Heir to Scandal. Andrea Laurence

      Rose clenched a tight fist of sheets. She was a proud woman, and he appreciated that about her. He could tell how hard this was for her to accept, but she wasn’t a fool. They both knew she could use the help. “I thought public servants weren’t paid that well.”

      “I’m comfortable. The advance of my book was very nice and I made some good money investing. I can absolutely help.”

      Xander had invested what little money he had in the start-up of Brody’s software company. That alone had him sitting pretty, financially. If and when Brody’s company went public, the stock would skyrocket. He couldn’t tell Rose that detail, however, because people still hadn’t connected his brother Brody Butler to mysterious software tycoon Brody Eden.

      She nodded at last, giving in. “Thank you. I wasn’t sure where I was going to come up with the money for this.”

      “What about living expenses? You said you had a place pretty far out of town. That has to cost you a lot in gas.”

      Rose frowned at him. “There’s no apartment complexes around here. The closest thing I could get was a two-bedroom apartment over near Torrington.”

      Torrington was about fifteen miles away. It wasn’t a terrible drive, just a straight shot down Highway Four, but it wasn’t close, either. In bad weather it could be a nightmare to drive back and forth. “Maybe we can get you a house someplace closer to town.”

      “A house?” Rose chuckled. “Have you seen the home prices around here?”

      “I said I wanted to help, Rose.”

      “That doesn’t mean we have to become a major drain on your finances. Help is help. What you’re suggesting is more than that.”

      “What? More like child support? That’s the point. You’ve done this on your own for ten years. I have a lot to make up for.”

      Rose sighed and folded her hands in her lap. “I just don’t want to be—”

      “We’re ba-ack!” the nurse announced, rolling Joey back to his bed.

      They both leaped up and hovered anxiously as the nurse helped Joey back onto the hospital bed. “How did everything go?” Xander asked.

      “Fine. The doctor should be in to talk to you guys in just a minute. Then, after that, I’m pretty sure the casting crew will be here.” The nurse turned to Joey. “Start thinking about what color wrap you want. We have bright blue, neon green, red, hot pink—” she wrinkled her nose and shook her head “—and construction-cone-orange.”

      “So it’s broken?” Rose asked.

      “I’m not a doctor, so I’m not supposed to say, but between you and me...oh, yeah.”

      The nurse disappeared with the wheelchair, leaving Rose, Joey and Xander alone together for the first time. He didn’t really think about that until he heard Joey ask Rose a question.

      “Mom?” he whispered in an attempt to be sneaky, but it was loud enough to hear down the hallway. “Who is that man? Was he your date?”

      “Oh,” Rose said, putting on her best smile. “I’m sorry, baby. I was too worried about your arm. Joey, this is Mr. Langston. And yes, he was my date. We went to high school together a long time ago.”

      Xander frowned at the super-formal use of his name for the second time tonight. It was bad enough for Rose to do it. He didn’t want his son calling him that, too. “You can just call me Xander.”

      “Xander?” Joey said, his eyes wide. “I wouldn’t even know how to spell that.”

      “No worries,” he said. “There won’t be a test.”

      “Good,” Joey said with a wide smile that was so much like his own at that age. There was even a hint of his same dimple in his left cheek.

      The first moment he’d laid eyes on Joey, he’d known the truth. There were pieces of both him and Heath at that age in the boy. His brother had better well not be the father of his ex-girlfriend’s baby, so that left only one answer.