CHAPTER NINE
Cole let himself into his apartment, all the while wishing that he was at his house. Unfortunately, with his schedule for the next week, it didn’t make sense for him to drive the distance to the house. The busyness of his days was about to kick up a notch. It was nothing new, but he didn’t find himself thriving on it like he had in years past.
He dropped his bag just inside the door, then headed for the kitchen, fishing his phone out of his pocket as he went. The gleaming kitchen was spotless as he walked in, and for a moment, he longed for the often chaotic scenes of his mom’s kitchen.
Setting his phone on the counter, he went to the fridge and pulled out one of the meals his meal prep service had dropped off earlier in the week. He’d tried a few meal prep companies before settling on his current one.
While he’d needed nutritious and healthy food, he also wanted it to taste good. In previous years, he’d put up with some blah tasting food, just because it was healthy. But he’d decided that he wanted more satisfaction from his meals, which was how he’d ended up with his current company.
Once he’d put his favorite meal of chicken Alfredo with broccoli, heavy on the grilled chicken and broccoli, into the microwave to heat it up, he picked his phone back up. After a moment’s hesitation, he tapped the contact to call Annie.
He hadn’t talked to her in a couple of days, and he was missing her more than he’d thought he would. Texts just weren’t the same after having a steady diet of video calls with her.
“Hey!” he said with a smile when Annie appeared on his phone. More than just her face was on the screen, which meant that she was probably working and had answered the call on her tablet. “How’s it going?”
Shifting to face the screen more fully, a smile bloomed across her face, lighting up her features. “It’s going really well. How about with you? Congrats on the win, by the way.”
“You watched the game?”
She gave a huff of laughter. “Of course we did. Benji came over, and we cheered you on together.”
Cole leaned a hip against the counter, unable to keep the smile from his face. He liked the idea of her cheering him on, and he hoped that she could do it in person at some point.
“It was good to get a win for the first official game of the season,” Cole said.
“The game was great,” Annie said. “For the most part, you all looked pretty good.”
“For the most part,” Cole agreed with a laugh. “We had a few missteps, but they were mainly from the new guys on the team. It takes a bit of time and effort for them to gel with the rest of us and find their stride. But that’s just how it goes. Thankfully, we still pulled off the win.”
“I saw your interview after the game,” Annie said.
Cole lifted his eyebrows. “How did I do?”
Annie laughed, a gentle utterance that drew him in and made him want to laugh along with her. “You’re a pro. How do you think you did?”
“I’ve done a lot of those interviews,” Cole agreed with a shrug. “Thankfully, I wasn’t tapped to do the more formal post-game media interviews.”
“You don’t like doing them?”
“Eh. I don’t hate them, but too often, it’s the same questions over and over, and they don’t always center on the game. I don’t like that. The courtside interviews immediately following the game are more my jam. They’re usually focused on the game, which is what I prefer.”
“Is it always the same person who interviews you for that?”
Cole shook his head. “It changes depending on where we’re playing. Kaity is the one who interviews us for home games.”
“It seemed like you were very comfortable,” Annie said. “Like you were friends.”
Cole stared into the camera for a moment before he responded. “Kaity is very popular among the players, mainly because she’s friendly, yet professional. Most of us who’ve been around for the duration of her job have come to regard her as a sister.”
That wasn’t entirely true, but Cole decided not to expound on it. In truth, all the single guys on the team had tried to shoot their shot with her at one time or another. However, she’d shut them all down. She’d had a boyfriend—now husband—who she adored and who, by all accounts, adored Kaity in return.
Thinking over Annie’s comment, Cole wondered for a moment if she was jealous. But why would she be? They were still just friends. Weren’t they? Or was she starting to have feelings for him, the way he was for her?
The ringing of Annie’s phone interrupted his thoughts. He watched her as she leaned over to look at the screen. A frown grew on her face as a result of whatever she saw there. Reaching out, she tapped the screen, then pushed the phone to the side.
“Spam call?” Cole asked.
Annie wrinkled her nose. “Worse.”
“What could be worse than spam?”
“My brother.”
“You don’t want to talk to Benji?”
“No. It’s not Benji. It’s my other brother, Julian.”
“Oh, ” Cole said. “Do you not get along with him?”
“I usually don’t have a problem with him,” she said. “But I do at the moment.”
“What did he do?”
Annie hesitated for a moment, then said, “You know that Benji and I don’t share the same mom, right?”
“Yes. You mentioned that.”
“Well, recently my mom—my birth mom—contacted my dad to pass on her request to see me.”
Many questions exploded in Cole’s mind, and he tried to figure out if it would be rude to ask any of them. “So, uh… you don’t have contact with her?”
“No.” Annie tugged the band holding her hair up on top of her head loose, allowing her hair to spill across her shoulders. Without hesitating, she gathered it up again. “We experienced a family tragedy when I was young, which resulted in my mom leaving us and divorcing my dad.”
“And she didn’t want custody of you kids?”
Annie sighed. “Actually, she wanted to keep seeing Julian. Just not me.”
Cole could hear the hurt in her voice. “That must have been difficult.”
“Not really. It happened when I was three, so I really have no memory of her. Julian is seven years older than me, so he had a much closer relationship with her.”
“And now she wants a relationship with you?”
“I guess.” Annie shrugged. “Every once in a while, she’ll contact my dad about talking to me. He passes on the request, and when I say no, she goes to Julian and he calls me to tell me I need to talk to her.”
“You have no interest in having a conversation with her?”
Annie shook her head. “No. Benji’s mom is more of a mom to me than I can remember my own mom being.”
“Has she had other kids since leaving your dad?”
A look of pain passed across Annie’s face. “Yes. She had two more girls.”
Cole was at a loss as to what to say to ease her pain. “Do you know that four of my siblings are adopted?”
Annie looked back into the camera of her tablet. “Yes. Benji had mentioned that when he first learned about you, after deciding you were his favorite player.”
“And then I suppose he realized that Jay and I couldn’t be biological brothers when he started to play on the high school team.”
That brought a small smile to Annie’s face. “Yeah. He mentioned it again then, too.”
“None of them have mentioned talking to their birth parents,” Cole said. “Well, Jay and Janessa can’t since their parents have passed away, but Zane and Lee have never said anything—to me, at least—about wanting to talk to their birth parents. So you’re not alone in not wanting to speak to your mom.”
“I think I struggle a lot with this because one of the things I’ve learned since becoming a Christian is that I should forgive people.” Her shoulders slumped as she wrapped her arms across her waist. “I don’t want to have her apologize to me. I don’t want to have to forgive her for what she did to me.”
Cole understood where she was coming from. He’d heard all about forgiving people as he’d grown up. It wasn’t an easy thing to do in general. But to forgive a parent for abandoning you? Especially when they hadn’t abandoned a sibling? That would be hard for most people.
“Will your brother keep calling you?” Cole asked. “Or will he give up?”
“Usually he stops after awhile,” Annie said. “But he’s persisted longer this time. I have a feeling he’s going to show up on my doorstep soon to have a conversation.”
“Can your dad tell him to back off?”
“He has, in the past, but Julian doesn’t always listen to him. They’ve had their own difficulties over the years.”
It pained Cole to know that she came from a family with so much tragedy and dysfunction. “Are you close to your dad?”
Without hesitation, she nodded. “We don’t agree on everything, but I know he loves me. He was there for me when my mother wasn’t, and he’s been a good—if somewhat overprotective—parent ever since.”
“Is he overprotective because of the tragedy you mentioned?” Cole asked, curious about what had happened to shatter her family so badly.
Annie looked toward the window, her gaze becoming distant and unfocused. After a couple of moments, she shifted her attention back to him and nodded. He waited for her to give more details, but she didn’t say anything.
“My parents aren’t too overprotective,” Cole said to fill the silence. “I think it’s hard to be that way when you have ten kids.”
“I suppose that’s true. My dad only has two that he’s overprotective of.”
“Even though he has three kids?”
“Julian has never let my dad be that way with him. If Dad told him to do something, he’d do the opposite.”
“At one time, Mom and Dad tried to control Wilder, who is the most adventurous of all of us. They eventually gave up and just let him live his life. He’s settled down a lot now that he’s with Lexi.”
Annie smiled. “I like Lexi. We’ve spoken several times as we’ve worked on a skating costume for Amelia.”
“Have you finished the dress?” Cole asked.
“Yep. Just the other day.” Annie leaned forward and picked up the tablet.
As she moved around, Cole got small glimpses of the space beyond her work area. Soon, the tablet stabilized, and he found himself staring at a headless dress form covered with a flowing dress in shades of green and cream with sparkling crystals on it.
Annie stepped into the frame beside the mannequin, her fingers drifting over the fabric. “I think it turned out really well.”
“It’s beautiful,” Cole said, and he meant it. “I bet Amelia loves it.”
“She hasn’t seen the completed project yet. I made a mock-up first since I hadn’t sewn a lot with these types of fabrics. So she tried the mock-up on before I made this one. I’m going to take it to her tomorrow to try on.”
“I’m sure she’s going to be thrilled,” Cole said.
Annie turned her back to the camera as she looked at it. Cole grinned, glad that she had a connection with his family beyond him. For some reason, that was important to him.
Remembering that he’d put his food into the microwave, Cole moved to open it as he watched Annie circle the mannequin. It was almost like she’d forgotten he was there.
“Are you going to go into the business of making skating dresses?” Cole asked as he set his plate down at the island counter and then filled a glass of water from the dispenser on his fridge.
Annie turned toward him, a beaming smile on her face. “I’m not sure, but I definitely enjoyed the challenge of making this one. If Amelia likes it, maybe I’ll make more for her in the future.”
“Doesn’t she usually have two programs?” Cole asked. He wasn’t super informed on the sport, but he had watched a couple of videos of Amelia competing, and he was pretty sure she had a short and a long program.
“Yes, she has two,” Annie said with a nod. “But we decided to just start with the outfit for the short program. If it goes well, then we’ll talk about something for the long program.”
“Maybe you could take your sewing career in a new direction,” Cole suggested between bites of his dinner.
Annie’s face took on a reserved expression. “I don’t know about that. I think I’ll probably just stick to doing Amelia’s.”
Cole found her response interesting. Clearly, she had some initiative. She’d started up an online business that supported her and seemed to be something she enjoyed. Most people would jump at the chance to expand their business and increase their income. Why wouldn’t she?
“You wouldn’t want to design and sew skating costumes for other skaters?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve enjoyed the experience, but I also enjoy sewing the items I already do. Plus, I didn’t design Amelia’s dress. That was all Lexi. I just sewed it.”
“Which was pretty important,” Cole told her. “Without you, it was just a picture on a piece of paper.”
“I suppose that’s true,” Annie said with a small smile. “Maybe if Lexi has other designs she wants created for her other students, I might give it a try again.”
Annie picked up the tablet from where she’d set it to show him the dress. Cole kept eating as she set the tablet down where it had been originally.
She moved the chair she’d been sitting on earlier closer to the tablet, then sat down, giving him her full attention.
Cole took in her delicate features, framed by wisps of hair that had escaped the messy bun she’d pulled her hair up into earlier. Something stirred inside him as he finally accepted that his interest in her was more than just a simple friendship.
But did she feel the same way?
Unfortunately, starting something more serious right at the beginning of the season wasn’t the best idea. He would only get busier as he started to travel for away games. So maybe he had to just keep things as friends for the time being.
“Is there something on my face?” Annie asked, leaning forward to stare at her image on the tablet.
Cole chuckled. “Nope. Just got lost in thought.”
“So I’m boring you, huh?”
“Oh, definitely not,” Cole assured her. “It’s the opposite, in fact. You are quite fascinating to me, actually.”
“I am?” Annie’s eyes widened as she straightened. “No one’s said that to me before.”
“You’re just very talented, and that always fascinates me about a person.”
“Talented?” Her brow furrowed. “You mean my sewing?”
“Yep. I definitely can’t create things the way you do. My friends’ wives still rave about how lovely the items you sent them were.”
Annie smiled. “I got several orders from customers who said they’d been referred by your friends. I sure appreciated that.”
“I’m glad they shared your site. I’ve told other people with kids about it too.”
“That’s great. Unfortunately, I’ve sold out of several things, so I’m having to make more of each item. It’s a good problem to have, however.”
They continued to chat as he finished his meal. Annie had picked up some fabric and was working on it as they talked. After his high level of activity and intensity of the day, it was the perfect way to unwind.
And even though they touched on the game, it wasn’t the focus of their conversation. It was something he really appreciated.
Time with Annie had a way of reminding him of when his life had been simpler. Back before he’d become a household name. When he played the game for passion and not for a paycheck. When he’d been surrounded by people he loved and trusted.
She didn’t seem to care about his fame or his fortune, which was amazing. There had been a lot of people in his life who hadn’t managed to look past either of those things. Those who could were usually people who were at his financial level or higher. It was very unusual to find someone who lived an average life that wasn’t swayed by his lifestyle.
Her brother might be in awe of those things about him, but Annie didn’t appear to be. Which was just one of the many reasons why he couldn’t seem to stay away from her.
Already he had a difficult time imagining life without her, so he didn’t even bother. Though he might want things to move more quickly, he knew that with everything going on with that season and his future, slow was probably better, even though patience in this situation felt like it would be the hardest thing ever.