Jackson Hole Valentine. Cindy Kirk

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СКАЧАТЬ “Did I hurt you?”

      Cole’s heart melted and he shook his head.

      A tiny frown worried Meg’s brow. He could tell she found Charlie’s exuberant greeting disturbing. Obviously she hadn’t realized how close Charlie was to him. His smile widened.

      “Honey,” Lexi prompted, stepping forward and resting a hand on Charlie’s shoulder. “Didn’t you have some pictures you wanted to share?”

      “I have one for you and one for you.” Charlie pointed to Cole then to Meg.

      “Hey, what about me?” Ryan asked in a teasing tone.

      “Nope.” Charlie’s head shook back and forth. “None for you.”

      Ryan chuckled. “The story of my life.”

      Everyone laughed and Charlie looked up at Lexi. “Where are my pictures?”

      “Right here, buckaroo.” Lexi opened a large drawing pad and pulled out about ten different sheets of paper, with an assortment of pictures done in crayon.

      Charlie slowly perused each one, his brows pulled together in thought.

      “Thanks for catching me,” Cole said in a low tone meant for Meg’s ears only. Just because he wanted nothing to do with her didn’t mean he couldn’t be civil.

      “If you’d gone down, you’d have taken Charlie with you,” she responded in a matter-of-fact tone. “Couldn’t have that.”

      Cole searched her cool green eyes. Though her expression gave nothing away, he had the distinct feeling she was angry with him. Which made absolutely no sense. If either of them had a reason to be bitter over their breakup all those years ago, it was him.

      “This one is for you.” Charlie shoved a picture into Cole’s hand.

      He glanced at the paper. Two stick figures, one big, one little, were standing by a bright blue lake under a huge yellow sun, fishing.

      “I know this place.” Cole smiled. “It’s the lake where we spent the day together last summer.”

      “Yep.” The little boy rocked back on his boot heels in a gesture reminiscent of Ty. “That’s you and me.”

      Cole tightened his grip on the picture; the first Charlie had ever given him. It meant a lot to know the excursion had been a special memory, not only for him, but for Charlie, as well.

      “Thanks, buddy.” Cole tousled the child’s dark hair. “I’ll put this up in my hotel room.”

      “If you have a ‘frigerator, you could put it there,” the boy said with an eagerness that touched Cole’s heart. “That’s where my mommy puts all my pictures.”

      Cole exchanged a glance with Meg. Or maybe it was a wordless plea. It was getting close to the time Charlie had to leave and he wanted the encounter to end on as upbeat a note as possible. In a second he could see Charlie realizing that his mommy would no longer be putting up his pictures.

      Meg seemed to understand, because she stepped forward.

      “And what do you have for me?” She crouched down so she was at eye level with the boy.

      “This one.” Charlie brandished another picture with a flourish. “I ‘membered you like flowers.”

      That much hadn’t changed, Cole thought. When they’d been together, Meg had loved all kinds of flowers. He wondered if daisies were still her favorite.

      “You’ve got a great memory. And you’re right. I do love flowers.” Meg opened her arms to the boy. “Let me give you a ‘thank you’ hug.”

      Charlie went easily into Meg’s arms, nestling his head against her shoulder.

      Cole’s heart gave a ping. He’d been feeling pretty good about the boy’s greeting. And the picture, well, fishing was just the kind of thing a boy did with a dad.

      But what he was witnessing now brought back memories of how his mother had been before his dad died and she’d turned man-crazy. She used to brush his hair back from his face and kiss his forehead, like Meg was doing to Charlie now. Would Charlie miss having a mother?

      Cole shoved the thought aside. Certainly it would be ideal if he were married so Charlie could have both a mother and a father, but being single didn’t mean he couldn’t be a good parent to the boy.

      “Do I get to go home with you and Uncle Cole?” Charlie slipped from Meg’s arms and his gaze shifted from her to Cole. “My pajamas and Mickey Mouse toothbrush are in the car.”

      Ryan shot the social worker a questioning look.

      Lexi smiled apologetically. “I wasn’t sure how things would work today, so I packed his bag.”

      “It’ll be a few days before we have all the arrangements made,” Ryan said, his gaze darting to the boy.

      “No worries. Ever since—” The social worker paused and appeared to be carefully considering her words. “For the past week Charlie has been staying with Derek and Rachel Rossi under emergency foster care.”

      Meg’s brows pulled together. “The names sound awfully familiar.”

      Cole nodded. “I was thinking the same thing.”

      “Derek is a former major league pitcher,” Ryan explained. “He’s now an expert sports commentator. So you’ve probably seen him on TV or at least heard his name. He and his wife, Rachel, live part of the year in Jackson Hole.”

      “And both of them are friends of your brother Travis and his wife,” Lexi added, glancing at Meg. “Rachel has done emergency foster care for years. Charlie has really enjoyed staying at their house.”

      “I like it there,” Charlie agreed. “But I’d rather be with you.”

      Cole would have liked it better if the boy had been looking only at him when he’d expressed the sentiment. Instead his hope-filled eyes definitely included Meg.

      “Soon,” Meg said with a reassuring smile.

      “We’ll be together before you know it,” Cole promised.

      “It was nice meeting you both.” Lexi smiled. “But we should hit the road. I need to get Charlie back to the house. Rachel mentioned something about letting the kids make homemade pizza tonight and—”

      “She told me if I came back I could put on the pepperoni.” Charlie grabbed Lexi’s hand and tugged on it. “We better hurry.”

      Thankfully, because Charlie was so eager to leave, there were no lingering goodbyes. In a matter of seconds the social worker and the little boy were out the door and down the hall.

      Cole assumed Lexi planned it that way, to make it easier on Charlie. Still, it was hard seeing the child disappear from view, knowing he was going to a stranger’s home.

      Soon, Cole reassured himself. Soon, Charlie would be his. And when that СКАЧАТЬ