Cole's Christmas Wish. Tracy Madison

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СКАЧАТЬ he said with a slow, methodical beat, “if you need a vacation to grow closer, something must not be going well. Let me know if I can be of any help...anything at all, just say the word.”

      “Our relationship is fine,” Andrew snapped. “If there were problems, I wouldn’t assume a vacation could fix them.”

      “We’re absolutely fine!” Rachel said a good deal louder than necessary. Andrew’s declaration stung, though. She had, indeed, brought Andrew with her in the hopes the time away, the time together, would erase her reservations. “Just fine.”

      “Ah, hell. I didn’t mean to hit a sore spot.” Cole held his hands up, gesturing a truce. “Forget I said anything. I’m sure you guys are...fine. Just as you’ve both said.”

      Itchy with frustration and nerves, Rachel did the only thing she could think of: she changed the subject. Again. “How’s business at the store this year, Cole?”

      “Same as always during the winter months” was his quick, humor-ridden, reply. “Lots of folks in and out. Between rentals and new sales, classes, and private lessons, we’re doing well.”

      Andrew tightened his hold on Rachel’s shoulder. “That’s right. You work for your parents now. I hear you were quite the skier in your day, so I’d imagine the unexpected, even traumatic, change in careers could feel...stifling? Limiting, perhaps?”

      Whoa. Rachel pulled out of Andrew’s grasp, shocked by his words, his rudeness and his insinuation. He was never like this, never purposely hurtful to anyone. Jealous or not, uncomfortable or not, he’d gone too far.

      “You don’t understand how the Foster family functions, Andrew,” she said. “Cole and his siblings are an integral part of the family-owned businesses. They manage, work and own them together. Isn’t that right, Cole?”

      “That’s correct,” Cole answered, still appearing more amused than anything else. “But no, Andrew, there isn’t anything stifling about the arrangement. I’m grateful to my folks for what their hard work and commitment has provided me and my brothers and sister with.”

      After a lengthy pause, Andrew combed his fingers through his short hair and sighed. “My comment was uncalled for. I apologize.”

      “No harm done,” Cole said with ease. “My family is exceedingly close. Sometimes, a bit too close, but we are what we are and I wouldn’t want anything to change.”

      “That’s important,” Andrew said, his voice almost gruff. “My family...isn’t as close. You’re a lucky man.”

      In a heartbeat, Rachel forgave Andrew for his jab. Something had happened to put distance between him and his family. She didn’t know the details, but she knew he missed them.

      “I am lucky,” Cole agreed. “In many ways.”

      “I consider myself fortunate, as well, for finding Rachel.” Andrew exhaled a breath, and when he spoke again, she heard the man she’d been dating for the past few months instead of the stranger he’d become upon meeting Cole. “Are you seeing anyone special, Cole?”

      Every one of Rachel’s knotted muscles relaxed. The posturing was finally over, thank goodness and hallelujah. Maybe now, the two men would find some true common ground.

      She waited for Cole to answer Andrew’s question, but when he didn’t, she did for him, saying, “Nope. Cole isn’t dating anyone.”

      After all, Cole would’ve told her if he’d met someone. He always had in the past. And in truth, Cole rarely dated. It was something she used to tease him about, way back when.

      A prickle of apprehension appeared at the nape of her neck a millisecond before Cole said, “Actually, Rach...I’ve been meaning to tell you—” He paused, locked his vision with hers and thrummed his fingers against the table. The rat-a-tat-tat beat mimicked the pounding of her heart. “There is someone in my life. Someone special.”

      No way. She must have heard him wrong. “You’re seeing someone? Someone...special? Really?”

      One by one, each muscle in her body tensed again as she waited, as she tried to come to grips with the possibility that Cole was involved in a serious relationship. With someone special, someone important.

      Someone who wasn’t her.

      “Yes,” he said firmly, still looking directly, almost intensely, at her. “There is an important woman in my life. She might even be—no, she definitely is—the one for me.”

      “Okay.” Rachel swallowed and tried to push past the nausea that had crawled into her throat. Why did this bother her so much? They were friends. She’d accepted that and had moved on. She shouldn’t care. At all. “Well, that’s...great news! Why didn’t you tell me before?”

      Of course, she hadn’t mentioned Andrew until a week ago, so who was she to throw stones? Relationships were private. Cole was a private man. He had the right to keep anything to himself for as long as he chose. Solid logic, but his secrecy bugged her. A lot.

      Cole shrugged. “You’re hearing about her now, and—” Andrew’s cell phone buzzed, stopping Cole short.

      “I need to take this,” Andrew said after glancing at the display. He stood. “Excuse me for a minute.”

      She watched Andrew step away from the table. Refocusing on Cole, she said, “Go on. What’s her name? And what do you mean she’s the one for you? When...um, when did you meet her?”

      “None of that’s important right now.” Cole angled his body toward her, so they were eye to eye, and clasped Rachel’s hands in his. The heat of his touch didn’t come close to thawing her sudden chill. “I’m a goner, Rachel. I’ve fallen in love and there’s no looking back.”

      “You’re joking, right?”

      “What do you think?”

      Rachel stared into the eyes she knew so well. Eyes she’d seen filled with almost every emotion in the book. And now, she saw something intense and passionate lurking in the depths, along with a desperation that made her heart ache. In other words, she saw love.

      Every instinct she had wanted to deny what she saw, but she couldn’t. “I think I have to meet the woman who finally captured Cole Foster’s heart,” Rachel whispered in shock. “I never thought...never...” She blinked. “Well, isn’t this terrific? I’m so happy for you.”

      Leaning in closer, Cole plopped a friendly—brotherly—kiss on her cheek before easing away again. “You’re with Andrew and think he might be the one. I’ve fallen in love with someone I know is the one. I have a hunch,” he said with a wink, “that this Christmas will be very memorable.”

      “Right. Memorable.” That was one description.

      “You look a little pale, Rach. Are you feeling okay?”

      “Oh, yes! I’m just...tired.” She gulped another large mouthful of coffee. “You know how traveling is.”

      “I do.”

      She tried to think of something, anything, to say to fill the gap, but couldn’t. Cole was in love. That was fine! Of course it СКАЧАТЬ