Race Against Time by Christy Barritt Page B

that she did miss the companionship of being married, of having someone to share your life with. She missed having a man around to help take the trash out and to take the car into the shop. She missed having someone to appreciate special dinners that she worked on for an hour or to tell her on occasion that she looked nice.
    “We’re here.”
    Madison focused on her surroundings and saw they were at the high school. She snapped away from her thoughts and turned her attention back to her photography.
    Brody raised his arm in a half stretch, the small car hindering anything bigger. “You mind if I go to the baseball field with you? I have to stretch my legs for a minute.”
    “Absolutely.”
    They walked silently through the heavy summer sun toward the baseball fields. Madison could see the players pitching balls to each other. Seeing it reminded her of the promise Brody had made to Lincoln—that they would play catch. She hoped that Brody planned on keeping his promise. Because the only thing Madison feared even more than getting hurt herself was having her son get hurt again.

TEN
    B rody watched Madison as she knelt on the grass to snap some pictures of the baseball players. There was a lot more to the woman than he’d initially assumed. When he’d first met his neighbor, she’d seemed friendly enough, but most women he’d encountered who were as pretty as Madison were either overly confident or painfully insecure. Madison had neither of those traits. Instead, she was down-to-earth, honest and kind.
    And Brody was attracted to her. As much as he tried to deny it, he was. The more he was around Madison, the more his attraction seemed to grow.
    At least they’d both made it clear that they weren’t interested in a relationship.
    No, he didn’t deserve to be in a relationship. He’d made a lot of mistakes in his partying days. He’d caused irreversible heartache. Though he’d been largely misunderstood, he’d still hurt a lot of people through his refusal to commit.
    For a long time he’d blamed the women he’d dated. After all, he’d said at the time, they’d been the ones who’d assumed the relationship was more than it was. But Brody should have been clear from the start about his intentions. If he couldn’t see a future with someone, he didn’t want to stay in a relationship with them.
    “I heard about what happened last night.”
    Brody turned and saw Daniel appear beside him. News did travel fast in these small towns. The news media would catch wind of everything before long. Then the pressure on the Sheriff’s Department would mount even more. The FBI might even be called in.
    “It was a rough night.”
    “Kayla said someone broke in while they were at home. That takes some nerve to come back a second time. Makes me want to find whoever’s doing this and give them a piece of my mind…to say the least.”
    “That’s for sure.”
    Brody’s gaze scanned their surroundings, as he often did, looking for anyone who was out of place. Everything appeared peaceful and normal. The baseball team grinned for photos in between punching each other and putting rabbit ears behind their teammates’ heads.
    Daniel stared in the same direction. “Madison’s a nice girl. A great photographer.”
    “I haven’t seen her pictures yet, but I hope to one day.”
    “You should get her to show you. She’s an ace with the camera. She can capture emotions that most people miss.” His tone filled with admiration. “She’s kind of like that as a person, too, you know? It’s like she can see who people really are.”
    “I didn’t realize you knew each other that well.”
    “We go to church together. We’ve hung out a few times otherwise.”
    Brody nodded. Had Madison dated Daniel? Madison had said she had no interest in dating. But the way Daniel had said “hung out” implied more. A moment of—what was that emotion—jealousy?—shot through Brody. It didn’t matter if Madison had ever dated Daniel or