Daddy Wanted

A sound carried on the wind. It could’ve been an animal, but Brodie didn’t think so. He squinted against the rain, now coming sideways and slapping his face like needles.

“Dylan, is that you?” he yelled.

“Yeah!”

Brodie picked up his pace, sprinting toward the sound. He took another off-balanced slide when he hit a slick rock in the path. “Where are you?”

“Under the ledge!”

Pushing low limbs out of the way as he moved, Brodie quickly found the flat rock that crested Lookout Mountain’s timberline. Several sections jutted out to form protrusions, and he now suspected Dylan had used one of those to take cover from the brunt of the storm. Smart kid. “Which one?” he called.

“Right here!” Dylan answered, sticking his head out of one of the shallow caves and looking up toward Brodie. Shielding his eyes from the rain, he asked warily, “Who are you?”

Brodie worked his way down the ledge to enter the small area with the boy. Dylan was taller and thinner than Brodie would’ve thought a thirteen-year-old would be, but Brodie didn’t have a whole lot of experience with kids. Maybe this was the normal size of a boy that age. He’d only recently started mentoring teenagers in the Stockville area, and all of them had been sixteen-to eighteen-year-olds. Most of them were much bigger than this boy. Dylan looked kind of lanky, like a man who hadn’t filled out yet. Which, Brodie realized, was exactly what he was.

“Hey, Dylan,” he said, glad that the flat rock cut the wind so he could talk without yelling. “I’m Brodie Evans. I’m a friend of your mom’s and Savvy’s.”

The kid tilted his head, wet shaggy hair covering one eye before he slung it out of the way. “No, you’re not.” Before Brodie could explain, Dylan took a small step back. But even in the hint of retreat, he puffed his chest out, ready to fight if necessary.

The kid had guts, Brodie had to give him that. Then again, Willow had never been afraid of anything, either. But that was because she’d seen the worst of everything right inside her own home.

“I don’t know you.” That long hair completely covered Dylan’s right eye, but the left one narrowed, plainly sizing up the enemy.

The woods were getting darker by the minute. Brodie needed to get him on the trail quick, while they could still find their way back. He held up his palms and said, “I know you don’t. But your mom, Savvy and I were friends in high school.”

The boy looked skeptical and backed up a little more, putting himself against the curve of the rock but squaring his shoulders with the move. If he thought he could outrun Brodie, he’d be sorely mistaken. However, he didn’t want to get in a footrace with the kid, especially not on the side of a mountain covered with wet leaves and rocky terrain. No doubt, someone would get hurt. He needed to gain the boy’s trust. Then Dylan shivered, and Brodie saw that his denim shirt and jeans were drenched, as were his boots.

He removed his jacket and held it toward the boy. “Here, it’s waterproof and will help you stay warm until you can get home and put on dry clothes.”

Dylan looked as though he would refuse the offering, but then his jaw tensed and he appeared to decide that the jacket would be a welcome addition on the long hike. He took it. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” Brodie said, already feeling the difference in the chill from removing the jacket and glad that the kid accepted it. The teenager would be lucky if he didn’t get pneumonia from this escapade. Which made Brodie wonder why Dylan had been this far away from home. “Where were you hiking to anyway?” he asked.

Dylan slung the long hair away from his face. “Jasper Falls. I think I’m close, but the rain got too hard, and I couldn’t tell where I was anymore.” He spoke with confidence, even when admitting he’d gotten lost.

Jasper Falls, where Willow died. And from what Savvy had said, Dylan had been with her and had gone for help. “Why were you going there?”

“Because that’s where she was alive.” Dylan’s words were mumbled this time, and he sounded every bit the little boy missing his mother and nowhere near man status. He looked away from Brodie as he spoke, his throat pulsing thickly from emotion. But Brodie heard.

Drawn to the teenager, he wanted to comfort him somehow, but Dylan was still pressed against the rock, his blue eyes darting from one patch of woods to another as though contemplating his getaway path.

God, let him trust me. And let me help him deal with the pain. Give me the right words.

Brodie cleared his throat. “I told Savvy that I’d try to find you. She’s worried about you. I’m sure she’s expecting me to bring you home. Do you think you can trust me to do that?”

“Why should I?” Dylan glared at him, and Brodie suspected he wasn’t the first adult on the receiving end of that defiance. The kid looked as though he’d be right at home getting into trouble at school. Actually, he reminded Brodie of himself in that way. He had always itched for a confrontation with his teachers, his parents, pretty much anyone.

Dylan looked back to Brodie, and the wall that had surrounded him a moment ago slipped a bit. “Aunt Savvy is worried?”

Aunt Savvy. Brodie was touched that she had such a position in Willow’s children’s lives that they considered her an aunt. If he hadn’t messed things up with Willow, he might have been Uncle Brodie. “Yeah.”

Then Dylan’s eyes widened, his attention captured by the embroidered emblem on Brodie’s chest. “You’re a coach? At the college?”

Finally, something that would break the ice with this kid. Same thing that had captured Kaden’s interest earlier. “Yeah. The baseball coach. It’s my first season there, but we’re having a pretty good year. You play?”

Dylan shook his head. “I wanted to go out for the school team this year, but—” he shrugged “—I didn’t.”

Brodie waited to see if he’d say more, and his patience paid off.

“They cut a lot of kids,” Dylan said.

Brodie understood the fear of not making the team. At thirteen, Dylan would try out for junior high, the first stage of athletics where the “everyone gets a trophy” approach flew out the window. He remembered it well. “Practice and determination, that’s what’ll get you on the team.”

“Who would I practice with?” he asked, then flinched as though he wanted to take the words back. Probably hadn’t planned on sharing that insight with a stranger.

“How about me?” Brodie wanted to help the boy deal with his loss, and if there was anything he knew, well, it was baseball. Plus, Willow’s letter had insinuated that Brodie could help her son with tutoring. Maybe baseball would open that door, too. Something the boy wanted to do combined with something he needed to do.

“Why would you do that?” Dylan asked, clearly not used to adults offering to help him out.

Because I owe your mom. Because you remind me of myself. Because I need to right old wrongs to prove I deserve a spot in my daughter’s life. “Because I love baseball,” he replied.

“That’d be—” Dylan’s jaw clenched as he apparently fought off a smile “—cool.” Then his stomach growled loud enough to be heard over the wind. “I’m getting hungry.” He held his hand out from the ledge. “The rain’s slacking. Probably should go back.”

So a promise of baseball practice and a hungry stomach caused him to think straight. Worked for Brodie. “Let’s go.”

Twenty minutes later, they exited the woods near the trailer with Brodie impressed at the boy’s sense of direction. He’d led the way back and hadn’t panicked when the rain picked up a couple of times or when he’d slipped on wet patches of leaves and pine straw. In fact, Dylan seemed very agile and easily adapted to his surroundings. Brodie suspected he’d probably be a decent baseball player.

He held the flashlight and shot the beam ahead of them as they moved toward the trailer, where every floodlight gleamed and apparently every light inside also illuminated in anticipation of their arrival. They were still ten feet away when the door to the trailer opened and Savvy came out. Her relieved gasp reverberated as she darted into the rain. She threw her arms around Dylan in a tight bear hug that caused the boy to wince.

“Hey, Aunt Savvy, that’s good,” he said. “I’m okay.”

“Thank God,” she whispered, heavy tears falling freely.

The twins timidly stepped through the open doorway, but remained under the pitiful metal awning to stay out of the rain. They were identical, with fine blond hair surrounding cherubic faces, matching pink nightgowns and bare feet. “Dylan? You okay?” one asked.

He pushed away from Savvy and turned toward the girls. “I’m okay, Rose.” Then he looked back at Savvy. “Sorry I was gone so long. Got caught in the rain.”

She blinked, opened her mouth as though she wasn’t certain how to answer, then responded, “That’s okay, I guess.”

He turned to Brodie and said, “You meant it about the baseball?”

“I did.”

Dylan nodded, and this time released that hint of a grin. “Okay, then.” He jogged up the steps to the door and took the girls inside.

Savvy waited for the door to snap closed and then turned to Brodie. “What about baseball?” Her brow knitted, and she didn’t make any effort to move toward the trailer, in spite of the fact that the rain still fell, and her T-shirt and jeans grew wetter by the minute.

“Don’t you want to go inside and talk?” he asked.

“No.” She shook her head, the ends of her hair converting from pale blond to caramel in the rain and then curling beneath her chin.

For some bizarre reason, Brodie wanted to touch the dampened hair, push it away from her face and see those dark eyes, try to find the pupils hidden within the irises.

“What did Dylan mean about baseball?” she asked, snapping him out of his reverie.

The rain picked up steam again, and he motioned toward the wooden deck that bordered the right half of the trailer. “I’ll tell you, but let’s at least get under the awning, if you won’t let me come inside. You’re getting drenched.”

She glanced down, apparently realizing that her clothes were, in fact, soaked. “Okay, fine,” she said. “But then you have to go.” She started up the steps, then held up a palm. “Wait here.” Then she went inside and left Brodie under the flat awning, which he now realized had a large hole in one side, where the rainwater streamed through.

She returned a moment later wearing a large camouflage jacket, probably Dylan’s, over her shirt. When she opened the door, he heard the kids talking, and he tilted his head toward the sound. She pushed the door closed.

“Okay, tell me. What about baseball?”

“He wants to get better at baseball, and I offered to help.”

A clap of thunder caused her to jump, and a yelp escaped that didn’t go unnoticed by the kids, because the door opened and Dylan stuck his head out.

“Aunt Savvy, you okay?”

“Yes, Dylan, I’m fine,” she said, but her voice quivered. “I made pancakes. There are some in the microwave for you.”

Dylan’s brow furrowed at Brodie, but then he looked to Savvy, who managed a smile in spite of the fact that Brodie knew she was terrified of this storm. In any case, the kid seemed appeased. “Okay. I’m going to eat. But let me know if you need me.” He started inside, but then stopped and slid off Brodie’s baseball jacket. “Thanks for letting me wear this.”

“You’re welcome.” He took the coat and once again, found himself impressed. Barely a teenager, the boy was still ready to protect the women of his house.

When the door closed and the volume on the television promptly increased, Savvy gave him a pointed look. “I said you could see if he wanted you to tutor him, not teach him baseball. And I only mentioned that because that’s what you said Willow wanted in that letter. If it isn’t what Dylan wants, though, the deal is off.”

“Willow wanted me to help him.”

“So you say.”

Brodie should’ve known she wouldn’t take his word. He withdrew the letter and handed it over.

Savvy looked at the envelope, her lower lip rolling in as she ran a finger across the handwritten address on the outside. With shaky hands, she turned it over and withdrew the letter.

Brodie watched her eyes move across the page as she read each line. At the end, she closed her eyes, released a quivering breath and handed the letter back.

“Believe me now?” he asked.

She nodded. “But she only asked about tutoring. The baseball—”

“Will give me a way to break the ice by doing something he wants to do.”

She mulled that over. “Okay. We’ll try it. But if his grades don’t get better, then no baseball or tutoring.”

“He needs help. Willow said so, and you know it’s true. Even more now that he’s lost his mom.”

“I know he does,” she whispered, leaning her head toward the door to presumably make sure the kids were still listening to the television. “I’m just not so sure that help needs to come from you.” Before he had a chance to argue, she added, “But I see that it’s what Willow wanted, and I won’t deny her request.”

“Good,” he said. “Because I do want to make things right. And whether you believe me or not, Savvy, I was going to tell her I was sorry and ask her to forgive me. Today. As soon as I saw her.”

Savvy shook her head incredulously. “After all these years? You wanted to ask her forgiveness now?” She wrapped her arms around herself in an apparent effort to remain calm. “You never called to check on her. You never returned her calls, or mine, for that matter. You ignored emails. Dropped out of our lives altogether, as though we’d done something wrong. But you were the one...” Her voice quaked. “You ripped Willow’s world apart. And mine.” The last two words were spoken so softly that Brodie barely heard. But he did.

“I didn’t call you because I knew she’d told you what I did, and I knew you wouldn’t forgive me.”

“You never really knew Willow, or you’d have known she tried to protect you. She didn’t want me to think badly of you. She didn’t tell me.”

“She— What?” Floored, Brodie tried to comprehend Savvy’s words. He’d thought that Savvy would have been the first person Willow called after he left her in Knoxville. “Willow never told you?”

“Not for several years. When she and the kids would come visit at the beach, we’d always end up talking about you, about our friendship and about what we thought might have gone wrong. Why you stopped caring about the two of us.”

Brodie flinched, the truth of her statement packing a powerful punch.

She shrugged. “Finally, she couldn’t keep it from me anymore. She told me about the one-night stand, and the way you left her in the hotel in Knoxville. She’d thought your friendship had turned into love. Did you know that?”

She yanked the jacket tighter around her petite frame. “Did you ever think about what that night might have meant to someone like Willow? Someone who actually dreamed of the happily-ever-after that she’d never had in her own home? And that’s what she thought she’d found—with you—until she woke up, and you were gone.”

Brodie swallowed hard. “I messed up.”

“Yeah, Brodie, you did. She ended up feeling like all of the other girls you left behind. And you did what you always did. You went on your merry way and never looked back. Not at Willow,” she said, her words sharp and heated now, “or at me.”

“Savvy, I can explain about what happened back then and why I left the way I did.” He wanted to explain. Needed to explain.

The door cracked open, and Daisy peeked out. “Aunt Savvy, can we have dessert?”

She took a deep breath, exhaled thickly and then found a smile for the little girl. “Yes, there are some brownies on the counter.”

Daisy’s mouth slid to the side as she stared at Brodie, but she didn’t ask why he was still there, wet and tired, standing in the rain. And wishing he could redo one day of his life. The night he’d crossed the boundaries of friendship with Willow...and the morning he’d abandoned her in that hotel room.

After the door closed, Savvy said, “I don’t want to hear your explanation. No explanation would be sufficient for what you did. It’s too late.” She was so visibly mad that it wouldn’t surprise Brodie if the rain came off her like steam. “You can help Dylan, because for some bizarre reason, that was one of Willow’s last wishes.” She shook her head in disgust. “I can’t believe that the last letter she ever wrote...was to you.”

Brodie started to clarify, to tell Savvy that the letter in his jacket probably wasn’t the last one Willow ever wrote, because this one had been penned almost a month ago. Obviously, since he’d just shown up today, Savvy assumed he’d received the letter very recently. If he told her the truth, she’d want to know why he hadn’t come earlier. And, like his leaving Willow in that hotel room after a one-night stand, his explanation would fall short.

So he remained silent.

“I can come tomorrow, after Dylan gets out of school, if that’ll work. I’ll take him to the field and we’ll hit a few. Then I’ll talk to him about school.”

A giant flash of lightning illuminated the sky and subsequently showcased the distress on her face at having to accept Brodie’s offer. She jumped when the thunder that followed shook the trailer.

Brodie took a step toward her.

Savvy took a step back.

“I don’t need you,” she said fiercely.

He nodded. “I get that. But you used to.”

Her eyes grew even darker. Did she also remember the many nights in high school when bad weather hit Claremont and she’d called Brodie? He’d either talk to her until the storm passed, or on a couple of occasions, he’d driven to her grandparents’ home, met her on the front porch and held her while she cried.

“I don’t need you,” she repeated. “You left back then, and I haven’t needed you since.”

“You left first,” he reminded her.

Savvy’s chin quivered, and she shook her head so subtly that anyone else wouldn’t have noticed. But Brodie did. She had left Claremont several months before he’d taken off for college. And she’d never looked back. Barely called Brodie and Willow for nearly three years, and neither of them knew why she’d headed south to Florida. He still didn’t know. And she obviously wasn’t telling.

“You can start working with Dylan tomorrow,” she said, turning her back to him to enter the trailer. “But as soon as he passes those tests and gets approved to move on to ninth grade, you’ll be done. And you’ll stay away.” Not bothering to wait for his response, she entered the trailer, closed the door and left Brodie standing in the rain.

Chapter Four

Savvy sat on the top step of Willow’s wooden deck and reread the letter from the elementary school principal. She’d left the sporting-goods store at two to make certain to be here when the kids got home. It’d taken less than fifteen minutes, so she had time to get the mail.

And read this letter that stated the elementary school believed Rose and Daisy should be retained, too.

She was glad for the extra time, because she didn’t want the kids around to hear her make this call. Pulling her cell from her pocket, she dialed the number on the letterhead. The bus wouldn’t be here for another half hour. Surely this conversation wouldn’t take that long.

“Claremont Elementary, how can I help you?”

After asking to be transferred to the head administrator, Savvy waited two hard heartbeats and then heard, “This is Principal Randolph.”

She cleared her throat. “Hi, this is Savannah Bowers. I currently have guardianship of Willow—I mean Wendy—Jackson’s children, and I received a letter from you today about Rose and Daisy.”

Silence echoed from the other end, and then the woman said curtly, “And?”

Savvy hadn’t expected the abrupt change of tone. Obviously, this lady didn’t care for her, but Savvy didn’t remember a soul in Claremont with the last name of Randolph.

She gathered her courage. “And,” she continued, “the letter says that you’re recommending Rose and Daisy be retained for a year, held back in first grade while their friends move on to second in the fall.”

“That’s correct,” she said, her tone still terse. “The girls were already falling behind on their first-grade skills, and we believe, especially in light of their mother’s recent passing, that it would be in their best interest to have the opportunity to repeat first grade.”

“The opportunity,” Savvy said.

“That’s correct.”

Savvy could feel her skin heating, readying for confrontation. She closed her eyes and counted to five. Ten was too much to ask for, given her frustration. “The letter says that I can come in and review their scores, and I can request for the girls to be reevaluated if I believe those scores may not be an accurate representation of their first-grade skills.” Savvy read the text verbatim from the woman’s letter.

“That’s correct. However, in my opinion—”

“I’d like to make an appointment to do that,” Savvy said, hearing a vehicle coming up the driveway. Mandy had told her the bus dropped the kids off at the end of the driveway and then they walked the rest of the way. Plus, it still wasn’t time for the bus. She frowned as Brodie’s truck appeared through the trees bordering the driveway.

Great...just great. Now I have to deal with him on my own until the kids get home.

“You’d like to make an appointment?” the lady on the other end asked, reminding Savvy she was still on the phone.

“Yes, an appointment,” Savvy said hastily. “I do have the right to do that, don’t I? I am their legal guardian now.”

The lady actually huffed on the other end. “Yes,” she said. “You can make an appointment. When would you like to come?”

“As soon as possible. Tomorrow, if that works for you.”

“Well, I am busy.” She drew out the last word.

“Then I’ll wait until the end of the day, when school is over, and we can meet then,” Savvy answered.

Another huff filled the line, followed by a low grumble. What did this woman have against Savvy? They’d never even met. Or maybe she had something against Willow?

“You can come at nine in the morning,” she said. “But I don’t anticipate any change to our original observations. I’ve reviewed the progress reports from their teacher, and given—”

“I’ll see you at nine,” Savvy said, cutting her off and ending the call without saying goodbye. In other words, she hung up on the lady, which suited her just fine.

“Someone on your bad side?” Brodie asked, sauntering toward the deck. He wore a Stockville College baseball jersey, baseball pants and a matching cap.

“You mean besides you?” She hated that the look of him in that baseball uniform made her heart thud in her chest.

He had the nerve to grin, and then he held up his palms. “I understand that you’re mad at me, but I think, for Dylan’s sake, it’d be good for us to get along in front of him. If he can tell that you don’t like me, it isn’t going to make it easy for him to like me, either.”

“I don’t like you,” Savvy said.

“I get it. But if we can try to coexist so that I have a chance to help Willow’s son, then we’ll accomplish what she wanted.” He sighed. “I’ve been thinking about this all day, Savvy, and I want this chance to help Dylan. I need it.”

She looked down at the paper still in her hand. Somehow she had to make sure the school didn’t hold these kids back. And Brodie was probably her best shot at doing that for Dylan. “I told you that you could tutor him, if it’s what he wants.”

“It will be.” He’d moved closer to the steps so that he merely had to lean forward to peer over her shoulder and see the letter. “What’s that?”

Savvy didn’t see any reason not to tell him. “The elementary school thinks the girls should be held back, too. I’ve got to go talk to the principal tomorrow to convince her that isn’t what they need.” She looked at the letterhead, saw the woman’s name beneath the address. “This says her name is M. Randolph. Did we know any Randolphs in school?”