Page 42 of When the Storm Breaks
She opened her mouth as if to say something then shut it again and nodded.
“Hey Brody.”
She always seemed to wait until I was walking away before she called my name. I stopped in the kitchen. “Yeah?”
“You’re so much better than you think you are.”
Where the hell had that come from? Maybe she really was a mind reader.So are you, Shiloh. So are you.
Once again, I left her when all I’d really wanted to do was stay. Typical Brody move. But in my experience, if something seemed too good to be true, it usually was.
Chapter Twelve
Shiloh
On Tuesdays,Hayley took a gymnastics class in a small shopping complex a few miles from the elementary school. So I was parked in front of an ice cream parlor, sipping an iced coffee I’d gotten from the drive-thru while I watched her through my rearview mirror. Stalker central. It made me feel dirty. Hayley and her mom disappeared behind the plate glass door and I slumped in my seat. How many times was I going to put myself through this torture?
“Hi Viv!”
I jumped in my seat, my hand flying to my heart. Noah was standing outside my open window, an enormous ice cream cone in his hand. He grinned. “I told Daddy that was you.”
I smiled. Brody’s son was adorable, with thick wavy dirty blond hair to the nape of his neck and a smattering of freckles on his nose.
But even though I was wearing a ball cap and sunglasses, he’d noticed me right away. Which was kind of worrying. Kids were observant. “Hi Noah.” I leaned out my open window. “How are you doing today?”
“Real good. I got two scoops.” He held up his waffle cone to show me. It was so big he had to hold it with two hands.
“That’s enough to make anyone smile.”
Chocolate ice cream dripped down his hand and he let go of the cone with one hand to wipe it on his green T-shirt. I winced. He looked down at the chocolate ice cream smeared across the front of his shirt. “Oops.” He shrugged one shoulder, unconcerned. “Oh well. Mommy can wash it.”
Brody appeared next to him, took Noah’s hand and wiped it with the napkins then tried to clean off his T-shirt. When he realized it was hopeless, he stuffed the napkins into his jeans pocket. “Viv. How’s it going?”
“Yeah.” I cleared my throat, trying to erase the image of Brody naked. “It’s all good.”
“What are you doing here?”
I lifted my iced coffee. “Just hanging out. Drinking my iced coffee.”
He squinted at the shops I was parked in front of then returned his gaze to me. “Not much of a view.”
“I don’t know.” I took a moment to appreciate the sight of Brody in a white T-shirt and faded denim. Now I knew what he was hiding in those jeans and despite the cold water, he was more than ample. “From where I’m sitting, my view’s pretty good.”
He gave me that slow, lazy grin of his. “Mine’s not so bad either. It was better last night though.”
My cheeks heated. Wasn’t I the one who claimed I didn’t blush like a schoolgirl? I dragged my gaze away from Brody and focused on Noah which was far safer. “What are you guys up to today?”
“Daddy picked me up from school. He’s gonna take me horse riding.”
“That sounds like fun.”
Noah took a few more licks of his ice cream. “Yep. It’s a whole lotta fun. Daddy’s the best rider in Texas. Probably the whole world.” I stifled a laugh. “I’m really good too.”
“I bet you are. I bet you’re good at a lot of things. I saw what a good artist you are.”
“Yep. I’m going to be an artist and a cowboy and a football player. And a motorcycle rider like Uncle Jesse. And I’m gonna be rich like Uncle Gideon.”
“Wow. You’re going to be busy.”
