“I’m the opposite of that. I tend to trust everyone, and people take advantage of me. Ask my sister—she’ll tell you I’m way too naïve.” She covered her tummy with her hands. “But I’m a mom, now. It’s time for me to grow up. I can’t be naïve anymore.”
“Just promise me one thing,” said Laurie. “Talk to Cole. If Finn and I had communicated better at the beginning, we’d have saved ourselves a lot of heartache.”
“We already talk a lot. Every day, on the way to and from work.”
“I mean really talk to him. Ask him how he feels about you.”
“We’ve talked about it. We like each other a lot, but that’s as far as it goes.”
At least, that was as far as it went on his part. For her part, she’d started making a list of all the bad things about living with Cole. Each day, she would add one reason she was going to be better off after they got a divorce. Sure, some of them were a bit of a stretch, like the one about having to shave her legs every day as preparation for her foot rub. As if that was really a hardship. But some days, reading over her sad little list was the only thing that kept her from stark depression.
“Are you sure about that?”
“I’m positive. We both want the divorce to be final before the baby comes.”
Even as she spoke the words, she felt guilty.
“That’s strange.” Laurie’s nose scrunched and she chewed on a fingernail. “I heard him talking to the guys, and he was hinting that the two of you would definitely stay married for a while longer, at least until after the baby came. That’s what I heard. But maybe I misunderstood.”
A chill ran down her spine, and it wasn’t the good kind. Why was he suddenly changing his tune? And without consulting her?
Though Cole insisted there was plenty of room for everyone to stay the weekend, Bran and Steph were in a hurry to get back to the kids. Of course, Finn and Laurie flew back with them, and Jarrett seemed unusually anxious to return to Denver. But with both sets of parents and both sisters spending the night at the ranch, it was late before Cole and Brooke retired to his bedroom.
He’d been waiting all day to talk to her about Garner’s news, but given her present mood, he wasn’t sure he should. He’d hoped she would relax when she saw him setting up the air mattress so they wouldn’t have to share the bed. But the way she closed her dresser drawer with more force than was needed and stomped her way into the bathroom to change clothes, he knew there was something else bothering her.
How would she react when he told her Nathan might be attempting to claim parental rights? She would likely freak out, and Cole wouldn’t blame her.
Maybe it would be better if he kept the information to himself. If so, he faced an uphill battle to persuade her to stay married until after the baby came. While he was still wondering how to broach the subject, she marched out of the bathroom and stood in front of him, with her fists on her hips.
“You told the guys the divorce isn’t happening before the birth!”
Heat radiating from his face, he tried to stay calm. “I was going to talk to you about it tonight.”
“Are you sure this wasn’t your plan all along? Let me believe you’d filed for divorce when you hadn’t? To wait until after she’d been born to tell me the truth?”
His jaw clenched so tight he could hear his teeth grinding. “Is that what you think of me? After all this time and everything I’ve done? You think I’m trying to trick you? And then what? Steal your baby?”
“I didn’t say that…”
“But you meant it, didn’t you?”
“It’s hard to trust you when it seems like you’re lying to me.” Her trembling lower lip snuck between her teeth in the way that usually made him crazy to kiss her. But this time, he ignored it.
“You want a divorce that bad? File it yourself! Do it Monday, for all I care.”
“That’s not what I said.” A tear rolled down her cheek, and she swiped at it with the back of her hand. “But you scared me when you said one thing to me and something else to your friends.”
Why did it tear at his heart so? He’d let his guard down, and she was getting under his skin. How could I be such a fool?
“You don’t need to stay with me anymore if you’re scared of me. Take your money and go.”
“You’re putting words in my mouth.”
He grabbed his keys from the nightstand. “Better yet, I’ll leave. I’m outta here!”
Her face contorted in pain, and his stomach twisted. He ought to take his hasty words back, but his righteous anger wouldn’t let him. He turned away and headed toward the door.
“Wait!” she cried. “I’m sorry!”
His chest cramped at her shaky voice, but he stormed out before he said something worse. The news about Nathan could wait until morning. For now, he needed to get away where he could think. On the way out, he grabbed a leash and took Gus along, knowing the dog would help him calm down. He was all the way to his truck before he realized he’d left his cell phone in the bedroom.
“I’ll be fine without it,” he told Gus, who was ecstatic about going for a ride. “Who am I going to call at midnight, anyway?”
He drove down the unpaved road toward the south end of his property, country music blaring on his radio. Twenty minutes later, he left the road and cut across the field on a seldom-used trail that led to an abandoned well site. In the secluded clearing, he turned the motor off but left the radio on as he got out and moved to the truck bed. Sitting on the tailgate, he leaned back and rested his head on a sack of corn, as he stared up at the stars. Beside him, Gus curled into a comfortable spot.
“What is it about her, Gus? She makes me absolutely crazy, half the time.”
Gus lifted his head, the whites of his eyes glowing in the moonlight.
“Yes, I know she’s pretty, but there are plenty of gorgeous women out there. Why am I letting this one get to me? You see, this is why I always had the one-and-done dating rule.”
Gus brushed his muzzle against Cole’s hand, leaving a pool of slobber behind.
“Ughh! Thanks for that.” Cole wiped his hand on his blue jeans. “How could she accuse me of something like that? I’ve never done anything to make her distrust me.”
Evidently bored with the conversation, Gus dropped his head to his feet.
