Cole shrugged. “I can’t take much credit. She would have braved it with or without me.”
He had no idea how much I’d relied on him today, but I wasn’t going to debate that in front of my brother.
“So, you’re a detective now?” Finn asked Cole.
“Yeah. I got promoted about a year ago. What about you? What do you do?”
“I own a landscaping company here in town. We mostly do new construction, some mowing here and there.”
“Finn’s being modest,” I told Cole. “Alcott Landscaping is one of the biggest landscaping companies in the Gallatin Valley. And when he says new construction, he means that he designs the landscaping for some of the biggest homes in the area.”
Finn just shrugged. “It pays the bills.”
I was proud of Finn’s success, but it had come at a price. In my opinion, his dedication to his company had driven the wedge between him and Molly in the first place. He’d taken his design assistants out to dinners instead of his wife. He’d made sure everyone else’s lawn was mowed but forgotten to do his own, forcing Molly to do it herself. He’d spent late nights with his laptop instead of sleeping in bed next to her.
Alcott Landscaping had come above all others, except the kids. Finn might not have won awards as a husband, but he was a great dad. Even if their parents were divorced, Max and Kali had two parents who loved them unconditionally.
“Daddy! Aunt Poppy!” Kali screeched as the ride came to an end. She climbed out of her purple brontosaurus and came running down the platform and through the exit gate. “Did you see me? Did you see me?” She launched herself at Finn, giggling as he picked her up and threw her in the air.
“You did awesome! Was it fun?”
She nodded wildly. “Can I go again?”
“Sure. Did you want to do the dinosaur train again or try something else?” Finn smirked at Cole. “Aunt Poppy’s friend Cole said the bee ride was pretty fun.”
Kali looked at Cole but dismissed him completely, much too concerned about her fair rides than another adult in our huddle. “Hmmm.” She tapped her chin—something that was so stinking adorable I could hardly stand it. “Bees!”
“Bees!” Finn and I both cheered as Cole muttered, “Bees.”
I laughed and took the handle to Max’s stroller, leading the way to the other ride.
An hour later, Kali had been on every kiddie ride, I’d spent some quality time with my nephew, and Cole and Finn had made plans to meet up for a beer next week. My brother was man-crushing on Cole. Hard. And I couldn’t wait to razz him about it later.
“Can I do that one, Daddy? Pleeeeease?” Kali pointed to the Tilt-A-Whirl.
Finn shook his head. “You have to be taller to ride that one, baby.”
“But there’s a kid.” Kali’s eyes zeroed in on a kid not much taller than her riding with his dad.
“Saw that, did you?” Finn muttered and knelt down to look at his daughter. “You can’t go on that ride alone, and I didn’t buy myself any tickets. I’m sorry.”
“Finn, I’ve got a couple extra,” Cole said. “You can have them or I can take her.”
“Yay!” Kali squealed. “Can I go? Can I go, Daddy? Pleeeeease?”
Finn shook his head and clapped Cole on the shoulder. “She’s all yours. Good luck.”
Cole chuckled as Kali grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the ride. He smiled at me as my niece kept pulling. “At least I fit on this one.”
“Have fun!” Finn and I called to their backs.
As Cole and Kali took their place in line for the ride, Finn stepped closer to my side. “I like him.”
“No.” I feigned shock. “Really? I couldn’t tell by the way you were practically humping his leg.”
“Tease all you want. You like him too.”
Cole was still holding Kali’s hand, smiling down at her as they waited in line. “Yeah. I like him too. He’s a friend.”
“A friend? Come on. What’s going on with you two?”
I shrugged. “I ran into him at that karate class I went to last month. We’ve had a couple dinners together, and he’s helping me with some of the stuff on Jamie’s list.”
“And.”
“And he’s also looking into the murder case.”
“And.”
“And . . . that’s it. Nothing more. I just told you. He’s a friend.”
“Poppy,” Finn chided.
I mocked his tone. “Finn.”
“Be honest.”
The downside of being extremely close to my brother was that I never could slip anything past him. “Honestly? I don’t know.”
“Fair enough.” Finn waved to Kali as she smiled his way from the Tilt-A-Whirl car. She was sitting right next to Cole, her hands gripping the railing across their laps. And Cole was grinning at me.
The ride got started and I waved to them both as they started spinning.
“He likes you too. More than just a friend.”
I sighed. “I know.”
I didn’t want to lead Cole on. I knew he had feelings for me, just like I had feelings for him. But since I wasn’t sure how to deal with them, it was safer just to classify him as a friend.
Finn threw his arm around my shoulders and hugged me to his side. “It’s okay to always love Jamie.”
“I always will.” Always.
“But maybe you can love someone else too.”
Two years ago, I would have said absolutely not. I would have said that my love for Jamie was all-consuming and I’d never find room in my heart for anyone else. But now, I wasn’t as sure. At some point, I wanted more in my life. A family. Children. Love.
So instead of saying absolutely not, I whispered, “Maybe.”
Finn hugged me tighter. “Something to think about. Since Jamie was my best friend in the world, I feel like I’m qualified to say this. He would have liked Cole too.”
Finn’s right. You would have liked him, Jamie.
We stayed quiet as we watched Kali and Cole on the ride. By the time they came back, Kali had claimed Cole as her own, begging him to take her on
