Chapter 15 #2
“Because girls talk about their proposal for decades,” Cole said, and he lay his arms over the folder and rested his face in them. “And I’m…simple.” He raised his head. “I’m simple, Daddy, and girls don’t want a simple proposal.”
“Coley-Cub,” Sunny said, and he looked at her as she covered his elbow with both of hers.
He raised his head, because Sunny still used Rosie’s nickname but she’d stopped using his a couple of years ago, after his friends had teased him about it.
“She loves you.” Sunny slid her hand down to his and patted his fingers. “I’ve seen the two of you together, and she loves you. The proposal is going to feel magical to her, no matter what it is, because she loves you.”
She nodded, her gaze flicking over to Daddy.
Cole’s emotions stormed through him, and he nodded when Sunny looked back to him.
“I’m just having Harry delay her from coming into dinner, and that will give me, her parents, Charcoal, and Warren time to decorate the dinner table with flowers and candy. ”
Cole had spent his time alone last night in downtown Coral Canyon, getting all the things he needed for this proposal, but now it didn’t feel like enough. “It’s flowers and candy. It’s going to be so lame.”
“What kind of flowers?” Daddy asked, as if that mattered at all.
“Rachel likes lilies,” Cole said, his voice betraying the fact that he’d barely slept last night. “And sunflowers. So lilies and sunflowers. And she loves Bit-O-Honey and those Starburst packs that are all red. I got a bunch of those.”
“Then she’ll love it,” Sunny said. “Cole, it’s not about the what. The fact that you’re showing up with lilies and not roses will tell her that you know her. That you love her. That you’re trying to please her—and that means a lot to a woman.”
Daddy tapped the corner of the folder. “Cole, I know you’ve been worried about what you have to offer this woman, and Sunny and I have prayed and prayed over you.”
“And Rachel,” Sunny whispered.
“Right.” Daddy cleared his throat and tugged the folder free. “I think you’re a stellar young man, and I maybe haven’t made that clear to you.”
Cole stared at his father, trying to make sense of what was happening right in front of him.
“I know you’ve struggled with what to do with your life, and boy, have I been there.” Daddy looked down at the pages in the folders. “This is a trust Sunny and I set up. We have one for each of you kids, but no one else knows about them.”
“Not Rosie,” Sunny said, and it seemed like she and Daddy had rehearsed this a little bit. “We’d like to be the ones to tell her, so please keep this to yourself for now.”
Cole swung his attention to her and nodded. “Of course,” he said, his voice coming out froggy and hardly like his own.
“I rode the circuit for a long time,” Daddy said. “And while I didn’t win as much as Blaze, I still won a lot. And Uncle Gabe is a genius, and he’s made it possible for me not to have to work ever again.”
Cole blinked, because he knew his daddy had money. He didn’t know how much, and his father had always been quite frugal, especially when it came to giving money to him.
“The idea was that you’d have access to the trust when you turned twenty-one, which is only a couple of months from now,” Daddy said. “And with you getting engaged tonight.” He paused to smile. “You might want to talk to Rachel about this.”
His eyes dropped to the papers again, and this time, Cole’s did too. When he didn’t go on, Cole whispered, “Daddy?”
When his father looked up, he carried tears in his eyes. “I know I haven’t been the best father for you.”
“Daddy.” Cole shook his head. “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re a great dad.”
“I did my best, and I try to get better every day,” Daddy said. “And I know this can’t make up for those years I wasn’t around, and all the mistakes I’ve made, but I want you to know that my life is empty and meaningless without you as my son.”
Cole’s chest collapsed, and while he didn’t cry very often, he certainly felt like doing so now.
“It’s just money,” Daddy whispered, and he turned the folder around. “But it should get you and Rachel off to a good start, and you can come to me and Sunny at any time for advice.”
“Or Uncle Gabe,” Sunny said. “He’s quite the investor.”
“Yeah, I remember when Uncle Luke was named a billionaire,” Cole murmured, his vision miraculously working now. He took the folder from his father and stared at the number there.
He looked up again, his pulse racing through his body, and his adrenaline making the world fuzzy around the edges for a moment. “Daddy, I think there’s too many zeroes on this.”
“Nope.” Daddy’s jaw strengthened as he shook his head. “One million dollars. For you, for Rosie, for Ladd, and for Skye.” He put both hands over his heart. “My heart and soul.”
Cole let his tears fall down his face, and he abandoned the folder on the table and lunged toward his father. Thankfully, his daddy caught him and pulled him right into his chest, holding him tight and close as Cole wept.
“I love you, son,” Daddy whispered. “I know you worry about making me proud, and I want you to stop doing that. You’re a fine young man, and I couldn’t be prouder to be your father.”
He’d just given Cole the gift he’d been craving for years now. “I love you,” he choked out. He pulled away and let his father cradle his face in his hands. The love between them knitted itself down in Cole’s soul, and he finally felt like he and his father had found common ground.
His father pulled back and looked over to Sunny. “She’s just as responsible for this as I am.”
“Yeah, I’m still working.”
Cole turned toward Sunny and found her wiping her eyes. He leaned over and hugged her too, this good woman who’d married his father, taken him into her life without question, and loved him unconditionally. “Thank you, Sunny. I love you too.”
“Mm, you’re my favorite boy ever,” Sunny said, her voice thick with emotion.
“So.” Daddy drew in a deep breath. “Stop all this thinking and talk about how you’re not good enough for Rachel.” He thumped the folder on the table again. “You’re a millionaire, and you know she loves you for you, and not your money.”
Cole nodded, his adrenaline falling and allowing the numbness to set in. Daddy got to his feet and exhaled. “Ah, the coffee’s done. I have to get going, or I’ll be late.” He walked into the kitchen and noisily got down a mug from the cupboard.
“Oh, and I’ll text Wyatt and set up something for dinner.”
“Okay.” Cole reached for the folder and looked at Sunny. “This is mine?”
“That’s yours, Cubby.” She smiled and stood too. “It has all the account information you need to access the trust, and I think your daddy is going to go change the date you can do that today.”
“Yep,” he said. “After my meeting and my breakfast with Mav and Blaze.”
Cole got up and faced the kitchen. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Thank you would work,” Daddy said.
“Thank you,” Cole said, not realizing the power those words could carry until he said them with such sincerity and love. Giddiness started to prance through him. “I can tell Rachel?”
Daddy stirred his cream and sugar into his coffee, and then waved the spoon toward Cole. “Tell away. We’ll talk to Rosie this afternoon when she gets home from work.”
“I’m probably going to stay at Cash’s again tonight,” Cole said.
“I figured,” Daddy said with a smile. He lifted his mug to his lips and took a sip of his coffee. “Go on. Go wear a hole in Rachel’s floor instead of mine.”
Cole hurried into the kitchen and enveloped his daddy into another hug. “Thank you, Daddy. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
With that and the folder gripped tightly in his hand, he grabbed his keys, coat, and wallet and left the house. He started his truck, which he got to park in the third garage stall, and tapped to call his almost-fiancée.
“Hey, you,” Rachel said after only one and a half rings. “You’re up early.”
“And I’m on my way to you,” he said. “You’ll never believe what happened this morning….”