Chapter 5
Chapter five
Grace
Ihad no idea what I was doing. Me being here was all Georgia’s fault. Then she’d gone and recruited Gabriella and now I was screwed. Guilted into buying the brownies and showing up on Cole’s doorstep uninvited, but damn, the man looked good.
When I met him the other day, I couldn’t get past the way he smelt.
Between being completely intoxicated by his scent and the fact I was beyond embarrassed, I hadn’t really been paying too much attention to how he looked, but now I couldn’t look away.
Everything from his bare feet to the worn denim jeans that hung low on his hips and the gray henley that fit him like a glove had my hormones in overdrive.
But it was his forearms that did me in. Tanned.
Muscled. They were arms I remembered being held in and wanted to crawl back into. But that wasn’t why I was there.
“It’s not much,” I murmured weakly, thrusting the box in his direction.
“I recognize the box. It’s from the Clever Cookie, so whatever is in there is going to be delicious. Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Cole. I’m supposed to be the one thanking you. If you hadn’t helped me …” Honestly, I didn’t want to think about what would’ve happened. I probably would’ve ended up sitting in the dirt crying and waiting to be eaten.
“You’re more than welcome, Grace. Anyone would’ve done the same,” Cole confirmed, and I knew he was right.
Out here they would’ve anyway. At home, well, in the city, they would’ve walked straight by me and looked the other way, pretending not to see me so they didn’t have to help or feel guilty about it.
“I should …”
“You got the brownies?” Cole exclaimed as he lifted the lid.
“They’re my favorite, and I wasn’t sure what you liked, but I figured you can’t go wrong with chocolate.”
“You’re right. You can’t,” Cole confirmed with a wide, beaming smile pulled across his face showing his perfectly straight teeth.
I dug my hands in my pockets and looked around.
It was so quiet out here. Other than the lights from Cole’s porch, everything was dark, but it was somehow beautiful.
You could see the stars. You could hear the crickets chirping.
You could hear yourself think. I hadn’t thought I’d missed Wattle Creek, but maybe a country girl was still buried deep inside me somewhere.
Cole’s house was gorgeous. With a huge wrap-around porch, I could imagine spending nights just like this one, sitting out here with a cup of tea, curled up in a porch swing, enjoying the peace and quiet.
Even though it needed some work, I could picture it all.
Garden beds overflowed with flowers that not only gave the house color and character but also smelt like home.
I needed to get out of here before I asked if I could move in. “I should go,” I told Cole. “Enjoy your brownies.”
“You’re not staying to share them with me?”
Cole’s question caught me off-guard. “You want me to stay?” I blurted out, not realizing how it sounded until it was already too late.
“Well, I can’t very well eat all these by myself now, can I?” Cole shrugged and stretched out his hand to me.
I hesitated. For some reason it felt like a step and one I wasn’t sure I was ready to take. We were only sharing dessert. It was innocent. A thank you between friends. Except we weren’t even friends.
I stared at Cole’s calloused hand. They were a working man’s hands and it was honest work. Before I could talk myself out of it, I settled my palm in his and let him lead me up the steps onto his porch.
“Sorry it’s not in better condition,” he mumbled as we reached the top step, and he cleared the sweater off the rocking chair so I could sit.
“It’s beautiful,” I assured him.
Cole dropped into the rocking chair beside me and my mind malfunctioned.
An image popped into my head that I hadn’t seen coming but couldn’t shake.
It was Cole and me, sitting here, exactly as we were at this very moment, but we were watching kids play on the grass.
Kids chasing a dog and laughing. They weren’t our kids.
They were our grandkids. I pictured us as an old couple, with wrinkles and gray hair, sitting out there, sharing a brownie and a smile while our grandkids played in the yard.
“Grace?” Cole called, snapping me out of the weird scenarios playing out in my mind.
“Sorry,” I apologized quickly, feeling my cheeks burn with embarrassment at being caught daydreaming.
“Where’d you go?”
“Huh?”
“Just then. You were a million miles away.”
“Just daydreaming, I guess. It’s so peaceful out here.”
“It definitely is,” Cole confirmed, handing me a brownie.
“Thanks,” I replied, nibbling at the corner.
The moment the ooey-gooey chocolate goodness touched my tongue, I had to stifle my moan.
Despite the fact I’d already had two today, they were just so good.
There was no doubt that if I stayed in Wattle Creek for much longer, I’d have to start running just so I could keep eating them, otherwise, I’d be waddling back to my life three sizes bigger than when I left it.
“How’s the ankle?” Cole asked, pointing to my leg.
“It’s fine. A bit sore, but I’ll live.”
“I’m glad,” Cole replied with a smile.
“So, is it just you out here …” I asked, glancing over my shoulder wondering if a girlfriend or wife was going to push through the door and demand to know what I was doing here in shorts that were too short, a shirt that was too tight, and boots that made me feel like I was trying too hard.
Even though I’d spent the better part of the last two days with my sisters trying to convince me that there was no Mrs. Flanigan, until I heard it from him, I wasn’t going to believe it. I’d been burned by that one before.
“Just me and Rocket,” Cole confirmed, then almost like he was summoned, a gorgeous tan, white, and black dog lumbered around the corner and up the steps.
“This must be Rocket.” I smiled as the dog came to sit at my feet and I reached down and rubbed him behind his ears.
“Careful,” Cole warned, and I yanked my arm back. Through a chuckle, Cole clarified. He wouldn’t bite, but if I kept petting him, he’d never want to let me go.
“So, Grace, what brought you to Wattle Creek?” Cole asked as he popped the last of his brownie in his mouth and leaned back in his chair.
“Honestly?”
“Is there any point lying?” Cole’s pointed question surprised me.
He was right though. What did I have to lose?
Cole was practically a stranger, but even after knowing him for less than an hour, I felt in my gut he was a good guy.
Maybe he’d see things in a way I hadn’t been able to and help me understand the mess I was caught up in.
“Other than to save me from looking like the world’s biggest fool?”
“Grace, you could never look like a fool.”
I smiled. How could I not? Cole was a sweet talker, and the fact he looked as good as he did had my ovaries getting ready to explode. “You’re sweet for thinking that, but we both know you’re lying. Let’s not forget how we met?” I reminded him, trying to internalize the cringe.
“Oh, trust me, I remember exactly.”
“Any chance you’d be able to forget?”
“Not on your life, sweetheart,” Cole declared, reaching for my hand and giving it a squeeze I felt right through my body. “But come on, Grace, why Wattle Creek?”
I took a breath. “That’s easy. This was home. My sisters, you know Georgia and Gabriella were here, so it was just the easy choice to …” I didn't know how to finish my sentence.
“To what?” Cole pushed.
I stared out across the yard into the darkness and a shiver passed down my spine. Before I knew it, Cole was on his feet wrapping a heavy woolen blanket around my shoulders. “Out here as soon as the sun goes down, so does the temperature.”
“Thanks,” I replied, snuggling into the warmth that smelt like smoke and something comforting.
“So, what is it? Let me guess, a guy broke your heart?” Cole’s question didn’t sound condescending, more frustrating and all-knowing.
For a moment I sat in silence, trying to figure out how to put into words the clusterfuck that was my life. Cole didn’t push. Instead, he pet Rocket, letting the dog lean against his leg and almost purr.
“Yes, but not in the way you think,” I began.
“Go on,” Cole encouraged, and I tightened the blanket.
“Ben, he was a good guy. He was my boss …”
“Tell me this isn’t the cliche, you slept with the boss then found out he was already married?” Cole practically begged, and I couldn’t stop the snort of laughter that bubbled out.
“Thankfully, even I’m not that stupid.” I grimaced at the thought of even touching Ben. “No, he was my boss. He head-hunted me for months. Promised me the world. Gave me everything I wanted to sign on the dotted line.”
“Sounds like he needed you,” Cole commented.
“He did. He didn’t even know how much until I was working for him and started to uncover things he didn’t know were going on.”
“What happened, Grace?”
“I uncovered what was going on.”
“And what? He didn’t like it?”
“Not at all. But he was thankful I found them and saved his ass. It could’ve cost him everything. Not just financially, it could’ve ruined his business and probably his reputation.”
Cole straightened his spine and leaned forward. I watched as he took a deep breath and balled up his fists. “Nothing illegal though?”
“Not like that. They were breaking a laundry list of legislated requirements and could’ve gotten to that point, but it was more the internal politics and bullshit.”
“Oh. Okay,” Cole deflated. “So, if you found all this out and fixed it, what happened?”
“I found it out. I found out the people who were doing it. And the quickest way to make enemies was to call them out. It didn’t take long for them to make my life a living hell. The bullying, the backstabbing, the childish games. They were trying to drive me out.”
“Please tell me they didn’t win and that’s not the reason you’re here?” Cole begged.