“Great.”
“Just sign here,” Rafe passed across a receipt of evidence form, and Brody signed and initialed all the appropriate places and handed it back. “I think that takes care of everything. You need anything else?”
Brody shook his head and picked up the box. “Nope, I’m good. I’ll give you a call later.”
“Tell Antonio Momma’s expecting him home this weekend. She’s planning a big celebration.”
Brody chuckled and walked toward the office’s open doorway. “I’ll tell him, although he mentioned he’d be back for the weekend. Don’t think he can stand being away from Serena much longer. It’s almost sickening watching those two lovebirds all cozied up. Almost as bad as watching you and Tessa.”
He ducked the wadded-up paper Rafe tossed at him. “You’re jealous because you haven’t got somebody special.”
Brody froze at his words for the slightest second, because they scored a direct hit. As much as he wanted Beth, he didn’t have her—and probably never would.
“Nope, I’m still footloose and free, while you’re about to be leg-shackled for the rest of your life. You ready to take that big step, bro?”
“Honestly? I can’t wait to make Tessa my wife. Never believed I could feel so much for one woman. I wouldn’t change a thing, because she’s everything. Everything.”
“You know I’m kidding, right? Tessa is the best thing that’s happened to you. I haven’t seen you this happy ever. If I believed in soulmates, I’d say you’ve found yours. Nobody deserves happiness more than you, bro. Grab it with both hands and hold on tight.”
Rafe strode forward and clasped Brody’s shoulder, squeezing gently. “You’ll find the same someday soon. The right woman’s out there, and when you meet her, you’ll know.”
Brody’s thoughts show immediately to Beth. Then he remembered what his father had said to him in the barn. That he should take a chance with her, see where it might lead. Maybe now would be a good time to ask Rafe how he’d feel about him dating Beth.
Before he could say a word, Rafe’s cell phone rang. Glancing at the number, Rafe grimaced. “Looks like kids have been out at Grady’s place again. I’m going to have to call him and get this sorted out.”
“I’ve gotta hit the road anyway. Talk to you when I get back.”
Without another word, Brody walked to the front of the sheriff’s station and waved at Sally Anne on his way out. His father’s words replayed in his head. He almost—almost—turned around and walked back inside to tell Rafe about his feelings for Beth, but duty called.
When he got back, though, he promised himself two things. Number one, he’d tell Rafe how he felt about Beth.
And number two, he’d ask Beth out on a date.
Beth rose early, and lay in bed, thinking about all the twists and turns her life had taken in the last couple of years. The death of her parents had hit her hard. Harder than she’d let on, because she’d needed to be strong for Tessa. Her sister had been devastated when their parents both succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning in the home where they’d grown up. It was quick and sudden and unexpected. She’d done her best to be the pillar both Tessa and Jamie needed, never allowing herself to process her own grief until months later. And she’d never told anybody about her suspicions her ex-husband might have had something to do with her parents’ deaths, not until Tessa told her Evan all but came out and said he’d done something, when he was terrorizing her sister.
All for money. It seemed like everything in her life centered around money. The Crowley County bond. Her parents’ life insurance. Even earlier, Evan’s insistence they couldn’t start a family until they were more financially stable. And look where that got her, up to her neck in debt with no clear way out. Not unless the courts performed some kind of miracle, because Evan certainly was going to be able to deal with the bills he’d accrued, falsifying her identity and racking up mountains of finance charges and second mortgage and credit cards she hadn’t know about.
Now here she was in Texas. A new state and a new start. She might be dirt poor at the moment, but she felt happier and freer than she had in more years than she liked to remember. Through everything that happened, her one ray of sunshine lay sleeping in her brand-new bedroom down the hall. Without Jamie, Beth wasn’t sure where she’d be now. Probably a total wreck, sobbing in the corner, pulling her hair out.
A slight noise of the door opening alerted her seconds before a giggling, tumbling mass of little girl flung herself onto the bed. Jamie’s squirming body climbed up next to her, and wrapped her arms around Beth’s neck. Beth squeezes her back tight before brushing a hand through her daughter’s messy blonde hair.
“Good morning, sunshine.”
Jamie giggled, that infectious sound brightening Beth’s morning. “Morning, Mommy.”
“Did you sleep okay in your new bed, sweetie?”
Jamie gave a vigorous nod, her blue eyes blinking rapidly. “I sleeped all night.”
“That’s good. You ready for some breakfast?”
Jamie sat straight up in the bed, turning to face her. “Faffles?”
Beth dropped her head forward and cupped it with her hands. “Seriously? You’ve had waffles every morning. I could make you some eggs. Maybe some toast with jelly?”
The mournful look on her daughter’s face was priceless. Beth bit her lower lip to keep from laughing aloud. She’d probably never understand her daughter’s fascination with frozen waffles, but
