Brody (Texas Boudreau Brotherhood Book 3)

going on at work, and it’s kept me preoccupied, though not too much I haven’t thought about you. Speaking of, I’m sorry our date got derailed. Just so you know, this is only a postponement, and not a cancellation. You’re not getting out of taking me to dinner that easily.”
He loved the sound of her laughter. Hearing it brightened any day, no matter how glum, and now was no exception. Jeff walked by with the evidence bags, heading for Brody’s truck, and he knew he had to cut things sort. Work called, and in his line of work that meant twenty-four seven. Didn’t matter it was a Saturday morning, fires burned without respect to scheduled days off.
“Oh, I should probably tell you, I met your brother this morning.”
“Which one?”
“Heath.”
He could practically hear the smile in her voice, and he bit back a possessive growl. “Didn’t know he was in town.”
“He showed up this morning. He’s quite—something—isn’t he?”
“Don’t fall for anything he says, Beth. Heath is the biggest flirt you’ll ever meet. I love my brother, but he’s definitely a ladies’ man.”
“Oh, I figured that out pretty quick. And your mother set him straight.”
Uh, oh. Heath must have been flirting up a storm if Momma stepped in. He smiled, picturing his diminutive mother standing up to the walking mountain and shaking her finger under his nose. She’d have to get a stepstool if she really wanted to get in Heath’s face, but she’d have no problem doing exactly that. Wouldn’t be the first time, and definitely wouldn’t be the last.
“Did she now? Anything I need to know about?”
She hesitated before answering. “Not really.” The way she answered piqued his curiosity more than the actual words, but he didn’t have time to get into it now. But definitely later…
“Listen, I’ve gotta run. I just wanted to hear your voice, let you brighten my day. I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Yes. Stay safe, Brody.”
“I will. Talk to you soon.”
He hung up before he could make a bigger fool of himself. Those three little words wanted to spring to his lips, but with her ex on the loose, this would be the worst time to tell her how he felt. But soon, he promised himself, he let her know in word and deed exactly how he felt about her. He prayed it would be soon, because he was tired of putting his life on hold, keeping his feelings in check, instead of being with the woman he loved.
But for now—he had an arsonist to catch.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Brody strode through the door of the sheriff’s station with more questions than he’d started the morning with. After Greg left, he’d called Ben Summers, and spent an inordinate amount of time explaining what happened and asking him pointed questions, ones he’d rather not have had to ask. Ben had broken down sobbing when Brody explained about the second fire. During their call, Ben admitted Sandra’s cancer had returned, and the treatments the specialists recommended were both painful and expensive. Brody didn’t have the heart to tell Ben he couldn’t sell the property, not until the investigation was completed. Ben offered to fly back to Texas, but Brody assured him he’d handle everything he could remotely, and Ben and Sandra wouldn’t have to come back, not unless they turned up something to change the status of the case.
“Can I get you some coffee, Brody?” Sally Anne jumped up from behind her desk, and gave him a quick hug. Sally Anne was a fixture at the Shiloh Springs sheriff’s office, a middle-aged dynamo who worked there as a sort of Jill-of-All-Trades. Brody didn’t care it might not be considered professional; he’d known Sally Anne most of his life. If she wanted to give him a hug, let her hug away. He considered her family, and he didn’t stand on formality with family.
“No thanks, Sally Anne. Chance and Greg Summers in the back?”
“Yeah. Rafe got called to deal with that McAllister boy again. Said he’d be back as soon as he can.” Leaning in, she whispered, “His mother sounded real upset, almost like she was crying in the background.” Ah, there was the Sally Anne he knew and loved. She was a sweetheart, but she loved spreading a little bit of gossip. Never intentionally to hurt someone, that wasn’t who she was, but load her up with a juicy tidbit here and there, and she was a happy camper.
“Gotcha.”
He pulled off his cowboy hat and slapped it against his thigh as he walked down the long hall, ending up at the conference room. This room had been a hotbed of activity over the last few months, more than it usually saw in a year. Like most small towns, Shiloh Springs had the occasional criminal activity, but nothing anybody would call major. Some weeks the biggest story might be Eliza and Dennis Boatwright sampling too much of their home brew, and getting a little loud and rowdy. Brody had lost count of the number of times Rafe made house calls on the local couple. They’d never intentionally hurt anybody, but they liked a bit of a tipple more than a bit. Brewing their own beer wasn’t illegal, though Brody got the impression they might brew more than beer, but he couldn’t prove it. As long as nobody got hurt, live and let live.
Opening the door to the conference room, he spotted Chance leaning back in his chair, hands folded across his midsection, seated across from Greg. Greg had regained the color in his face, but still looked kinda lost.
“Greg, I talked to your dad. Updated him on everything. He wanted to fly here, but I told him to stay with your mom.”
Greg shifted in his chair, and ran a hand through his hair, mussing it even more. “Good. The last thing he needs is more stress right now. Did he tell you about mom’s new treatments?”
Brody slid into one of the chairs lining the long table, and tossed his hat on