Busted (12 page)

“Why’s that?”

“Everything they say about him is true.” She exhaled
noisily. “His wife told me herself when I learned about the divorce. She was a
good woman. She tried to be everything he needed, but she just couldn’t. I’m
afraid the same thing would happen to you, Charlene.” Ruth reached for her
hand. “I don’t want to see that happen. He needs someone who understands him
and this
lifestyle
he seems to favor. I highly doubt he’s going to find
that girl here in Brant, but I know, with every fiber of my being, that girl
isn’t you.” She offered a wobbly smile. “You’re a good girl, a sweet girl. I
know your parents want to make sure you stay that way, and quite frankly, so do
I. Which is why you need to stay away from my son, for your own good.”

“Don’t worry,” she said quietly. “I intend to keep my
distance from Cole from now on.” Even if it broke her heart.   

Cole was driving his daughter to school on Monday morning
when she drew him out of his musings with a question about the object of his
fixation. He hadn’t seen or heard from Charlene since Friday night. He kept his
promise to her brother, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t thinking about her every
other minute.

“Daddy, do you like Miss McCoy?”

He locked eyes with his daughter in the rear-view mirror.
“Sure, I like her. She’s a very nice lady. Why do you ask, Princess?”

“If you like her so much, why don’t you ask her out on a
date? That’s what people do when they like each other, isn’t it?”

Cole clenched the steering wheel as he approached a stop
sign. “It’s a little more complicated than that, honey. Just because people
like each other doesn’t mean they should date.”

“Is it because she’s already dating Kelsey’s daddy?”

“Um, I guess that’s part of the reason.” Even though it sure
as hell hadn’t prevented him from taking her on the living room floor a couple
of nights ago.

“Kelsey says you’re not allowed to go out with more than one
boy at a time. It’s called cheating.”

Cole smiled in spite of his foul mood. “That’s true in some
cases. If people are in a serious, committed relationship, they shouldn’t date
other people, but if they’re just getting to know each other better, it’s
usually okay.”

“Are Miss McCoy and Mr. Courtnall serious, Daddy?”

“I don’t think so, honey.” He pulled into the school parking
lot, barely resisting the urge to claim his usual spot as he pulled up to the
curb.

“But Kelsey said he’s gonna ask her to marry him.”

“That doesn’t mean she’s gonna say yes.” She’d better not
say yes. Not that he could stop her.

“If she says no, maybe you could ask her out.”

Cole chuckled, trying to mask the pain centered around his
heart. “I don’t think so, baby. Miss McCoy and I are just friends.” At least,
he thought they were.

Cassidy took her seat belt off and leaned forward, resting
her chin on the seat. “I wish she could be my new mommy. I love her, Daddy.”

Cole felt the longing in his daughter’s voice squeeze his
heart. Had his selfish impulses cost her the mother she needed? If not for his
reputation in this town, he could try his hand at being normal, for Charlene
and Cassidy’s sakes. He would do anything for them. If he had to change to make
them happy, he was willing to try, but he knew Brant County’s residents would
always see him as some kind of sexual deviant. “I know you’re fond of her,
Cass. She feels the same way about you.”

“Aren’t you gonna walk me in today?”

“No, Carl broke his leg, remember? I have to pick up some of
the slack at the ranch until he’s back on his feet. That means you need to come
straight out to the truck after school. No time to waste.”

Cassidy’s bottom lip quivered. “But what about Henry, and…”

Cole shifted in his seat and turned around to frame her face
in his big hands. “I need you to do what I say, okay?” He kissed the tip of her
nose. “No arguments.”

She heaved a dramatic sigh as she reached for her little
pink backpack. “Fine, but Henry’s not gonna be too happy about this, and
neither am I!”

The weeks leading up to the Christmas holidays passed
quickly, especially since Charlene threw herself into coordinating the holiday
play for the primary kids. She had to commit to after school rehearsals, and
her weekends were occupied building sets and sewing costumes. She had very
little time to think about the void Cole had left since he took to dropping
Cassidy off and picking her up at the front door again.

She should feel relieved she didn’t have to see him anymore,
but her reprieve came at a high price. She was miserable without him in her
life. She missed their afternoon chats, and even more, she missed the promise
of more passionate nights in front of a roaring fire. Every time she built a
fire, she saw the reflection of their hunger for each other in the blaze, a
bitter reminder that she may have turned away the best thing that ever happened
to her because she was worried about what others may think.

Charlene tried to save herself and her family embarrassment,
but at what price? Was sacrificing her own happiness worth it?

“There you are,” Paul said, slipping an arm around her waist.
“I was beginning to think you were hiding from me.”

Another benefit to working on the holiday play was she
hadn’t had to face the unpleasant task of officially ending her relationship
with Paul. She knew she was being a coward, but she told herself the holidays
seemed like the worst possible time to let someone down gently. In the new year
she would force herself to face the inevitable.

“I’m sorry we haven’t seen much of each other lately.” She
forced a smile. They hadn’t been out on a date since the night Cole paid her a
visit. “I’ve been so busy with work and the play. Not to mention decorating and
shopping for the holidays.”

“I’ve done a little holiday shopping of my own,” he said,
with a wink. “I hope I can come by this weekend and give you your present.”

She hated leading him on, but the school gymnasium wasn’t the
place to tell him how she felt. “Um, Mama and Daddy are havin’ a little get
together at their house this weekend.” The awkward silence stretched on, as
though he was waiting for an invitation to join in the festivities. “But why
don’t you give me a call? We’ll see if we can work something out.” She couldn’t
go on this way. Holidays or not, it was time to tell him that it was over.

“That’s great.” He brushed a kiss across her cheek. “I can’t
wait to spend some time alone with you. We need to talk… about the future.”

“I didn’t mean to intrude.”

Charlene felt his deep voice eradicate the ever-present
chill she’d struggled to evade since her brother threw him out of her house and
told him not to come back. She hadn’t been in his presence in so long, she almost
allowed herself to forget the physical effect he had on her.
Almost.

After taking a deep breath to steel her courage, she turned
to face Cole. No matter how prepared she’d pretended to be going into tonight,
nothing could equip her to deal with the force of her feelings for this man. No
doubt about it, she was in love with him. The question was, what the hell was
she going to do about it?

Stepping out of Paul’s embrace, she looked up at Cole and
felt the agony of confronting the pain she had caused him. She was so caught up
in her own turmoil that she hadn’t considered what this did to him.

“How are you, Cole?”

He glanced at Paul as he stuck his hands in the pockets of
his leather bomber jacket. “I’ve been better. Keepin’ busy at the ranch. How ‘bout
you?”

She wanted to reach up and hug him, to tell him she was
sorry for being so stubborn. She wanted to tell him of all the nights she’d
laid awake thinking about him, wishing he was curled up beside her, loving her.
Most importantly, she wanted him to know that he wasn’t the only one hurting.

“I’ve been busy too.” She gestured to the excited kids
running around them. “You know how it is with kids, never a dull moment.”

“Yeah, I know.” He looked around. “My mama was supposed to
bring Cassidy. I got tied up at the ranch. Are they here yet?”

“Yes, I saw them…” She looked around and pointed when she
saw them walking toward their group. “There they are now.”

Cole grinned when he saw Cassidy in full costume. “Wow, look
at you,” he said, tugging on her stocking cap. “Nana did a great job on your
costume, didn’t she?”

Cassidy bobbed her head enthusiastically. “Nana can make
anything.”

Mrs. Braxton smiled as she stroked her granddaughter’s back.
“I don’t know about that. This costume wasn’t so hard.” She winked at Charlene.
“We have Miss McCoy to thank for that.”

“Daddy, can I go and check out everyone else’s costume now?”
Cassidy asked, looking up at him with big blue eyes that would have melted a
weaker man.

“I don’t know how much time you have before y’all need to
get started, Princess. You’ll have to ask Miss McCoy.”

Charlene glanced at her watch. “We have about five minutes,
honey. Then we’re gonna meet by that table, okay?”

“Okay,” she said, running off before the adults could issue
any more warnings to slow her down.

Paul laughed at her enthusiasm. “I guess I’d better go and
find my little one, too. Make sure she doesn’t have any last minute stage
fright.” He extended his hand to Cole. “Nice to see you again, Cole. Happy holidays.”

“Same to you.” Cole accepted his hand, but withdrew as soon
as he could without drawing attention to the slight.

“Mrs. Braxton,” Paul said, taking her hand in both of his.
“Happy holidays to you as well.”

“Thank you, Paul. Same to you.”

Charlene waited for him to walk away before she said, “Well,
I guess it’s just about time to rally the troops. I hope y’all enjoy the show.”

Cole watched her walk away and felt his mother’s hand gently
brush his back, trying to comfort him. “Not now, Mama,” he said, quietly. He
would give anything to be able to scoop his daughter up and hightail it out of there.
He needed to put as much distance as possible between himself and the woman
haunting him. Knowing that they lived in the same town, yet he had to keep his
distance from her killed him.

Charlene was the first person he thought about when his eyes
opened in the morning, and no matter how hard he tried to push her image aside
throughout the day, it continued to resurface, taunting and teasing him.  

“I’m sorry you’re going through this, honey,” Ruth
whispered. “I had no idea how much she meant to you. Had I known, I never would
have…”

Cole turned to face her and cursed softly when he saw the
guilty expression on her face. “What did you do?”

“I just talked to her about…” She shrugged. “You know,
things.”

“No, I don’t know.” He clenched his teeth. “That’s why
you’re gonna tell me. What kind of things did you talk about and when?”

Ruth winced as she looked at the crowd milling about behind
the stage area. “Now’s not the time to get into all that, son.”

He took his mother’s upper arm and led her through the
throngs of people crowding the gymnasium. He didn’t stop until they were down
the hall, in front of the primary classes. “I want the whole truth, and I want
it now.”

She pressed a hand to his chest as a tear slid down her
cheek. “You know how much I love you. I want you to be happy, and I want you to
find a suitable mother for my granddaughter, but I’m just afraid that you’re
gonna make the wrong choice again and everyone’s going to get hurt.”

Cole tried hard to hold on to his patience. He knew his
mother’s heart was in the right place, but lack of sleep and compulsive
thoughts about a certain woman were driving him over the edge. He didn’t know
how much more he could take. “Just tell me what happened. Now.”

“You remember the night Cassidy slept over at my house?”

How could he forget? That night had changed his life, for
better or worse. “Yeah, I remember. What about it?”

“Well, you know we were making cookies, right?”

He sighed. “Just get on with it.” When she gave him a sharp
look, he softened the directive. “Please.”

“I don’t know if Cassidy mentioned it to you, but she wanted
to deliver some cookies to Charlene the next day, and well…” Her cheeks flushed
and her eyes fell. “We had a little chat while Cass visited with the pet
hamsters.”

Cole could feel his blood starting to boil. As if he didn’t
have enough working against him already. His own mother jumped on the bandwagon
to try and convince Charlene that he was depraved because he had preferences
they couldn’t begin to understand. “Just tell me what you said to her.”

“We talked a little about your marriage, and why things fell
apart.”

“How could you?” Cole started pacing back and forth when it became
increasingly more difficult to harness his rage and frustration. He loved and
respected his mother, but he didn’t know if he could forgive her for turning on
him this way. “You had no right to talk to her about that. This is none of your
business!”

“Keep your voice down,” she whispered. “I was only trying to
help you, both of you. I’ve known Charlene her whole life. I count her mama
among my oldest and dearest friends. I don’t want to see you use and discard
her like you do all the others. She’s too good for that.”

He staggered back, feeling the emotional impact of her
accusation. “You can’t be serious.” When she said nothing, he stared at her a
long time before he said, “Can’t you see that I’m in love with her?”

Ruth’s mouth fell open. “But… I…”

He cleared his throat, trying to rein in his emotion. “I
know I’m not the right man for her, and that kills me, but if you think for a
second that I’d intentionally hurt her, you don’t know me at all.” When he
walked past her, she reached out to grab his arm.