Page 40 of Finding Home

Cole heard Julie’s car on the gravel driveway at half past ten.

Setting his glasses on the table, he went to the door before she got a chance to knock.

A week after being discharged from the hospital, the bone-weary tiredness that he’d felt wasn’t any better. Concentrating on anything was nearly impossible, reading had become a chore.

For the last forty minutes, he’d been staring at the same page of a document, trying to piece together the recommendations that didn’t make a lot of sense. The only good thing to come out of his time at the hospital was a delay in the hearing and their investors who were willing to give them another few weeks to get the resort back on track.

He opened the front door and smiled. Julie was coming up the path with a basket in her hands, and her jacket unzipped despite the cold.

“You don’t have to keep checking on me,” he said.

“I know. Maria gave me more soup. I’m still trying to get through the first container, so I thought you might like some.”

Cole stepped back and let her in.

She moved through his cottage without making a production of it, shrugging off her jacket, putting the soup in the fridge. She glanced once at the blanket on the sofa and said nothing about it.

Cole had pulled it out at nine that morning and felt mortified about it ever since. Not because of the blanket itself, but because it was evidence of something he was still adjusting to. The fact that his body had become a thing that required management. That he could no longer do everything he wanted to.

He lowered himself into the chair at the kitchen table. His movements were deliberate in a way that still caught him off guard. “James arrives tomorrow for his second visit,” he said as Julie sat opposite him.

She handed him a cookie from the basket. “I know. Noah told me.”

Cole wasn’t surprised. Whether he wanted it or not, a safety net had formed around him where everyone seemed to know what he was doing before he did. “I told him it wasn’t necessary. He only saw me last week at the hospital.”

“He’s coming because he cares about you. You’ve got plenty of room for him to stay here, so it’s a win-win for everyone.”

Cole looked at his hands. “That’s what he said, too. Did Noah tell you about Penny Terry, too?”

Julie shook her head. “Is she Mabel’s daughter?”

“She is. Noah spoke to her this morning and she’s going to provide us with bridging finance to keep the resort on track.”

Julie’s mouth dropped open. “That’s wonderful news. Does that mean you don’t have to use your own money?”

He wished it did, but at least they’d have the funds to keep the bank and their suppliers happy. “I’ll still have to use some of my savings, but it takes a lot of the financial pressure off Noah and me.”

Julie frowned. “You don’t seem as excited by the news as I thought.”

Cole picked up his glasses and turned them over. “We still can’t do any work at Finley Point until the suspension is over. To make it worse, the doctors don’t want me to do any work for another four weeks.”

Julie said nothing.

“I know Noah can look after everything.” Cole looked up. “He’s been managing most of it for months. I’m just worried about the project. Even though the site is closed, there’s still a mountain of work to do.”

“He can handle it,” Julie told him gently.

Cole took a deep breath. “I’m not sure what four weeks of not working looks like. What do I do with myself? Who I am when I’m not—” He stopped again.

Julie held his gaze. “It probably looks like sitting at this table, doing exactly what you’re already doing, and trusting Noah to call you if he needs help.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” he said. “I’m not used to sitting still, waiting for something to happen.”

“I know.”

He let that settle. Outside, the wind moved through the pines along the back of the property and went quiet again. “Beth sent a casserole,” he said.

“She mentioned it.”