Tomorrow's Promise (The Hawks Mountain Series) (17 page)

Chapter 18

COLE STORMED THROUGH Faith’s front door and stopped dead. He stared at the man holding Lizzie. This was not what Cole had expected. He immediately recognized the man. “Horace?”

Obviously too astonished to speak, Horace nodded and pulled Lizzie closer.

“Co!” Lizzie yelled.

Faith vaulted to her feet, mouth agape. “Cole? What is it?”

Horribly embarrassed, Cole’s entire body relaxed. “I’m sorry, Faith. I saw the strange car in the driveway,” he waved a hand toward Horace’s car, “and considering what’s been going on around here lately, I naturally—”

“Enough.” Faith stopped him with a raised hand and a smile. “I think your foot is far enough in your mouth.”

Cole just nodded his agreement. How could he possible explain to her the abject fear that had gripped him when he saw the strange car? Even now that he knew there was no threat to either Lizzie or Faith, his heartbeat still drummed against his chest.

He combed his hand through his hair and took a step out the door. “I’m sorry. I’ll . . . I’ll just be going.”

“No, please don’t go.” Faith took his arm, closed the door, and drew him into the room. “My dad came to meet his granddaughter.”

Cole leaned over and kissed Lizzie’s cheek. “She’s a real sweetheart, isn’t she, sir?”

Horace beamed. “That she is, Sheriff.”

“Co!” Lizzie held up her bear. “Fussy. Bad Pup.”

Cole turned to Faith for a translation.

“Pup was trying to eat Fuzzy. But I rescued him.” She smiled at her daughter. “That’s my claim to fame. Rescuer of stuffed animals.”

Horace didn’t seem to notice, but Cole caught the tone of defeat in Faith’s voice. When would she realize how strong she was? It hurt his heart to see her lack of understanding of what a wonderful person she was, how compassionate, and gentle.

Horace stood and placed Lizzie on the floor. “I have to be going. Celia will have supper ready.” He kissed Faith’s cheek. “I love you, Princess, and I hope it’ll be okay if I come back again.”

“Always, Daddy.” Tears glistened in her eyes. “Always.”

That Faith had reconnected with her father brought peace to Cole. Family was very important. Lizzie needed her grandfather, and Faith needed her father.

“Good bye, Lizzie. Take good care of Fuzzy bear.” He leaned down and kissed the little girl’s cheek, straightened, kissed and hugged Faith, and then extended his hand to Cole. “Take good care of my girls.”

Cole gave Horace’s hand a firm shake. “I will, sir. Count on it.” As he watched Horace walk toward his car, Cole had to wonder how such a good man had gotten paired up with Celia Chambers. They were as different as night and day. Faith came to stand beside him and, without thinking about it, he put his arm around her and pulled her snugly against his side. “He’s a good man, Faith.”

“Yes, he is.” She sighed and looked up at him and smiled that smile that turned his insides to mush. “I was about to make supper. Why don’t you stay? Consider it payment for playing my knight in shining armor.”

“No.”

Faith stared at him. “No?”

“You and Lizzie are coming to my house for supper.”

She smiled. “You can cook?”

He laughed. “I’m a bachelor, Faith. I either cook or starve.” Suddenly turning serious, he cupped her face. “Besides, it’ll be nice to look up and see you sitting across the table from me.”

It wasn’t the words Cole said, but the way he said them that gave Faith reason to hope he would one day return her love and that there was a glimmer of hope for a tomorrow with him.

MAKING DINNER HAD turned into a joint operation. Faith made a meatloaf while Cole peeled potatoes and made a salad. Her earlier spark of hope for them grew as they worked side by side in his kitchen. Dinner was equally as enjoyable. For the first time in her life, Faith felt like she was part of something. Aware that her imagination was working overtime, she ignored her mind’s warnings and basked in the moment. She loved this man, and if there was a hope in the world that they could ever have a life together, she was not about to screw it up with her doubts and what ifs.

After giving Lizzie a bath and putting her to bed in the Pack ’N Play in Cole’s spare room, Cole and Faith finished the dishes, and then retired to the living room.

Cole leaned back on the couch and emitted a contented sigh. “That’s the best meatloaf I’ve ever had. You never did tell me where you learned to cook like that. And I’m not going to accept ‘out of necessity’ for an answer this time.”

The aura of happiness she’d experienced during supper still enveloped Faith. She settled in beside him. “When I was a kid, my mother made sure I helped in the kitchen, and I picked up on some of her recipes.”

Shifting so he faced her, Cole frowned. “So do you still think it was your mother who broke into your house?”

Faith really didn’t want a discussion of her mother to infringe on what so far had been a really pleasant evening, but Cole waited for an answer. “Yes, even more so now than I was before. My dad said some things that convinced me it was her.”

“Really? What things?”

Faith sat up. “Cole, I don’t want to talk about my mother.”

He seemed to consider it for a moment, and then nodded. “I know you probably don’t, but I need to make sure that it is your mother and not some of Sloan’s druggie friends.” He took her by the shoulders. “You have no idea how scared I was when I saw that strange car in your driveway.”

She could see the shadow of residual fear in his expression. Not until that moment did she fully realize how frightened he’d been. She cupped his cheek in her palm. “There’s no need for you to worry.” She gave in, hoping to get past this conversation, and told him what her father had said about her mother, and how she’d looked on the day of the incident. “He didn’t say so, but I got the impression he thought it was Mother who broke into my house.”

“Thank God.” Cole pulled her into his arms and held her so tight she wondered if he’d smother her. Then he kissed her forehead. “I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you or Lizzie.” He pulled back far enough to look into her eyes. “I care about you both too much to allow anything to happen to either one of you.”

His words gave rise to a burst of happiness that took her breath away. Faith shook her head. “Nothing’s going to happen to us. Promise.”

He didn’t look as if he believed her, but he nodded and flashed a forced smile. “Okay.” He stood. “The coffee should be ready by now.” He ran his hand over her cheek, and then disappeared into the kitchen.

Faith’s gaze followed him until he disappeared through the kitchen doorway.
Cared about them.
The echo of those three words elated Faith. Was it possible his caring could grow to love?

She looked around the cozy living room, and then her gaze dropped to the floor. A piece of paper that had fallen from the coffee table caught her eye. She picked it up, and her gaze went to the bold black words in the letterhead. Why would Cole be getting a letter from a high school in Atlanta?

Although she knew it was none of her business, her curiosity got the best of her, and she read the first sentence.

Dear Mr. Ainsley,

We are happy to welcome you to our faculty. This letter is to inform you that we will be holding an orientation luncheon for the new faculty members on . . .

Faith stopped reading and dropped the paper as if it was on fire. It couldn’t have hurt more if she’d been hit in the stomach with a two by four. Cole was leaving Carson. She couldn’t believe it. How could he do this to her? How could he become so much a part of her and Lizzie’s lives knowing he would be walking away? Why hadn’t he told her?

She held back hurt, angry tears. She would not shed one more drop for a man who couldn’t be trusted. And that was the bottom line . . . allowing that trust and her dream of a bright tomorrow to see the light of day again. The one thing she’d sworn not to do was trust blindly, and she’d done it anyway.

She had to get out of here. Quickly, she went to the spare room and got Lizzie. Her confused daughter whimpered and snuggled close to her mother.

“It’s okay, baby. Go back to sleep. We’re going home.”

As she entered the living room, Cole emerged from the kitchen carrying a tray with cups, a coffee carafe and sugar and creamer. “Did she wake up?”

Faith wasn’t ready to face a confrontation with Cole. Her nerves were stretched to the breaking point, and she was not sure what she’d say. “Yes,” she lied, “she’s a little warm, and I think I should get her home and give her an aspirin.”

Cole looked concerned but gave her no argument. He set the tray on the table. For a moment, he stared down at the letter lying next to it. Then he looked at Faith. She could tell by the expression on his face that he knew she’d seen the letter. “Let me explain.”

The anger boiling inside her nearly prevented Faith from speaking, but she forced the words past her lips. “You can’t say anything I’d believe. Just take us home.” She turned and walked out the door.

WHEN, AFTER A silent, tension-filled ride, they reached Faith’s house, she never gave Cole a chance to say anything. She retrieved Lizzie from her car seat and almost ran into the house. Inside, she put Lizzie to bed and then sat on the couch in the dark and allowed the tears to fall.

Cole had tried to talk to her in the car, but she’d turned a deaf ear to him. After all, what could he say that would explain him keeping his departure from Carson a secret from her? Letting her believe he cared? Nothing. He’d betrayed her trust. Period. The pain of his lie by omission cut so deep Faith doubled over in emotional agony.

Then she straightened and brushed the moisture from her cheeks. In truth, she had no one but herself to blame for this. Wasn’t it her own fault that she’d read more into their relationship than had been there? He’d helped her settle in when she was newly back in town. He’d protected them, especially Lizzie. He’d seen that they were watched over when the break-ins began. Nothing romantic about it. Nothing that one friend wouldn’t have done for another friend. Even that one night of lovemaking could have been nothing more than two people releasing pent-up physical needs. As usual, it was her own fantasizing that had led her to believe there was more there than actually was. That she had fallen in love with Cole did not mean he felt the same.

When would she learn? When would she realize that there were no tomorrows for her? Only the requirement to get through today.

A noise in the kitchen drew her attention from her thoughts. Not until then did she remember the dog. Poor Pup was probably walking cross-legged by now. She dragged herself into the kitchen, and then flipped on the light.

Pup sat in the corner with that look that a dog gets when he knows he’s done something very wrong. Scattered over the floor were pieces of what once had been Fuzzy bear along with numerous puffs of cotton innards. Faith’s heart sunk. Lizzie would be inconsolable. How could they have left Fuzzy behind to be ravaged by a playful puppy?

“Pup, want have you done?”

Pup dropped his head, laid back his ears, and tucked his tail between his legs. If he could talk, she was sure he’d be saying what was written in his soulful brown eyes.
I’m sorry. Please don’t be mad at me.

Just what she needed to cap off the day. She didn’t have the strength to reprimand him. “Come on. Let’s take a walk, then I’ll see what I can do to bring Fuzzy back to life before your little friend wakes up and throws a tantrum.”

As soon as Pup had done his business, Faith hurried him back inside, cleaned the remnants of Fuzzy up and placed them on the couch, then barricaded Pup in the kitchen with his food dish. Once the dog was safely confined, Faith retrieved the sewing kit from the cabinet in the living room and settled on the couch to begin the repair job.

Fuzzy had held up well over the years. As a child, Faith had never played with him and had instead kept him ensconced on her bed. Lizzie, on the other hand, carried him everywhere, and he was beginning to show some wear. Now, the poor thing was in pieces. But in a way, Faith was grateful to Pup for the distraction. Concentrating on reassembling the toy would keep her mind off her heartache.

Thankfully, the dog had just torn off the bear’s appendages and ripped the insides from them. When she’d gathered the stuffing into a pile, she had to wonder how one medium-sized bear could hold this much cotton and if she would be able to get it all back inside him. If Pup had chewed up the dislodged parts, she wasn’t sure she’d have been able to save Fuzzy at all. Aside from a few small tears in the bear’s torso from Pup’s sharp puppy teeth, most of the bear’s parts were intact.

Hours later, Faith had the ears, head, body, and arms secured. All she had left to do was stuff and sew on the legs, and Fuzzy would be Fuzzy again. He might be a little worse off for his run-in with Pup, but Lizzie wouldn’t notice that as long as she had her precious toy back.

When she started pinning the first leg in its respective spot, she realized one leg was missing. She searched through the stuffing and all around the couch. Finding nothing, she concluded it must be somewhere in the kitchen. Laying the bear aside, she went to find its missing limb. She moved the barricade, flipped on the light, and looked around, but saw nothing. Getting down on her knees, she ran her hand under the overhang at the bottom of the cabinets. Along with more stuffing, she finally got hold of the elusive body part. To make sure she had all the cotton, she continued to feel under the cabinet lip.