Chapter 9

Episode 1 - On the Brink

“Grace! What happened?” Rachelle sat up straight and scooted forward in her chair, but before Brady could open his mouth, Dash’s growl was ahead of him.

“Don’t even think about it, Midge.” He parked his chair next to her recliner, effectively caging her in place, and Rachelle fell back with a sigh.

“Relax. She’s okay. Just scraped up her knees a little.” Brady patted Grace’s back as her hold tightened. “Where do you want her?”

“Here, please.” Rachelle scooted to the side of her chair and held out her arms, and Dash gave her a last warning look before moving aside so that Brady could set the little girl next to her. “Come here, baby.”

Brady gently pulled Grace’s arms away from his neck and waited until she cuddled into Rachelle’s side with her thumb in her mouth before he touched Rachelle’s arm.

“Got a first aid kit?”

“Third shelf down, on the right.” Rachelle gave him a grateful glance as she pointed to one of the bookcases, wrapping her other arm around Grace’s shoulders. “What happened?”

“I wasn’t being careful.” Grace’s voice was a murmur, but it still carried clearly to Brady’s ears as he dug through the indicated box for bandaids, antibiotic ointment, and antiseptic wipes.

“I’m afraid I wasn’t either,” Rachelle whispered, and Brady turned around in time to see Grace frowning up at her for all the world like a disapproving older sister. “I know.” Rachelle gave a little sigh. “Do our penalties cancel, or do we both get one?”

Grace paused and seemed to think for a moment before she replied.

“Both get one.”

“Okay.” Rachelle smiled down at her, then over at Brady as he knelt by her side and tore open a wipe. “What’s my penalty?”

“Hold on, Gracie-girl. This’ll sting for just a minute.” Brady tried to ignore the burning of the alcohol against his overly sensitive fingers as Grace stiffened and buried her head in Rachelle’s shoulder. He cleaned her scrapes as quickly as he could but couldn’t keep back a hiss as he finally dropped the wipe and shook his hand out.

“Brady…” Rachelle started, but he shook his head and nodded at Grace as he smeared the antibiotic ointment on her knees and covered it with the bandaids.

“There you go. Good as new.” He patted her leg, and Grace shifted one eye out of Rachelle’s pink blouse to peer cautiously at the result.

“What do you say?” Rachelle squeezed her shoulder, and Grace snuggled in next to her as she turned to face Brady.

“Thank you,” she whispered, and Brady offered her a smile.

“Welcome, Grace. So, why do you have to give Rachelle a penalty?”

“’Cause we have to remember to be careful, or somebody gets hurt.” Grace lifted her gaze to Rachelle, who gave a little rueful laugh.

“Case in point.” She motioned from Grace’s knees to her own, then settled back against the chair again, lightly stroking her sister’s hair. “What’s my penalty today, baby?”

Grace rested her chin in her hand as though thinking hard for a moment before she answered.

“Two bedtime stories.”

“Okay. But short ones. You still have school tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Grace sighed, and Rachelle ruffled her hair a little.

“And for you…no tablet until your homework’s done.”

Grace stuck her lip out in a pout but nodded slowly.

“Speaking of which, where’s your backpack? We might as well work on it while we’re both sitting here.”

“I’ll get it.” Brady gathered up the remnants of the first-aid project and deposited them in the trash before grabbing up Grace’s backpack from where he’d dropped it next to the bookcase and setting it gently on her lap, still rubbing the last of the alcohol sting off on his jeans.

“Wash your hand,” Rachelle whispered as Grace unzipped the backpack, and Brady chuckled.

“Okay, mom.” The teasing name slipped out just like it would have with Eden, and he froze for a half-second before Rachelle’s answering smile and Dash’s cheeky “there it is!” snapped him back to normal. Man, it was weird how comfortable he had started to feel with them in such a short time. Did that mean something, or was it just a distraction?

He went to the sink and washed his hands, unable to contain a breath of relief as the cool water soothed away the remaining burn. Then he turned back to the table and picked up the mostly full plate still lying there with a rueful grin.

“Mind if I just throw this away before something else happens?”

Rachelle gave a little sigh.

“I guess we’re coming up on dinner anyway. Sorry you never got to finish.”

“More than I would have eaten today. I’ll live.” Brady tossed the cold rice and broccoli and glanced around the room, a bit lost for what came next, when Grace’s whispered words again caught his ear.

“Can Brady get my desk?”

“Why don’t you ask him, baby?” Rachelle whispered back, and Grace turned suddenly shy brown eyes up to him.

Brady barely caught himself before nodding in answer to the question she hadn’t actually asked yet. Yeah, he should probably tell the little girl about his hearing at some point, at least if he planned on staying at all.

“Can you get my desk?” The whisper was barely louder than the one he hadn’t been meant to hear, but at least it was directed at him this time, and he followed Rachelle’s nod to the little colorful lap desk in the corner and waited for her to lift the jumble of worksheets and coloring pages before setting it carefully over Grace’s legs.

“What—” Rachelle started, but before she could finish the question, Grace had wrapped her arms around Brady’s neck and was hugging him hard.

“I love you, Brady,” she murmured, but before he could process the declaration, let alone figure out how to answer her, she let go and sank back next to Rachelle, looking up at him with hopeful eyes. “Can you carry me to carpool tomorrow?”

The words stole his breath like an ice-cold shower. Of course she didn’t understand how rare this was—how little he had to offer on his best days, let alone his worst. How could he have let her even start to get attached like that, when he was only going to let her down too many times to count?

“Oh, Grace, baby.” Rachelle’s voice caught a little. Was she realizing the same thing? Questioning her willingness to add one more member to their circle who could only bring more disappointment and pain? “Brady’s going to be very sick tomorrow.” She raised her head to meet Brady’s gaze, but instead of the remorse or regret he’d expected, her chocolate brown eyes shone warm with compassion. “We’ll have to be very, very quiet, so we don’t make his head hurt worse, okay?”

“Oh.” Grace dropped her eyes, and Brady’s heart tore in two. He couldn’t promise her tomorrow, or even the day after, but he certainly couldn’t leave things like this.

“Can I give you a rain check, Grace?”

“What’s a rain check?” Curiosity started to chase away the disappointment on her face, and Brady felt a hint of a smile struggling to break through.

“It’s like—a promise that maybe I can’t do something now, but I’ll do it later.” Even if he didn’t stay, surely he could offer her that much. The puzzled frown didn’t leave her face, and Brady shook his head. “You know what? Work on your homework, and I’ll show you in a minute.”

Ignoring Rachelle’s quizzical look, he returned to the cubby nearest where Grace’s desk had been and confirmed that the bin with paper poking out of the top contained a child’s art supplies. Taking it back to the table, he pulled out a clean piece of scrap paper and a mostly full set of crayons and set to work at the vague idea his imagination had pictured.