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“And that is?”
“We’ll wrestle for it.”
“What?”
He picked her up over his shoulder and took her to where the Slade brothers always had it out in the living room, despite their momma’s screams to the contrary. “Cole!” she cried out. Eva was a lot lighter than his brothers, and she kicked her bare feet against his side. “You can’t just wrestle your sister-in-law.”
She wasn’t yet. And two could play at this game. “You can always call it quits then, and concede that I’m the victor.”
“Never!”
Not quite what he expected. The puppy barked joyfully around them, wanting to join in the fun. “I can put you in a pretzel,” he teased her.
“I’d like to see you try it.”
Really? He set her on the couch, not quite sure what to do with her now that he’d started, but she lunged at him instead and caught him so unaware, that she managed to pin him down against the cushion. “I might not have brothers,” she huffed out, “but I’ve wrestled a few greased pigs at the fair.”
Great! Trust her to take this to another level. She was clearly enjoying herself. He threw his arms around her, actually not sure how to make this fair when he saw she completely disappeared under him. He rolled her around, careful not to hurt her. “You give?” he asked her.
“Not a chance!” She squirmed out of his grip and fell against the carpet, knocking him back with her shoulder as she wriggled away. “Not until I see you in a turtleneck sweater.”
“You can forget that!” He grabbed her knee and tugged her to him. “I pin you for three seconds and then you have to give.”
“Who says?” she called out. “I didn’t agree to that.”
“Six?”
She laughed up in his face and poked her finger into his stomach, and then followed that with lots of fingers digging into the softest parts of him while she tickled him all over. He crumpled, feeling himself go weak like he always did in a tickle war. He tried to catch her hands, all while howling out uncontrollably in laughter. “You can’t…” he said, “… little cheat.”
“Someone’s got to even the playing field,” she hollered out. “You big–big lumberjack!”
Lumberjack? Ouch!
“Ouch!” he said aloud when she caught him under his armpit. He took her by the wrists, realizing that he had no idea how to end this fight and still come out the victor because the little thief was stealing more than his laundry with her every dimple. He tried to hold her still, and quite suddenly, she stopped struggling, her eyes going to his. Her breathing came out heavily.
His hands tightened over her.
The phone rang, and he turned towards it, a part of him realizing that he needed to stop that sound somehow.
“You going to get that?” Eva asked him.
Yes, yes, of course.
Her hair was everywhere. He tried to push those glorious strands from her eyes.
The phone’s ringing screeched persistently over them.
Her lashes fluttered in confusion. Wait, what was he doing? He straightened and released her. “Your lucky day,” he told her. That was more for bravado than anything. He abandoned her and headed for the phone, every part of him shaking, partly from pushing it too far with Eva and partly because he knew what this phone call could be about.
He answered it.
“Cole?”
His father was on the other end of the line. Cole couldn’t read his tone at all, and so grimacing, he braced himself. “Yeah?”
“The surgery is over, and it went well,” his father said brusquely.
Cole’s legs buckled in relief, and he had to take a seat. Eva was immediately at his side, her hand going to his. He took it without a second thought and quickly put her out of her misery. “She made it through, Eva.”
