Page 82 of Falling for Brody

"Rhea?"

She swallowed hard but had a feeling that her voice would be rough no matter how she tried.

"It's the Russells." She lifted her gaze to meet his. "They're suing me for guardianship."

She felt the color drain out of her face and her knees went weak, but she didn't fall.

Brody held her up.

He held her together.

And she was glad that he was there.

She wrapped her arms around him, the edges of the paper scratching against her palm, but she didn't let him go.

Not for quite a while.

CHAPTER14

There was an edge now.Rhea felt it in her bones.

Every day when she wasn't on shift, she woke up and went to Chip's room to watch him sleep.

She took random photos with her phone.

Trying to memorize each moment.

Just in case.

And when she was on the job?

Everyone had encouraged her. And by everyone, she meant it.

People she didn't even know spoke to her and told her everything was going to work out.

Just a few minutes ago as they were finishing with a quick check up on Abby Hickson who'd tripped over the edge of the carpet in the kids’ reading nook of the Fallport Library, Raiden Walker had taken a moment to hold the door for them and asked if there was anything he could do.

It had been difficult, to say the least.

Raiden was a big guy, quiet, too.

So to have him reach out and talk to her, offering his support? Yeah. It almost reduced her to tears and that wasn't a good thing. She had to be on the ball.

As they walked outside to the rig, she asked Brody straight to his face. "Am I slipping?"

He looked shocked. Taken aback. "Slipping?"

"My skills. Our calls. Have I given you any indication that I'm not one hundred percent there?"

He opened the passenger door and put her kit inside before he turned back to her. "What makes you ask that?"

She held up her hands between them and she could see that they were shaking. "I feel like I'm shaking apart, Brody. I know you say it's going to be okay. Everyone does, but none of you have met his family. As poor as they are moneywise, Charles said they could be even more cruel and desperate when left to their own devices, which is why he said he kept giving them money."

He pulled her into his embrace and held her even as she struggled to get loose. "Brody, people might see!"

"Rhea, honey... I think you're underestimating how nosy these townspeople are. I'm sure everyone knows how I feel about you. One of my old classmates from high school who I see once or twice a year saw us on a call in Grogan's and texted me that night to ask when the wedding was. People will sniff it out. Let me hold you."

"I don't like this."

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