hoped you would support us. We're trying to find a way forward." He grabbed his coffee cup and Amber’s, anger making him spill some on the counter.
"You're not going forward, Brody. You're reaching into the past for something that died. Do you think you can resurrect what you used to have?"
"No! But I can damn sure live in the present and be thankful for what is in front of me. I have a son, and the woman who gave him to me is the woman I have never gotten over. She has always been the one for me." He saw Amber out of the corner of his eye. Her eyes were huge. With no idea how much she'd heard, he headed her way. He grabbed his keys and opened the door for her.
On the stairs heading down she cleared her throat. "He hates me."
"He has no reason to." Brody ground the response through his teeth.
"No, he does. He saw you go through some serious pain. He's not trying to hurt you. He's trying to help you."
"He can keep his help to himself." Brody stomped down the stairs.
Amber turned and stopped him. "Every person in your family, heck in your life, will have an opinion. Everyone. I'm going to have to deal with that. You don't need to draw a sword and chase after windmills for me. They will either accept that I'm back in your life or they won't. You getting into it with them isn't going to change anything. Not a thing."
"What is between us is none of Blay's business." Brody stepped down to the stair above where she was standing.
"He's your brother, and he cares for you. That makes it his business."
He slid his hand around her neck, brought her closer and kissed her. "No, that makes it our business. The rest of the world be damned. This time we're going to make it work."
"We are. When we've been married twenty years and have grandchildren, you can ask those nay-sayers for an apology." She laughed until she saw the look on his face.
He waggled his eyebrows. "Did you just ask me to marry you?"
Her eyes widened, and she shook her head. "I meant..."
"I know what you meant." He grabbed her hand, tugging her into step with him. She meant living the rest of their lives together, and he couldn't agree more.
Chapter 15
Amber followed Brody to work. Conflicted thoughts flowed as she drove. Brody and Blay's argument today wasn't unexpected. Well, that wasn't exactly true. She’d expected that argument from his mother instead of his younger brother, and wasn't that something? She shook her head. She had been expecting it, but still it hurt. His family had lived the last ten years thinking she ran away... and to a degree she had. The skepticism and doubt were something she'd have to work on, but trust would only come with time.
They parked next to each other, and he waited for her to walk to the building. "I'm sorry again about Blay." He glanced at her and shrugged. "He didn't seem to have any problems yesterday."
"Ah, but did he have any clue we were going to try a relationship again?"
"Probably not."
"So my being with you this morning was probably a big shock."
He slowed, and she matched his gait. "Brie got defensive, too. Maybe it was something I said or did. I don't know, but every time I brought your name up, it was as if they were ready to go to war."
"Is Brie still upset? You said she wanted to be at your parents’ house."
"No, once I told her the entire story, she understood."
"Did Blay know the entire story?"
He glanced at her. "Ahh... I don't know. I assumed Mom and Dad told him."
"But you don't know for sure. He could have been blindsided this morning."
"True." They walked up the steps together. "Last night was really good." He stopped with his hand on the door.
"Better than that." She smiled up at him and waggled her eyebrows.
He smiled and a slight blush rose up his cheeks. "You realize once I complete the paperwork, either you or I will be removed from this op."
"Figured, but I'm new, so I can float, and you're a pilot, so you're the logical one to stay on the case."
The door opened and Terrell stuck his head out. "If you two would stop yakking, we have an update in the conference room." He spun and walked back into the building.
She glanced at Brody, and he shrugged. Obviously, it wasn't