Page 63 of Ruff and Tumble

“It’s not like that—” she began, but she stopped herself short. Technically, itwaslike that. That night on her couch was burned into her memory, tingling in places better left unmentioned while in the presence of so many children. So was the fact that Cole showed every intention of wishing to repeat his performance, kissing her in full view of the world and bringing her to the hospital to visit his father. Sometime in the past week, their relationship had officially become a thing.

The idea of their entanglement was reinforced when Cole glanced up from the child’s bedside and caught her eye. The smile he gave her—that deep, dimpled,devastatingsmile—was impossible to ignore and even more impossible not to return.

So she did.

Amara saw it, of course. The doctor sighed as though she’d made the match herself. “I can’t wait to tell my husband,” she said. “He was heartbroken when the Lumberjacks lost to the Timberwolves last year. Whatever you’re doing, keep it up. I haven’t seen Cole like this in a long time.”

“Like what?” Hailey couldn’t help asking.

“Not as stiff in his movements. Not as worried about his shoulder. We noticed it in the game last Sunday, but I chalked it up to the new pain meds his doctors switched him to.” She beamed at Hailey. “I’d much rather it be this. I worry about him.”

“Worry about him?” she echoed.

“Of course. Don’t you?”

Hailey didn’t have a chance to follow up before the man in question finished his last game of checkers and came up to join them.

“Well, I think that’s all of them.” Cole bore the self-satisfied look of a man who’d just made two dozen children deliriously happy—and enjoyed himself in the process. “Now they’re pumped up and likely to keep your nurses awake all night. You’re welcome.”

Amara chuckled but showed no signs of dismay as she accompanied them down the hallway. Hailey wished she could say the same. Dismay was all over her—in the careful way she took each step, in the way her head whirled, in how her heart wouldn’t stop pounding.

“Thank you for playing along,” he said, the words low and next to her ear. “I know this wasn’t how you planned to spend your evening, but they’re good kids.”

“Of course,” she murmured back but without fully registering his words. She was too busy trying to make sense of this new information.

Cole was stiff? There was something wrong with his shoulder?I’m supposed to be worried about him?

“Was that our faces I saw on the news just now or another pair of puppy-drafting professionals?” he asked, louder this time.

Amara answered for her. “I was telling Hailey that you two have been the highlight all week. Everyone is sure that this year’s Kickoff Cup will be the one to end all Kickoff Cups.”

“Excellent,” he said, more to himself than to either of them. “That’s exactly what we were hoping for.”

Hailey stepped back as Cole and Amara made plans for a future visit to the hospital as soon as the Kickoff Cup was over and Cole’s schedule returned to normal. It was a perfectly ordinary conversation, and nothing about it should have upset her, but her stomach felt tight at every word.

“What’s wrong?” Cole asked as soon as Amara walked away and the two of them were left alone next to a waiting room filled with half-finished puzzles and several battered board-game boxes. “What did Amara tell you to make you look like that? Whatever it was, she was lying.”

Hailey smiled but didn’t allow herself to be charmed. “She sang your praises, naturally. What else could she do? You’re really good with those children.”

“I like kids. I always have.” He gave a half shrug, dismissing his generosity as easily as if it were a pair of socks with his face knitted into the toes. “Well, what’s next? A cup of coffee and a snack cake in the cafeteria? Some of those strange vending-machine french fries that only seem to exist in hospitals? I brought you all this way. The least I can do is feed you.”

She could appreciate what he was trying to do, but she’d never been any good at pretense, and she wasn’t likely to start now. There was no way she could eat vending-machine fries without giving everything away.

“I think I’d like to go home, if that’s all right with you,” she said. “It’s been a long day, and if there are going to be reporters showing up at my house demanding that I throw dice or nail horseshoes over my doorstep, I need to start preparing now.”

Cole laughed but didn’t press her. “Just open the door and let them get a glimpse of your living room,” he said. “If that doesn’t convince them you mean business, I don’t know what will.”

Chapter 15

There were times when Hailey wished she had a bigger house so she could have a roommate—not just someone to split the bills with but someone to split her time with, someone to make the place less lonely on cold, gray winter nights when the whole world seemed to be asleep.

This was not one of those times.

“It’s a good thing I tried—and failed—to take up knitting last year,” she said to the puppy she held cradled in the crook of one arm. Rufus had just finished a very satisfactory bottle and emitted a sleepy yawn. “This red yarn adds a touch of pizzazz to the whole thing, don’t you think?”

Now that he was sated and cozy, the puppy answered by drifting off to sleep. Which was for the best, really. Even a three-week-old runt of the litter would find it easy to judge her for this latest exploit.

She stepped back and viewed her handiwork.