“I appreciate that, guys. But my placeis with Cole now,” I said softly as both men’s eyes lifted to look up over myhead and I felt a firm grip on my shoulder.
I looked up to meet Cole’s warm blueeyes. “Trying to steal my girl fellas?” Cole asked in a light tone, thoughthere was an undertone of threat to it.
“Nah, man. Just want her to know shecan always come home,” Henry explained.
“She is home,” Cole replied withouthesitation.
I looked up at him with a slow smileas we exchanged a knowing look. Not only was I home, but we were building afamily. In that moment any trepidation I’d had about the pregnancy evaporatedunder his reverent stare. I knew I could dothis,Icould do anything as long as we were together.
“Yeah, I am home,” I agreed, beaming.
Chapter Seventeen
We took off for our getaway afterbreakfast the next day. Cole had shared that his family owned a small cabinnear the Nevada-California border in the mountains. It sounded private andbeautiful, just what I wanted.
Pete had yet again given me time off.I was probably close to losing my job, but I couldn’t bring myself to care witheverything else that was going on. Chief seemed to sense that we were embarkingon some sort of adventure and happily panted his way through the drive. We bothwould have loved to take the bike, but we had the dog and too much stuff. Imight haveslightlyover packed. ButCole had just chuckled as he hauled my huge suitcase into the back of thetruck.
It was a beautiful fall day and Ihoped it would be warm enough to lay out in the sunshine. I smiled blissfullyas we headed up into the mountains, Cole’s hand on my thigh.
It took us just over two hours to getinto town, where we stopped at a local grocery store to load up on suppliesbefore we headed to the cabin.
It was late afternoon as the truckleft the paved road and began to kick up gravel as we headed down the privatelane to the cabin on the outskirts of town. My curiosity peaked as we traveleddown the pine-filled lane and stopped at a rustic looking cabin. The scenerywas breathtaking with its lush pine surroundings and turquoise blue waterbeyond. I was shocked that the cabin was on the lake. I hadn’t expected that.
We grabbed our groceries as Chiefbounded off into the wilderness to explore. Cole unlocked the door, whichopened into the living room. It was a cozy space with hardwood floors and paleblue painted walls. The sliding glass door directly in front of us led to thelake and what looked like its own private pier.
“Wow, this place is amazing,” Ibreathed. The cabin was small but obviously well maintained. And having privateaccess to the lake was unusual.
Cole shrugged. “It needs a lot ofupdating, but the scenery makes up for it. I haven’t been here in years,” hetold me as we walked through to the white tiled kitchen. I put the bag I heldon the counter and looked around. The appliances were old but looked to be indecent condition. The whole place smelled a bit musty and I started opening thewindows to let the fresh air in. There were two bedrooms off the living room,one a bit larger than the other, and Cole put our suitcases in there. Thebedrooms had a thick blue rug that made me smile.
“Like I said, needs a bit ofupdating,” he said as he chuckled.
“It’s charming.” I grinned sincerely,placed my arms around his waist, and kissed his neck.
“It was my ma’s family’s place,” headded while looking down at me.
“Oh?” I asked with a raised brow. He’dnever talked about that side of his family and I was curious.
“Yah. My grandma left it to my pop inher will,” he explained, letting me go but taking my hand as he led me out tothe back patio.
“Was she close to your dad?” I asked,leaning on the rail next to him as we looked out to the gorgeous blue water.
“Yeah, I was little when she died. Butshe spent a lot of time with me. I remember bits and pieces…wish I rememberedmore,” he said with regret. “And she stayed close with my pop when Mom leftus.”
“Do you ever wonder about her?” Iasked, referring to his mother. I’d always wanted to ask him this questionsince I’d learned that she’d walked out.
He sighed and looked thoughtfully outat the landscape. “I’d be lying if I said I never thought about it. Of course Ihave. But I try not to spend too much energy on it. She left us,” he saidcasually, though I could sense an undercurrent of pain in his words. “Herloss.”
“Absolutely,” I agreed readily. “Thanksfor bringing me here,” I said quietly, sensing he didn’t want to talk about itfurther. “It’s beautiful. I’d never expected it to be so private.”
He put his arm around my shoulders andpulled me into his side. “It was a good idea to get away for a few days.”
“Yeah,” I sighed.
The next few days were utter bliss. Weslept in late every morning and had coffee out on the patio, watching thewater. We’d wander down to the lake and I even got a few chances to don mybikini, though it was too cold to swim. Cole seemed to appreciate the view,judging from how he pounced on me the first time he saw the skimpy red suit. Ifigured I better wear it while I still could.
In the evenings I cooked, and we againsat on the patio bundled in sweatshirts against the fall chill. We made loveevery chance we got, which was a lot. And we talked. We talked about ourchildhoods and about our families. We talked about our friends, both past andpresent. And we talked about the baby.
“I think it’s a boy,” Cole assertedconfidently as we sat out on the patio watching the sun go down.