Second Chance Family - Cindy Kirk Page 0,8
get to go home with you and Uncle Cole?” Charlie slipped from Meg’s arms and his gaze shifted from her to Cole. “My pajamas and Toy Story toothbrush are in the car.”
Ryan shot the social worker a questioning look.
Lexi smiled apologetically. “I wasn’t sure how things would work today, so I packed his bag.”
“It’ll be a few days before we have all the arrangements made,” Ryan said, his gaze darting to the boy.
“No worries. Ever since—” The social worker paused and appeared to be carefully considering her words. “For the past week Charlie has been staying with Derek and Rachel Rossi under emergency foster care.”
Meg’s brows pulled together. “The names sound awfully familiar.”
Cole nodded. “I was thinking the same thing.”
“Derek is a former major league pitcher,” Ryan explained. “He’s now an expert sports commentator. So you’ve probably seen him on TV or at least heard his name. He and his wife, Rachel, live part of the year in Jackson Hole.”
“And both of them are friends of your brother Travis and his wife,” Lexi added, glancing at Meg. “Rachel has done emergency foster care for years. Charlie has really enjoyed staying at their house.”
“I like it there,” Charlie agreed. “But I’d rather be with you.”
Cole would have liked it better if the boy had been looking only at him when he’d expressed the sentiment. Instead his hope-filled eyes definitely included Meg.
“Soon,” Meg said with a reassuring smile.
“We’ll be together before you know it,” Cole promised.
“It was nice meeting you both.” Lexi smiled. “But we should hit the road. I need to get Charlie back to the house. Rachel mentioned something about letting the kids make homemade pizza tonight and—”
“She told me if I came back I could put on the pepperoni.” Charlie grabbed Lexi’s hand and tugged on it. “We better hurry.”
Thankfully, because Charlie was so eager to leave, there were no lingering goodbyes. In a matter of seconds the social worker and the little boy were out the door and down the hall.
Cole assumed Lexi planned it that way, to make it easier on Charlie. Still, it was hard seeing the child disappear from view, knowing he was going to a stranger’s home.
Soon, Cole reassured himself. Soon, Charlie would be his. And when that happened he would never let him go.
Chapter Three
“It’s good we came when we did.” Ryan glanced around the bar. Dressed like Cole in a flannel shirt, jeans and cowboy boots, the successful attorney appeared ready to kick back and relax. “A couple of hours, we’d be lucky to find a place to stand, much less a table.”
By the time Cole had reached his late twenties, he’d grown tired of the bar scene. But Wally’s Place, a popular Jackson sports bar, had it all: pool, darts, karaoke and, according to Ryan, the best burgers in town.
There was a basket of peanuts on every table and if the rough floor was any indication, tossing the empty shells down was not only acceptable behavior, but encouraged. Their waitress was pretty and more than a little flirtatious, but Cole wasn’t interested. He had more important things on his mind tonight.
“What do you think the odds are she’ll walk away?” Cole took a bite of his burger then washed it down with club soda.
“I don’t know Margaret well.” Ryan took a sip of his Guinness. “In fact, I had to have someone at the funeral point her out to me.”
“I feel badly about missing the service,” Cole said. Margaret’s zinger had hit its target and stuck. “I did everything I could to get here.”
“We were supposed to get a dusting.” Ryan chuckled. “Instead it was a monster storm. But that’s the way this winter has been. Of course, I don’t think the weather is any different than it was when you lived here.”
A sharp pain shot through Cole’s leg. He winced and took another sip of club soda. The way his leg was hurting, he knew he’d have to ice it and pop some pain pills once he got to his hotel room, making alcohol off-limits.
“Of course, give it five minutes and it will change,” Ryan said with a good-natured chuckle.
Cole couldn’t believe they were discussing the changeable Jackson Hole climate when there were more important issues on the table. He forced a casual tone. “So what do you think of Margaret?”
“‘Wow’ was the first word that came to my mind, followed quickly by ‘hot.’” Ryan shook his head, a tiny smile playing at the corners of his lips. “I can’t