forever was even cold in the ground.
“My mommy said when I make a mean face, it could freeze like that.”
Cole pulled his thoughts back to the present and turned in his seat to face his son sitting in the back. “Was I scowling?”
The child pulled his brows together, narrowed his eyes then pointed to his own face.
“Wow,” Cole said. “If my face froze like that, I’d scare you and Aunt Meg.”
Though her eyes remained focused on the road, Meg chuckled. “After that movie last night, I don’t think I can stand one more scary thing.”
Cole and Charlie exchanged smiles. Meg had closed her eyes when the hunter came after Bambi’s mother. Though Cole would never admit it, he’d found himself hoping Bambi’s mother had gotten away.
“I liked the movie,” Cole said. “Did you like it, Charlie?”
The child had been mostly silent on the car ride into Jackson. “I liked it okay.”
“Is something on your mind, honey?” Meg voiced the question Cole wasn’t sure he should ask.
He knew the boy had been traumatized. While Cole wanted Charlie to know he cared, he didn’t want to force the child to talk about his feelings before he was ready.
“I dunno.” Charlie kicked his foot against the back of the seat.
Cole waited, a thousand questions on the tip of his tongue. Most of the articles he’d read on grief in kids said not to press, to be patient. The trouble was, he’d never been a particularly patient person.
“What’s an orphan?” Charlie asked as Meg pulled into the church parking lot. “At the funeral Tommy Grosscup said I was an orphan, like that was something bad.”
Cole’s heart sank. He glanced at Meg. While he’d learned a great deal reading all those articles, she’d had real-life experience raising her siblings.
“An orphan,” Meg said softly, “is someone who doesn’t have any parents. I’m an orphan because I lost both my mom and dad. Uncle Cole isn’t an orphan because his mother is still living.”
“So I was an orphan,” Charlie said, “but I’m not anymore.”
Once again, Cole forced his mouth to remain shut. Meg simply smiled, projecting an air of calm acceptance that Cole envied.
“That’s right,” she said after a long moment. “You’re not an orphan because—”
“I have you and Uncle Cole for my mommy and daddy,” Charlie said as if the answer was obvious.
A tightness filled Cole’s chest and he saw Meg blink back tears.
Ryan had been right. Charlie needed a father and a mother during this difficult time.
Though Meg wouldn’t be around forever, for the first time Cole was grateful she was here now. Once she was gone Cole would start seriously looking for a woman who’d be a wife to him and a mother to his son.
A friend. A lover. Most important, a woman he could trust.
Meg slowed her steps as she and Cole approached the front door of The Coffee Pot. “Travis said they usually commandeer a big table at the back of the place.”
Cole had run into Meg’s brother several times when he’d been in Jackson Hole visiting Janae and Ty. He knew Travis from high school football and they’d always gotten along. But in the ensuing years, whenever he’d spoken with the young doctor, there had been a decided coolness to their interaction.
While Cole had never mentioned his relationship with Meg to any of the guys on the football team—and he’d kept their breakup to himself, as well—he had the feeling Meg had given her brother an earful. And a one-sided earful if Travis’s response was any indication.
Suddenly, the thought of breakfast with her relatives and her friends held little appeal.
“Why don’t you go in, spend time with your brother.” Cole glanced down the almost-deserted sidewalk. Because of the brisk north wind, once people got out of their vehicles, they didn’t loiter but headed straight inside. “I’m going to take a little walk.”
“Get real, macho man.” Meg grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the door. “It’s too cold to take a walk. Not to mention the sidewalk has a glaze of ice an inch thick on top of it. If you don’t feel like talking, just sit there and eat.”
Meg wasn’t sure what was behind Cole’s reticence and she didn’t care. If he felt awkward, too bad. She’d felt awkward in church, strolling down the aisle with him. She was going to feel even more awkward walking into the café holding his arm, like she was his girlfriend. In fact, she suddenly found herself wishing she didn’t have to go inside.
But