For Everly

  “We might have discussed it.”

  “Who’d you pick?”

  “That’s for me and Sam here to know,” Cole replied, winking at Sam. “No girls allowed.”

  Making a pfffft sound, she knelt on the carpet and grabbed Sam’s hand as he went in for another body slam of Batman into Spiderman.

  “Sam, honey, it’s time to go. I promised Daddy that we’d have dinner on by the time he gets home, and we’re already late. And before you argue, I’ll point out that dinner tonight is hotdogs and mac n’ cheese.”

  Cole watched with open admiration as Avery collected Sam and his toys, worked around their parents’ typically lengthy goodbyes, and managed to get Sam into her two-year-old SUV without a single outburst from any front.

  “Thanks for coming out,” he told his sister as she opened the driver’s side door of her vehicle. Sam was making bomb noises from the backseat. “I know it’s a hike for you.”

  “Only an hour,” she said. “We’re always happy to see you.”

  “And I feel guilty for not making the time to see y’all more often.”

  She grinned and brushed her dark hair from her eyes. “So you should, especially with Christmas coming up. When you’re wondering what to tell your housekeeper to buy, I like Crate and Barrel or Pottery Barn and Sam will enjoy anything you would have loved at his age.”

  “I do my own shopping, thank you very much,” he grumbled.

  He just hadn’t done it yet.

  “Uh-huh.” She reached out and hugged him. Then she leaned up and whispered in his ear, “Heads up, Mom’s on one of her missions. Code word: Grandbabies.”

  He stilled. “Take me with you.”

  “No way, little bro. I dealt with it while you were entertaining Sam. Now it’s your turn.”

  “I’m too young to be a dad.”

  “That excuse won’t hold up in Mom’s court. I was your age when Sam was born.”

  Releasing her from their prolonged embrace, he asked, “Can’t you and Mike just pop out another one and save me from this misery?”

  Her smile faded. “It’s not for lack of trying, Cole. These things happen when they happen. Look at what panned out for Mom and Dad…eight years between Wyatt and me and five years between me and you.”

  “I’m sorry, Av,” he said, rubbing her shoulder. “I was just joking around. I’m a prize dumbass. It’ll take a forklift to unwedge my foot from my mouth.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s not your fault that God gifted me and Wyatt with the brains,” she said. “Just cling to your guilt while doing your Christmas shopping and we’ll be all good.”

  He returned her smile. “You can bet on it. Thanks for the warning.”

  After he waved her off, he reluctantly turned back to the house. Since he’d already gotten the grand tour of his parents’ many home improvement projects, he didn’t hold out hope that he could distract his mother with that. Maybe he could convince his father to tackle another project while he was there. Could he make it seem that the downstairs bathroom urgently needed painting?

  It spoke volumes that he’d rather paint a bathroom than endure his mother poking into his social life. She always got so hopeful when he mentioned dating someone. When his relationships didn’t work out, he usually felt worse about upsetting his mother than he did about the relationship ending.

  He knew that she just wanted all of her kids to be happy. Wyatt and Avery were both in solid, committed relationships. Avery had Mike and Sam, and Wyatt and Rowan had discussed adopting a couple of kids once Prix Fixe was firmly off the ground. Now, at least in his mother’s mind, it was Cole’s turn.

  His thoughts turned to Everly. He considered her disinclination to connect with people on a personal level. Then he thought about his outgoing family who tended to treat everyone like a long-lost friend, plying strangers with questions and offering support at every turn—even when it wasn’t wanted or requested.

  He stopped in the driveway and considered the significance of that thought. Had he ever envisioned one of the women he’d dated meeting his family? He didn’t think so.

  Yet he was thinking of his physical therapist that way. He thought of her constantly, actually. Hell, he was even wearing the T-shirt she’d worn to bed just so he could have the scent of her with him.

  So what in the world did all of that mean?

  Chapter 25

  As he entered the house from the garage, his phone buzzed. He pulled it out as he stepped into the aromatic kitchen and saw that Everly had texted.

  Headed home. Think your kiss got me a job.

  “What has you smiling like you just won a prize?” his mother asked from her position at the stove. She was stirring something in a saucepan.

  “Just a text.” He sat at the table in his parents’ eat-in kitchen as he texted Everly back.

  “From anyone I know?”

  “Don’t think so,” he said as he waited for Everly’s reply. When it came through, he had to read it twice to make sure he hadn’t misunderstood.

  Use your imagination.

  Was Ms. Wallace actually cyber-flirting with him?

  “You’re being deliberately vague,” his mother said as he typed in his reply to Everly. She pointed at him with the wooden spoon she held, instantly invoking a guilty hunching of his shoulders. “It’s making me suspicious. Are you texting a girl?”

  “Geez, Mom. I’m not fifteen anymore. I don’t text girls.”

  “All right. A woman, then.”

  He read Everly’s response of Me, too and almost laughed. He wondered if her imagination was as vivid as his.

  Since it was awkward to indulge in a sexual fantasy while sitting in his parents’ kitchen, he stuck his phone back in his pocket and stopped putting off the inevitable.

  “Yes, I was texting a woman. No, I’m not marrying her tomorrow with the intent of procreating and filling your house with grandbabies.”

  She clucked her tongue and gave him The Look. “A mother has every right to know what her children are up to, Cole Dylan, regardless of their ages. I don’t deserve mockery because I care about you.”

  Ugh. The dreaded two-name call-out.

  He sighed and got to his feet. Then he walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek. “I know, Mom. I’ve been on a streak with saying dumbass things, so you’ll have to forgive me.”

  “You know I don’t like that kind of language,” she chastised. Then she looked sideways at him. “But you were being a dumbass.”

  “That I was. You got any beer around here?”

  “Top shelf on the left. I wouldn’t mind one myself, actually.”

  He grabbed two bottles and twisted off the tops, carrying them over to the table. “Come on, Mom. Take a load off for a few.”

  “Don’t mind if I do,” she said, reducing the flame on the gas stove and covering the saucepan. After peeking in the oven, she joined him at the table and lifted her beer. “To dinner with my baby boy.”

  He touched the neck of his bottle with hers and took a swig. Then he gestured at her. “Go on. I know it’s killing you.”

  She had the grace to look mildly embarrassed. Then she shrugged. “All right. Who’s the gir—woman you’re texting?”

  “Her name is Everly Wallace.”

  A line appeared between her eyes. “Everly? There’s a student Wyatt mentions every so often with that name.”

  “That’s her. We met through Wyatt, actually. Everly isn’t only a student of his. She works at Prix Fixe.”

  “Oh.” She took a sip of her beer. “A waitress?”

  He tried not to get irritated over the slight tone of judgment in those two words. Everly worked very hard as a server and put up with a lot of crap from people. She deserved everyone’s respect.

  “Yes. She also volunteers at several sports rehab centers in the city. She’ll earn her doctorate in physical therapy by the end of next year.”

  “Oh?” Now, she perked up. “A doctor, huh? Just how old is this woman?”


  “She’ll be twenty-three in a couple months.”

  “Goodness. She must be brilliant to achieve so much at such a young age.”

  He smiled. “She is brilliant. And determined.”

  “I see.” His mother studied his face in that way only moms can do. Then she asked, “How serious is your relationship with her?”

  “Mom…”

  “You know I’ll nag you until I find out. Has she been to your house?”

  He hesitated. His family knew that the mark of how serious he was about a woman was whether or not he invited them to his home. He’d never done so before. But Everly came to his house all the time for his treatment. There wasn’t a great way to dance around that.

  “Well…”

  His mother carefully lowered her beer after taking a sip. Her eyes widened. “She has?” She brought a hand to her chest. “Oh, my word. It must be serious. Why haven’t you brought her here so we can meet her?”

  Dear Lord. This was getting out of hand.

  “Mom, it’s not exactly like that, okay? Everly’s great and I enjoy spending time with her, but—”

  “Cole Dylan, are you sleeping with this young woman?”

  “Geez, Mom.” He rubbed the back his neck. This line of questioning was worse than usual. “No.”

  She folded her hands and just looked at him for a long moment. Every one of his transgressions from childhood until that moment flitted through his head under that intent stare. The local police should tap into her talent, Cole figured as sweat beaded on his forehead. She’d crack a hardened criminal inside of two minutes.

  “Tell me more about her,” she said at last, taking another sip of her beer.

  He barely avoided letting out a huge, pent-up breath. “Okay. What do you want to know?”

  “Where’s she from? Where does she live? What’s her family like?”

  “She’s originally from the Atlanta area. She lives with her grandpa, Jake Wallace, not too far from the stadium. He’s got pulmonary issues, so she helps take care of him. The money she earns at Prix Fixe goes toward paying for his in-home nurse and the special equipment and evaluation he needs.”

  His mother’s face softened. It was subtle, but he noticed it. His shoulders relaxed a fraction.

  “That must be hard,” she murmured. “So much responsibility for such a young person. Is there no one else to help?”

  “No.” He hoped she didn’t ask for specifics about Everly’s family. Even he didn’t have all of those answers. “It’s just her and Jake.”

  “I see. Has she asked you for any money to help in her grandfather’s treatment?”

  He frowned. “No.” Although he was paying her a lot of money for her services, he knew in his gut that Everly wouldn’t ever ask him for a dime. “She’s not like that.”

  “All right.” She finished her beer and got to her feet, returning to the stove. “Do you think Everly and Jake would like to come here for Christmas dinner?”

  The question surprised him. “Um, I don’t know.”

  “Why don’t you ask them?”

  He thought again of Everly interacting with his family. Outside of the fact that it might make her uncomfortable, there was an even bigger element to consider. Inviting her here as the woman he was dating put his relationship with her in an entirely different light. Right now, she was his physical therapist whom a few people thought he was dating because they needed a cover story. He wasn’t about to invite a pretend girlfriend to Christmas dinner.

  The first question in his mind was whether he wanted to maintain the pretense and end things with Everly when she went back to school.

  The second question was, could he?

  Chapter 26

  “What are you doing here?” Everly asked her father in response to his greeting.

  He chuckled. “I see my baby girl again after two years and that’s the first question I get?”

  “Why would I ask anything else?”

  The humor left his expression. “Come inside and get out of the cold.”

  Because she wasn’t about to stand outside all night, she did as he said. She walked past him without even thinking about greeting him with a hug or a kiss. He didn’t reach for her either. As she unwound her scarf and removed her coat, she tried to get her racing heart under control. Anger seared her cheeks.

  She’d seen her father only twice since Aiden’s funeral. The first time had been when she was sixteen, just after her mother died. He’d come home, watched Everly make all of the funeral arrangements, collected the insurance money that her mother hadn’t thought to switch to Everly’s name, and then went back to his umping job in Venezuela. The second time had been at Christmas two years before. He’d been online-dating a woman in the area and wanted to meet her. Once they met in person and things didn’t pan out, he left again without so much as a goodbye.

  Deliberately ignoring her father, she walked over to her grandpa. He watched her from his recliner, worry clear in his eyes. She bent down to kiss his cheek.

  “Hi, Pee Paw. How was your day?”

  “It was good, my girl. Such a nice surprise to have Mason drop in.”

  She knew he was fretting over how she’d react to his son’s presence. She wasn’t about to make a scene and escalate her grandpa’s stress. Smiling, she rubbed his upper arm.

  “And what did Jonette have to say?” she asked, not acknowledging his statement. She reached for the green folder on the coffee table, knowing Jonette would have made notes for her.

  “All’s well. No complications.”

  “Good.” Everly studied the spirometer readings Jonette had jotted down in the file. The results hadn’t improved, but they weren’t worsening. “We’ll see what Dr. Valdez has to say when we go see her next week.”

  “Are you just going to ignore me?”

  Glancing at her father, she said, “I don’t see how that’s possible. I was just checking on my grandpa. Is that okay with you?”

  “Well, haven’t you turned into the rude little bitch?”

  The heat in her cheeks flamed to a painful level as she bit back her retort for her grandpa’s sake.

  “Mason, that was uncalled for,” her grandpa said in a firmer voice than she was used to hearing from him. “You can’t expect her to fall over herself to please you when she hardly knows you anymore.”

  “I can absolutely expect it. I’m her father, for God’s sake.”

  “By DNA only,” she snapped, unable to stop herself. Then she took a deep breath and let it out. “Will you be staying for dinner? I have to know how much food to make.”

  “I’m staying through at least Christmas,” he said.

  Her jaw clenched and she had to force it to relax. “You’re in town for a week?”

  “At least a week,” he clarified.

  “Where are you staying?”

  “Here, of course. I don’t have any money to spend at a hotel. I spent what I had on the plane ticket.”

  She realized her fingernails were biting into her palms and made a point of loosening her fists. He’d stayed elsewhere on his other visits, which had made things a little more tolerable. This spelled disaster.

  “We only have two bedrooms,” she ground out.

  “Mason can use my bedroom,” her grandpa offered. “I sleep in this chair half the time, anyway.”

  “Nonsense,” her father said, surprising her. Then his gaze turned to her. “Everly’s young. She can sleep on the couch.”

  Although her nostrils flared, she didn’t argue. She sensed her grandpa’s gaze on her and worked hard to contain her expression.

  “Unless, of course, you want to offer me money for a hotel,” her father continued. “I understand that you’ve come into quite a windfall.”

  Her gaze moved to her grandpa. She saw the guilt on his face.

  “Pee Paw,” she said, her voice shaking. “What did you tell him?”

  “That you’re working with Cole Parker,” her father said. “And he’s paying
you well for your services.”

  She couldn’t believe her ears. She’d impressed upon her grandpa how essential it was that he not tell a soul about her arrangement with Cole. How could he have told her father?

  Thinking fast, she looked right into her father’s eyes and lied.

  “Yes. Cole Parker approached me a few weeks ago about creating a personal training regimen specific to pitchers. His brother, Wyatt, is one of my mentors at school and suggested that he reach out to me. And, yes, I was paid well for it.”

  “You’re speaking of him in the past tense,” her father said.

  “That’s because I completed the project.”

  “Is that right?” Her father’s blue eyes gleamed. “Then where did you sleep last night?”

  Once again, she looked at her grandpa. He wouldn’t meet her gaze.

  Sighing, she said, “I was with Cole.”

  “So you’re still working with him?” her father pressed.

  “Not exactly.”

  Now, her father smiled. “My daughter’s dating Cole Parker.”

  The sentence felt sacrilegious as it touched her ears. She wanted to shout at him, tell him that he wasn’t allowed to take pride in something so significant to her, but she knew it wouldn’t help. Instead, she headed for the kitchen.

  “I’ll take the couch,” she said over her shoulder. “And if you think you’re asking me for money while you’re here, you’re in for a terrible disappointment.”

  * * *

  Her mood had shifted from dour to deadly by the time dinner was done. Her father spent the entire meal talking about his life in Venezuela, repeating things he’d already shared in his last few letters. Not once did he ask about his father’s health or daily well-being. The only time he asked her any questions was when he tried to pry information about Cole from her, which she refused to answer. She ate her soup and sandwich as quickly as she could and then excused herself to her bedroom.

  When she reached her room, she saw her father’s suitcase already beside the door. His presumption just fueled her anger. Storming into her room, she gave his suitcase a sideways kick as she passed. It was a petulant act, but it felt damn good.