cab of Cole’s truck, Charlotte couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to that sweet, kind older brother who’d traveled three hours to the city to track down his sister to make sure he was the one to give her the bad news that their mother had walked out on them.
In his place, there was now a cranky, irritating, angry man with no social skills and zero manners.
A man who gave up an entire day to take care of his brother-in-law’s lawn.
Charlotte shook the conflicting thoughts aside. “Yeah,” she finally said, answering his question. “That was me.”
13
So that was why Charlotte was familiar. They’d met several years ago. Why hadn’t she said anything before now? And why did he feel suddenly uncomfortable that she knew more about him than he’d thought?
He remembered that night. He remembered Julianna’s roommate—he’d been instinctively drawn to her for no good reason. Maybe he’d simply been in pain, and she was the one to show him kindness.
Whatever it was, Cole wouldn’t sort through it with her beside him. To that end, she spent lunch and the rest of the afternoon holding up both ends of the conversation.
And he unintentionally reclaimed his title as “Rudest Man in the World.”
Eventually, he noticed, she stopped being nice. Stopped asking him questions. Stopped trying to draw conversation from him. That well had run dry, as she unfortunately discovered.
When they finished the yard work, they stood in silence on the sidewalk, admiring their handiwork.
There. Now Jules’s house looked like it belonged on this street. No longer an eyesore of neglect, the cottage wouldn’t give away her family’s secret pain. Satisfied with their work, Cole strode over to the garage, closed the door, then gave Charlotte a wave.
“Thanks for the help,” he said. “I’m going to go check on Connor.”
He disappeared into the house, aware that he’d just dismissed her like she was the hired help and not a friend of his sister who’d just spent her entire day doing something simply because she wanted to help.
The next morning, after practice, Cole opened his refrigerator and pulled out a carton of eggs. He closed the door, pausing at the sight of Charlotte’s phone number, stuck on by an I <3 NY magnet Julianna had given him ages ago.
He pulled his phone from his back pocket and opened a new message. He punched the number into the “To” line and typed:
Thanks for the help yesterday. You gave me a good idea.
He stared at the words, then deleted the second sentence.
Thanks for the help yesterday.
He clicked send.
He waited for a minute to see if she’d reply, then realized he was being stupid and shoved the phone back in his pocket and started making an omelet. Moments later, he felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out, disappointed to discover a text from Bilby and aware that that disappointment was dangerous.
I was right. Asher’s at the donut shop.
Cole stared at the words for a moment, thinking of the idea he’d had yesterday, working with Charlotte on the yard.
He stuck the carton of eggs, along with the bowl he’d scrambled, back into the refrigerator, grabbed his keys, and went outside to his truck. He drove toward downtown, pulling into a spot in front of the donut shop just as Asher was walking out the door.
Cole saw the kid recognize his truck, then turn and walk the other way.
Great.
He got out and started down the sidewalk, a few yards behind Asher. “Hey, twenty-two!”
Asher stopped and slowly turned to face him. “Coach.”
They stood for a few seconds, as if having a duel, each one waiting to see who would make the first move. “Heard you got a job here.” Cole motioned toward the donut shop with his head.
“So?”
“So, I’ve got an offer for you,” Cole said.
Asher’s expression went from indifferent to mildly interesting, but he said nothing.
“I’m renovating my house,” he said. “I could use some help.”
“So?”
“You want the job?” The idea had come to Cole yesterday when he spent a fair amount of time teaching Charlotte how to do the simplest of tasks. He would’ve thought that would make him crazy, but he was a teacher after all. It shouldn’t surprise him that teaching was rewarding. If he was honest, it was kind of nice to work on something with another person for a change.
Maybe he could teach Asher a few life skills—how to fix a toilet, how to tile a shower, how to lay hardwood—and the hours would accommodate football practices.