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“Summer.” He growls my name in some kind of warning. The chastisement might have carried more weight if his sleeves weren’t covered in reindeer wearing sparkly harnesses.
“I could easily find out. But I’d rather you tell me. Please.”
As Cole stares out the windshield, I only get half his face. But that’s plenty enough to see how irritated he is. In another circumstance, I might have tried jokes or flirting. But something about the way he holds himself tells me this is a heavier matter.
“Medical bills. My dad’s.”
My mind conjures up an image of the man I just met. Mr. Allemand is tall and lithe, like his son, but his blonde hair has gray throughout, and wrinkles dig deep into the corners of his eyes. Still, he looked to be in decent health. Not that these things always appear on the surface. I wonder what ailment has resulted in the heavy weight on my shoulder.
“Where is your mom’s place?” Cole’s driven us back into the city.
“Why did you take them?”
“Summer. Tell me where to go.”
“In a minute. Answer my question.”
“To pay them. Now, where do I go?”
To pay them? The amount of envelopes in my bag hints this won’t be a small task. From what I’ve seen of Cole’s life, he’s not sitting on some massive amount of cash.
“Do you know how much he owes?”
“I’ll figure it out. Right or left?”
“Left,” I answer, only half my mind on the direction we’re traveling. Cole has no idea how much his dad is in debt, but he’s just going to pay it?
“When you say you’re going to pay these bills, you mean…”
“I mean, I’ll write the places checks and put those checks in the mail. Then my dad won’t have to get harassed anymore.”
Damn, my heart clenches hard. Both at the nobleness of the statement, but also because I’m worried. Handling massive debt isn’t that easy.
“And if what he owes is more than you have? What will you do?”
Cole doesn’t hesitate. “I’ll pay it.”
“And go into debt yourself?”
“If anyone should be, it’s me.” There’s more than a hint of self-loathing in his voice. Clearly, Cole thinks his dad’s money problems are somehow his fault. This seems like a bigger thing, and I’m not sure I’m equipped to deal with whatever emotional turmoil he’s in.
But if there’s one thing I do know, it’s how to manage debt.
I learned the hard way.
“That doesn’t have to happen.” I chew my lip, then cross my fingers and beg the universe Cole will be reasonable. That he’ll let me help. “Let me take a look at the bills. I promise to keep everything confidential.”
“What? No,” he says as if the thought baffles him. “They aren’t yours to deal with.”
The polite thing to do would be to keep my nose out of his business. But Ican’t. “Well they aren’t yours either.”
“They’re my dad’s.”
“And I bet your dad would like to dig himself out of this hole.” Wasn’t hard to tell that Mr. Allemand is a proud man. I’m betting that’s why Cole had me smuggle these documents out of the house rather than asking to take them.
“Leave it alone, Summer, and tell me how to get to your mom’s place.”
“Cole. Please. Just listen to me. I. Can. Help.”
