Читать книгу Hearts Under Construction - Diann Hunt - Страница 12

Cole sat down in front of Jax’s desk. “Have you heard from Ellie?” he asked before taking a drink from his coffee mug.

Jax rubbed his jaw. “Yeah, she thinks she’ll make it back in on Monday. Her stomach seems finally to be settling down.”

Cole shook his head. “She’s really had this flu thing bad. I hate that she’s had to miss the first week’s training on the new computer system.”

Jax winced. “I know. This will not be easy for her.”

“Because she’s hard to train or because she’s resistant to change?”

Jax looked up with a start. A knowing smile lit his face and he shrugged. “Both.”

“What’s up with that?” Cole asked, stretching back into a comfortable position in his chair.

“I don’t know. Ellie’s always struggled with change. She just likes to keep things on an even keel. When they’re not, it throws her into a real spin.”

“That’s too bad. Life’s full of changes.”

Jax looked at him a moment.

“What?”

“Oh, just thinking about how you’ve had to deal with change over your life. Your mom and dad’s divorce. Your dad’s death. I know it hasn’t been easy.”

Cole shrugged. “You, too. I mean, with your parents’ accident and all.”

Jax merely nodded.

Cole thought it best to change the subject. “Hey, did I tell you I rode a dirt bike this past weekend? Now that’s a lot of fun. You need to go with me sometime.”

Jax shook his head. “You’re more adventurous than I am. Parasailing one weekend, dirt-biking, what’s next?”

Cole laughed. “I’ll think of something.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

Just then Alex knocked at the door and poked her head through. “Ellie’s on the phone and wants to know if someone could drop off the new system tutorial this evening?”

“Sure, I’ll do it,” Cole said, without skipping a beat.

Jax looked at him in surprise. “You don’t mind?”

“Not at all. I’ll enjoy watching her squirm when I hand her the information.”

“You’re sad, you know that?”

“Aren’t I, though?” He wiggled his eyebrows.

“You want me to tell her you’ll stop by after work then, Cole?” Alex asked.

“Yeah, tell her I’ll be there.” Truth be told, he looked forward to seeing her. The office wasn’t the same without her….

Cole pulled in to Ellie’s driveway. Cutting the engine, he glanced around the neighborhood. The subdivision was nice and spacious. He hated it when houses stumbled on top of one another. Each lot here had plenty of stretching space. Lots of trees. That was something else he liked. He’d always wanted to live in a house like that, but with his dad’s drinking habit and sales jobs, it had seemed they never had enough money. They went from one apartment to the next.

A garage door opened two houses away from Ellie’s. A couple of kids stepped through the front door as the father backed the family van out of the garage. An energetic boy bounced a basketball on the driveway, making his way to the car. A little girl with blond, springy pigtails followed, holding on to a pair of skates. The mother appeared with a picnic basket in hand. She yanked the front door of the house to a close, turned to the waiting family, and smiled.

Cole sat transfixed. He wondered if those kids had any idea how lucky they were. What he wouldn’t have given for a real family.

How could a mother leave her children, anyway? His eyes glazed over as the image of that long-ago night plagued him once again.

He and his twin brother were doing homework at the kitchen table. Scraps of bologna sandwiches were shoved on the counter with dirty dishes. Cold chicken noodle soup still lined the bowls. His mom stepped into the kitchen with a suitcase in one hand, her face hard as stone. His dad rounded the corner after her, his eyes red and swollen. They were shouting at one another. She stopped when she saw Cole and Caed. His brother had tears streaming down his face, but said nothing. Funny how the images were still so fresh in Cole’s memory.

“Where you going?” Cole asked.

“Caed, I can’t talk about it now.”

“I’m Cole,” he corrected her, frustrated that she couldn’t get it right. People often confused them since they were identical twins, but he thought their own mother should know better.

Cole jumped from the table and ran to her. He threw his arms around her waist and begged her not to go. She looked at him with a flicker of indecision. He thought he just might change her mind. She scrunched down in front of him and whispered, “Coleman, you take good care of Daddy and your brother, you hear me? You’re the strong one.” She smoothed his hair from his forehead. “I’ll be back and get you one of these days.” She kissed his cheek.

He felt as if he’d been punched, the pain spreading all the way through him to his fingertips. He screamed at her, “Mom, don’t go!” Ignoring him, she turned and walked out the door to some man who sat waiting in a truck. Cole pushed through the door and ran after her. “Mom! Please, don’t leave us! Don’t leave us, Mom! I’ll be good. I promise I’ll be good.” He wiped his face with his arm. “Mom! Don’t go!” Why wouldn’t she look at him? She got in the truck. The man stared at Cole without expression, pulled the truck into gear, and backed away. Cole’s mother never looked up once.