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I’m going to keep my eye on her until this thing is resolved.”
    “As good excuse as any to spend time with her.”
    Owen ignored Brody’s knowing smile and hefted the heavy board and took it over to the door. Brody brought the drill and screws. They made quick work of the task.
    “That should work for now.” Owen stood back and surveyed their work, satisfied. “I’ll call her insurance company and get the door replaced tomorrow first thing.”
    “You need to talk to your client. If this guy is fixated on you and her and now Claire, you need to warn your client about saying something that could make this worse.”
    “I’m afraid she may have already said something about us.”
    Brody’s eyes narrowed on him.
    “Nothing is going on with my client,” Owen defended. “Well, on my part anyway. I’ve stood between her and the ex and helped her get away from him. She’s grateful and sees me as her protector. She’s started to rely on me and pushed for me to help her with things outside my scope of lawyerly duties.”
    “Put a stop to it now. Set her straight.”
    “I’ve tried to gently nudge her to do things on her own.”
    “Give her a shove. You don’t need her life dragging yours down.”
    “I will. I’m also going to make damn sure nothing else happens to Claire. She didn’t deserve this.”
    “No, she didn’t, but it’s not your fault.”
    “You said that already.”
    “Apparently you need to hear it again because I can see the guilt written all over your face.”
    “Thanks for your help. Go home.”
    “I’m headed that way.” Brody stopped in the middle of rolling up the extension cord around his hand and arm. “Owen, don’t ever think you don’t deserve what I’ve found with Rain and the girls. Whatever we did in our past, that doesn’t mean we can’t make something good for our future.”
    “We aren’t who we used to be. We’ve changed.” Owen spoke the words, but deep down he wasn’t so sure that dark part of himself didn’t still exist, just waiting to come out and screw everything up in his life like he’d done so many times.
    “We have. Remember when we sat at Rain’s kitchen table when I came back and you said Rain had let you be a part of a real family. It doesn’t have to be the way we grew up with the old man swapping one woman for the next, using them up and tossing them out.”
    “I’m nothing like the old man. I don’t use women for nothing but sex and treat them like shit.”
    “Never said you did. I’m just saying you can have what I have if you want it.”
    “I just met this woman. I’m not planning a wedding.”
    “I’m just saying change your perspective. Go into a relationship looking for forever, instead of just tonight, and you might find what you’re really looking for. Don’t be stubborn like me and waste years because you think you don’t deserve it.”
    Owen didn’t say anything. What could he say? He and Brody shared a past that they’d both had to work damn hard to overcome. At some point, they’d each decided to stop walking the road to destruction and take a new path toward something better. Law school and opening his own practice gave Owen a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment, but he still felt like he was missing something in his life. He’d found a piece of it being a part of Rain and the girl’s lives. With Brody back, he still felt a part of their family, but he wanted his own. He loved spending time with Dawn and Autumn, but he envied his brother every time the girls called Brody “Dad.”
    “It’s late. I’m out of here. Go put your girl to bed.” Brody cocked his head toward the kitchen window. Claire still sat on the counter, her head down between her shoulders, eyes drooping.
    Tonight—well, early morning now—he’d put her to bed and watch over her. Some things were inevitable. He wished she hadn’t suffered that terrible scare, or her injuries, but Dale’s reckless move brought him here tonight. Claire