Cody coughed, choking on his coffee. “Excuse me?”
“She seems to like you and smiles a lot when you’re around. I saw her kiss your cheek yesterday. She used to do that to my dad. So does that mean she loves you like she loved him?”
A lump lodged in his throat. “It means we like each other and want to spend more time together. Is that okay with you?”
“Sure,” Ollie said between bites.
The simple word loosened the stiffness in his neck that had tightened at the start of this conversation. He’d won over the most important person in Katherine’s life. Now he didn’t have one but two hearts to worry about.
And he’d do everything in his power to make sure both mother and son would never experience another heartbreak.
The ringof Katherine’s phone opened her eyes. A stab of disappointment pierced through her to find the bed next to her empty, but it was better for Ollie not to find Cody in here with her. She’d go out and find them in a second. First, she had to see who was calling so early.
Grabbing her phone, she spied Elsie’s information before answering. “Hey.”
“Good morning,” Elsie said. “Just checking in. How are you doing?”
She smiled at the question. If Elsie only knew how well she felt this morning, it’d make them both blush. “Well, at the moment I’m great.”
“You sound sleepy. Did I wake you? I didn’t think you’d still be in bed at 9:30 in the morning.”
“9:30!” She bolted upright and caught sight of the alarm clock on the nightstand. “Holy crap. Cody and Ollie have to be awake. I don’t think Ollie’s let me sleep past 8 am since he was born.”
“Sounds like Cody’s taking good care of you,” Elsie said.
“Lady, you don’t know the half of it.” The words were out of Katherine’s mouth before she could stop them.
“Oh really? I thought I’d call and find you scared and distraught. But sounds like you’ve been a little preoccupied.”
She plopped back down on the mattress, the soft pillow cushioning her head. Memories from the night before flashed in her mind. She wouldn’t share all the details with Elsie, but there was nothing wrong with a little girl talk with her good friend.
Besides, it’d be good to get Elsie’s perspective on everything.
“Preoccupied doesn’t even begin to describe the last few days. I’m really falling for this guy.” She launched into a brief overview of the time she’d spent with Cody. “I’m still a little shocked with how quickly things have progressed, but I’m happy and really excited about where this could lead.”
A beat of silence pulsed on the line.
“Elsie?”
“I think it’s wonderful you’re so happy, I just want you to be careful.”
Katherine rolled her eyes. “Why is everyone so worried about this?”
“Maybe because four days ago you hadn’t said more than five words to Cody Hogan since high school.”
The stark reminder was like a punch in the gut. “True, but that doesn’t lessen the way I feel about him. He’s been wonderful with Ollie and gone out of his way to help me. To take care of me. He’s kept my mind off all the horrible stuff that’s happened.”
“Could that be one of the reasons you’ve thrown yourself into this relationship? I mean, it’s not really like you to jump in with both feet before carefully weighing every single aspect. Especially when it involves Ollie. I mean, have you even made a pro/con list?”
“Hey, don’t make fun of my lists. They help me make a lot of important decisions.”
“And have you made one for Cody?”
“I don’t have to. I know what my heart is telling me.”
“And it has nothing to do with being distracted from reality? You’ve taken a lot of heavy hits. First with Theo and now this.Is there a part of you that wants to pretend like everything is rainbows and butterflies for a little while?”
Katherine hated the hard slap of truth from her friend. Her dad had said something similar—about letting the roller coaster of emotions take over instead of thinking things through. She sighed, hating that the perfect little bubble she and Cody had created the last few days might be popped.
