Then she went and topped it off with a whisper. “I think you’re my person, Brody Nelson.”

“Your person?”

She nodded and nuzzled into his chest, draping a leg over the top of his. “The one I call when I accidentally start the toaster on fire or hit a deer and start to cry. Or when I’m sick and need soup but can’t find the strength to put on pants.”

“Ah.” He smiled into the night. “Not to worry, babe—I got you covered.” Because he had a sneaking suspicion that she was his person, too.

Chapter Seventeen

The next morning came quickly, and Jenny was sure she’d never been more nervous in all of her life.

“You’re shaking.” Brody closed the truck door behind her and grabbed her hand. Before them sat a modest, suburban bungalow with light blue siding, white shutters, and window boxes. Window boxes, for God’s sake.

She twined their fingers and held on tight. “This is nice, but frankly way more wholesome than I expected. I’m afraid the walls might give way when I walk inside. There may be smoke. And fire.”

Brody pulled her along, chuckling softly. “You know I’ve been inside before, right? And the place is still standing?”

“You’re not helping.” She tried to dig in her heels, but he kept pulling her forward.

“They’re going to love you, babe. And that dress makes you look like a good Catholic girl, so you’re in like Flynn, I swear.”

She glanced down at her green and purple floral-print shift. Maybe he was right. She did look pretty Peggy Sue. Or in this case, Jenny Lynn.

“Is it too much? Maybe I should’ve worn jeans.” Crap, this family stuff was hard.

, Brody came at her, shaking his head, his hands smoothing around her waist. “You’re beautiful.” He dipped down to her ear, discreetly sliding one hand down to her ass. “I like the easy access, too.”

“What? No!” She shoved him away, but he laughed, slinging an arm around her waist to reclaim her.

“Come on, sugar. We got this.” He led her through the garage and to a side door he didn’t bother to knock at. The jovial voices inside the kitchen hit her like a gust of warm, pleasant wind and she blew out a breath. We got this.

“Son!” a voice as deep as Brody’s rang out above the others and Brody slowed down, giving her time to catch up behind him. She’d much rather stay right there, staring at his denim-clad ass like a wallflower all day, but he pulled her to his side, giving her the full view of his family sitting around the small kitchen table.

A woman with shoulder-length brown hair jumped to her feet with a hand slapped over her mouth. Brody grimaced as she rounded the table and Jenny’s heart stammered a little more unsteadily in her chest.

“Mom, seriously,” Brody muttered, but his mother’s focus never left Jenny and, by the time she stood in front of them, the older woman’s face showed every bit of her delight. Shiny eyes, flushed cheeks, and a big grin that she’d clearly passed onto Brody. Dimple in her left cheek and everything.

“You’re gorgeous.” Her hands lifted to Jenny’s cheeks, which, of course, were hot and probably a not-so-attractive lobster red. “You have soulful eyes, too.”

“Um...” Brody stuttered, then waved a belated hand between them. “Mom, this is Jenny Riley. Jenn, my mom, Lena.”

“Jenny. I like that.” Lena continued to grin and Jenny’s jitters finally gave way. How could it not? His mother thought she was soulful.

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Nelson. You’ve raised a wonderful son.”

Brody grunted. “You two are going to get along just fine. Probably to my detriment.”

His family erupted with laughter and, in a matter of minutes, Jenny had been hugged to death and set up with a plateful of raspberry and cream crepes and cheesy potato egg bake. Brody’s plate was stacked twice as high and, by the time they finished eating, she’d heard more stories about his childhood than she could ever remember of her own.

“I really thought he’d go pro.” His father, Brian, leaned back on the kitchen chair, his bulky arms folded behind his head. Except for his mother’s smile, Brody was his father’s clone, stature and demeanor especially. “But he came home from college that first Easter with a Marine Corps recruiter and I knew he’d already made up his mind, scholarship or not.”

“I cried. God, did I cry.” Lena’s tears sprang up all over again and her mother, Grandma Brekowski, nodded along.

“Almost lost my Robert in Vietnam. Nearly broke my heart when Brody enlisted.” She glanced at her husband and smiled softly, all pale, glossy skin and short, silvery hair.

His grandfather waved a hand. “Bunch of sallies. Men are made for war!”

Brody shifted uncomfortably in the seat next to her and, beneath the table, Jenny put her hand on his leg. It’s okay.

“I heard some of your unit joined up with the one in Broken Arrow for another deployment.” His father’s salt and pepper eyebrows drew together. “Thought you’d be first in line to go.”

Brody’s body tensed and his knee began to bounce, all the while he kept his eyes trained on his empty plate. At the juncture of his jaw, a muscle ticked fast.

She hated this for him. Hated that he felt like he’d let not only Ernie and Troy down, but his family, too. And the kicker was...they didn’t even know. She wasn’t sure they ever would either. Brody was too damn proud for his own good.

“Not this time,” he finally answered, his voice hoarse. Raw. “Three times may be all I’m capable of. Hell, I’m not even sure I’ll re-enlist next year.”

His mother gave a sigh of relief and his grandma mouthed a silent prayer at the ceiling.

“That’s probably a good decision.” His father nodded, but Jenny didn’t agree. Being a Marine was in Brody’s blood. If he went out like this, he may never find the closure he needed.

“What do you say we leave the ladies to the gossiping while us men head outside to look at that tree, threatening to drop dead on my garage?” Grandpa Brekowski got to his feet, slowly and not without difficulty, batting away his daughter when she tried to offer help. “Sit down, Lena. I’m not dead yet.”

Jenny covered a smile with the back of her hand. How many times had she heard that same statement from her own mother?

“Try not to miss me too much.” Brody snuck a kiss before he pushed away from the table and followed his dad and grandfather to the door.

A sudden, unexpected surge of lust crept up her spine as she watched him go. He didn’t look any different than he did at her house or at his. Just a guy whose t-shirt and jeans clung a little too tightly to his big body. A guy who, beneath the dark ink and badass uniform, put his family first. Always. A guy who could love her like thunder and lightning at night, but become an acquiescent rain shower who ate crepes with his grandma the very next morning.

He really was human, this man she’d fallen in love with. And she wanted him even more because of it.

***

“I think we can take care of this for you today, Bob.” Hands on his hips, his father looked up at the tree with two dead limbs looming a little too closely to the back corner of the garage. “Just need some rope and a little gas and oil for the chainsaw.”

His grandfather sat on an overturned bucket, breathing harder than usual, his nod turning into a wheeze. “Yeah, I thought so,” he coughed. “Surprised they lasted the winter, to be honest.”

“Small miracles, Gramps.” Brody ruffled the old man’s shoulder on his way to his truck. He had standard-issue ties and a safety harness in his toolbox, for instances just like this. Seemed he was the go-to guy for all things height-related since he earned half of his salary in a cherry picker.

Ten minutes later, he was strapped into the harness, with his father holding onto the rope tied to the first limb. Brody climbed toward the branch with the chainsaw in hand.