My Sweetest Sasha: Cole's Story (Meadows Shore Book 2) (13 page)

“I don’t know. My parents would be furious if they knew I’d taken this outside the family.”

“I’m glad you shared it with me. Secrets you need to keep, the kind where there’s not one person you can talk to about them—those’ll destroy you. They’re too heavy for one person’s shoulders. Especially something like this.” He stroked her cheek.

“That’s sound advice. You should take it to heart,” she said placing her hand over his.

“Don’t change the subject. We’re talking about you right now.

“I know Max didn’t seem very impressive when you met him. But he’s nobody’s patsy … well, except for Lily and Sophie.”

Alexa thought about how nervous Max had been the night Lily was born. He’d seemed like a bumbling idiot, but she knew he wasn’t.

“He’s fierce,” said Cole. “I mean reach down your throat and rip out your heart kind of fierce.”

“Fiercer than you?”

“He’d be a worthy opponent, and if he ever makes Sophie or that little girl unhappy, he’ll have one.”

“Sophie seems like she can take care of Max.”

“With one hand tied behind her back. Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want to get in a few licks of my own.”

They got back in the car, and Cole pressed a few buttons on the steering wheel.

“Hey Max. It’s Cole. How are Lily and Sophie?”

“They’re both doing great. It’s customary to ask how I’m doing too, you know.”

Cole chuckled. “I have a friend whose family is in a bind with a big grain company. You met her at the hospital when Lily was born. Remember Alexa?”

“Oh yeah,
the coach
,” Max said in a suggestive voice.

“You’re on speaker, jackass.”

“Hey, Alexa. How’s shadowing Cole going? I hope they’re paying you a lot of money for that gig. Sophie and I can’t wait to hear all about it.”

“All right, all right. Enough. How about we swing by later with dinner, and maybe play with the baby if she’s awake, and Alexa can give you the details.”

“Hold on a minute, I’ll make sure Sophie’s up to it. I’m sure she’d love to have you, I just need to … ”

“ … check with her first.” Cole finished Max’s sentence. “Stop being a pussy.”

“Act all high and mighty now, but one day you’ll find yourself domesticated too. Happens even to prize-winning dogs.”

“Just because you’ve been collared, don’t try to get me to keep you company.”

“I’ve never been happier.”

“Go ask your wife before tears of joy start to fall all over your phone and destroy the battery.”

A minute later, Sophie got on the phone. “Of course you can come by, but you don’t need to bring dinner. We can handle dinner.”

“We’re bringing dinner. End of discussion. How are you, sweetheart?”

“I don’t think my heart’s ever been this full.”

He beamed with the love and affection he had for Sophie, for all his family. It made Alexa’s heart leap every time she saw it.

Cole hung up after they’d settled on a time.

“Let’s go by your place and get the contract. I’ll order dinner from a restaurant in their neighborhood, and we can pick it up on the way over.”

He pulled up in front of her building. “I’ll be right down. Should I change?”

He cupped her face. “You’re perfect the way you are.”

When Alexa got back to the car, he noticed she’d combed her hair and put on lip gloss, and she smelled like grapefruit—sexy grapefruit that made him want to taste her.

“Tell me what that perfume’s called again.”

“
Pamplelune
—it’s a made-up word combining two real French words, grapefruit,
pamplemousse
and moon,
lune
. It’s marketed as a dark grapefruit fragrance.”

He pulled up in front of the restaurant. “I’m going to run in and get the food. Sit in the driver’s seat in case you need to move the car.”

“You want me to drive your car?”

“You have a driver’s license, right?”

She nodded. “It’s … it’s such a nice car.”

“It’s a car Alexa, just a car. It’s not flesh and blood. It can be replaced.”

Alexa sat in the driver’s seat and thought about what it would be like to actually drive a car like this one. She turned on the radio and tried to look sophisticated, nearly forgetting she was about to bring family business into a stranger’s house. Her father would never forgive her if he found out.

Cole climbed into the passenger seat with the bag of food on his lap. “You drive.”

“I’ve really only driven a truck, and I haven’t had much experience with city driving.”

“This car’s a lot easier to maneuver than a truck. We’re only going a couple of blocks, and it’s Saturday evening, so there won’t be much traffic in this part of the city.”

She navigated the two blocks to Sophie and Max’s, and parked in a visitor’s spot under the building.

Daniel and Lucy, Max’s dad and stepmother, were just leaving when they arrived.

“Are you sure you don’t want to join us for dinner? We brought plenty.”

“No, thank you. We have tickets to a concert around the corner at eight. We just stopped by to see Lily,” said Daniel.

“And Sophie and Max too,” Lucy added.

“Of course,” Daniel said sheepishly.

* * *

Even with all the baby paraphernalia, Sophie and Max’s apartment looked like it had leaped from the glossy pages of
Design New England
—classic and polished, but warm and inviting too.

“I got a variety, thought we could mix and match,” said Cole pulling the food out of the bag.

“It smells great. I meant to tell you to order something not too spicy or loaded with garlic since Sophie’s nursing.”

“I thought of that, so I got some veal piccata with plain pasta.”

“Are you two really discussing the effect of food on my breast milk?” The tops of their ears turned a lovely shade of crimson. “Oh, and now you’re blushing, too. Cole, your brothers would love to hear about this.”

Cole ignored her. “Where’s my baby?”

“That reminds me.” Sophie wrapped her arms around Cole. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart, but you didn’t have to create a trust for Lily. She needs your love, not your money. Her parents can take care of the material needs.”

“You never know what surprises life holds. It’s not a lot, but it’ll get her through college and then she’ll be able to take care of herself. I promised your dad I’d look after his girls—all of them.”

Sophie gave Cole a curious look, while he turned to glare at Max. “You told her? I distinctly remember saying, ‘this is between us—do not tell your wife.’ I called you because I needed Lily’s social security number, that’s all. I thought I could trust you to keep your mouth shut.”

“There are no secrets between us,” Max said unapologetically.

“You violate the man code too many times, and they’re coming for your jock strap, buddy. They’ll make you trade it in for a thong.”

“Really? Is that all you get for violating the man code? Because it’s nothing compared to what you get for violating the husband code,” Sophie said with a martial glimmer in her eyes.

“I take it back,” Cole grumbled. “More like they’ll be coming to give you a medal. A pink heart you can put on your car that says: ‘I’ve got this cute bumper sticker, and my wife’s got my balls.’”

Alexa couldn’t stop laughing at the easy banter between them. “I want to hear more about the man code.”

“Ah, yes, the man code,” Sophie said with a sassy grin.

Cole shook his head at her. “My parents had six boys.”

“Each one more charming than the next,” interrupted his cousin.

“It was something my dad made up to teach us about honor and character. Over the years we’ve bastardized it, and it’s become more about honor among thieves. Not exactly what he had in mind.”

“Tell her what your mom did to help her boys develop their better selves,” urged Sophie.

“Why don’t you tell her, since it’s clear not a detail of my childhood escaped you.”

The sarcasm wasn’t lost on Sophie, but she let it roll off her back. “Aunt Maggie, Cole’s mom, wrote letters. She wrote us all letters, but she saved her most precious musings for her boys.”

Sophie smiled wistfully at Cole. The future, like the present, was something they’d share with their spouses and children, but the past, with all of its joys and sorrows, would forever connect the Clayton and the Harrington cousins. The past, and the love and affection they felt for one another.

“Letters, and notes too,” added Cole.
“Every Valentine’s Day she’d leave my brothers and me letters on our pillows. After we moved away, the letters came by mail. She’d write about what she loved most about us—we weren’t always that lovable, and I’m sure there were plenty of times she had to dig deep,” he paused, probably reliving the bittersweet memories. “She’d always mention something we’d done during the year that made her proud. It was never a personal accomplishment, like an academic or athletic feat. Instead, she’d write about some small kindness or sacrifice, letting us know the selfless act hadn’t gone unnoticed.”

Everyone was quiet while he spoke. Even Max didn’t insert any playful jabs to lighten the mood.

“We’d roll our eyes and joke about the
love letters
, but every one of us rushed home from school and up to our rooms on Valentine’s Day, knowing something special was waiting.”

When the first Valentine’s Day after the accident approached, they’d all been in a mood, but even in death, she’d remembered them.

* * *

Alexa was so moved by the Valentine letters that she hardly touched her food. It was impossible to imagine her parents pouring out their feelings, their private thoughts, onto stationary. She was sure they, too, loved their children and each other, and certain that they experienced a range of emotions. But over the years they’d fortressed themselves behind walls so high, so impenetrable, that almost nothing got in or out.

After they cleared the dishes, Max asked Alexa if he could see her paperwork, and went into his study for about a half an hour before coming back and asking her to join him.

“Tell me what you know about the circumstances surrounding the contract,” he said.

“Not much. I don’t know why my father entered into it in the first place. He’s not highly educated, but he’s not a foolish man, and the farm is important to him. It’s been in our family for generations, and is their only source of income, and really their only asset. My dad’s dyslexic, but I don’t think he has an official diagnosis. There’s no way he could have read through that contract, but he did have a lawyer. He also had my mother’s lawful power of attorney, so he signed for her. That part was above board.”

“Jefferies, Hoagland, and Henderson?”

She nodded. “It’s a well-established firm. Howard Jefferies represented my family. The contract’s inherently unfair, and would be nearly impossible to honor, but I don’t have the money to fight them. The legal fees alone would be too expensive, and there would be no guarantee we’d win. It’s easier to pay them off, and in the long run it might be cheaper, too.”

“You’ve been making the payments?”

She nodded.

He whistled. “That’s impressive. Your parents are lucky to have you. I’d like to talk with the company. They’re notorious for bad business practices, but I need your parents’ consent before I can do anything since it’s their property.”

Alexa stared down at the hands she’d been wringing since she sat down in Max’s study. “I don’t know.”

“Do they know you’ve been talking with Feed and Grain?”

She shook her head.

“Do they know you’ve been paying off the debt?”

She shook her head again. “I don’t want to worry them … They’d be humiliated to know that I took this outside the family. That I let strangers know we couldn’t cover our debts.”

“Since you held my hand the night my daughter was born, I’d like to think we’re not strangers. Which of your parents would be the least embarrassed to talk to me?”

Max was a lot like Cole, she thought, single-minded, ignoring any response he didn’t like. But it was an easy question. “My mother.”

“Then let’s do it. When do you think would be a good time to call?”

She glanced at her watch. Her dad would be in his studio, busy with brushes and paint.

“Maybe now.”

* * *

Sophie curled up on the sofa in the living room while Cole held Lily.

“When did you promise my dad you’d take care of us?”

He didn’t say anything. Sophie leaned toward him and grasped his arm.

“During that business with Drew. My kid brother, falling apart in front of me, and I didn’t have a fucking clue about how to help him,” he shook his head. “I missed them so much. I was in way over my head. I needed guidance, and I needed it bad. After they died, I hid—let you carry the responsibility for your sisters and my brothers. When you called me about Drew … it was like a swift kick in the ass. A few days after we picked him up, I went to church.”

“You went to church?”

“Yeah. Father Christopher nearly busted an artery when I darkened the door.”

Sophie pursued her lips, imagining the scene between Cole and the very stern priest. She was barely able to suppress her amusement.

“I sat there in the back of St. Joseph’s and prayed, but I wasn’t feeling it. So I drove to the cemetery, but I couldn’t feel it there either.”

“You should’ve called me. I’d have gone with you.”

“No. That was the problem. You were already taking care of everyone, even me, and I let you. It was easier than facing the reality that I was responsible for five younger brothers who had experienced an unimaginable trauma.”

He looked away with pain in his eyes. “I went to Meadows Shore and took Brady for a walk on the beach. I sat on the sand while he chased gulls, and I felt it. I made a lot of apologies that afternoon and even more promises. I promised your dad I’d always watch out for his girls.”

“Oh, Cole.” She rested her head on his arm.

“It’s not your job to take care of your brothers—of any of us. No one would expect that from you … not your parents, and not mine.”

“It is, Soph. Just like you were left to be the surrogate mom, I was left to be the dad. You stepped into the role effortlessly, and I sucked at it. Shrank like a coward.”

“You’ve never been a coward.”

“Every time I look at Drew,” he squeezed his eyes closed, “I’m so grateful Cassie had the presence of mind to call you.”

“I understand how you feel, but don’t do this at the expense of your own life and happiness. They wouldn’t have wanted that—I’m sure of it. We’re all adults now, and we can take care of ourselves. Even Drew. We just need you to love us.”

The door opened to Max’s study.

Cole looked up. “How’d it go?”

“I think I’ll be able to help.”

“I don’t know how I can ever repay you,” Alexa said.

“Well now that you mention it …”

Sophie gave Max a look that shrieked,
don’t even think about it!

But Max pretended not to see it. “I would love to be able to take my wife out to a romantic dinner one of these days, and if you and your friend Cole, here, could babysit, I’d consider the matter settled. In fact, I’d probably owe you some money.”

“I would love to babysit Lily.”

“I’m in,” said Cole.

Sophie and Alexa left Max and Cole in the living room while they went to tuck a sleepy Lily into her crib.

“Can you really fix the problem? It takes practically every cent she earns to make the payments.”

“Yeah, I think so. I can make it better, at least. Not sure if I can get the money back she’s already paid off—something’s not quite right about the whole thing, doesn’t pass the smell test. The contract’s a sham. Not sure why anyone would’ve advised him to sign it.”

“Maybe the lawyer was incompetent.”

“Don’t know. I don’t know enough details yet, but I’m going to talk to Alexa’s mother again tomorrow.”

“Thanks for taking this on, man. I owe you.”