Chapter Seventeen
Cole stared at the flowers in his hand. Snow flurried around his ankles, attacking the soles of his boots for disturbing it as it tried to land. That had definitely not gone as he’d hoped. She was supposed to be swept off her feet by the sight of him. She was supposed to have swooned at the flowers, at his ready apology.
She wasn’t supposed to deny him of any acknowledgment whatsoever and kick him out of her parent’s house.
What was going on? Was she really that angry?
Cole wondered who the man he’d seen was. Something told him it wasn’t the flowers, or Cole’s unexpected appearance. The minute she’d seen the man emerge, she’d stiffened. Her cheeks had flushed. Cole would almost bet she’d been enraged by the other man, though how that could be, he couldn’t tell.
In any case, he got the same old sense he’d had for a while now—Saylor was hiding something from him.
Cole gave a defeated shrug to the cold winter air. He turned to make his way toward his waiting pickup, but paused long enough to place the sad flowers on the step. They were for her, anyway. He might as well leave them, even if she didn’t seem to want them.
With glum acceptance, he trudged back through the snow, resolved to spend the afternoon alone in his apartment.
He drove across town, barely noticing anything other than the essentials. Stoplights. Street signs. Not rear-ending the cars in front of him.
Rounding his pickup into its usual spot in his complex’s parking lot, he cut the ignition. The scraping sound of a snow shovel hit him. Jack stopped shoveling and beckoned him over. The old man’s loud voice was like a megaphone. “Cole? Get over here, son. Norah’s been chomping at the bit to get a word in.”
Cole detoured left instead of climbing to the third floor where his own apartment waited.
Before he knew what was happening, he was herded inside. Norah handed him a piece of her apple pie and shuffled him toward the same spot on her couch he always took. It seemed she knew food was the ultimate comfort and the way to a man’s heart, and she always had the perfect remedy on hand.
They passed over the pleasantries. Normally, they’d ask how were the holidays, how was the family, work schedules and expectations. Today, however, Norah went straight to business.
“What’s going on with your Saylor girl?”
“That little five foot six dish from the other night?” Jack added, as though Cole could somehow miss who they were referring to.
Cole leaned forward. He should have known he’d get ambushed. It hadn’t been more than a few days since they’d discussed his relationship with Saylor. Clearly, Norah was eager to be filled in. Too bad he didn’t have better news to give them.
“Brooke interfered again last night.” He told them of the interaction, of her unexpected appearance and the high toll it had taken on his relationship with Saylor.
“Sounds like that ex of yours is after something,” Norah said.
“That’s what I think too, I just can’t figure out what,” Cole said.
“Go look in the mirror,” Norah said with a smirk.
Cole considered it for half a second before grasping her meaning. “That’s what I’m afraid of. I don’t understand it. Our relationship didn’t end well, and I want nothing to do with her.”
“Now Saylor knows Brooke is sniffing around again,” said Jack.
Cole nodded. “She does, and it’s making her insecure about me. The other thing is, well, remember I told you I think Saylor is hiding something from me?”
Norah scooted forward to the edge of her seat.
“Communication is your best bet,” Norah said. “If there’s anything that needs to be resolved with Brooke, to get her to understand where you’re at, you’ve got to be straight forward. As for this Saylor girl, she needs open communication too, from the sound of things. You need to talk to them both, Cole.”
“I’ve told Brooke straight up I’m not interested in her anymore. She won’t take the hint.” Even after sending an extremely plain-worded text after the whole mix-up last night, Brooke had disregarded it.
She’ll get over it, Brooke had texted back. Once she knows we’re back together.
Short of putting a restraining order on the woman, Cole didn’t know what to do. He was fairly certain his situation didn’t warrant such an extreme action.
He’d tried communicating with Saylor as well, but that hadn’t ended at all like he thought it would either. She’d flat out rejected him. What was he supposed to do now, just let her be? Was she scared of getting hurt? What else would make her completely deny him like that?
Another question pestered him. If she completely denied him right in front of whoever that man had been—Cole suspected it was a brother, or maybe an uncle—then did he want to continue pursuing things with her?
He searched his heart for the answer, the same way he’d been doing since he left Saylor’s parent’s house. He couldn’t believe such an abrupt change had come over her. From her wide grin and sparkling, obvious delight at being with him, to utter, lip-curling loathing. He couldn’t leave things like that. Not with Saylor, the woman who made him lose track of time when he was with her, who made his pulse race and his skin flush. He yearned to get her to open up to him, to tell him what was really bothering her.
Norah perked up, lifting a single finger into the air. “I know just the thing. An engagement will fix that right up. Better yet, an elopement.” She lowered the finger to point it right at Cole.
Jack and Cole both stared at Norah as though the marbles in her brain had escaped.
The old woman continued bobbing her head, as though the action was adding to the proof of her case. Her expression was hazy, almost as though she was reminiscing. Was that what she and Jack
