Cole's Christmas Wish. Tracy Madison

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СКАЧАТЬ “You can get out of the house for a bit and I can focus on my job without feeling guilty. Seems like a win-win situation. On all accounts.”

      “Right. Win-win.” Discouraged and, not that she’d admit it, somewhat annoyed, Rachel nodded and put the phone next to her ear. “Lunch is fine, Cole. When and where? Foster’s?” she asked, referring to the family-owned restaurant and pub. Where else would they go?

      “No,” Cole said after the briefest of pauses. “Let’s go to Dee’s Deli. Say one o’clock?”

      “Um. Sure. I’ll see you then.” Hanging up, Rachel smiled absently at Andrew, who was now organizing the items he’d placed on the counter. It was cute. And...homey. “All set.”

      “Good. Are you excited to meet Cole’s better half?”

      “I’m more interested than excited. As far as her being his better half? I’d say that remains to be seen.” Her irrational irritation at the whole mess broke free with, “He calls her Cupcake. Cupcake! Isn’t that ridiculous? She isn’t a toy poodle, for crying out loud.”

      “Perhaps she resembles a toy poodle, hence the nickname?”

      “What?” Rachel tried to picture that possibility and came up blank. “You mean if she’s petite and has curly hair? Or...I don’t know, Andrew. How can a woman resemble a poodle?”

      “I was joking, Rachel.” Andrew looked at her curiously, the concern in his gray eyes evident. “It’s a term of endearment. Why are you upset? Does it matter what he calls her?”

      “I’m not upset...I’m—” She stopped, sighed. “No, it doesn’t matter in the slightest. I guess I’m used to these visits going a certain way, and this time, everything is different.”

      “I see.” Andrew crossed the distance between them and kissed her on her forehead. “Forget about Cole and his Cupcake. We have cookies to bake,” he said with a grin. “I haven’t made Christmas cutouts since I was a child. Maybe this is the start of a tradition for us.”

      “That’s a sweet thought...and a nice one.”

      “I like it, too. I’m sorry about work butting in today,” he said, his voice and his expression earnest. “And for my attitude with Cole last night at the Beanery. Forgive me?”

      “Of course,” she murmured. “Nothing to forgive.”

      Pivoting, unable to handle his scrutiny or his sweetness, she located the cookie cutters and dumped them on the counter before grabbing the cookbook. “Let’s make a tradition.”

      Andrew’s gaze still held concern, but he didn’t push the topic. Just nodded and joined her at the counter. Rachel tried—oh, how she tried—to stay in the present, to enjoy this time with Andrew, but her mind kept traveling down other paths.

      Yes, darn it, what Cole called his girlfriend mattered. Why hadn’t he mentioned her real name? And really, using only a term of endearment when talking about someone else was odd. Also, and even more telling, Rachel mused as she measured flour into the mixing bowl, was that he’d suggested Dee’s over the family restaurant.

      Maybe Cole’s family didn’t approve of the relationship? Oh, wow. That would mean...

      Anxiety pooled in Rachel’s stomach and pinpoints of pain jabbed at her temples. If so...then yes, Cole truly loved this woman. His family and their opinions were too important, too valuable to him to remain involved with a woman he didn’t have real feelings for.

      “Darling?” Andrew’s amused tenor broke into Rachel’s thoughts. “I think you went a tad overboard on the flour. We’re not opening up a bakery, are we?”

      Rachel stared into the mixing bowl, now almost filled-to-the-brim with flour. About, she guessed, four times the amount necessary.

      “I’m sorry,” she whispered, not sure if she meant her mistake or the fact she’d been thinking about another man when she should be focused on Andrew. On finding her own slice of happiness. “I...don’t know what happened.”

      “Hey, don’t worry about it.” Andrew started scooping flour back into the storage container. “See? Easy enough problem to fix.”

      Right. Easy as pie. Too bad she couldn’t say the same about cupcakes.

      Well...one particular cupcake. Rachel sighed and attempted to push what didn’t concern her out of her mind. Her goal should be to surround herself with the present, with Andrew. If she were very fortunate, perhaps she’d soon be taking a leap of her own.

      Into Andrew’s arms.

      * * *

      Cole stood outside of Dee’s Deli with a to-go box in his hands, waiting for Rachel to arrive. It might be a little—or by some folks’ perspectives, a lot—cold for a picnic, but he’d heard Rachel’s surprise at the fact he’d chosen Dee’s over Foster’s for lunch.

      He couldn’t take her there until he’d had a chance to talk to his family. His convoluted plan would go up in flames the second Rachel asked any one of them about his girlfriend. In the light of day, he wasn’t so sure he could pull this off anyway, but he knew he couldn’t if his family refused to get on board. Tonight, Cole decided, he’d see what they had to say.

      Until then, he figured a winter picnic would suffice well enough as an explanation for that particular decision. Explaining why his Cupcake was absent from the picnic was another story, but he thought he could deal with that little issue on the fly. Hoped so, anyway.

      Thankfully, the snow had lightened considerably in the past hour, and Haley had readily agreed to watch over the store solo for the afternoon. Mostly because he’d asked her to do so last year during Rachel’s visit, so in her mind, this wasn’t any different.

      For the next five minutes, Cole went over his plan and the words he intended to use. A tight rope, for sure, portraying a man in love with a made-up woman to the real woman he was actually in love with. There were holes in his plan. Big, gaping holes that he hadn’t quite worked out how to fill. If he played his part too strong, Rachel—assuming she still had feelings for him—might keep those feelings to herself, in the name of his happiness.

      Conversely, if Cole didn’t play the part with enough realism, she—again, assuming she even had those feelings—might not be propelled to unbury them, or, hell, to even recognize they existed. Cole’s goal, therefore, was to strive for a balance.

      Of course, determining where the line was between “too far” and “not enough” could prove problematic. He’d have to play it by ear, be ready to make adjustments at a second’s notice and hope he achieved the right balance at the right time.

      He’d given some thought to just telling Rachel what his feelings were, which had been his original plan before he’d learned about Andrew. Now, after going down that road for all of thirty seconds, Cole had dismissed it outright. The humiliating truth of the matter was that he didn’t think he could take being shot down while another man was in the picture.

      This way, at the very least, he retained some control. Some dignity. If Rachel didn’t bite, he’d have his answer soon enough without handing her his heart to decimate. Later, after she’d returned to New York, he’d simply tell her his relationship with Cupcake had come to an end.

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