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Oh, yeah, I’m pretty sure we just became friends. Or maybe she’s my new therapist? Either way, or both, I’ll take it!
I realize I’m doing a little happy dance, tapping my feet on the floor, when Kayla catches my eye, lifting a perfectly arched brow. I remember she asked a question. “Oh, yeah, when we got back. Well, we didn’t leave on the best of terms. He gave me his card with his phone number,” I reveal carefully, keeping his business privacy in mind.
As expected, they gasp. “He did not,” Luna says.
Samantha and Kayla speak over each other, but it’s some version of ‘what an idiot’, only significantly less polite.
I feel like I’m gossiping with the girls . . . in a good way, like when the nurses all get together at the desk to bitch about admin. I think we’re building friendships with every word and I’m so glad.
“I know, right?” I agree, rolling my eyes. “It was boneheaded, but it was for a good reason. Anyway, I’ve got a friend who’s part of the FBI—the female bureau of investigation. She helped me track him down, and I showed up unannounced. He was surprised, to say the least.” I laugh, remembering the look on his face, which was more a combination of pissed off and terrified.
“Did he sweep you into his arms and tell you how much he’d missed you?” Luna asks dreamily, picturing a very different type of reunion than what’s in the books I read. Or what actually happened.
“Not exactly,” I answer, drawling it out dramatically. “We were a mess there for a bit. He freaked, then I freaked. Then he showed up at my house even though I hadn’t told him where I lived.” I shrug at the absurdity of it all.
Kayla’s perfect brows jump up her forehead—both of them this time, Luna’s jaw drops open, and Samantha says, “Oh, hell no.”
“It was fine. We both kinda went a little overboard. But that’s how we are, I guess,” I explain. They don’t look like they understand at all, so I try again. “You know the saying ‘if he wanted to, he would’?” They nod, not sure where I’m going with this and still worried about Cole showing up at my house, which I’ll admit would be valid . . . if it wasn’t Cole. “Let’s just say, Cole wants to. After a lifetime of people not wanting me, or only wanting me when it’s convenient for them, he’s attentive in ways I never even dreamed of and certainly didn’t think any man would be. He’s . . . sweet, intensely so, and quiet, but he’s watchful, taking it all in and seeing things others don’t. He sees . . . me.” The confession is more meaningful than I expected, but it’s undeniably true.
“We’ve both had some missteps,” I admit, “but I have no doubt that his heart’s in the right place, and he’s always . . . trying to show me he cares. Deeply.”
That’s not nearly enough to describe how this man who is grumpy, short, and borders on complete assholery to everyone else is beyond kind with me. For me. To me. But I hope it’s a start for them to see that maybe what they’ve always thought isn’t actually true. Or at least, it’s not anymore.
Cole might’ve been the kid who snuck out to avoid them all, but I think deep down, he wants to be a part of what his family has become. He’s just not sure how to get there now that he’s on the outside.
Footsteps in the hallway draw our attention, and we all turn to look, finding the guys returning from their private conversation. Chance looks furious. Actually, they all look angry, so I don’t think their talk went well.
Cole comes to my side, moving me so that he’s between me and the other women. “Good?” he asks quietly, clearly concerned about me despite whatever just happened with his father.
I smile and nod reassuringly. “Yeah, I was telling them how awesome you are.”
He chuckles, deep and low in his belly. “Yeah, right. Waste of breath.”
But given the way Kayla’s looking at him, like she’s seeing him for the first time, I don’t think it was.
“Dinner’s ready,” Charles says.
We move into a formal dining room, which looks far less comfortable than the living room, taking seats around a large rectangular table set with a lineup of silverware on either side of each plate. Now I know why Cole was so comfortable with the place setting at Paisley’s wedding. Her fancy-fancy is probably his family’s picnic setting.
As talk about the wedding continues, Samantha reminds Grace about how important the role of flower girl is, and I can’t help but compare the little girl’s happy smile to my sister’s brattiness about being a junior bridesmaid. Now that she’s put her iPad away, Grace’s energetic and cuter than a basketful of kittens. I think I’m gonna like her a lot.
