Chapter 14
Watching Remington beam at his mom with unadulterated love sliced through me. Watching Brooklyn give her son her full attention like what he had to say was the most important thing she’d heard all day had me contemplating my future.
Seeing that smile, suddenly our situation became clear. The knot that had taken up residence in my gut unraveled. More than anything I wanted Remington to look at me like he was looking at his mom.
Pure.
Uncomplicated.
Proud.
I wanted Brooklyn’s attention and time, and I wanted that to include Remington.
The three of us—a family. I wanted them in my cabin, on my boat, in my life and I wanted that starting now.
No more delaying. Kiki Welsh had come forward, she wasn’t missing—never had been.
Once Michael and Tallulah were told and Jack and Asher secured Desi we’d be one step closer to closing the operation.
But I wasn’t waiting—Brooklyn and Remy were mine.
It wasn’t that Brooklyn had remembered I loved homemade mac and cheese, yet it was.
It wasn’t the way her gaze had lingered on my tattoo, yet it was.
It wasn’t the way she’d laid it out open and honest, yet it was.
It wasn’t the trust she’d shown allowing me to take Remy to the store, yet it was.
It was all of that and more. It was the past and what we’d shared.
The connection I could never shake. The way her face softened when she saw her flowers inked onto my skin.
It meant something to her and she hadn’t hidden it.
It was the way those eyes had haunted my dreams and now I had them back and I was never going to spend another day not looking into them.
It was also Remington. But I was smart enough to separate the two.
I didn’t need Brooklyn in my bed to have a relationship with my son—I’d have that no matter what.
But the family I wanted included brothers and sisters for Remy.
And for that, I did need Brooklyn in my life—that included my ring on her finger and her in my bed.
I ended my thoughts with a grin.
Fuck, yes, Brooklyn and her gorgeous eyes, pretty smile, her fierce protection of my son, her loyalty to a family who’d taken her in after her parents had died, her determination, and her honesty would be in my bed.
I’d give her until this weekend, then we were heading up to the cabin. And when we got back we’d be on an extended sleepover.
All of those thoughts flashed through my mind at warp speed.
Decision made, I turned to Remy.
“You ready to fix the sink, bud?”
“Yes!”
Remy rushed to the hall but skidded to a halt when Brooklyn called his name.
“Did you thank Rhode for buying you the football?”
A twinge of pain squeezed my heart at hearing Brooklyn call me by my name.
Soon, I reminded myself. Soon Remy would call me Dad.
“I did.”
And he had. I’d given him the choice of buying a football or baseball and bat. Remy picked the football, then thanked me three times between the store and my Jeep.
“Good,” Brooklyn said softly. “Now go fix the sink so you can brush your teeth tonight before bed.”
Remy puffed out his chest and took off down the hall, forgetting I had the water lines.
The whole shopping trip had opened my eyes.
Remington was well-mannered and polite. He also asked a lot of questions.
From the moment we’d entered Frank’s Hardware store all the way to the checkout Remy had jabbered on, pointing to anything and everything we’d passed.
He wanted to know what it was, how it worked, what it was used for, and so on.
What should’ve taken five minutes tops took us almost forty by the time I happily answered all of his questions.
The sporting goods store was a quick in and out but only because Remy didn’t stop and ask questions—he’d asked while walking.
The rest of the time he’d asked about my boat and told me about the fish he’d caught with his pop.
I’d had to remind myself I was happy Remington had good people in his life and Michael Welsh teaching him how to fish was just one example of that.
But I was jealous as fuck I hadn’t taught my son how to string a pole.
I wasn’t there to show him how to bait a hook and I didn’t see him reel in his first catch.
So while Remy excitedly told me all about his adventures I silently vowed I wouldn’t miss anything else. I’d all but given Wilson my official notice that I wouldn’t be going back to Arizona where the Takeback headquarters was. I’d be selling my condo there and moving to Idaho full-time.
I would finish this case and from there I’d figure out what I’d do for work. Not that I needed the money. I had properties I could rent or sell and I had a healthy savings account but I wasn’t the type of man to sit around, so I’d find something.
“Thank you for letting me take him,” I said.
Brooklyn’s head tilted slightly to the right and her blue eyes danced when she smiled.
“I didn’t let you do anything, Rhode. He’s yours, too.”
Christ, that felt good.
“You know what I mean,” I returned. “You’ve done a great job with him.”
“Thanks.”
There were a thousand things I wanted to say to her but Remy calling my name meant they’d have to wait. I had a four-year-old waiting to learn how to replace a water line.
Remy wasn’t lying when he said mac and cheese was his favorite. The kid shoveled it in like he was scared someone was going to snatch his bowl away.
“Done,” Remy announced. “May I please be excused so I can wash up?”
“No seconds?” Brooklyn chuckled.
Remy shook his head. “I want to be ready to play football with Rhode.”
Pleasure and pain.
“Did you taste your food as you inhaled it?”
Remy looked at his mom in confusion. “What?”
“Nothing. You may be excused. Plate and silverware in the dishwasher and tonight you have the pot, it’s already in the sink for you.”
Without another word, Remy jumped off of his chair, snagged his dishes, and all but ran into the kitchen.
“Part of his chores,” Brooklyn explained.
“Every night he has to help clean up after dinner. I pick one pot or pan or something for him to wash. Saturdays he has to take out the bathroom trash and sort his laundry. Sundays he has to put his clean clothes in his dresser. We have a deal he gets three dollars a week if he completes all of his tasks. Two dollars if he misses one. And nothing if I have to remind him. If he saves fifteen dollars I’ll match it and he can buy a toy. ”
Reality hit hard and fast. I’d been so caught up in all the fun stuff I’d missed in Remy’s life that I’d forgotten about the actual parenting.
Something I didn’t know diddly-shit about.
Growing up I didn’t get an allowance. I had chores but it was about pulling my weight in the family, not money.
And I had good parents; they’d been firm but didn’t berate me when I messed up.
When I joined the Navy my dad was proud and my mom was worried.
I couldn’t say I was close to them but the distance had more to do with geography than a falling out.
They were busy enjoying their retirement and I was working so one day I could enjoy mine.
Thinking on it, I needed to reach out and tell them about Remington. Unfortunately, I’d have to do it through email, or I’d have to wait until they were home from their vacation. It was doubtful I’d reach them by phone while they were in Peru.
Misunderstanding my silence Brooklyn asked, “Do you think that’s too harsh?”
“Too harsh?”
“That I don’t pay him if I have to remind him.
I struggled with it, but he has a whiteboard in his room with his chores written on it so he can see what he has to do.
I want this to be a lesson in responsibility as much as it’s teaching him how to manage money.
I mean, I know he’s too young to really understand.
But my parents never taught me the importance of saving and I struggled in my early twenties with debt.
I don’t want Remy to blow all his money like I did. ”
There was a lot there I wanted to ask about.
Her parents being one and money being another.
Brooklyn has said she didn’t want money from me, which was unacceptable, and I needed to suss out how big of an argument we’d have when I gave her a check.
I also needed to figure out how much she’d let me get away with giving her.
I’d address those topics later.
“I think you’re a good mom and teaching him all the right things.
He might be four but it’s never too early to teach a child the importance of hard work and responsibility.
One day he’ll be a teenager and want to hang with his buds.
Take a girl out on a date. He’ll need money to do that.
And he’ll want a car, something he needs to be prepared to earn. ”
“What did you do in the Navy?”
Her left-field question took me by surprise.
“How’d you know I was in the Navy?”
“Remy told me. I guess Davis told him while you and I were talking in the office. Remy’s been obsessed with the military since I took him to the Memorial Day parade in Hayden last year.”
My eyes drifted closed to block out the horrendous pain as it worked its way through my body.
“What’s wrong?”
I opened my eyes, found Brooklyn leaning close, and fought back the urge to pluck her out of her chair and fist all of her long shiny brown hair while I kissed the ever-loving fuck out of her.
I wanted her mouth on mine and her ass on my lap.
With Remy in the kitchen, that option wasn’t available to me.
One day him seeing me kiss his mother, sans her on my lap and my hands in her hair, would be okay. But now, no way.
That fucking killed, too.
Both of them mine, but unable to publicly claim either was going to have to end, and fast.
“Rhode?”
“I was there.” I stopped to clear my throat to dislodge the emotional boulder that had lodged itself there. “Last year at the parade.”
Brooklyn’s eyes widened before they crinkled at the corners and the same pain sliced through her.
“So close,” she whispered.
“Yep.”
“I wonder if it will get easier,” she continued in a soft voice.
Easier? Maybe. But losing out on five years when I was so damn close? I wouldn’t forget that.
“Good dinner, Sugar. Mac and cheese was excellent. But the hot dogs, outstanding.”
“You’re trying to change the topic and don’t deny it. No one says hot dogs are outstanding.”
“I am trying to move us past the hurts we can’t change.
I doubt the parade was the only place where we’ve been close to each other and didn’t know.
And if I dwell on it, I’ll drive myself crazy.
Right now I just want to spend time with you and Remy.
Get to know both of you and take us where we always should’ve been. ”
Everything about Brooklyn gentled. From her lips parting, her jaw going slack, her eyes boring into mine—almost the same way she looked at Remy but better. She liked what I said and she wasn’t hiding it.
“But I was being serious about the hot dogs. Most people think I’m a little strange because I like mine extra well-done.”
“The crispy burnt bits are the best.”
I dropped my forehead against hers and chuckled. “I think I’m in love.”
“If all it takes is a burnt wiener to make you fall in love I think I’m offended.”
I tried to hold it back but it got to be too much so I didn’t bother. My hand went to the back of her neck, my fingertips dug in, and I busted out laughing.