through when she said, “You’re sweet. I’m just fine. But…”
The long pause had his hackles rising, and he sat up in his seat, bracing his forearms on the desk. “What’s wrong? Is it Carly? Whitney?”
“No, no…your sister and niece are just fine. I didn’t mean to worry you.”
“Well, hell, Momma. Just tell me what you need to say before you give me a heart attack.”
She blew out a long sigh. “It’s Maryann’s girl, Jemma. You remember her? She’s a few years older than you.”
Considering his hometown was as small as Havenbrook, yeah, he knew her. Just like he knew pretty much every other resident there. Knew her bully of a husband too.
“Yeah, I remember. What’s goin’ on?”
“She’s been… Well, she’s been havin’ some troubles with her husband, Darryl.”
His gut tightened over how his momma said the words—careful and slow like molasses—and he grabbed a pen and the legal pad he kept on his desk, ready to jot down any notes. “All these pauses are killin’ me, Momma. Just come out and say it. What kind of troubles?”
“She finally pressed charges against him.”
Cole blew out a breath and tightened his grip on the pen as memories of the too-close-for-comfort brush his sister had had with just such an asshole bombarded him. “What does she need?” he asked without hesitation.
“I know you’re busy up there, and I know you only do divorces now, but—”
“Momma,” he said sternly. “What does she need?”
She paused only a moment more before she said, “A lawyer, and she can’t afford to pay for one.”
Not the first time he’d been approached with a plea for pro bono help, but the first time he’d known immediately he’d take the case. “Does she know you’re callin’ me?”
“Yes, but she’s not real happy about it. She’s proud. You know how it is. Doesn’t want to take a handout.”
Yeah, he knew firsthand how that was, having grown up with a single mom, working two jobs and refusing to let him drop out of high school to help her pay the bills. “I’ll figure something out to smooth it over with her. What’s her number?”
After rattling it off, she sighed and said, “You’ve got such a big heart, Cole.”
He used to, back before his life had been turned inside out. But somewhere along the way, he’d detached himself. For so long, he’d prided himself on being heartless. That was what he needed to be after he’d found his wife—the woman he’d been with nearly half his life—in bed with his best friend. And in the months and years following their betrayal, he’d found it was easier that way. Easier to work for guys like Travis and Alec, who were nothing more than pigs disguised as men and who always seemed to find him as sure as the sun rising each morning. Easier to demand their unnecessary requests fueled solely on contempt than it was to actually care. Sure, there were the anomalies who found their way to him—like Rory Haven just last year—but by and large, he served self-serving assholes.
And he was tired of it. So fucking tired of it. He’d been feeling this way for months. But now that he had someone as bright and good as Sadie in his life—or at least in his bed—it made him want to do better. To be better.
And this was exactly where he could start.
Chapter Nine
Sadie had no idea why the heavens had shone down upon her today, but it was clear she’d done something good. Or, more likely, Elise felt guilty for continually bailing on her, and that was why she’d shoved Sadie out the door that evening, saying she had everything under control.
Sadie had been reluctant to leave, of course. Sip and Shop was a huge event in Havenbrook and for the businesses participating—Starlight included—but it would be mostly foot traffic for the inn tonight. The real business would come tomorrow and in the days and weeks following, when people called to book staycations or mini getaways thanks to their enticements tonight. Enticements like her lemon poppy seed and blueberry crumble muffins. But since she hadn’t been able to attend this the past three years—too busy trying to get their bearings at the inn—it hadn’t taken a lot of coaxing on Elise’s part to get Sadie to say yes.
She strolled down the packed streets of Havenbrook, busier than usual. Or maybe Sadie had just forgotten what typical was. Willow had done such a fantastic job decorating the Square, and Sadie had little doubt