Chapter 42
YASMINE
If someone had told me all those weeks ago that I would be sitting on the porch with the sexy guy I met on a transformative flight, I would never have believed them.
Here I am, observing him laugh and joke with his three brothers and their partners about losing a terrible tennis match this morning at a local championship.
The rule mandates that they must all wear ugly shirts for the rest of the day, and we need to provide photographic evidence every hour.
They are currently in these shirts, which resemble something like a bad Hawaiian shirt mixed with emojis, zigzags, and leopard print—utterly hideous.
Every day I learn more and more about Cole and his family. Not only are they close but they look after each other and support each other whatever life throws at them, and in the past week there has been lots.
Firstly, Cole’s father had a nasty fall and ended up in the hospital due to his head injury. Luckily he’s over the worst but at one point we didn’t think he was going to wake up.
It’s a miracle he did and I count my blessings every day that my mom is fully competent and her heart is ticking away nicely.
Then Sapphire, Eli’s girlfriend, went missing a few days later while on her way to visit her parents in the Sierra Foothills. It was badly timed as one of the worst mudslides they’ve ever had in the area hit, leading to a full-scale rescue to find her.
With the help of Cole’s friend, a search-and-rescue pilot, she was found safe and sound, but for a while there, it was a worry.
Then to add even more drama, Nathan and Arianna’s baby arrived when we least expected it.
While I might never have officially met everyone until today, all of Cole’s stress has been weighing on me, which is why I’m sure I haven’t been feeling like myself for days.
“You didn’t eat much at lunch, are you okay?” Cole asks, walking toward me as I take a sip of my water.
I reassure him, saying, “I’m fine.” You can see how much his family means to him, and they are great, just like him.
It’s also clear how much his brothers love their partners.
Max and Paige may not be married yet, but they are practically there, and Max is so in love with little Alfie, Paige’s little boy, that he treats him as if he’s his.
Eli is completely smitten with Sapphire and keeps following her around to make sure she doesn’t have to walk too far, since her sprained ankle from the accident still hasn’t fully healed.
And Nathan hasn’t let go of his new bundle of joy, little Riley, who is the cutest, and I hate to think about what he will be like with her later. No boys allowed. Never.
“Do you think Eli and Sapphire will ever have a family?”
“Absolutely.”
“And what about you?” It’s something we’ve never discussed in depth; it was more of a fleeting comment we touched on only briefly the day he asked me to move in with him.
Cole shakes his head and I can’t work out if he means that it’s a straight-up no or he’s thinking about it until he says, “I want kids. Eventually. But that’s not on my timeline right now. What about you?”
“I respect your honesty. But I do want to start a family one day.”
“Our timelines align, Yasmine. I share your goals, but I want to enjoy our time first. Maybe travel by boat or car.” He chuckles, prompting an eye roll from me at his teasing.
“I’m not ready for a family yet, especially since we’ve just met.
I want to get to know you better, learn everything about you, and spend relaxed mornings together.
I also value the freedom to do as we please before taking on a big responsibility like having children. ”
I actually share the same feeling, and I have many career goals I want to pursue first.
“Would you want to do the marriage thing first?” He’s probably more of a traditionalist than he thinks he is.
“Nah. None of that kind of thing bothers me.” Cole tilts his head to the side. “What’s brought all of this on?”
I shift my attention to his family. “Arianna and Nathan seem so close and happy with a baby and marriage. It’s nice.
” I nearly feel jealous, like I’m missing out on something.
Whatever they have, I want it. With Cole.
Only Cole. “I can see myself like that with you,” I blurt out, then immediately regret it.
“I shouldn’t have said that. I’m clearly hormonal or something today.
Babies do strange things to women.” Like make their ovaries ache with a surge of urgency to have a baby.
When I held little Riley, it sparked something in me—something warm, a desire to protect and nurture, a longing I didn’t even realize I had.
Cole shifts in his chair to face me, and I do the same, coming face to face with him.
“We’ll have that one day.”
“Yeah?” Hope blooms in my chest.
“Yeah. You’re the only woman I have ever imagined myself starting a family with.”
“Will they have coffins for beds to match the church we’re going to live in?”
His nose crinkles in amusement. “Yeah. And everyone in the neighborhood will call us the Adams Family.”
I lean into him with a relaxed smile. “Would we get married here on the ranch?” Cole’s parents may have bought this place on the outskirts of the city to retire on, but Cole’s mom, Michelle, has turned it into one of the most sought-after wedding venues to have your wedding.
“Every wedding they do here is white and cream and blah.” He fake gags as he pretends to stick his fingers down his throat.
“Then we’ll have a dark wedding.” I always imagined getting married in a white wedding dress with a black lace corset covered in black embellishments.
“To match my black goth heart.”
“To match our black goth hearts,” I state, correcting him.
“Well, at least we agree on that.”
I side-eye baby Riley and then little Alfie, who is around eighteen months, maybe slightly older, as he bangs a wooden spoon against one of Michelle’s pans, and my ovaries contract yet again.
Yeah, we may have agreed to the wedding part, but the having kids part, I might just want to do sooner than Cole wants.
But there’s no need to worry about that now.
We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.