The ringing continued.
Natalie brought her palms to my chest and pushed.
“No,” I growled, holding her steady.
“Cole,” she protested into my mouth.
That fucking incessant ringing.
Natalie pushed again, her rejection crushing.
I bit her bottom lip, pinching her flesh between my teeth, ensuring she couldn’t pull away. Couldn’t leave me.
But she did.
“Goddammit, Cole. Stop,” she said, slapping my chest and jerking back.
Her chest rose and fell. Worried eyes met mine. Her tongue made a slow drag across her bottom lip, and she winced.
Good. I wanted her pain. Wanted to kiss her better. I wanted everything.
The ringing stopped, then started again.
“Fuck,” I mumbled, yanking the cell from my pocket. I looked at the screen. Guilt washed clean my lust haze.
“Everly, hi.”
Natalie’s head whipped up, her blush darkening.
“Cole? Honey?” Sobs came across the line.
Victoria’s mother hadn’t reached out to me once since the funeral, despite my calls and frequent attempts at visiting.
“Everything okay?” Agitation balled in my gut.
“I can’t. I can’t. Oh, God. I miss my baby so much.”
“Yeah. Yeah, me, too,” I said out of habit.
Natalie pushed me away, much harder than before, and I stumbled back, catching my balance too late to grab her before she fled.
“Cole. I’m sorry. I’m a mess and I just…” Everly continued, but I couldn’t hear a word.
Natalie shoved her feet into her boots and before I reached her, she was shrugging into her jacket.
Lacey asked, “What happened?”
Ellis stood, arms crossed, glaring my direction.
Sobs and a shrill voice pierced my ear.
Natalie turned to her friend, ignoring me. “I need to go. I’ll call you in the morning.”
She couldn’t leave. “Natalie, wait!”
“Natalie? Who’s Natalie?” came through the speaker, loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Everly. Give me a moment.”
“Everly?” Lacey clapped a hand to her chest. “Oh, Nat Brat.”
I shoved the phone back into my pocket. “Natalie, what happened?” I reached for my girl, my saving grace.
She dodged my hand.
“Please don’t go.”
“I have to.”
“Why?”
“Because.” She pointed to my pocket. “Even from her grave, she’s trying to ruin me.” One tear let loose, and she quickly swiped it away.
I wasn’t sure how to process her comment. Conscience had dictated I take the call from my dead wife’s mother. “That’s not fair.”
“I can’t do this, Cole. I’m sorry.”
She was leaving. Again. Rage erupted so fast and furious I didn’t have a chance to keep it in check. My fist met the wall. An ungodly pain shot up my wrist. Natalie screamed. Ellis braced his arms around me and twisted, forcing me away from the women.
A strange noise filled the vast room, long and loud and full of anguish. It was my voice, my lungs straining, my soul releasing months of poisonous fury.
Ellis held tight, not letting me fall.
When the storm cleared and my head stopped buzzing, Natalie was gone.
Natalie
I lay between Mom and Dad, my head on Mom’s lap, my feet tucked under Dad’s thigh. We’d spent the morning drinking too much coffee and eating too many Christmas cookies. It was good to be home, but I missed my Lacey Lu something fierce. I couldn’t remember the last Christmas I’d spent without her.
We stared at the big screen. Watched Will Ferrell pour syrup on spaghetti and laughed until our stomachs hurt.
When the movie was over, Mom gave my hip a slap. “What time are you heading to Lacey’s house?”
“I’m not going to their dinner party,” I said, pulling the blanket tighter under my chin.
“What?” Mom squeaked.
Dad snorted, then shifted, leaving my feet exposed and cold. “What’s the matter? You not feeling well?”
“I feel fine.” I shrugged. “I would rather hang out with you guys today.”
Cold fingers clamped over my forehead. “You don’t feel hot. Is it your period?”
“Mom!” I swatted her hand away, then swung my feet to the floor. “No. I just don’t want to be around a bunch of people today.”
“Cole won’t be there,” Dad said, pointing the remote at the television.
“Dad!”
“Just sayin’. If he’s the reason you’re not going to see your very best friend and your godson, then you’re staying home for no reason.”
I turned to face my father, but he didn’t return the courtesy. “How do you know Cole won’t be there?”
“He’s in New York.”
“How do you know that?”
Click. Click. He raced through channels. “We bump into each other now and then.”
“So you’re buddies now?”
“I wouldn’t say that.” He smiled. “But the kid has one helluva golf swing.”
Unbelievable.
“Ugh. Dad. What are you doing?” I threw my arms over my face.
“He’s your best friend’s husband’s best friend. That makes him your friend-in-law. He’s practically family.” Dad huffed and finally turned my way, his brows knitted. “I thought you loved the guy.”
“I fell in love with him on accident.”
“Nothing is an accident,” Mom piped in.
“And then I moved away. To get away from him. Because he was getting married!”
“He isn’t married anymore,” Dad said, looking truly perplexed.
“Because his wife is dead. And might I remind you, she was my mortal enemy.”
Mom’s turn again. “Might I remind you that if it weren’t for Victoria, Cole wouldn’t have come back to Seattle.”
“That’s true.” Dad gave Mom a high five over my head. “You never would have met him.”
“Oh. My. God. Why am I having this conversation with you guys right now?” I stood, aimed my ire at Mom. “And why are you on his side? What happened with the Caleb lore and all that destiny mumbo jumbo?”
“Oh, my God, honey. I just remembered something.” Mom sprinted up the stairs.
Dad eased off the couch, groaning louder than usual, and turned off the television. He limped to the stereo and pressed Play.
Adding salt to my wound, Nat King Cole’s version of “The Christmas Song” played in surround sound.
I dropped my head back in surrender. Dad came my way, wrapped me in his arms, and sung along while he spun me around the living room, paper crinkling under our feet.
“Nat King Cole.” He laughed. “Natalie King and Cole. What are the odds?”
I only refrained from smacking my
