Page 139 of Shelter
Cole stood, his face tense and closed down. “Let me just give her a call,” he said and then he headed for the door. “Excuse me, ladies.” Lifting his phone to his ear, he stepped outside without a backward glance.
Mama squeezed my knee in a vice-like grip, and I tore my eyes from the door to find her bug-eyed and smiling like a fiend.
“Well, no wonder he was asking me if you were seeing anybody!” she gushed, smacking my knee with her open palm. “I used to think he had a little crush on you back in the old days, but I completely forgot about that.”
My eyes blinked like a strobe light. “Y-you did? You thought he had a crush on me?”
Mama looked at me like I was half-witted. “Uh, the way his eyes used to follow you when you walked into the room? The way he used to tease you and make you so mad? Heck, anybody would have noticed.” Mama shook her head with a mixture of impatience and pity. “And you were too busy pretending to hate his guts to notice how he’d light up whenever you gave him a minute of your time.”
Was that how it had been? Obvious to anyone and everyone but me?
“Now,” she said, giving my knee a shake. “What are you fretting about? It’s Sunday. That boy out there is crazy about you. And we’re about to have one of your favorites. You should be grinning from ear to ear.”
I sighed. This was why I never bothered lying to Mama. She knew how to read me too well. I nodded toward her front door. “He’s worried about Ava.”
Mama winced and closed her eyes. I knew she was saying a silent prayer for Ava. I hoped it would work. When she opened them again, she studied me for a moment. “He’s worried about Ava, and you’re worried about him.”
Yep, she could read me far too well. I nodded, grimacing. “If he comes back and says she’s not coming, please don’t make a fuss.”
She gave me a look of offended innocence. “When have I ever made a fuss?”
Chapter 30
ELISE
Ava was a no-show. And Mama, to her credit, barely batted an eye when Cole broke the news. Instead, she put us to work setting the table while she sliced the roast and served our plates.
As we sat down to the meal, I caught Cole checking his phone’s Find My Friends app, and his shoulders visibly lowered. He tucked the device into his pocket as I passed him the basket of Mama’s yeast rolls.
“She’s home,” he muttered to me. Then he took the basket from me and peered inside. “Oh my God, Flora. Are these the same as the ones you used to make for dinner?”
Mama beamed. “The very same.”
Uttering a grunt of primal satisfaction, he helped himself to two rolls, and I let myself relax. From the moment Cole had said he hadn’t been paying enough attention to Ava, I’d nearly gone rigid. I was the reason for that. And I knew that this was possibly the first time in eight years that his single-minded focus had not been on his sister. If she hadn’t been alright, what would have happened? Would Cole have blamed himself?
Would he have blamed me?
I didn’t want to think about that, so I tucked that niggling worry out of sight and passed him the dish of green beans.
After dinner, dessert, and another hour visiting with Mama, we said our goodbyes, and Cole walked me to my car. On the way, he grabbed my hand.
“What are the chances I could convince you to come back home with me?”
I bit my lip. I wanted to stay with him, to keep him close, but we’d been living in a bubble for almost forty-eight hours. I was eager for Cole to check on Ava, if only to prove that whatever had gone on with her today had nothing to do with me. And I needed to return to the real world to prove to myself what we had wasn’t a dream.
I also needed to do laundry.
If I could go through my mundane Sunday evening routine, I reasoned, and survive a regular Monday, this might all start to feel real. And I might be able to trust that it would last.
“Your silence isn’t very encouraging,” Cole said, his dry tone making me laugh.
“I’m sorry. It just might be wise to take it easy tonight.”
We’d reached my car, but he stopped a few feet away from it, studying me. “We could have a strictly PG night. Cuddle on the couch. In bed by ten. Dressed in pajamas from head to toe.” His mouth curved up with the hint of a smile, but in his eyes I saw gentleness. Concern. Pleading.
I squeezed his hand. “It’s not that,” I said, shaking my head. “I just think it would be a good idea to sleep in my own bed. Get my head out of the clouds and check in with reality for a little while, you know?”
His gaze locked with mine. “Thisismy new reality.” Cole’s voice was low, and it touched me like a caress. My breath halted in my lungs. “But I won’t push you.”
