Chapter Two
Colt Franklin had almost taken a detour on the way to Elaine’s simply to delay his arrival. No matter what he did, he felt like a complete fool around this woman.
He hadn’t even tried to ask anyone else out. He’d put off anyone who suggested someone he could date, because he didn’t want to waste anyone’s time, including his own.
The fact of the matter was he wanted Elaine Walker.
No, what he wanted was to try a real romantic relationship with Elaine Walker.
If it didn’t work out then it didn’t work out. At least then he’d know, and be able to move on. This weird limbo-friendship between them had to crack and break at some point, and Colt prayed often that that day would be the day.
He’d also asked God to keep Elaine in his life in any capacity, even this strange friendship where they danced around one another, shared intimate details of their lives, and he continued to answer her every beck and call within seconds.
He didn’t know how to do anything else, because, truth be told, he wanted to be the one to take Elaine to her therapy appointments. He wanted to bring her groceries and stop by with sandwiches.
This morning, she wore a splashy flowered skirt with a navy blue blouse and a light yellow coat. She carried a matching blue purse in one hand, and with every step she took, Colt’s heart beat faster and faster and faster.
He could already smell her perfume and feel the silkiness of her hair between his fingers. He knew those details about her, because they were friends. Oh, he wanted to be so much more than friends with this woman.
His eyes tracked her as she crossed in front of the truck, knowing that in mere moments he’d hear her voice. Sure enough, she pulled open the door and said, “Morning, Colt,” in that angelic voice that only belonged to Elaine Walker.
“Good morning,” he said.
“Thanks for doing this.” She pulled her seatbelt across her body and fastened it. “I know I’m ridiculous, but I couldn’t get myself out of the house alone.”
“Then I’m glad to be here.” Colt waited until she stopped fidgeting and adjusting. “You all ready?”
“Yes.” She took a deep breath and looked out the windshield at her own house. “Yes, I’m ready.”
He nodded and backed out of her driveway.
It was a Thursday morning, and he wanted to spend the next three hours with her, if possible.
Then he could pick up his son, and they could go back to the orchard, and he could continue on with his life as if he was satisfied with it.
For the most part, he was. Everywhere Elaine touched, he wasn’t.
He wanted to ask her to dinner, but Colt didn’t know how. She seemed to be able to ask him anything, as they’d spent Valentine’s Day together, for crying out loud.
He’d gone to the grocery store to get a cookie kit for Jonas.
While he’d been there, he’d texted Elaine to see if she needed anything.
When she’d found out he was there for his son, she’d asked for a cookie decorating kit of her own, and after he’d taken it to her, she’d asked him to decorate and enjoy the cookies with her.
Of course he had, because all Elaine had to do was say jump and Colt would ask how high?
She’d ordered dinner, and they’d laughed and talked and watched movies on her couch, until she’d finally laid her head in his lap and fallen asleep.
So yes, Colt knew what her hair between his fingers felt like, and he knew the temperature of her breath as it seeped into his jeans, and he knew what would make her laugh and what would get her to roll her eyes.
And because he knew all that, he also knew Elaine wasn’t ready for him to ask her to dinner. That fact right there kept his mouth shut and his focus on the road as he navigated her toward the office park.
“Who are you seeing over there?” he asked.
“Uh, Cheryl Wright?” She said it like it was a question, like she was guessing.
Colt nodded. “When Ivy first left, I saw someone.” He swallowed and didn’t dare look over to her, though he felt the weight of her eyes on the side of his face.
“You did?”
He nodded in a quick, short burst. “Yeah. She was the one who wanted the divorce. I’ve told you that, right?”
“Yes,” Elaine said quietly.
“Yeah, so I wasn’t in a good place,” he said.
“Did it help?” she asked. “Talking to someone?”
“Yes,” Colt said. “That’s why I’ve encouraged you to do it for so long.”
“Well, I didn’t know you’d seen someone,” she said.
He looked over to her, his mouth tipping up into a smile. “So my opinion has more weight, because I needed to see a therapist too?”
“Yes,” she said. “Because you have real experience with it and aren’t just telling me what everyone else tells me to do.” She glared at him and then turned to look out her side window.
Colt would take the heat for this woman at any time, and he chuckled softly as he kept driving. They pulled into the parking lot only a few minutes later, a full fifteen minutes before her appointment.
He put the truck in park and peered up and out the windshield. “Looks like it might snow today.”
Elaine’s gaze followed his. “It’s really gray.” She turned toward him. “I have good news too.”
Colt grinned at her, enjoying the many facets of her and the way she could switch between them in less time than it took to breathe. “Do tell.”
“I found my dress for the wedding.”
“Hallelujah.” He grinned at her, noting the way she looked down into her lap and started to play with her fingers. That was never good, and Colt’s lungs tightened around the air he held there.
“I wanted to ask you something,” she said.
“All right,” Colt said slowly, his voice laced with caution.
“It’s about the wedding.” She looked up and everything inside Colt hardened.
“No,” he said.
Elaine blinked rapidly. “No? What do you mean?”
“No,” he said again, his voice stronger now. His eyes searched hers as a wave of humiliation crashed over him. He shook his head and sighed. “No, you are not asking me to your brother’s wedding.”
“Why not?” Elaine asked, and she seemed genuinely confused.
Colt reached up and took off his cowboy hat, tossing it up to the dashboard. How did he say this without obliterating everything between them? He’d already shouted no at her twice, for crying out loud. He turned slowly toward her, drawing a breath in through his nose and using it to center himself.
“Have you thought about me at all in the last six months?” he asked.
Elaine blinked, a slip of hurt crossing her expression. “Of course I have.”
“I come see you….” He waved his hand. “How many times a week?” He tried to tame the sarcasm in his tongue, because he knew he could bite things out a bit too harshly sometimes.
“Two or three, right? Sometimes four.”
She said nothing, which actually told Colt a lot.
“You ask for cookies on Valentine’s Day, and I bring them. You ask me to stay, and I stay all night. You didn’t even ask me if I had a date.”
“Did you have a date?” She sounded completely shocked, and Colt shook his head.
“No, I didn’t. That’s not the point.” He sighed, things not coming out right.
“Well, what’s the point?” she asked.
He looked at her and decided to go all in. Just jump into the pool fully clothed, and deal with the heavy denim, and the ruined hat, and the waterlogged boots later. “Has it occurred to you at all in the last six months as to why I’m around?”
Elaine blinked but otherwise stayed perfectly still.
“I don’t want you to ask me to your brother’s wedding,” he said, his voice low and slow and perfectly controlled. “I want to ask you on our first date.”
He nodded at the same time he raised his eyebrows. “And that might be silly or antiquated, but it’s how I feel. So no, I’m not even going to let you get that question out.”
He sighed again and faced the front, glaring at the sun as it came out from behind the clouds and glinted in gold off the windows of the office building. “Conrad told me you had a date to the wedding.”
“I don’t know why he would think that.” Elaine huffed and plopped her bag back down on her lap. “Well, now I don’t know what to say.”
“Sometimes you don’t have to say anything, sweetheart.” He looked over to her again. “Do you really not have a date?”
“No, Colt,” she said. “I would know if I had a date to my brother’s wedding.”
He grinned, and it took her several moments to first realize it and then soften.
“Would you like to go to the wedding with me?”
She looked him straight in the eye then, and Colt swore that God and all his angels threw lightning bolts straight at his truck. Elaine certainly seemed to feel the electric charge too, because she opened her mouth but no sound came out.
Colt felt trapped in some sort of tractor beam, unable to look away from her, even as the seconds passed and she didn’t answer him. An alarm blared on her phone, making both of them jump, and Elaine quickly reached for it, muttering under her breath.
She silenced it with a frown. “I’m going to be late if I don’t go in now.” She turned toward him. “Can you be back in an hour?”
Irritation sang through Colt, and he lifted his hand from the wheel and sort of gestured it wildly. “Yeah, sure. I can be here in an hour.”
“Thank you.” She leaned over the console and swept her lips across his cheek. “We’ll talk more about this then, okay?”
Fiery tingles moved along his skin from where she touched him, sinking into his jaw and sliding down the side of his neck. Now he was the one who’d turned numb and mute, so he simply nodded as Elaine unbuckled her seat belt, opened the door, and hopped out of his truck.
He watched her walk with strength and confidence toward the office building, her skirt swishing around her legs. After several long seconds, his lungs remembered how to breathe, and his muscles realized they didn’t have to stay bunched all the time.
He sank back into the seat behind him and pressed his eyes closed. “Lord, help that woman,” he prayed. “And You better bless me too, because half the time I don’t know if I like her or never want to see her again.”
He didn’t want to stay here in the parking lot, because that felt more pathetic than usual, and he pulled out and headed toward the bakery. He could get coffee and a chocolate croissant there, while away the minutes, and then return.
He’d definitely be heading back to pick her up, because he really needed an answer to his question, and no matter what he said or what he prayed for, Colt already liked Elaine more than he should.
My heart just hurts for Colt! He’s been trying so hard, and he likes Elaine SO MUCH. Will he be able to navigate this new ground between them and find his HEA - and a mother for his son? Find out in MEANT TO BE, coming soon!