Brody by Cheryl Douglas Page B

I have three grandbabies so far.”
    “That’s nice,” I said, admiring her beautiful family. “The kids are so cute.” And just as always, I felt a twinge at the sight of ringlets, chubby cheeks, and wide, innocent eyes.
    “Thank you,” she said, beaming. “I’m lucky they all live nearby, so I get to babysit a lot.” She drank her coffee before she said, “I understand Jack has grandchildren too, just a little younger than our boys?”
    “Yes, Zane and Cole.” I couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt. How would Ryker feel if he knew I was talking about his kids with a stepmother he didn’t even know he had? “They’re great kids. I’m sure they’d get along great with Beck and Tanner.”
    “It would be so wonderful if they could meet,” she said, clasping her hands together. “All their lives, they’ve grown up wanting to know more about their brothers. Jack couldn’t tell them a lot. It was just too hard for him to talk about them, so eventually Beck and Tanner stopped asking. Of course, when they got older, they just Googled them.”
    I could only imagine the things they’d read about Brody. I hoped that wouldn’t color their opinion of him. Underneath the hype, he really was one of the finest men I knew. That was why I couldn’t stop loving him, no matter how hard I tried.
    “So you and your husband were friends before you married?” If I learned more about their story, I could fill Brody in later. If he saw they were just a regular, happy family, he might be more willing to be a part of it, and invite Ryker and the rest of their brothers to do the same.
    “We were neighbors, actually. I lived next door with my girls after the divorce. It was my parents’ home, but they didn’t need all that space, so they moved to a condo and let me stay in their house with the kids.” Rolling her eyes, she said, “My ex was something of a deadbeat. He didn’t pay child support or alimony, and they knew I would have a hard time making it on my own.”
    There was so much I could have said in response, but I didn’t. I didn’t want to cause more conflict.
    Sandra covered my hand with hers, looking into my eyes. “I know you must be thinking that Jack was no better to his kids than my ex was to ours. I know he didn’t treat his wife well, and he certainly didn’t support those boys. Not while they were all living under the same roof or after he left.”
    “Why?” I asked, trying to make sense of the two different pictures she painted. “Why didn’t he even try to help his kids? He knew their mother was gone, that they had no one else, so why didn’t he try to do something to help them?”
    “It took him a while to get his own life together,” she said solemnly. “A lifetime’s worth of hard habits aren’t easy to break.”
    “No, I don’t imagine they are.”
    “I was cautious about befriending him at first because he reminded me so much of my ex, especially when he told me about his late wife and kids.” She traced the pattern on the paisley placemats with her ruby-tipped finger. “But I saw something in him I never saw in Tom—remorse.”
    “Really?” I wanted to believe that Brody’s father regretted his actions, since I believed that was the only hope they had of moving past all their bitterness and resentment.
    “Absolutely. He hated himself for not being a better husband and father. I think that’s why he turned to the bottle in the first place.”
    I was humbled that she was opening up to me about such deeply personal issues, but I appreciated it and had to believe Brody would too. “Brody said Jack had a hard time holding down a job and gambled all the time. Apparently he was in and out of their lives over the years. Sometimes for weeks or a month, depending.”
    “I know.” She shook her head. “I don’t know if I’d be able to forgive him if I were Brody. I can only tell you how much he’s changed, how good a father and husband he’s been for the past eighteen