in a million years would Cole have guessed that Jane had been married to a muso. She seemed far too practical to fall in love with a dreamer. “What’s his name? Maybe I’ve heard of him?”
She gave a half laugh. “I doubt it. He plays with a band called Two Hands Clapping. His name is Tad Spencer.”
Nope. Never heard of him. “You kept your married name?”
“Yeah.” She shrugged. “It’s Finn’s last name, too, and all my business stuff was already in that name, and it was just…way down on my list of priorities, I guess.”
Cole nodded. He imagined she had enough to do without dealing with a bunch of red tape. “You don’t have…parents or friends or a sister who could look after Finn?”
“My parents are in the military. They’re currently based in Germany. I don’t have siblings. Tad’s parents are on a cruise. And yes, I do have friends back in California I could call on, but not for four weeks. That’s not fair on them or Finn. And besides, he was expecting some fun time with his dad. He doesn’t need to be shunted somewhere else or get the message that I’m somehow unavailable to him.”
“Will you be able to finish the job in time?”
She took a sip of the beer before she answered. “I’m…not sure. I think I’m going to have to call on some help just in case.”
Cole blinked at the disappointment in her voice. “You don’t like asking for help.”
“It’s not that. I just…I don’t know, it’s a matter of pride, I guess. And it’s one of those jobs that come along so rarely. I was looking forward to being the person responsible for its restoration. I wanted to do it all by myself.” She turned her eyes on him. “You know what I mean?”
Cole nodded. He understood exactly. He’d been part of a team his whole working life, giving and taking. Celebrating in victory, commiserating in defeat. But he also knew that teamwork was underpinned by individual performances and that was an individual responsibility.
This was clearly a matter of pride for her, and he, maybe better than anyone right now, understood injured pride.
She was doing an awful lot of things solo, though. Maybe she could benefit from a little teamwork. “I could look after Finn for the next few weeks.”
Chapter Five
Cole stared as the words that had spilled from his mouth hung suspended between them. It was almost comical how round Jane’s eyes went in her face. Bloody hell. Where the fuck had that come from?
“What?” she asked with an incredulous kind of half laugh.
Maybe it was the note of disbelief in that laugh, but the idea was firming up into a certainty in Cole’s head. “Sure. Why not?” All he was doing was sitting on his arse, contemplating his navel, and feeling sorry for himself. Maybe if he was fully occupied, he wouldn’t have time to dwell on the fact he wasn’t ever going to be part of a team again. “I watched him all afternoon, and, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly busy.”
“But…” She was staring at him now like he’d grown a horn on his head. “That was an afternoon. Not however long it might be till Tad gets his ass back here, which, knowing him, could be a couple of weeks.”
“I don’t have anywhere to be.” He was in the running for a TV commentary job - following in the footsteps of many a pro-baller after their career had tanked – but he’d not heard anything yet, despite checking in regularly with his agent.
She shook her head. “What in the hell do you know about looking after a four-year-old?”
“Well…I don’t have a degree in childcare or anything, but I’m pretty sure I can figure out how to keep him fed, happy, and alive until the end of the day.”
She gave a brief snort. And then, just because the universe liked to tempt him, she said around the lip of her bottle, “That’s comforting.”
Ignoring that particularly weird form of temptation, Cole plunged on. “All I’m saying is Finn and I can hang out together during the day. That should free you up to do your work and get the job completed on time without having to work all hours of the night.”
It really bugged Cole that Jane was working her arse off every night hunched over floor tiles so she could give Finn all her time during the day and still get the job done. She was a single