Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91622 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91622 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
The other woman reached for her bag, pulled out a legal pad and a pen, and started taking notes. “What’s his job?”
“Undercover work in Manhattan. Last time he said he was out of touch for a year.” Her throat hurt from the effort of pushing back tears. “I don’t think I’ll hear from him while he’s on a job. He said he wants to take responsibility, and since I need to work, I’ll need help paying for the babysitter.”
Kelly eyed her with concern. “You’ll need a lot more than babysitting money. Take it from me, you’ll want him to pay his share, and if he’s willing, it should be easy enough to take care of.”
“I don’t think he’ll give me a hard time.”
She just wished she didn’t have to take anything from Cole, but Erin wasn’t stupid enough to let her pride overrule her common sense. She was already giving up the career she’d planned for a situation they’d both created while he would go back to life as usual. She didn’t resent the baby or the sacrifice. In fact, she was excited now and couldn’t wait. But that didn’t mean she would try to do it on her own.
If all Cole could offer was cash, she’d accept only what she needed to make ends meet. “This isn’t about punishment or anger,” she told Kelly. “I just want enough to let me care for my baby and be home with him or her when I can.” It was bad enough this baby would basically have one full-time parent and one he or she barely knew.
Erin swiped at her eyes with her palm, and Kelly handed her a tissue in silence.
“Thank you.” Erin appreciated the fact that Kelly didn’t push her to explain her feelings. If she had, Erin knew she’d fall apart.
While she waited, Kelly jotted down a few more notes. “Erin?”
“Yes?”
Kelly looked up. “You know I’m close with Annie, Joe’s wife, right?”
Erin narrowed her eyes and nodded.
“She mentioned to me that Joe has to look for a new tenant for the apartment over the bar. It’s month to month, so when this one’s over . . . Cole said he’s moving out,” she said gently. “Did you know?”
Erin shook her head, willing the tears not to fall. “But I haven’t taken his calls, so for all I know, he would have told me.”
“Is it okay with you if I give him a call? See if he has a lawyer he wants me to be in touch with over these things? Or did you want to talk to him yourself?”
Erin waved her hand through the air. “You do it,” she said abruptly. “Please,” she added, knowing it wasn’t Kelly who she was angry with.
Rationally, she wasn’t angry with Cole either. Things were playing out exactly as he’d warned her they would. It was her fault, hoping for more. For something he’d expressly told her would never be.
Still, the less she had to do with Cole right now, the better off she’d be. She clutched at the blanket she’d draped over her stomach and legs, her head pounding and her heart breaking. Based on the easy flow of tears and the sharp pain slicing into her chest, obviously getting over Cole Sanders wouldn’t be as easy as she’d hoped.
Kelly handling things would let Erin hang on to the one thing she had left of herself.
Her pride.
* * *
After visiting his father again, Cole spent the day in Manhattan, giving his boss the news in person. Rockford hadn’t taken his resignation well, the man sputtering and turning beet red, but in the end, he’d wished Cole well. And told him if things got boring, his old job would be waiting.
Cole might be a lot of things in Serendipity, but he knew bored with Erin wouldn’t be one of them. He didn’t know it in his gut; he knew it in his heart.
Enough avoiding. While in Manhattan, he called on his mother and stepdad and told them they would be grandparents. Afterward, he planned for the future. He put out feelers with old contacts, hoping to start up his own security firm, which would be based in Serendipity but would work with retired agents he knew who had spread out to various parts of the country. There’d be some traveling but little danger, and the more guys on board whom he trusted, the less Cole himself would have to fly out and handle things in person. In the meantime, he had a huge nest egg from years of living minimally and frugally, he had jobs with Nick if he wanted time working with his hands, and most of all, he had a plan.
With that plan came hope. Though he cautioned himself against it, Erin’s optimism had been contagious. But she was the last stop in his plan, and he meant to tackle things in order, so he could show her that he meant what he said and had taken steps to prove it.