Surely he remembered.
He seemed slightly gobsmacked by her comment, but he’d yet to respond.
“Well?”
He picked up the Hazel’s Kitchen bag and opened it, then moved over to the counter, opened the cupboard, and took out two plates.
“I don’t eat—”
“Sugar or carbs, I know,” he said. “But maybe today you do.”
She frowned. No, today, like every other day, she didn’t.
“I was thinking about redoing my kitchen, but I’m still working on the bathrooms. I actually hired Asher to help me. He’ll be over in a bit.” He pulled the pastries from the bag. He set one on each plate and carried them back to the table, set the plates down, and pulled out a chair. He motioned for her to sit down.
She hesitated for a moment, then obliged, and he sat across from her. “That’s what you guys were talking about at practice the other day.”
He looked at her, as if remembering. “Right, you were there.”
“That was nice of you.”
Cole shrugged. “He needed a job. I needed help.”
She eyed him for a long moment. The words big softy popped into her head, but she didn’t say anything. It was clear that Hildy was right. Despite his prickly façade, Cole cared about the people in his life. A lot.
“Do you want the cinnamon roll or the apple tart?” He looked at her now with an unexpected kindness behind his eyes.
She looked down at the plates, unsure what part of I don’t eat sugar he didn’t understand. But when her eyes darted back to his, her resolve crumbled. She would’ve eaten all three pastries by herself if he asked her too.
“Here, I’ll cut them in half and you can try both.” He did so, rearranging the pieces so each plate now had half of both pastries.
He was trying to distract her. It was working. She shook her foolishness aside and refocused.
“I just need an answer to my question,” she said. “Are you still going to do this dance or what?”
He pushed the plate closer. “I need to know which of these you like better.” He took a bite of the cinnamon roll. “These are homemade—Betsy’s grandmother’s recipe. She sells out of them almost every day. They’re pretty hard to beat.” He looked at her plate. “Go ahead—try it. It’s not going to hurt you.”
It did smell amazing. Really amazing. And as much as a mouth could water for something it had never tasted, hers was watering now.
She picked up the pastry and smelled it.
Cole laughed. “Go ahead, Muscles.”
“Muscles?” She met his eyes.
“I saw your arms,” he said.
“You noticed my arms?”
“Hard not to.”
Her heartbeat thrummed, and she wished she had somewhere to hide. Instead, she found herself biting into the cinnamon roll. The taste of sweet cinnamon and sugar filled her mouth as she savored the bite.
He was eating his half of the pastry far too quickly, another bite swallowed in the time it took for her to swallow hers. “This is amazing.”
“I told you,” he said. “See what you’ve been missing out on.”
The words were innocent enough. Simple really. She didn’t eat sugar; she was missing out on cinnamon rolls. But for some reason, hearing someone else say it made her realize that she was missing out on so much more.
“You okay?”
Had her face given something away? She set what was left of her cinnamon roll on the plate and regained her composure. “I’m fine. And if I remember right, we were here to talk about you.”
He clapped his hands together, as if that would get the sticky frosting off, then found her eyes. “Listen, Charlotte, you really don’t need to be in on this mess with my ex. It’s an ugly situation.”
“I gathered.”
“So maybe it’s better if I bow out.”
“Better for who?”
He didn’t respond.
“Better for Amelia?”
He held up his hands in surrender. “Fine, I get it. I made a promise.”
“Right. You did. So, I think it’s time to buck up and do the right thing.”
He eyed her curiously. “Did you just say ‘buck up’?”
She sighed. “Yes. Do you know what it means?”
He seemed amused. She was seconds away from being made fun of and she knew it. “Well? Are we doing this thing?”
“Are you going to make me tell you about me and Gemma?” A serious expression crossed his face.
“Did I ask?” She figured she could return his guff all day long.
“No, so I’m guessing somebody else filled you in,” he said.
“Why, because I’m not pressuring you for information about your love life?” She laughed.
He looked away. “You’d be surprised how many people found it interesting.”
“Well, I’m not most people,” she said. “Besides, there seems to be some sort of code in this town whenever your name comes up.”
He frowned.
“Nobody says anything. Just that you’ve been through a lot. It’s strange, though, don’t you think? That everyone seems to know the story, but nobody will share it. I wouldn’t have even known who Gemma was if you didn’t tell me.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying this community respects your privacy, Coach. For whatever reason, they want to protect you.”
“I didn’t ask anyone to protect me.” He stood and walked over to the coffeemaker, filled two mugs, and returned to the table, sliding a mug in her direction.
“You’re missing the point,” she said. “Do you know what I would give to have people that watched out for me like that? Julianna was my only friend, Cole, and she’s gone. You have an entire town that loves you, including that little girl.”
“Seems like maybe she loves you too,” he said.
Charlotte felt her cheeks turn pink.
“The video of the two of you dancing. Seems like she really admires you—enough to get back out there anyway.” He took a swig of coffee and looked at her, his gaze so intense she had to look away. She didn’t mean to tell him anything about herself. It was too personal, really, and not the kind of thing you shared with someone you hardly knew.
She stood. “I’ll be at the studio this afternoon. If you decide to go through with it, you can join me.”
“And if I don’t?”
Charlotte forced herself to look at him. “Well, then you’re not the man I thought you were.”
28
Asher pulled up just as Charlotte was leaving. The kid got out of the Haven House work truck and shot Cole a surprised look.
“You and Miss Page?”
Cole groaned. “Not your business.”
“I’m just saying, Coach, she’s top rate.”
Cole stood on the porch, blocking the entry to his house. “What is she, a cut of beef?”
Asher grinned. “Dang, you’ve got it bad.”
Cole rolled his eyes and went inside, not bothering to hold the door open for his new employee.
“I fully support this relationship,” Asher said, following him into the kitchen.