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Forty-five minutes later, he dropped Lainey and Phoebe off at the mall. They’d decided to start there, then go into downtown Bozeman if they needed more shopping options. Smiling, they waved at him, then turned and hurried into the mall. Brody watched until he couldn’t see them, then pulled away from the curb and headed to Rose’s house.
He’d called his friend to let her know he was coming, and when he rang her doorbell, she answered almost immediately. Her dark hair had some streaks of gray, but she didn’t look old enough to be retired. He knew she played tennis several days a week and still jogged almost daily. When she pulled him into the house and into her arms, he hugged her back tightly.
“Rose,” he said, leaning away to study her. “How are you doing?”
“I’m great,” she said, leading him into the living room. “Loving being retired.” She glanced at him over her shoulder and grinned. “I even have a gentleman caller. A guy I met at the tennis club.”
“Good for you, Rose,” he managed to say. He didn’t want to imagine the woman who’d been a mother figure to him doing the things he and Lainey had done yesterday.
But she saw it on his face and laughed. “Don’t be so prissy, Brody Jones. And don’t worry. I’m not discussing my love life with you. Just wanted you to know.”
“Is it serious?” he asked.
“We’re having fun together,” Rose replied. “That’s all it is for now.”
“That’s great, Rose,” he managed to say. “I’m happy for you.”
Rose sank onto the couch, then patted the cushion. “Sit down and tell me what you’ve been up to.”
Brody told her about rescuing Lainey from the fire at the compound, and taking her to stay at the ranch because of her prowler. Then he told her how they’d found Phoebe at the deserted compound, and that she was staying with them, as well.
“Sounds like it’s getting crowded out there,” Rose said with a smile. She leaned closer. “It sounds like you care about both Lainey and Phoebe, Brody.”
He took a deep breath. Nodded. “I do, Rose. I want them both in my life. And I need to ask you about that. I want Phoebe to feel settled. Secure. I know Lainey wants to become her guardian, but I don’t want to involve DCFS.” He reached out and took the older woman’s hand. “You saved my life, Rose, by tracking down my father and getting me out of that group home. But after the way I was treated in that home, I don’t want Phoebe anywhere near that agency.”
Rose shifted to study him. “I didn’t save you, Brody,” she said after a long minute. “Your mother did. I tracked her down, not your father. I convinced her to give me your father’s name. When I found Glenn, he was leery of your mother’s claim that he was your father. She’d stolen money from him when she left, and he didn’t trust her. But he was a good man, and when I suggested a DNA test, he agreed. And when it identified him as your father, he wanted you. He was an honorable man, and he wanted his son.
“You were in a horrible situation in that group home, but there have been a lot of changes since your time with DCFS. You don’t have to worry about Phoebe.”
“I still don’t want her there,” he said, his jaw working as he remembered everything that had happened to him. “Lainey doesn’t want that, either. But I’m afraid that if we approach DCFS to get guardianship of Phoebe, they’ll take her away from us. I couldn’t bear that, and it would destroy Lainey. Phoebe’s a great kid. I don’t want her father to get her back, but I don’t want her in the system, either.” He took a breath and stared out the living room window. “I’m trying to pay it forward, Rose. Trying to pay back what you did for me.”
“Is that the only reason, Brody? To pay it forward?”
He stared down at his hands. “No, it’s not,” he said in a low voice. “I’m already attached to Phoebe, and I know Lainey is, as well. But I’m not sure I can be a part of a real family. I’m not sure I know how.”
“Brody Jones!” Rose frowned at him, exasperation and incomprehension in her expression. “Why on earth would you think that? You had a real family with your father. You missed going through your childhood together, but you and Glenn had a wonderful relationship. Unfortunately, it was cut way too short by that auto accident, but make no mistake. What the two of you had was as real as it gets.” She gave him a tender smile. “In all my years as a case worker at DCFS, I never saw a better or a closer relationship than what you and Glenn shared.”
Brody stared at his hands, laced together in his lap. Rose was right. He and his father had been close. It had practically destroyed him when Glenn was killed in the accident.
“So tell me again why you can’t have a relationship with Lainey? Why can’t the two of you become Phoebe’s guardians?”
Brody lifted his head. Saw the truth in Rose’s eyes. The certainty that what she’d said was true. “Maybe we can,” he said slowly. “You’ve given me a lot to think about.”
“Better finish thinking and start acting,” Rose said. “Before Phoebe’s father figures out where she is and decides he wants her back.”
