anything to you about it before then?”
Her tone called him a liar.
“That’s right.” Cole held on to his temper with both hands. “As soon as I heard about the baby I came to Jackson Hole. When I asked, Janae insisted he was Ty’s baby, not mine.”
Cole would never forget that day. Anger. Hurt. Sadness. He’d experienced a whole cacophony of emotions in one short hour. “When I mentioned doing a DNA test, Janae began to cry. She told me I would ruin her marriage if I pursued the test. And it would be all for nothing because the test would show Charlie was Ty’s son.”
“You didn’t believe her.”
“I didn’t know what to believe.”
“You walked away from your own son.”
“She insisted he wasn’t mine.” Cole wiped a hand across his face.
“I can see how she could have fallen under your spell and lived to regret it,” Meg said, her words a sharp knife to his heart. “I did.”
“Everything,” Cole said with a fierceness that surprised both of them, “everything I said to you I meant.”
Meg rose and moved to the window, her back now to him. “You meant it when you said you wanted the three of us to be a family.”
Cole stood. “Every word.”
“Yet you told your attorney to get the papers ready to file for sole custody.” Meg turned and reached inside the neckline of her cowl-necked sweater. She pulled out the silver heart he’d given her their first—and only—Valentine’s Day together. “I put the necklace on this morning because I saw us having a bright future together.”
Cole’s heart dropped when she flung it on the table and shook her head, a look of disgust on her face.
“Meg, listen,” Cole began. “Let me explain.”
“You listen. You will never take Charlie from me.” An edge of steel ran through her tone. “I’ll never walk out on that little boy and my promise to his mother.”
“This is not as horrible or as unworkable as it appears.” Cole forced a conciliatory tone. “Let’s sit down and talk this through.”
“I don’t trust you and I don’t want to be with you anymore.” Meg met his gaze. “As soon as I find a place to live, I’m moving out and I’m taking Charlie with me. There’s nothing you can say—or do—that will change my mind.”
Cole had just gotten off a conference call with his attorney, finalizing plans for the Jackson Hole franchise, when the home phone rang again.
He snatched it up, cradling the receiver lightly against his ear. “Don’t you have anything else to do on New Year’s Eve but talk with me?”
“May I speak with Margaret, please?” a man’s voice said. “Tell her it’s Zac.”
Meg’s youngest brother. Hearing the affection in her tone for this man, Cole had once looked forward to meeting him.
“Zac, this is Cole Lassiter. Your sister isn’t here. She’s out running errands.”
It was true to an extent and it sounded a helluva lot better than saying she was checking out several apartments that had made her short list.
“I tried her cell,” Zac said, his frustration evident. “The call kept dropping before it went through.”
Cole grimaced. Cell reception was a sore subject with him, too. “The weather is bad here. Must be affecting the signals again.”
Zac swore. “Do you know when she’ll be back?”
“No clue.” Cole told himself to stay out of it. He might be Meg’s family, but whatever problem he had was none of Cole’s business.
Her brother blew out a harsh breath.
Not my concern, Cole told himself. Still, he knew how much Meg loved Zac. And Cole could drive into Jackson and track her down…if the situation was critical.
“Is there something I can do?” Cole asked. “Does this have anything to do with your girlfriend and baby? Are they okay?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know.”
Silence filled the line for several long seconds. Cole waited, not about to press.
“Margaret told you about Lissa and the baby.”
“She did,” Cole said. “Congratulations.”
“Lissa and I, well, we’re not together anymore.”
Cole waited for him to elaborate, but all he heard from the other end of the line was the sound of a bottle top popping open.
“What happened?” Cole clamped his mouth shut, but the question had already slipped past his lips.
“Her old man got his way.” Zac’s tone was heavy. “Her parents think I’m not good enough for their princess.”
“What do you think?” For some reason, Cole couldn’t seem to pay attention to the “none of my business” refrain in his head.
“I may not have a college degree but I do okay,” Zac said.