Erin Kern - Along Came Trouble

He pinned her with those scorching gray eyes of his. The same gaze that she had drowned in when he’d been buried deep inside her.

In order to mask her reaction, Elisa glanced away and looked at… the ground. What the hell else was she supposed to look at? Certainly not him.

When she thought he would speak, to say anything to reassure her this was nothing more than a misunderstanding, he disappointed her. Nothing but silence and his penetrating presence looming over her.

The only thing she got in return was his thumb grazing back and forth over the inside of her wrist. Like some pendulum clock counting down the seconds until he let her go and she walked away from him. Because, unless he said something really Earth-moving, she’d walk.

Without a word of any kind of hope or confirmation, he turned around and walked into the restaurant. His silence decimated what was left of her heart.

For once in his life, Brody didn’t have a damn thing to do. Except brood and kick himself for how things had gone with Elisa when he’d run into her the day before. He’d showed up at the restaurant, ready to drown himself in work, when Charlene all but booted his ass out the door. He supposed the thunderous look on his face and unkempt appearance wasn’t really conducive for a professional atmosphere. Whatever. He could use the time off. Charlene knew that and assured him everything was taken care of. Just before escorting him out, she flashed him her pearly whites and slipped a piece of paper in his hand. Brody didn’t open it until he got in the car. He wasn’t in the mood to read anything, or use his brain in any sort of capacity.

The paper was a photocopy of the review Michelle had written for The Trouble Citizen. In the front seat of his car, Brody glanced over the article, just picking up highlights here and there. It was a good review. In fact, it was freakin’ glowing. He really should take the time to read the entire thing. There was a small chance it might lift his spirits. But he couldn’t bring himself to care. In fact, there wasn’t a whole lot he cared about right now—except maybe drowning himself in a big-ass bottle of Jack.

He set the article aside, turned his truck on, and just sat there, staring out at the parking lot and dwelling on how he’d royally screwed things up.

He’d asked Kelly if he could pick Tyler up from school so he could spend some time with his son. She’d eagerly agreed, saying the fatigue from her pregnancy was overwhelming. Plus he needed to speak with Tyler about Brinkley. And even though he and Elisa were essentially over, a thought that still sent ice-cold water through his veins, he wanted her there with him. Funny how that worked. And funny how he was the asshole who’d put himself in that position.

Tyler didn’t get out of school for another three hours. Brody didn’t know what the hell to do with himself. He couldn’t very well get piss drunk, then pick his son up from school. So Jack and his cure-all would have to wait until later. After several minutes of sitting there, Brody left the restaurant and headed to Chase’s house to see Lacy. His sister-in-law was getting dangerously close to her due date, and Brody hadn’t gone to see her in a while.

The garage door to his brother’s house was open, showing both Chase’s and Lacy’s cars inside. Chase must have been too tired, after their night in the hospital, to make an appearance at work. Brody could sympathize.

He parked his truck in the driveway and got out, then made his way up the front walk. Once at the door, he rapped the back of his knuckles against the solid wood. A moment later a very disheveled and grumpy-looking Chase swung the door open.

Brody gave his older brother a good once-over—he was wearing nothing but boxers.

“Did I interrupt something?” Brody asked.

Chase snorted and stepped aside to let Brody enter. “With the condition my wife is in? These days I’m lucky if I get an ‘I love you.’ ”

Brody followed his brother into the house. The living room was a disorganized mess of toys, a pair of shorts, and a mismatched shirt. Two sippy cups lay side by side on the carpet as though they’d been tossed there in Mason’s haste for his next conquest. Some toddler cartoon with bouncing computer graphics children was muted on the television. All in all, it wasn’t a pretty sight. When Avery was in charge, the house was much neater and actually smelled good. Chase obviously wasn’t as on top of his game, as far as housekeeping went. But one thing Brody did notice was how quiet the house was.

“Where’s the little terror?” Brody asked as he just managed to dodge a plastic dinosaur on the floor.

Chase ran a hand through the untidy strands of his hair. “Finally in bed. The kid had me running from one end of the house to the other since six this morning. I don’t know how Avery comes here five days a week,” he said as he picked up the remote and turned the cartoon off. “I was just trying to catch some sleep myself, but Lacy kept kicking the covers off and complaining about how hot it was.”

A smile touched his lips and the mention of his brother’s wife. “How is Lacy?”

A curse flew out of Chase’s mouth when he tripped over a toy. The thing lit up and launched into some ridiculous ABC song. “All things considered, pretty good. She’s worried as hell about Court.”

Weren’t they all? A report from Martin said things hadn’t changed much since that morning. Courtney was still comatose and showed no signs of getting any better. Carol refused to leave her daughter’s bedside, not that Brody blamed her. The only reason Martin had left the hospital was to take a shower and pick up food for the two of them. In all the rush of things, his stepmother was forgetting to take care of herself, as she had most of her adult life. And the kicker had been not being allowed to see Court. Because of her condition, the doctors had said no more than two people in her room at a time. Brody and the rest of his family had decided to back out and leave that honor to Courtney’s mother and Martin.

“You look like shit,” Chase stated rather eloquently, as though he was getting his first good look since Brody had walked through the door.

Brody scrubbed a hand down his face. “Ah, hell, I feel like it.” Even if things were to work out between him and Elisa, he didn’t deserve her. She deserved someone who wasn’t a head case. How he would love for her to come back. The idea of her leaving for good made his stomach turn. But he couldn’t bring himself to ask that of her if he couldn’t give her what she wanted in return.

“Would this, by any chance, have to do with a woman?” Chase guessed, because Brody figured he was that easy to read. “You forget I went through the same thing with Lacy,” he went on when Brody didn’t respond. “I know that look, my friend. There ain’t no coming back from that.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Brody muttered. Maybe he shouldn’t have come here. The last thing he wanted to do was talk about how he’d shattered yet another woman’s heart. But, on the other hand, he was so damn confused maybe talking about it would help. Maybe that was his problem. He’d spent so many years trying to keep everything hidden.

Yeah, look how that’s worked out for you. You don’t know up from down.

“Come on, tell big brother about it,” Chase urged. “Do you remember the whole punching-me-in-the-face-because-I-pissed-off-Lacy incident?”

Hell yeah, he remembered that. It had been the one and only time he’d gotten physical with one of his brothers. And Chase had deserved it because he’d been a stubborn ass. Ah, shit.

“Trust me, sometimes an intervention like that helps,” Chase went on.

Brody quirked a brow. “What, are you going to punch me now?”

Chase gathered a handful of crackers off Mason’s high chair and carried them to the kitchen. “If you deserve it.” He came back in the room, dusting the crumbs off his hands. “Do I need to start throwing some uppercuts?”

Brody heaved a sigh. “At this point, I think that might be what I need.”

THE SMILE ON TYLER’S FACE was enough to chase all of Brody’s dark clouds away. The moment he laid eyes on his son’s gangly frame, the weight had been lifted off his shoulders by exponential degrees. Brody smiled for the first time all day and remembered how Tyler used to run to the car when he was little, as though he couldn’t get away from school fast enough. Tyler looked happy to see him, and the knowledge lifted his spirits. Too bad he was going to have to break the kid’s heart.

Brinkley was supposed to be put down the day after tomorrow. He knew Tyler would want to see the dog again, but Brody wasn’t sure that was such a good idea. His son had a knack for being too sensitive about things. And he’d already formed an attachment to the dog, as though he’d already claimed Brinkley as his own.

Tyler threw the car door open, tossed his backpack in the backseat, and climbed in. “Hey, Dad,” he said after closing the car door. “Where’s Mom?”

Brody fought his way through the school traffic and eventually made it out of the parking lot. “She was feeling a bit tired, so I told her I’d come pick you up.” Plus he had something planned for the two of them, something they hadn’t done in a long time. Something that was long overdue and would hopefully cushion the news of Brinkley.

“I got a B plus on my history report,” Tyler announced with a touch of pride in his voice.

Brody glanced at him. “That’s because you’re a smarty pants.” He held his fist out, which Tyler thumped with his own. “What else is going on at school? Learn anything interesting?”