Читать книгу The Cowboy's Surprise Baby - Deb Kastner - Страница 11
ОглавлениеYesterday at the Haddons’ office, after throwing the curveball that emotionally knocked Tessa right off the mound, Cole had walked away without another word.
She walked down the row of pinewood beds within the girls’ dorm, absently making small corrections to the square corners of the sheets as she went. The room was silent and empty now, but tomorrow morning it would be filled with the chitter-chattering of adolescent females, none of them happy about being pawned off into Tessa’s care. At least, at first they wouldn’t be. Tessa’s experience was that the young ladies under her supervision eventually adapted, and she liked to think they left Redemption Ranch better people than when they first arrived.
Now that it was morning, she was bone-weary from lack of sleep and from fighting all the emotions stirred up by Cole’s unexpected pronouncement.
Cole had a son?
Probably a wife as well, although he hadn’t mentioned her.
He had a family.
She let the thought sink in, rest for a moment deep in her chest until her breath evened out.
Why had his news taken her so very much by surprise? It shouldn’t have, and she was a little ashamed by her lack of forethought and her response. Just because she was single and unattached didn’t mean Cole wouldn’t have found someone to settle down and share his life with. That the thought hadn’t even occurred to her at the time explained why she’d been shaken up.
She needed to get her head together. Her newest young charges were arriving for their Mission Month tomorrow, and she had to make sure everything was ready for them. A stab of pain and regret sliced through her gut. She prayed every day that she’d make a real difference in the teenage girls’ lives, but no matter how hard she tried, no matter what she did, it wasn’t always enough. Her mind strayed for a brief moment to Savannah, a girl who’d visited the ranch last summer. Savannah had shown a great deal of promise during her stay. Her attitude, once bitter and angry, melted under Tessa’s tender love and direction. By the time Savannah left, Tessa was certain she was destined for a better future.
She’d been wrong. Shortly after leaving Redemption Ranch, Savannah had become pregnant, and her parents had thrown her out on the street. Tessa had lost track of her then. She didn’t know what had happened to Savannah or her precious baby.
Being the female counselor at the ranch, Tessa was responsible for her teenage girls nearly twenty-four-seven during what the Haddons termed their Mission Months. Ten months a year with little breathing space between groups of kids. It was a hard position to be in and a heavy load to carry, yet Tessa’s heart was completely in her work. She softly whispered another prayer for the six young ladies who’d soon be arriving, asking that this time she’d reach them all.
She groaned and pushed her hair off her forehead with the palm of her hand. If only it were so easy to push the melancholy thoughts from her mind.
Focus.
The humidity was even higher than usual today, and her long, thick locks were unwieldy on the best of days. As a youngster she’d been teased about her frizzy red mop, and she’d always been self-conscious about her hair—until a blue-eyed boy with a smile that could melt glaciers came into her life and made her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world, both inside and out.
When Cole had first coined the nickname Red, he had made it sound like the best kind of compliment, his own special name for her, said with the utmost affection. She hadn’t dreamed such love existed—at least not for her. Even as a boy, Cole had changed everything for her.
But yesterday when she’d wandered into the Haddons’ office with her mind on the incoming teenagers, she’d discovered that boy had become a man.
And Red?
Uttered from his frowning lips and tight jaw, the word no longer sounded like a compliment.
Cole was hardly recognizable from the youth he’d once been. He’d sprung up several more inches in height. His shoulders had broadened and his voice had deepened. His skin was weathered. He was clearly a man who spent his time outdoors.
But it wasn’t so much the physical changes that had shocked her most. It was his attitude, his bitterness, the ice in his gaze. While it felt as if his emotions were gathered in his eyes and flung right at her, she knew he couldn’t possibly still be carrying that big a grudge against her. Yes, she’d hurt him. She would be the first to admit that. But too many years had passed since then. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was...something else. What had happened to him that had put such a big chip on his shoulder?
Whatever it was, it wasn’t any of her business. He had a family now.
She refused to acknowledge any hurt that went along with that news. Why should it bother her? Her feelings for Cole had long since been carefully packaged away, deep in the recesses of her heart. She rarely even revisited them anymore. Mostly. Except for those rare instances when loneliness overtook her and the dark of night stretched before her.
She snorted and rolled her eyes at her own foolishness. When had she become so melodramatic?
“Are you okay?” The smooth tenor voice of her friend Marcus Ender, the male counselor at the ranch, came from behind her.
Tessa hadn’t heard him come in, and she jumped in surprise.
“Don’t do that to me, you jerk,” she admonished him good-naturedly, laying a hand over her hammering heart. “And to answer your question, yes, I’m fine.”
She attempted to paste a smile on her face, but Marcus tilted his head and cocked one dark blond eyebrow.
“Now, why don’t I believe that? Come on, Tessa. I’ve known you too long for you to try to pull one over on me. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
She swallowed air and nearly choked on it. “To be entirely truthful with you, I kind of have.”
Marcus’s other brow darted up to join the first.
“Cole Bishop is in town.”
Tessa and Marcus had known each other since their undergraduate years, when they were both pursuing psychology degrees, and had been good friends ever since. He knew the whole sad story about what had happened between her and Cole and the way things had been left when they parted.
“Oh, wow,” Marcus replied with a low whistle. “Do you know how long he’s staying? Is he here on leave to visit his family?”
Her throat hitched. “No. He’s back for good. He’s got a son—a family. And the worst of it is that Alexis hired him to work at the ranch.”
“Seriously? Why would she do that? Doesn’t she know the history between you and Cole?”
“That’s the odd thing. Alexis knows exactly what happened between us. She was there when it all played out.”
Along with every other resident of Serendipity.
He shook his head. “I can’t imagine what she was thinkin’. Then again, I’ve never been very good at interpreting the female mind.” He crossed his eyes and flashed a goofy grin.
Despite everything weighing her down, Tessa laughed. Marcus always knew how to make her feel better.
“Speaking of female minds, why don’t we try to get you out of yours for a while? I’m running into town to get a few things from Emerson’s Hardware before we have the staff meeting this afternoon. You want to come along?”
She hesitated, pursing her lips. “I don’t know. I won’t be very good company.”
“What if I bribed you with one of Phoebe Hawkins’s red velvet cupcakes from Cup O’ Jo’s? Smothered in chocolate frosting?”
“A cupcake? And my favorite? You’re not playing fair.”
“When have I ever?” he tossed back with a wink.
Tessa knew he was right. She tended to overanalyze every situation, and this one was a humdinger. There were things a woman could change and things she couldn’t, and there was no sense worrying about what was out of her control. At the end of the day, the good Lord had the final say. That’s what she often told the girls she was counseling, and yet now she was struggling to take her own advice.
Emerson’s Hardware, only a few minutes from Redemption Ranch, was located on Main Street, right next door to Cup O’ Jo’s Café. All of Main Street looked like something out of an old Western movie, with colorful clapboard siding and old-fashioned signs dangling in front of the stores.
While Marcus dawdled in the hardware section, Tessa wandered over to gardening to see what was new. Living in the girls’ bunkhouse as she did, she had neither the place nor the time for a garden, but she imagined that someday, when she had a home of her own, she’d enjoy planting vegetables and spending quiet time landscaping with flowers around the place.
When she had a home of her own.
Realistically, was that ever going to happen?
What a difference a day made, if that day meant Cole Bishop had walked back into her life. Even the thought of having a family now tore at her heart. What was once a pleasant, if distant, dream of the future had suddenly become a nightmare. She hadn’t realized until she’d seen him again that he’d still been part of her vision. His face had never been replaced by another.
Shaking her head to dislodge her sadness, she found Marcus at the register, where he was wrapping up his purchase.
Edward Emerson, an older man dressed in the same bib overalls as the two men slouched in the wooden rocking chairs just outside the door, smiled at her as she approached.
“Hey, Tessa. Good to see you. Can you do me a favor and tell Cole the feed he ordered is loaded in his truck and ready to go whenever he is?”
“I...I don’t—” she stammered, but Edward went on as if she hadn’t spoken.
“If I’m not mistaken, he’s at Cup O’ Jo’s showing off that new baby of his. Cute little tyke. Bald as a cue ball.” Edward chuckled.
Tessa inhaled sharply. Cole’s son was an infant. Her stomach churned like a combine at hearing the news, creating a whole new set of aches. Her thoughts flew together like a tornado picking up everything in its path. Thoughts that didn’t belong together but still tore through her. Her failure with Savannah was too recent, and Savannah’s baby was never far from her mind. She’d once thought she’d be the one bearing Cole’s children. But now Cole had a son of his own, and his and Tessa’s lives were completely separated.
She had to pull herself together, and fast. Cole had just become a father, and he’d come back to settle down. It made perfect sense. He had moved on, and so had she. And yet she had no desire to find Cole right now, not when it meant she was going to have to meet his family. She was so not prepared for that moment. Not right now.
Not ever.
“We’d be glad to,” Marcus answered for her, giving her a friendly nudge with his shoulder.
“I’m not ready,” she whispered hoarsely as they exited the store. “Did you hear that? Cole’s son is a baby. I can’t— It’s not—”
Marcus knew about Savannah, understood about Cole, and she could tell from his gaze that he knew where all her thoughts were flying. He reached for her elbow and pulled her to a stop on the clapboard sidewalk.
“Better now than later, Tessa,” he insisted. “It’s not gonna get any easier for you if you wait on this thing. I know you. You’ll noodle it over and over again until you’ve built it into a giant issue. In a situation like this, the best thing you can do is face your fear and rip it off like a bandage. It’ll hurt less in the long run.”
She made a face at him. “When did you become so smart?”
He laughed. “I’m an expert, remember? I have the degree hangin’ on my wall to prove it.”
She sighed. She hated to admit it, but Marcus was probably right. Might as well get it over with now. She couldn’t avoid Cole and his family forever.
Even so, she hesitated a beat at the entrance to the café.
“Bandage,” Marcus reminded her, using his palm to press her forward from the small of her back.
The inside of Cup O’ Jo’s was a stark contrast to the outside. Filled with the delicious scents of home-style cooking and fresh pastries, the whole place had the look and feel of a modern coffee shop. There were even computers lining the back wall so folks could access the internet.
It was immediately obvious where Cole and his family were located. Practically everyone in the café hovered around one of the middle tables, their exclamations ranging from “Ooh” and “Aww” to “What a little cutie-pie” and “Sweet darlin’.”
Jo Spencer, the owner of the café, looked up and waved Tessa and Marcus over. Her red curls bobbed as she placed a hand over her heart and bounced on her toes.
“Cole’s back in town,” she said, her voice rising with excitement. “And my stars. Have you seen Baby Grayson?”
Tessa nodded to acknowledge the fact that she knew Cole was back in town and then shook her head. “I haven’t met Grayson yet.”
“Come, come,” Jo insisted, dragging Tessa by the hand. Tessa shot a flustered glance over her shoulder, but Marcus just shrugged and grinned, mouthing the word bandage.
Insensitive jerk. He was going to be no help at all.
Now that she was under Jo’s guidance, Tessa knew she had no hope whatsoever of backing out of the situation. There was no arguing with the woman once the vivacious old lady got something into her head.
Besides, what would Tessa say? That she didn’t want to see the baby?
How would that sound? Everyone loved babies.
She did, too, of course. It was this particular baby at this exact time she was struggling with. Her emotions were screaming for her to flee. She didn’t think her heart could stand glimpsing the infant who was bound to carry at least some of Cole’s strong features. And was the child’s mother present? That would cause Tessa even more heartache.
Marcus was wrong. She wasn’t ready yet, and getting caught in a situation where she might break down emotionally wasn’t ripping off the bandage. It was creating a whole new wound.
Panic welled in her chest, and her pulse pounded in her temple.
Not yet. Not yet. Not yet, it echoed.
The crowd parted like the Red Sea in front of Moses as she approached, probably half out of deference to Jo and half due to the distinct possibility of drama between Cole and Tessa. Serendipity townsfolk liked nothing quite so much as a scene that might as well have been taken right out of a soap opera.
She took a deep breath and plunged forward. If they were waiting for drama, they were going to have to wait a good long time.
She got her first look at Cole, who held his loosely swaddled son in the crook of one arm. The baby’s tiny fist was wrapped around one of Cole’s thumbs. He looked to be only a few weeks old, incredibly small against Cole’s large chest and muscular biceps, and yet the big man was holding the baby with such infinite tenderness, it brought a hitch to Tessa’s throat. Cole was beaming with pride as he showed off his boy. He was meant to be a father.
Tessa gasped for air and coached herself to breathe normally. If she hyperventilated and passed out, that would really be a show for the neighbors. She plastered her best smile on her face and stepped into the center of the circle. It seemed as if her whole relationship with Cole had been in the public eye, from their quite literally dramatic start on the theatrical stage in high school to the dreadful finish on yet another stage, when she’d painfully but unavoidably ruined any future between them. She would not and could not break down now, not with so many of her neighbors and friends looking on.
Cole’s eyes widened when he saw her. His brow lowered and the smile dropped from his lips—until the infant moved in his arms. The stiffness to Cole’s shoulders remained, but when his gaze dropped back to his son, there was only love and awe in his expression.
Cole was a daddy. A proud papa to his little bundle of joy. How right he looked filling that role.
He cleared his throat, his jaw tightening with strain once again. He appeared to be considering his thoughts, weighing his options. After a long pause, he spoke softly so as not to disturb the baby. Tessa was keenly aware that his voice lost its angry edge in deference to the child.
“Everyone else here has already had a turn. You want to hold him?”
She sat down in the nearest chair and swallowed her shock as Cole held his son out to her, gently settling the infant in her arms, his fingers brushing hers as he rearranged her hand to cradle the child better.
Grayson had been noisily sucking on his two middle fingers, but when he looked up at Tessa, he popped his fingers out of his mouth and smiled and cooed at her. As Edward had said, the baby didn’t have a lick of hair, but his eyes were the exact color of Cole’s, and he had his nose and the twin crescents of dimples in his cheeks.
Tessa’s heart welled until she thought it might burst. It was the worst and most awful concoction of pleasure and pain she’d ever experienced. Why was Cole doing this, letting her hold his precious baby?
Because others were watching? Did he really have no idea how badly this would hurt her, this stark, physical reminder of what might have been if she hadn’t rejected his marriage proposal? Or was that exactly what he was trying to do?
She searched his gaze but found nothing to condemn him, and the upward curve of his lips suggested little other than the satisfaction he’d found in becoming a dad. But his voice was low and gravelly when he finally spoke, the only indication his emotions were stronger than he was feigning.
“Tessa, I’d like you to meet my son, Grayson.”
* * *
It just figured that Tessa would show up at Cup O’ Jo’s right as Cole was out giving the community their first glimpse of Grayson. He’d gone out with his son this morning before the staff meeting on purpose, believing Tessa would be otherwise engaged, back at the ranch getting ready for her teenagers to arrive.
As if that in itself wasn’t complicated enough, old friends and neighbors crowded around him, taking up his breathing space and giving rise to all kinds of questions and speculations. Like what had happened to Grayson’s mother, and how was he coping with being a single dad.
That was enough stress. More than enough. The last thing he needed was for Tessa to walk in the door with some strange cowboy Cole didn’t recognize. Serendipity had remained remarkably unchanged throughout the years he’d been gone, but it had definitely changed some.
Even so, he was confident he could rely on the community. They would have a keen interest in the details, but they also had open hearts with which to embrace him and his son. It wasn’t surprising that everyone would want to know the story of how he’d happened back into town with a baby in tow and no wife to speak of. Most, like Jo, wouldn’t allow him to skim through an explanation. He’d rather not delve back into his shameful past.
He was a single father. He’d stepped up, and that was all that really mattered. End of story.
After that first burst of surprise and panic when Tessa walked in the door, his mind had fled him completely. He hadn’t been thinking—which was the only possible explanation for why he’d passed Grayson into Tessa’s arms. Moving back to Serendipity, he had no intention for Tessa to interact with his son, but his pride and ego had flared up at the sight of her, and the offer had come barreling out of his mouth without his say-so.
His emotions, slow to catch up, had exploded in his chest, razor-sharp shards puncturing his heart and lungs. Tessa smiled as she gazed down at the infant. Her cheeks blushed a sweet peach, and joy radiated from her expression. Her rich alto softened into a melodious Texan lilt as she spoke a series of adorable nonsense words to Grayson.
Grayson had been a regular fussbudget earlier when Cole had allowed each of his neighbors the opportunity to hold the baby. He’d howled and wailed and protested with his little fists until he was once again in the comfort and security of his daddy’s arms.
But with Tessa, Grayson was an entirely different child. Cole’s throat tightened until he couldn’t catch a breath as his son babbled happily at Tessa, perfectly at ease in her arms. When Tessa smiled at Grayson, the baby beamed back at her, and the ache in Cole’s chest deepened. Grayson had smiled for Tessa with no more than her little bit of coaxing. Cole wished it was easier to get that kind of response from his son. He felt as if he had to work for every little thing, and it all seemed to come so easy for Tessa. A natural mother if there ever was one.
Jealousy snapped and burned in Cole’s gut. That smile was supposed to be for him. Whether or not she’d meant to, she’d stolen something from him, and he could barely withhold his frustration.
“Well, would you look at that,” Jo said, leaning over Tessa’s shoulder so she could get a better look at Grayson. “The little fellow has really taken to you, Tessa. You were born to be a mother, my dear. You’ll make a great one someday.”
So she wasn’t yet a mother? Until this moment, he’d been so caught up in his own problems that it hadn’t even occurred to him other things might have changed during his time away from Serendipity. He surreptitiously glanced at Tessa’s left hand.
No ring.
Not that it mattered if she was married or not. The point was that she hadn’t wanted to be married to him.
Cole didn’t miss the cringe that rippled across Tessa’s shoulders at Jo’s words, or the frown that pursed her full lips as her panicked gaze flashed from Cole to the fellow she’d come in with. Her expression lasted only for a split second, and she recovered nicely with a smile that probably fooled nearly everyone in the room. It didn’t work on Cole, though.
Her guy friend seemed to think a grin and a wink would solve her problems.
Cole knew better.
Even after all these years, he could read Tessa like a book. Every happy smile, heartrending frown, radiant beam of joy and scowl of frustration. And while Cole knew she was genuinely enjoying her interactions with Grayson, the rest of it was all an act. She didn’t want to be here any more than he wanted her to be.
They were at the mother of all standoffs, unable to back down even if they wanted to. Living in the same small town. Working at the same ranch. The never-ending possibility of being thrown together at social events.
Would it ever get any easier for him to be around her? Would he ever not hurt when he looked at her?
The plethora of emotions he was experiencing today, battling through him with a vengeance, were just as mercilessly and excruciatingly painful as they had been when he’d first seen Tessa in the Haddons’ office. It was all he could do to stay put and keep his game face on. Pretty much every nerve in his body was screaming to snatch Grayson up and head for the hills as fast as his legs would carry him.
That ought to set tongues to wagging.
Tessa had broken his heart so completely that he had burned through the stages of grief not once, but every single year since that day. For years, the first Saturday of June had tortured him with memories—only now it was far worse than just a recollection.
Tessa was sitting there alive and in person, right in line with his gaze, rocking his baby, looking exactly the way he’d always pictured she would when they started a family together.
Jo was right. Tessa was a natural mama if there ever was one—but then, Cole had always known she would be.
Only Grayson wasn’t her baby.
And Cole couldn’t stand one more second of this torture. He had to get out now, before his emotions got the better of him. Because the only thing worse than what he was feeling right now would be for Tessa—not to mention the whole community gathered around him—to see just how far he had fallen.
“Time to give my little cowboy a diaper change,” he muttered. Anything to get the baby out of Tessa’s arms. He reached for Grayson, intending to make a quick exit, but Jo was too fast for him.
“Now wait just one moment, dear. I’m ashamed to say we don’t yet have a portable changing table in the men’s restroom. Never even gave it a second thought until now. I promise y’all that particular item has just been bumped to the top of my to-do list.”
“Oh. I—uh—” After seven weeks he would have thought he could work out simple issues like this, but he kept stumbling upon new ones. Where did a single man change a baby’s diaper in a small-town café?
During the first few weeks, when he’d been settling the legal paperwork between him and the baby’s mother, he’d lodged with a navy buddy, Emilio Gonzalez, and his wife, Ella. He’d appreciated spending time with Ella, who was an experienced mother of six and a wonderful, patient teacher. Having a woman’s touch around was invaluable, in more ways than he cared to count. Truthfully, he’d let poor Ella do much of the work. He realized in hindsight that he should have been throwing himself into learning the ropes as he had in the navy. Watching and doing were hardly the same thing.
Cole sighed inwardly. Grayson would be better off if he had a woman’s influence in his life, and Cole silently acknowledged that he needed the help. But that was not reality for him and Grayson, and it might not ever be. He was on his own, and he’d never felt as powerless as he did in that moment, with everyone’s eyes on him.
A little help here, Lord, he prayed silently.
“You don’t have to leave on account of Gray’s diaper,” Jo assured him. “The ladies’ room is fully equipped. Tessa, would you do the honors? Where’s your diaper bag, son?” She directed her first question to Tessa and her second to Cole. Her eyes were sparkling with mischief and Cole cringed. Good ol’ Jo, ever the matchmaker.
He pointed to the giraffe-print bag on a nearby table. Jo dug through the bag for a diaper and wipes while Cole shifted his gaze to Tessa. She looked like a cornered wild animal, her eyes darting around the room as if looking for a quick way to escape.
In any other situation, he might have found the whole thing amusing, but there was not one single thing funny about having to share breathing space with Tessa, much less having her commandeer his baby, even if it was only for a diaper change.
“You’ve never changed a baby before?” he guessed, his lips quirking. Even on her worst day, she couldn’t be half as inept as he’d been his first few go-rounds, but he would shoot himself before he ever admitted that aloud.
Her auburn eyebrows hit her hairline. “It...it’s not that. I don’t mind changing Grayson for you. I’ve had my fair share of experience handling babies now and again. I was just wondering—that is—is your wife around? I don’t think we’ve met.”
Of course. Tessa didn’t know he wasn’t married. He’d hoped that particular tidbit would make its way around town and he’d never have to encounter that question. It was just like Tessa to have avoided the gossip. He wondered what people were saying, exactly. Folks were going to make all the wrong assumptions unless he set them straight. In a down-home, conservative little Texas town like Serendipity, things were done right and in the proper order.
First comes love, then comes marriage, and then comes the baby in the baby carriage.
Only that’s not how it had been for Cole. To his everlasting shame, Grayson wasn’t the product of love or marriage. That didn’t mean Cole didn’t love his son with all his heart. Grayson was far and away the biggest blessing God had ever given him. He had such awe and wonder about this new little human being. The curve of Grayson’s ears, his fingers and toes, the way the baby already responded to Cole’s voice in the dead of night when it was just the two of them awake and rocking to a lullaby.
It might not have happened the way he would have planned, but it had happened, and being a father to Grayson was Cole’s new mission, more important than anything he’d done in the navy. More important than anything he’d ever done in his life.
He was not proud of how he’d gotten to this point, but he was proud of being here, of being Grayson’s father. As for his son’s mother...
“I’m not married,” he admitted softly, sliding his chair closer to hers so they wouldn’t be overheard.
Tessa’s brow rose again, and Cole frowned. She didn’t have to gape. This didn’t bode well for how the rest of the town was going to take the news.
“I see,” she murmured.
No, she didn’t. She hadn’t a clue about the man he’d become. He wasn’t the bright-eyed kid who’d dated her all through high school. Not even close.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said.
“I’m sorry.” Her tone was punctuated with bitterness. “I had no right to ask.”
She was taking it personally. This wasn’t personal. It had nothing to do with her at all. “You couldn’t have known.”
“I’ll just— Let me go take care of his diaper real fast for you, and then you can have the baby back,” she stammered.
He watched her make a quick exit into the ladies’ room, the sweet, fruity scent of her perfume lingering behind her. He blew out a frustrated breath and threaded his fingers through his hair.
He was quick to acknowledge his own part in his disaster of a life, but he had faith that the Lord would use it for good, even if he didn’t have any idea how that might work out for him, or for Grayson. He could only put himself and his baby in God’s capable hands.
He didn’t know why the Lord had set him on this path, but he imagined he must be even more hardheaded than he’d realized. Most horses could be broken with a whisper. It appeared he needed the sharp jerk of a bit to get him moving in the right direction.
When Tessa returned with his still-happy infant, she immediately deposited Grayson into Cole’s arms. He adjusted his son to his shoulder and gently patted his back.
“After I saw Grayson was with you, I completely spaced on the reason I came to Cup O’ Jo’s in the first place,” she admitted with a forced chuckle.
“A cupcake?” Tessa’s friend stepped into Cole’s line of vision and dropped into the conversation as if he belonged there. “Here’s temptation for you.” He waved the chocolate-iced cupcake under Tessa’s nose.
Red velvet.
Even though Cole couldn’t see what the chocolate icing was hiding, he was absolutely certain of it. Tessa had always been partial to red velvet with chocolate frosting. He personally thought it was an odd combination—a whipped white cream cheese frosting suited him fine—but he’d always humored her.
She made a face at the man. “You get a pass for abandoning me back there, but only because of the cupcake.”
Tessa’s friend turned a winsome smile on Cole that seemed a little over the top, given the circumstances. He ought to save his charm for the ladies. But when he extended his hand, Cole had no choice but to respond.
“I’m Marcus Ender, by the way. Boys’ counselor at Redemption Ranch.”
Cole shifted Grayson so he could meet the man’s hand with his own. He might have been guilty of adding a little extra pressure to his grip, but a handshake told a lot about a man. Surprise flashed in Marcus’s gaze at the strength of Cole’s grip, but he didn’t break the contact until Cole did.
A challenge? Marcus’s gaze said it all. He was looking out for his friend, and Cole had better not hurt her. Cole tempered his naturally aggressive response. He couldn’t fault Tessa’s friend’s overprotective instincts, he supposed. Marcus didn’t have any way of knowing Cole would never hurt Tessa. Not intentionally, anyway.
“I’m Cole—”
“Bishop,” Marcus finished for him. “Yeah. I know.”
And he didn’t sound too thrilled about it, either.
Cole’s hackles rose, and the hair on his neck stood on end. What exactly had Tessa told Marcus about him?
It couldn’t be good. He was probably better off not knowing. But it rankled him nevertheless.
Grayson whimpered in protest as Cole’s arm tightened.
“Sorry, little man,” he murmured in the baby’s ear.
“Red? You were saying?” he reminded Tessa. “Why you came over to Cup O’ Jo’s in the first place?”
“Red?” Marcus snorted and burst into laughter, but it instantly died when he was simultaneously punctured by both Cole’s and Tessa’s glares. He held up his hands in a sign of surrender.
“I was over at Emerson’s before I came here,” Tessa explained. “Edward asked me to give you a message.”
Cole relaxed his stance, rocking back on the heels of his boots. He hadn’t realized how tense he’d been since Tessa had walked into the café, and all this time it had been about a feed order.
If his day could get messed up this quickly just by the sight and scent of Tessa, he didn’t have a prayer of ever truly settling down and making a life here.
“The feed’s ready?” he offered, hoping to stay within comfortable bounds of conversation.
“All loaded up in your pickup and ready to go.”
He pressed a breath from his lungs. “Thanks for the heads-up. I think poor Grayson here has had about as much doting and loving from the community as he can handle for one day.”
Grayson? Forget the baby. Cole’s head was whirling.
His gaze met Tessa’s, and he could see she was thinking the same thing.
First time out of the chute. No score.
Cole cleared his throat. “Best be getting home. It’s about Gray’s nap time.”
“Right, okay,” Tessa agreed with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I guess Marcus and I will see you later, at the meeting.”
Tessa blended into the crowd, and Cole reached for the handle of the giraffe diaper bag, slipping it onto his shoulder. Even after all these weeks, it still felt odd to him to tote around a bag that was similar to a woman’s purse. Chalk that one up to necessity—diapers, wipes, bottles, pacifiers, toys. He tried to ignore the way the bag tromped all over his masculinity.
“Are you leaving?” Jo bustled up to Cole and reached for his bicep. “Can you wait just one more moment, dear?”
Cole nodded, but he tensed when Jo made a beeline toward Tessa, who was speaking to Dr. Delia and her husband, Zach. Jo linked elbows with Tessa and drew her back in Cole’s direction.
“If I could have a quick word with the two of you?”
What now?
Tension rippled across Cole’s shoulders and down his spine. Jo Spencer was the nicest woman a man could know, but she was also a little bit scheming when it came to matchmaking. She had a bird’s-eye view from her spot behind the counter of Cup O’ Jo’s, and she tended to see what was what—or who should be with whom—far before the rest of Serendipity caught on.
Well, as long as it wasn’t matchmaking, Cole would be all right with whatever Jo had in mind.
“Alexis and I were talkin’ about the upcoming summer barbecue.”
Electricity bolted through him at Jo’s words. His gaze locked with Tessa’s. She looked every bit as shocked as he felt.
Not the June BBQ. Anything but that.
“She was telling me she’d like to see the teens get involved this year. We usually relegate them to set up and clean up, and I suggested that they might want to do something different this year—entertainment. The band we contracted with backed out on us. Slade and Samantha have pulled together some musicians for dancing, but Alexis really wanted the kids to do something special for the townsfolk, give them a little show. Do you think you two could get together and work something up for us? A scene from a musical, perhaps? The planning committee would sure appreciate your efforts, my dears.”
Was she kidding? A scene from a musical? No way was that going to happen. Cole and Tessa had first met—first kissed—performing a scene from a musical. And they had broken up at the June BBQ. The beginning and the end of their relationship.
Cole had no intention of helping those kids do anything, musical or otherwise. Working with delinquent teenagers wasn’t even in his skill set. Besides, he wasn’t going to the barbecue, much less participating in it.
“Why don’t you ask Marcus?” he suggested through gritted teeth. “He’s the boys’ counselor, after all. He ought to be the one leading this thing, don’t you think?”
Jo barked out a laugh. Even Tessa chuckled.
“Honey, that man cannot carry a tune for a second, much less an entire musical number. He’s as tone-deaf as a rock. As I recall, you have a beautiful baritone voice. Surely you’ll step up and share your talent for the good of the community—and the teenagers.”
Jo was goading him—and she was good at it. He remembered all the many times growing up when she’d set him on the right path. Part of him instinctively reacted as if he were still a child, but he was a grown man now, and he had no intention of being pushed into a situation that would be nothing but trouble for him, and for Tessa, too.
Why wasn’t she speaking up?
“We’ll see what we can do,” Tessa said.
What?
“Great! Can’t wait to see what you two come up with.” Jo scuttled away before he gave his own answer—which would have been a no. He didn’t even have the opportunity to raise another objection, not that Jo would have listened to it.
Cole leaned into Tessa’s personal space, meeting her emerald-eyed gaze square on. “What are you thinking?” he demanded. “You know as well as I do that we can’t do this.”
“I admit it’s not ideal.”
“Not ideal? It’s plain crazy.”
Tessa sighed. “We would have given in eventually. You know Jo. I just saved us having to scrap with her.”
He hated that Tessa was right. Jo would have won in the end, stubborn woman that she was. But how could they get over...everything...to work together in such a capacity? At the moment he couldn’t even go there in his mind.
“I can’t see how this is going to work,” he muttered crossly.
“That makes two of us. But it has to happen, Cole. We have to put our differences aside for the sake of the teenagers. They deserve the chance to do something good and to experience the community’s positive response to their actions.”
Honestly, his mind wasn’t on the teenagers. It was on himself and his own discomfort. Was this the Lord’s design to give him the opportunity to step out in faith—and completely out of his comfort zone? If it was, it was way, way out.
Right out of the frying pan and straight into the fire.
