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The day before the party, everyone arrived, except for Ted. The gang was so excited to be together and the kids were excited to be on the farm.
Bella was in her glory. Her and Lexi took off with Rachel towing behind them. They headed to the barn to see the cats, goats, and horses. The boys, Trent, Cody, Trevor, and Johnny were staying close to the adults. Chloe was fighting her parents, wanting to run after the girls, but being so young still they didn’t want to let her go running off without an adult with them. Maggie took pity on Taryn and hustled the “little angel”, Maggie’s words, into the house with Johnny on her heels.
Sarah was smiling and laughing with her girls, and she was absolutely beautiful in Brody’s eyes. He couldn’t get enough of her.
Rod moved up next to him and said, “So, things going well?”
Brody looked at him and smiled, “Yes. Why?”
Rod nodded to the other guys, and they were all moving Brody’s direction. He wasn’t sure what was going on. Rod looked around the guys and said, “Brody is going to start seeing Sarah. From what I understand, the divorce will be final tomorrow and Sarah is a free agent. She’s choosing this guy.”
Max looked at him and said, “Sarah is special, don’t you even think about doing her wrong. She deserves better than what she got, and I promise you, I’ll break out my boxing gloves if you hurt her.”
Mike grinned and said, “I’m not much of a boxer, but I will find a way to make sure you are hurting if you even make a tear roll down her face.”
Will shook his head and said, “I think of you as a good friend, man, but I agree with these guys, she’s something special.”
Brody turned to the only man left that hadn’t threatened him yet, and to be honest, the man was a bit intimidating. He looked military and Brody hoped the man didn’t want to cause him harm.
Trae smiled at Brody and said, “Marine huh? I hear you knew Trent?”
Brody nodded.
“Good kid. He was the sweetest boy I ever met. He meant the world to my sister, Sarah, and me. I doubt you’ll hurt our girl, Sarah, but I’m ex-Navy Seal and believe me, I still know how to inflict pain and hide bodies. Only warning.”
Brody looked up at the man and said, “You’re Uncle Tap?”
Trae’s head dropped for a moment, and then met Brody’s eyes. “Yeah, why?”
Brody smiled at him and reached out his hand. “It’s an honor to meet the man Trent thought so highly of. If you want, while you’re here, I’d like to tell you about some of the conversations Trent and I had.”
Trae looked at the man’s outstretched hand and said, “It would be an honor.”
Rod smiled and said, “Welcome to the family, Brody. Don’t make us hurt you. Our girls mean the world to us, and Sarah, she’s the cream of the crop, dude. She’s one special lady.”
Brody looked over to where she was. Her head thrown back and laughter ringing through the air. It was a beautiful sight, and music to his ears.
********
Sarah couldn’t believe how much she missed these women. The men all hugged her and asked her how she was holding up, and she smiled up at them and told them the truth, “I feel incredible.”
When she hugged Max, she thanked him for giving her the opportunity to heal. Max kissed the top of her head, and she swore when he moved away, he wiped a tear from his eye.
She laughed and joked with the women, and they talked about having a catch-up session with plenty of wine and Allie smiled saying, “I’ll watch the kids.”
Arianna smiled and said, “I’m with you, girl.” Arianna rubbed her belly and Sarah smiled, “No way, ladies, you can have grape juice. I missed you all and I want to spend time with all of you. Besides Allie, you are constantly surrounded by men here. Come on. Come to the dark side.”
The women all laughed and agreed. They decided the boys would sleep at Allie’s, on the floor in the living room. Josie and Mike would stay there, as well as Taryn and Max.
The girls would stay at the farmhouse on the living room floor and sofa bed. With Maggie, Sarah, Arianna, Trae, Miranda, and Rod. The only person there was no room for, was Ted. While discussing the room situation, Sarah said, “Wait. Where am I sleeping?”
The ladies all laughed, and Miranda spoke up, “Ride a cowboy, girl. Yippee Ki-Yay!” The women laughed harder and then she heard the men join in. She turned to see the guys all patting Brody on the back and his gaze never leaving hers.
Brody moved up to Sarah, wrapped his arms around her from behind, and whispered in her ear, “Saddle up, Phoenix.”
He watched as Sarah’s face turned a shade redder and he smiled as he kissed her cheek.
Brody didn’t know these people, but he loved them already. They were an amazing group and they loved Sarah. That made him like them so much more. Knowing she had the support of each one of them made him feel better about her past and the heartbreak that she had with Ted. He knew no matter what happened between them, she always would have a strong base to help her keep rising.
Brody didn’t know why he worried about that, he wanted Sarah, and he wanted forever with her, but there still was a lot to work out. Brody knew he needed to step things up. Her divorce would be final soon, within the next day actually, but he still didn’t know where she wanted to be. Bella talks about the farm as home, but Sarah, she’s never called it home.
Brody was used to moving around. His family, his sister, would accept whatever choice he made, but he didn’t want to make the wrong one. He also wasn’t sure about moving into a home that Sarah and Ted had memories in.
Rod found Brody standing out along the fence line and moved alongside him. “What’s going on, Brody?”
Brody looked at him and said, “Just thinking.”
Rod grinned, “Do I need to drag it out of you or are you going to share?”
Brody dipped his head down to look at his hands that held onto the fence. “I don’t know what to do now.”
Rod grinned, “Okay, so the hard way, here we go. You don’t know what to do about what?”
Brody turned to face Rod and said, “What do I do? I live here. I don’t have a house. Do I buy one here? Do I move back to Wellsprings with Sarah in a house where Ted shared her bed? Where she hasn’t put away Trent’s things? Do I buy a place in Wellsprings and live there letting Sarah live her life in her home, while I wait to see where she wants to be?”
Rod looked at Brody and said, “Well, to be honest, I just thought you would move to Wellsprings with Sarah, but I see what you’re saying. The house has too many memories. But that being said, the house was where Trent grew up and he helped her fix it up. There’re way more memories of Trent there, and that is going to be a hard thing for her to walk away from.”
Brody shook his head. “I really care about her. I think I’ve loved her for a long time, but now I really fell harder for her. To give her up now, I don’t know if I can. So, what do I do?”
Rod put his hand on Brody’s shoulder and said, “You listen to her. I personally feel like Sarah needs a fresh start, but that’s her decision. I think it’s important that you figure out you first. Answer me this, if being with Sarah means you have to move into her house where Ted lived with her as her husband, can you live with that? Can you make a life with her there in that house?”
Brody looked at him and said, “I don’t know. Honestly, I’d like to say I could do that for her, because I only want to be with her, but to be faced with Ted’s memory constantly and Trent’s, those are tough shoes to fill.”
Rod looked over Brody’s shoulder where he saw Sarah coming their way. “I hear you. You need to get Sarah’s opinion on what she wants, but I will tell you, if you move her away from Wellsprings, my wife will murder you.” With that, he tapped his shoulder, laughed, and moved away.
Rod stopped to hug Sarah. He kissed the top of her head and smiled at her. Sarah’s face lit up and Brody knew he needed to figure this out. She loved her friends and they loved her, she needed them, too.
