Chapter 5 #2
He had a new car—a black Audi, no idea which one—but it was nice.
“This is less… likely to break down,” I said, tapping the car seat.
Chuckling, he nodded. “The old one failed its last MOT a year ago. Would’ve cost more to get it repaired. This was a graduation present to myself… and the reason I had to stay with my parents for an extra six months.”
“When are you moving?”
“Haven’t found anywhere yet. Looking at a couple of places, though.”
Cole pulled into the carpark and cut the engine. “I’ll warn you now… The café is different.”
“Different, how?”
“You’ll see,” he said, getting out of the car.
He held the door open for me once we were by the café, and I walked in, turning my nose up as I took it all in.
“From that look on your face, I take it that you don’t like it?”
“No. Why did they change it?” Frowning at the new décor—all white and sleek and shiny—I walked towards the counter.
“To move with the times, apparently.”
I much preferred the old traditional-style diner to this ultra-modern, minimalistic look. It was cold and uninviting. I felt a pang, a big one, at the loss of our childhood hangout.
“I don’t like it, either. Ice cream’s still good, though. Want your usual?” he asked.
I hadn’t heard him ask that in four years.
“Please,” I breathed.
Cole ordered, and we sat where our old booth used to be. The seat was comfortable but not like a cloud the way it once was.
He placed his hands on the table. “I wanted to say I’m sorry for yesterday. I didn’t mean to upset you, but I needed to get that stuff off my chest.”
I shook my head. “Please don’t apologise. I guess you’ve waited a while for the opportunity to say it. I’m the one who’s sorry. I should have given you the choice. I was too wrapped up in what was going on, I didn’t want your life to be messed up, too.”
He raised a brow, and I knew exactly what he was thinking. His life was messed up because of it. “I would have come with you.”
“I know,” I whispered, looking down at the table. “Can we get past this? I don’t want things to be weird between us.”
But that probably wasn’t possible.
The waitress arrived, cutting into our conversation. She balanced the tray on the edge of the table and passed us our milkshakes and ice cream. My lungs started to burn, and I realised it was because my breath was stuck in them, waiting for his answer.
We both muttered a polite, “Thank you,” and I turned my attention back to Cole.
He smiled, half sad and half… alive again. “Yeah, but only if you give me some of that ice cream,” he said, reaching out and digging his spoon in before I could answer.
I slapped the back of his hand with my spoon, laughing.
“Do you have any plans to get your own place?” he asked.
“No. I don’t think I can live alone. Well, not yet.”
Cole’s smile dropped, but it soon turned into a smirk. “No one to remove the spiders? You’d have so many glasses dotted around the house with spiders trapped inside them,” he teased. “Does Jasper catch them for you?”
Frowning, I shook my head. “No. Jasper throws them at me, and the spiders in Australia are bigger than cats.”
Okay, not quite, but they were a lot bigger than the spiders in England, that was for sure.
“You want to come with me next week?” Cole asked, changing the subject before he started laughing. “I could use another opinion. Apparently, I’m too negative when it comes to house-hunting.”
“Yeah? I’d love to,” I said.
I wanted to spend as much time with him as he’d allow, so I’d take what I could get. Maybe in time it wouldn’t be so awkward.
“Good. If it all falls down, then I can blame you.”
I didn’t need to bring up the fact that when he got the keys to whichever house he chose, I would be back in Australia.
We stayed in the diner for a while after we’d finished eating and drinking, talking about random light topics.
New TV shows and movies we liked, bands, food, and stupid things my brother had done.
I managed to drag everything out for as long as I could, just wanting a little bit longer with him.
Eventually, though, there was nothing more I could do, and Cole paid the bill.
His arm brushed against mine as we walked to his car, and my breath caught. Clearing his throat, he opened the car door for me, and I suddenly realised how close he was. Our faces were inches apart.
My lungs deflated as he stared into my eyes and then lower to my mouth.
I wanted to kiss him more than I wanted anything else in the world, but it didn’t feel like a good idea. How could we pretend that the last four years hadn’t happened?
We’d only just seen each other again, it’d been twenty-four hours since I landed and turned his world upside down, and I didn’t want to mess with his head… more than I probably had.
We were treading a tightrope here, and one wrong move would have us falling hard. I just didn’t know if that fall would be into each other’s arms or back on separate sides of the world.
“Thanks,” I whispered, taking a reluctant step back.
The sudden distance brought his eyes back to my face, and he nodded for me to get in the car.
“Erm, Leona said you have to come back and play with her,” he said on our way back to… his house, I guessed. Nervously scratching the back of his neck again, he added, “I can get you out of it if you want. I mean, you—”
“No. I’d love to spend time with her.”
And you.
Mostly you.
He cleared his throat. “Yeah? Okay. Good.”
“She seems to really love you.”
“She’s an awesome kid. Mia couldn’t afford to move out, so she stayed home. Leona’s loud and doesn’t look where she’s running. I barely got any sleep when she was first born because of that cry, but I wouldn’t change it.”
“How is Chris with her?”
He turned his nose up. “He’s a good dad, but I’ll never forgive him for what he did to Mia.”
We drove home, catching up on family stuff and keeping it strictly off the subject of us.
As soon as we walked through the door, Leona ran towards me. She was the image of Mia as a child. Thankfully, there wasn’t a hint of Chris in her at all.
She was beautiful.
“Oaley,” she chirped, mispronouncing my name. Her little arms shot out for me to pick her up.
Okay.
Balancing Leona on my hip, I followed Cole into the kitchen. He made a comment about how Leona would normally have gone to him first and that I was her new best friend.
I couldn’t help smiling a little at that. It meant a lot that Leona liked me. I’d missed so much of her short life, and I had a lot to make up for—and not just with her.
“Hi, sweetheart,” Jenna gushed, giving me a hug around Leona. “Come and sit. I’ll make you a hot chocolate.” She smiled wide, showing her straight white teeth.
“Can I have some, too?” Leona asked.
Jenna leant over and stroked her cheek. “You can have whatever you want.”
That was exactly the type of nan I expected Jenna to be.
I sat at the table between Cole and Leona. It was so cute, watching them interact. Leona looked up at Cole as if he was her hero.
He would be a great dad one day.
Don’t think of that.
“Why are marshmallows squishy?” she asked Cole.
“Because they’re made from clouds,” he replied.
She gasped and looked into her marshmallow-topped hot chocolate with amazement.
“Clouds?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Sounded better than sugar and eggs.” Smiling at me across the table, he lifted the mug to his lips.
God, I was in trouble. I was going back to Australia after the trial. That was the plan.
This was going to hurt so much more a second time.