To Save a Child--A Clean Romance Page 23

  “Sort of.” She caught his eyes. “I’m sorry I needed all this time, but I had to deal with my feelings about Brooke. You helped me so much, and I didn’t want my feelings to be out of gratitude. If not for you, Zoe would be living with that couple somewhere in California and I would’ve never seen her again. Joel would’ve been arrested, but it would’ve been too late. Zoe would’ve been gone, and there was nothing I would’ve been able to do about it. Joel was the father until you discovered he wasn’t. No one would have gone that extra mile. I keep thinking about that, and I guess what made me so mad was that Brooke chose Joel over Zoe and me. That just infuriated me, and I couldn’t shake it.”

  “But you have now?”

  “Frannie is moving to live near her son, and we were going through some old family albums. She has lots of pictures of me and Brooke, and as I looked through those photos, I remembered a lot of things I kept stored in my brain and didn’t want to verbalize. Brooke always had a penchant for bad boys, even in high school. She would never listen to me, and I realized there was nothing I could have done to get her to listen to me about Joel. It wasn’t my fault, and I guess I had to forgive myself. And I had to tell her in person how I felt.”

  He frowned. “How did you do that?”

  “I went to the cemetery and told her things I should have said a long time ago. Afterward, all those negative feelings vanished.”

  He’d given her the time she’d needed, even though he hadn’t been very patient, and it had worked. He took a step toward her. “Remember the day we sat in Grandpa’s truck and I told you about my past and you said I needed a big hug to squeeze all the bad memories out of me?” He took another step toward her. “I think I’ll take that hug right about now.”

  “Oh, Cole...” She flew into his arms and gave him the biggest hug he’d ever had. One arm wrapped around his waist and the other around his neck.

  “Tighter,” he whispered.

  They were bound so tightly even cold air couldn’t get through. They stood as one. Locked. Forever. Neither said a word as they soaked up the energy from each other. And the heat.

  “I love you, Cole,” she whispered into his chest.

  The soft note in her voice sent his heart soaring. “Not too long ago, Grandpa and I were doing steaks out on the grill and talking. He told me he loved me, and I was able to say the words back to him for the first time in my life. I just never thought that with my childhood, love would be a part of my life. But the moment I looked into your dark eyes, I knew I was lost.” He cupped her face, loving the feel of her soft hair against his hands. “Grace Bennett, I love you. Will you marry me?”

  “Yes, yes!” Her eyes sparkled through her shining tears.

  He took her lips, and the world ceased to exist as they kissed with all the newfound feelings inside them. The heat between them chased away the cold, and Cole held on just a moment longer because he couldn’t let go. Finally Grace rested her head just below Cole’s chin.

  “How are we going to make this work, Cole? We both work in Austin, and we can’t leave Grandpa alone.”

  “Grandpa?”

  She lifted her head and smiled. “Yes. I can call him that now.”

  “Yes, you can. But don’t worry. We’ll work something out. I want to get married as soon as possible. How do you feel about that?”

  “I do, too, and it doesn’t have to be a big wedding, but I want to wear a white dress.”

  “That’s...” His words trailed away as he saw a truck coming up the lane.

  “You have company,” Grace remarked.

  “That’s Odell. He lives down 77. I’ll see what he wants and be right back.”

  She kissed his lips. “Okay.”

  Cole walked toward the old white Chevy truck. Odell Willis’s family had a vegetable farm. There were eight kids in the family, and Odell was the youngest. He was the “oops” baby, as he had been known to say. Cole and Odell were the same age and had gone to school together. Odell was slow, and kids picked on him. Cole and Bo had always been his heroes, because they took up for him. Cole didn’t know a better person than Odell. His heart was the biggest thing about him.

  Odell got out and they shook hands. He was a medium height, stocky, with a Dallas Cowboys baseball cap on.

  “Hey, Cole.”

  “Haven’t seen you in a long time, Odell.”

  “My daddy’s been sick, and I have to help take care of him.” Odell worshipped his dad, and anything his dad said was the law, according to Odell.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

  “I told you.”

  Cole frowned. “When did you tell me?”

  “When I called you about that woman who hit the tree.”

  Cole did a double take. “You called me about the woman that slid off the road around Thanksgiving?”

  Odell nodded. “Yep. I told you she was dead, and I carried the baby up to Mr. Walt’s. I knocked on the door. Rascal barked, so I knew he was home and I could hear him talking. But I couldn’t wait. I had to go. My sister had taken my dad to Temple to the doctor, and she called and told me I better get there fast. My dad was real sick.”

  “You called me?”

  “Yeah, and I left you a message, but you never called me back. My dad was so sick that I forgot all about it.” Odell pulled out his phone. “See.”

  Cole looked at the phone. “The last two numbers of my phone number are turned around.”

  “Oh, dang it, I do that a lot.”

  Cole put his correct number in Odell’s phone. “That happened months ago. Why are you just now telling me this?”

  “Because I was in Temple with my dad. He had to have his leg amputated below the knee, and my sister rented an apartment so we could stay there with him. He had a real bad infection. We didn’t think he was going to make it, and I would never leave my dad. We came home last week, and he’s doing great. I help him with his artificial leg and everything.”

  Cole patted his shoulder, knowing Odell didn’t mean any harm. “I’m glad.”

  “What happened to that baby?” Odell wanted to know.

  Cole pointed to Zoe, who was petting Gomer. “That’s her right there.”

  “You kept her.” Odell shook his head. “No, Cole, it was a little baby.” He put his hands out to show how little.

  “That was four months ago. Babies grow.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry about her mother.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She was dead. That’s why I didn’t put her in my truck and take her to the doctor. I put my hand in front of her nose like my daddy taught me, and she wasn’t breathing.”

  Cole patted Odell’s shoulder again. “She wasn’t dead, Odell. She was just really cold. I found her later, and that’s her right there.” He pointed to Grace standing by Grandpa.

  Odell couldn’t quite process everything. “Did I do something wrong, Cole?”

  “Everything turned out okay, but next time call Wyatt or someone you can talk to and don’t leave a message when something is that serious.”

  “I don’t like to call Wyatt. He’s always fussing at me for speeding in town.”

  “Odell, call Wyatt when something goes wrong.” His voice was stern, and it got Odell’s attention.

  “Okay.”

  Odell drove away, and Grace strolled to him. “What was that about?”

  He took her in his arms and smiled into her eyes. “The mystery is solved.”

  “What mystery?”

  “Of how Zoe got to Grandpa’s front porch.” He told her about Odell’s story.

  “Are you going to tell Grandpa?”

  “Not today. I’m going to let him believe that Grandma or Jamie sent you and Zoe for now. I kind of believe it myself.”

  “You do?”

  “I can’t explain what happened on that
cold winter day, but I know our two worlds collided in a good way, and I believe it took a little divine intervention for it to turn out the way it did.”

  She leaned back in his arms. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too.” He kissed her lips gently. “Now let’s see how Grandpa feels about a wedding.”

  Otis shot out of the barn, wings flapping and cock-a-doodle-dooing. Rascal barked. Gomer brayed, and Goober oinked. Zoe’s giggles filled the air, and Grandpa’s smile was as wide as Texas.

  “Welcome home.” Cole smiled into her beautiful eyes and wrapped his arms around her, feeling love all the way to his soul. Fear gripped him for a moment, but he knew they were both strong enough to handle the ups and downs of life. They’d been tested and survived. Now the future was theirs.

  EPILOGUE

  Five months later

  “CORA, I THOUGHT I couldn’t survive without you and that I had no life left, but I was wrong. I’m moving on now and living. Cole and Grace got married in the little church here in Horseshoe. It was beautiful. Made me misty-eyed. Our boy is happy now. We can’t go back and change his childhood, but despite it, he turned out to be a fine young man. I’m proud of him. I know you had a hand in sending Grace and Zoe here to the farm. It was your way to make up for his dismal childhood. Thank you for that. Grace is a kind and loving woman, and Cole is crazy about her. And Zoe Grace just lights up my life. I love her as if she was my own grandchild. And she is.

  “There have been some ups and downs, though. They both work in Austin, and they tried commuting and then they stayed at Grace’s house, but Grace was worried about me. Bless her heart. Did I tell you what a wonderful girl she is? But I have to take care of the place and the animals. Every now and then I go in and spend the day with Zoe. I firmly believe the young ones need time alone, and I’m doing fine by myself. I go to Bertie’s and eat or go down to the diner. I want my boy to be as happy as possible and not worry about me.

  “I know you know this already, but everything came to a head last week. Wyatt called and wanted to talk to Cole, so he went in to see him on a Sunday. He was offered a job by the DA’s office and the sheriff’s office as a criminal investigator. Crime has now come to Horseshoe, Texas, and they need someone with Cole’s experience on the team. I thought he would turn it down. He worked for years to get where he is in the Austin Police Department. But it was like a gift from heaven. Can you figure that one out? He’s taking the job, and the pay is good. And they’re remodeling the house and adding a master bedroom and bath and an office for Cole. The reno should be finished by Thanksgiving. Then we’re all moving back into the house. For now we’re living in Austin. I thought I would hate the city, but it’s not so bad. I take Zoe Grace and Rascal to the park every morning. Bertie’s feeding the animals. She’s a good old soul, and we couldn’t get through life without people like her.

  “That’s not all the good news. Grace was also offered a job here in Horseshoe as the director of the community center. We haven’t had one in a long time, and she’s just the one to plan things to keep the elderly busy. And it will give her more time to spend with Zoe. They’ll start their new jobs after the first of the year.

  “Did I tell you that Cole’s in the process of adopting Zoe? And if the amount of time they spend in the bedroom is any indication, there’ll be a new little one coming soon. That might make my heart explode. I never knew it was possible to be this happy. Maybe it’s because our boy’s so happy. He looks at Grace just the way Jamie looked at Beth. Now, don’t get your wings in a knot. It was wrong of you not to accept Beth. I guess you see that now or you wouldn’t have sent Grace and Zoe. Thank you, Cora. I won’t be talking to you much anymore. I don’t need to. I’ll be busy raising our grandchild. Give Jamie a kiss from me. I love you. Goodbye.”

  * * *

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  Second Chance for the Single Dad

  by Carol Ross

  CHAPTER ONE

  “HERE IT IS,” Anne McGrath called out, striding into her brother Rhys’s workshop. She stopped when she was a few feet away and held up a single sheet of notebook paper like it was a royal decree, one hand gripping the top edge and the other, the bottom. “The list.”

  Funny, Rhys thought, because their grandfather had always said that his sister’s red hair, pale complexion and middle name weren’t the only similarities she shared with Elizabeth I, arguably the most intelligent and formidable queen to ever wield the crown.

  Rhys swiveled in his chair, away from the drafting table where he’d been working on a new design. “Working” was a bit of an overstatement. Mostly, he’d been staring at the schematics for a radical new specialty wheelchair design and resenting the circumstances that had driven his sister to this list-making extreme. Anne ran her own public relations firm, so he couldn’t discount her success when it came to reputation building; he’d just never thought he’d need to rely on her skills. He’d purposely spent his life avoiding the type of antics that would make her services necessary. Little did he know how severely that would backfire.

  When Anne made no move to close the distance between them, he pointed with the pencil still gripped in his hand and asked, “Do you honestly believe that I can see what you’ve written on that paper from here?”

  “Be patient. Before you look, I want you to be aware of a few things.”

  “Such as?”

  “First of all, Harper helped me, as you suggested.”

  “Good,” Rhys said with a firm nod. He trusted Harper. Harper Jansen and her boyfriend Kyle Frasier were Rhys’s best friends in Pacific Cove. Okay, so they were his only friends. In the roughly two years he’d lived here, near the small Oregon Coast town, he hadn’t exactly ingratiated himself into the community. The fact that he didn’t allow visitors on his property, a vast historic headland fronting the Pacific Ocean, had not made him a popular guy. An occurrence that had suited him just fine, until very recently.

  “I think so,” she returned brightly. “Although some of the items might, um, surprise you.”

  His response was a noncommittal grumble. Already, he didn’t like the sound of this.

  “Bringing me to the second and most important point—you need to keep an open mind.”

  Rhys gave his head an annoyed shake. “I don’t understand that term, ‘open mind.’ If I have an opinion about something, but it conflicts with somebody else’s, or even a whole room full of somebodies, then that automatically means that my mind is the one that’s closed? Why does pointing out the facts label me as judgmental? How does disagreeing with the consensus make me wrong? Maybe I’m the enlightened one.”

  Lifting her eyebrows, Anne dropped her chin and peered up at him through her lashes as if he’d proven her point. Which, for the record, he had not. It wasn’t his fault people were so baffling and unreasonable.

  “Okay, Enlightened One, let’s save the philosophy discussion for another time. For now, I want you to look at this list and tell me which items appeal to you the most, and we’ll get started.” She stepped forward to hand over the paper but then quickly pulled it back. “No, scratch that, tell me the ones you abhor the least and that’s where we’ll begin.”

  “Just give it here,” Rhys said impatiently, reaching out and snatching the list from her hand. His head was shaking before he even began reading aloud, “Charity work. You want me to do charity work when I—” />
  “I know, I know. The entire country knows TOFL, but because of the fact that you eschew publicity, virtually no one knows that you are TOFL.” Rhys designed prosthetic limbs as well as tools and equipment for use specifically with those limbs. As a former navy SEAL, he’d seen the need for these items up close and personal. Through a consortium of fellow veterans, he’d started the charitable foundation, The Other Front Line, or TOFL, where his use of cutting-edge technology and his extensive network of military contacts got these items to wounded veterans. “If you would let me put out a press release about your work, then maybe—”

  “No.” Rhys cut her off. “I don’t want to be recognized for TOFL. That’s part of our consortium agreement—we don’t generate personal publicity. I don’t want anything to—”

  “Take the focus away from our veterans. I know, and I get that.” Expression determined, she paused for a second and then, almost like she couldn’t help herself, added quickly, “Even though from a PR perspective, I don’t agree. But what about the youth center?” Privately, with a few of his consortium buddies, Rhys had proposed the construction of a youth center in Pacific Cove. A place for kids to hang out, play games and sports, study, get help with homework or just be.

  “That’s just money. Anyone can write a check.”

  Anne sighed. “But you’re the driving force behind the whole concept.”

  “It hasn’t been finalized yet. There’s nothing to announce.”

  “Fine. Then we’re back to the list. Harper and I are thinking local charity work. You know, activities where you actually show your face. Like one of those organizations that builds houses for the needy. Kyle and his brother-in-law Jay volunteer for one.”

  Rhys took a second to think. This was work he would enjoy that required minimal social interaction. He already knew Kyle, and he’d even met Jay Johnston and his wife, Mia, once. Jay was former Coast Guard and seemed like a good guy. “That might work.”

  “Keep reading.”