Fighting Fate (13 page)

“Didn’t anyone ask what happened? Isn’t that like…I don’t know. Assault or something?” That little furrow had settled between her brows once more.

He shrugged. “Probably. If he’d admitted to it. Or if I’d been stupid enough to accuse him. He knocked me out, which he probably didn’t care too much about. But then later, after he shook me awake, I couldn’t stop puking. He brought me to the ER. Of course he told them it was an accident. Said we were playing ball.” He made an irritated face. “As if he even knows the difference between a shortstop and an umpire.”

“Your brother is…kinda huge,” Sarah pointed out. “I can’t believe he went after you like that.”

He laughed because her words didn’t sound like a compliment. And Darren went after him any time he felt like it.

“He lifts weights. All the time. I think he’s trying to bulk up, prepare himself for a life of crime,” Cole joked, though the words were true.

She had the decency not to stare at him. Instead, she began doodling in her notebook. “No offense, but I really hate your brother,” she muttered.

Cole let out an amused grunt. “Me too.”

&nbs/fop;

Chapter Nine

“He’s so whipped, you could drop him in a cup of cocoa,” Gretchen assured Liz. Her voice held nothing but relief. She’d had high hopes when he’d come into the bakery. She’d been worried the incident with Annabeth would scare him away. But after dropping by his apartment last night, she finally had the confirmation that she’d wanted all along. Cole still had feelings for her sister. Strong feelings if the determined look on his face was any indication. But…“Sarah on the other hand…I feel like any progress I might have made was blasted to bits last night.” She informed Liz of the run in with the woman Sarah had told her was Annabeth. “The timing couldn’t have been worse.”

“She doesn’t talk about Aaron. I mean ever. I’ve tried and I can’t get her to open up at all,” Liz said.

“She won’t talk to me either,” Gretchen said. “I know she hated to be put on the spot like that. And in front of Cole? That made it even worse.”

“Sarah left Crawford to get away from situations like that,” Liz sympathetically pointed out.

“I know,” Gretchen agreed. The haunted look on her sister’s face last night twisted her heart painfully. But then she thought of the way Sarah had been watching Cole a bit earlier in the evening. From the moment he’d walked in, she couldn’t take her eyes off of him for more than a few seconds. She wasn’t even sure if Sarah was aware of that. And the way that Sarah looked at Cole? It was the way
she
looked at a hot fudge Sunday after trying to give up carbs for a week. She wanted him, badly. Even if Sarah’s head was too conflicted to figure that out, Gretchen was sure that Sarah’s heart knew it.

“That lady was clueless. She had no idea what she was stirring up,” Gretchen grumbled. She was one of those babbling idiots that didn’t have a clue when it came to reading social cues. That was the only excuse Gretchen could think of for Annabeth not noting the devastated look on Sarah’s face.

“So now what?” Liz asked. “What do you have planned next?”

“Nothing,” Gretchen said glumly. “Cole told me I shouldn’t interfere anymore. He doesn’t want to risk making Sarah mad.”

“So are you giving up?” Liz wondered.

“Not at all,” Gretchen said. “Now it’s up to Cole.”

*
*
C/fo="+0">&*
*
*

When her cell phone rang, Sarah swiped the stir stick across the top of the can of paint. The excess yellow paint dripped down into the bucket and she placed the stick across the top.

Her phone was across the room, on the kitchen counter. She glanced at the display before answering.

“Hey, Liz,” she said.

“Am I catching you at a bad time?” her friend wanted to know.

“Not at all,” she easily fibbed. She wandered back over to the can of paint, glad she hadn’t poured it into the tray yet. She placed the lid across the top but didn’t tap it back into place. She would get to the painting eventually.

“So how are you? How’s the house coming along?” her friend asked.

“It’s been a lot of work,” she admitted. “But it’s coming along. Scraping off the old wallpaper was the hardest part. I’m finally done with that. I’m going to start painting today. Then I think I might try to refinish the hardwood floors.”

“Do you ever take a break?” Liz chastised.

Sarah laughed. “Why would I want to do that?”

“Because, girl, you run yourself ragged sometimes,” Liz said firmly. “Please tell me you’ve taken at least a little bit of time for yourself.”

“I have,” Sarah assured her.

“Hey, what do you think about me coming for a visit at the end of the summer? Maybe right before school starts? I’m sure by then I’d like a break from my kiddos. Todd can handle them for the weekend,” she said, mentioning her two and five-year olds. “I would love to see what you’ve done to the house. You should be pretty far along by then, right?”

“I should be. That sounds great,” Sarah said as she smiled into the phone.

“In the meantime, make sure you get out and have some fun,” Liz ordered. “If I know you, you’re not doing nearly enough of that.”

“I’ve been going out,” Sarah told her friend. “I’ve been spending a lot of time with Gretchen. It’s been nice to see so much of my sister, even if she can be a little overwhelming at times.”

Liz laughed at that. “What do you mean?”

Sarah hesitated for a moment. Cole had been on her mind almost every second since she’d seen him last night. She found herself wondering why he had left town. Where he had gone. What he had been up to the past eight years. She wanted to know what had brought him back to Laurel. She decided it might be nice to talk to her best friend, get an objective opinion. As opposed to Gretchen’s unreasonably biased opinion.< Cfonat /p>

“Gretchen’s been kind of pushy. There’s this guy—”

“A guy? Wouldn’t Brynn just love to hear about that?” Liz muttered.

“
Liz
,” Sarah said in a warning tone.

“I know, I know,” Liz quickly backtracked. “It’s just that she’s so horrible. She thinks she chased you out of town.”

Sarah laughed bitterly at the thought of Aaron’s sister. “That’s because she kind of did.”

“You’re right,” Liz said contritely. “I should not have brought the bitch up. Please go on. Tell me about this guy,” she nearly begged.

She hesitated, suddenly feeling unsure. “Never mind. It’s a long story.”

“I have the time,” Liz assured her. “I miss having you around to chat with. I don’t know what I’m going to do once school starts.”

Sarah smiled because she knew Liz would get along just fine without her. Most of the other teachers they’d worked with were fairly easy to get along with. Not all, for sure, but most. She, on the other hand, had no idea what to expect. Starting a new job was always stressful. She tried not to think about it too much just yet.

“Start at the beginning. What’s his name?” Liz wondered.

“Cole,” Sarah said on a sigh. “And he’s—”

The sound of gravel crunching beneath tires drifted in through the open window. Sarah moved to the sink so she could peer outside, into the front yard.

“He’s…?” Liz pressed.

“He’s
here
,” Sarah said, feeling somewhat perplexed. She let the curtain drop as Cole’s truck came to a stop. “Let me call you back.” She disconnected before Liz could respond. She glanced down at herself, already aware of what she would see. Her standard outfit lately had consisted of old, ragged cut off jeans and frayed tank tops that had seen better days years ago. They were clothes that were reserved for deep cleaning, yard work and now wallpaper scraping and painting.

She darted into the bathroom. Her face was bare of makeup and her hair was a little wild. She quickly pulled a brush through it and whipped it into a ponytail.

Then she hurried back out of the bathroom, anticipating the moment Cole would be at the door.

How was she ever supposed to stop thinking about the man when he refused to go away?

When he had leaned in last night, for just a moment she’d thought he was going to kiss her. Maybe she hadn’t
t Cize
he was going to. Maybe she had just
wanted
him to. It was ridiculous that her body was still prepared to melt at his touch.

What he had said about regrets had struck a chord with her. She knew all too well about regret. If she could go back in time and undo the past, she would. She would give anything to do that. Knowing that made it a little easier to relate to what he was saying.

Another thought struck her then. If she didn’t give Cole another chance, would she regret that too?

The window pane at the center of the kitchen door rattled as Cole knocked on it. She took a deep breath and crossed the kitchen so she could let him in.

“It’s Saturday, Cole,” Sarah needlessly pointed out as she swung the door open. “Don’t you have the day off?” As soon as she said the words, she worried that maybe he didn’t. Maybe he worked unconventional hours. She cringed at the thought. She was not up to having him hanging around today. Her emotions were too conflicted.

But maybe he needed the pay. Did he work seven days a week? Maybe Tom had more work lined up for him. If that was the case, how could she deny him that? She let out a resigned sigh and he looked at her curiously.

She finally moved back into the kitchen, allowing him entrance into the small space. She dropped her gaze from his face because that would be her undoing. It fell to his chest. He was wearing a white t-shirt that fit snugly across his torso. A logo in navy blue—USAF, along with an emblem that looked familiar, but she couldn’t quite place in her baffled state—was emblazoned over his heart. Before she could ponder that too deeply, he spoke, pulling her attention back to his face again.

“I do have the day off,” he finally said. “I’m not here about work.”

Her heart took another little tumble. If he wasn’t there about work, that had to mean he was there about something else. Something personal? She really hoped not. Though a part of her wanted him to be. She just wasn’t sure if she was quite ready for that yet. One of these days, she really hoped that damned emotional teeter-totter would come to a stop.

What if he was there to demand answers to the questions that Annabeth had raised? She was so not ready for that. She could barely bring herself to talk about it with Gretchen. Talking to Cole would be out of the question. Nothing about her life the past few years was any of his business anyway. Especially not anything that had to do with Aaron.

She felt herself getting all riled up before he had a chance to say anything.

“Cole—”

“I have something for you,” he said, taking her by surprise.

Sarah gave a little shake of her head. “I don’t want anything from you.”

He reached ove Ce rof her r and ran a finger lazily across her cheek. “I know.”

So he wasn’t there to bulldoze his way into her business?

She blinked at him in surprise but she didn’t move away. Finally his hand dropped back to his side. But his gaze didn’t. She wasn’t sure that she liked the way he was looking at her. His expression held a little too much curiosity, pity, compassion. But there was something else there too. A flicker of the way he used to look at her.

If he was there to wear her down, he just might succeed.

“I’m sorry if I got too pushy with you last night,” he admitted. “Now that I know…Well, now that I heard about…I mean…” He kept fading off and suddenly he looked uncomfortable and unsure of himself. “Let me just say I won’t be pushy anymore. But I want you to know, I’m here. And I’m not going anywhere. Not this time. And if I have to wait for you to come to me, I will. I’ll be here, waiting to prove myself to you.”

His words wrapped around her, comforting her when she hadn’t even realized she needed comforting.

She bit her lip, wondering how to respond to what he had said. To her surprise, she felt somewhat disappointed. Suddenly, she wanted him to be pushy. She wanted him to pull her into his arms. She wanted to feel the hardness of his chest against her. She wanted to be in the safety of his embrace. She wanted to feel his lips leaving a trail of kisses across her neck. She wanted
him
.

But was that wrong?

Memories of Aaron slammed into her mind and Cole’s words about regret. Annabeth’s shrill voice rang in her head.
Wait…your fiancé
died
, didn’t he? Oh my goodness! I remember now! In some horrible crash?

Yes…in a horrible crash that would’ve been avoided if it wasn’t for her.

She shook her head, trying to clear it. Why did her thoughts and emotions always have to be such a jumbled mess?

“Sarah?” This time when Cole reached for her, she flinched and he dropped his hand. “Sorry,” he muttered.

“Is that why you drove all the way out here?” she asked. Is that what he needed to give her? An explanation?

He smiled at her but it looked a little forced. He shook his head. “No, that’s not the only reason I’m here. I know how important this house is to you. But I really hate the thought of you out here all alone.”

She furrowed her brow at him. Where was he possibly going with this? And furthermore, he shouldn’t be concerning himself with her.

“So like I said, I got something for you.”