be tested. And we think he'll be great around kids so we can do things down at the school."

Gabriel brightened for a moment. "Rhea, are you and Chip coming to family dinner on Sunday?"

Rhea's mouth dropped open, but instead of answering Gabriel she turned to Brody. "I don't think we should."

Brody frowned at her. "Why not?"

Her eyes widened as she looked between him and Gabriel but settled back on him. "It's yourfamilydinner."

Brody shrugged. "You're my partner. It's as good as."

Rhea's brow lifted at that. "How often did you invite your last partner to dinner?"

Gabriel looked up and found a really interesting spot on the ceiling, leaving him to his own devices.

"Well, in my defense, he was an ass."

She shook her head. "I'd feel weird leaving Bea by herself."

"Bea?" Gabriel looked at Rhea with a question, but his mouth dropped open and he grinned. "That's right. Someone in the family mentioned that you were living with Missus Hardy."

Brody gave him a hard look. "That was me, bonehead."

Rhea nodded. "She asked me to call her Bea. She said the same thing to Brody, but he looked a little green when she asked him."

Brody turned to his cousin to plead his case. "You had her in Third Grade, right?"

Gabriel nodded. "I think all of the Armstrong kids did."

Brody gestured at Gabriel. "Imagine calling her 'Bea'? Could you do that?"

Instead of agreeing outright, Gabriel folded his arms, turned his head to the side and stroked at his chin. "I guess I could."

"See?" "What?"

Brody tried to ignore Rhea smiling at him, even though it was impossible.

He was always thinking about her.

And he only turned his head far enough to look at Gabriel and still keep her well within his peripheral vision. "Seriously, Gabe? You could?"

Gabriel shrugged. "It's different now. I mean we're all out of school."

"Yeah, but-"

Rhea touched his arm, and he forgot what he was going to say. "And I bet that when you were in her class, she was taller than you were."

Brody saw Gabriel's reaction to her words. He nodded as if he thought it was a valid point.

Well, it kind of was. "Maybe an inch or two."

That earned him a glare from Gabriel.

Brody grinned and shrugged. "You were shorter than she was. I was too in her class."

"But," Rhea added in, "you almost tower over her now. It's different. And think about it, Brody. You're a man now. She's an older woman. Calling her Missus Hardy probably makes her feel every one of the years that it's been since you've been in her class. If you call her Bea, I think it just makes her feel... a little younger."

Gabriel nodded first. "I can see that."

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