Page 20 of Gentle Persuasion

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Morgan sensed something had changed. Ever since their day at the beach, he’d felt the chill between them.

He saw his son’s silent anguish. When Debbie came in a room, Cole made an excuse to exit. If she needed something, he was the first to volunteer to get it, but always managed to return and leave it without having to face her. Morgan wanted to shake them both. It would have been obvious to a blind man with earmuffs that they were doing everything but what they wanted…and that was to fall into each other’s arms.

Cole had volunteered for a very extended and very dangerous assignment, and Morgan knew it was just an excuse to keep from facing what he was trying to ignore. Debbie. He missed his son, and he worried about him, but except for saying a prayer each night, there was nothing he could do but be there, should they need a sounding board.

Debbie smiled and laughed. She cooked and cleaned. She crawled into the pool and chided and teased Morgan through all his physical therapy. She coerced Buddy into joining them for meals so that she and Morgan wouldn’t be alone. There was no way she was going to admit aloud, to anyone, that she and Cole were having problems. She couldn’t admit it aloud, because she’d yet to admit it silently, to herself.

He’s just stubborn. That was her rationale for everything that made her ache. That was what kept her from packing her bags and taking the next plane back to Oklahoma. That was the only thing that kept her in her own room at night and not across the hall between the covers of his empty bed.

I can be just as stubborn. That was what kept her from falling apart every time she heard a siren. And when she listened to the local evening news, she did not let on, by so much as a gasp, that the latest drug bust had resulted in two deaths.

Learning that the deaths had not been of the officers involved, but of some suspects who’d resisted arrest, did not help. It only served to remind Debbie that during his days on duty, Cole was constantly in the line of fire and in danger of never coming home.

It made her stop. And it made her think. And for the first time, she had a taste of what kept Cole Brownfield out of her arms. She’d heard him say more than once that, on the job, a policeman’s first duty was to his partner. It was what got them home safe and sound each day. And that if a man, or woman, as the case might be, couldn’t face that fact, they had no business trying to work a family into a policeman’s lifestyle. It was what got people killed.

But Debbie knew that she could face sharing Cole. If that was what it took to keep him safe and bring him home, she’d share him with the whole damned department. I can be stubborn, she reminded herself. I will wait until he realizes that, too.

She sprayed furniture polish on an already gleaming table and rubbed furiously, muttering beneath her breath at the stupidity of supposedly brilliant people.

“Were you talking about me?” Buddy asked as he wandered through the kitchen with an empty plate and glass. He’d long since learned to return his carry-out crockery. It still gave him nightmares thinking about soap and water and vacuums in his inner sanctum.

“What?” Debbie looked up, startled at his appearance and then realized that he’d walked in on the last of her mumblings.

“Brilliant people…were you talking about me?” Buddy grinned.

“You’re not nearly as stupid as you let on, are you, Robert Allen?”

“Cole just drove up.” He deposited his announcement and his dirty dishes at the same time.

Debbie whirled around, stared through the living room toward the front door and then, before she thought, wrapped her arms around Buddy’s neck and planted a big kiss on his cheek.

“Thank you for caring, Buddy dear,” she whispered.

Cole walked in. It was the first thing he saw. His brother and Debbie. In the kitchen. Kissing. At least she was kissing, Buddy was grinning down at her like someone had just handed him the keys to the computer brain in Washington, D.C.

Cole didn’t think. He just reacted. It had been too long since he’d been home and too long since he’d felt human. He’d never been so pissed off in his life. He pivoted, slamming the door behind him as he made a none-too-graceful exit back outside. This time, he stood on the front stoop, leaned against the door, placed his finger on the bell, and pushed.

Debbie grinned. She’d heard the door open, and then she’d heard it slam. For just a moment, she feared that the impulse she’d given in to with Buddy had been the wrong thing to do. The last thing she meant to cause was trouble between brothers. However, it was obvious from the sarcastic ringing of the doorbell that Cole hadn’t mistaken what she’d been doing. He was just mad that it hadn’t been him.

“I’m going to my room now,” Buddy said. “Thank you for the kiss…and we’re out of cookies.”

“Okay. You’re welcome. And I’ll make some tomorrow.”

He nodded, secure in the knowledge that he’d done his bit toward family unity.

Morgan hobbled into the room, intent on reaming out whoever was playing at his door, when Debbie made a dash into the living room. He caught a glimpse of Cole’s angry face through the sheer curtains, another glimpse of the light shining in her eyes, and did as neat a pivot as his leg would allow.

“I’m going to my room,” he announced.

Debbie grinned. “It runs in the family.”

He didn’t’ know what she was talking about, but he kept walking just the same. If it was the last thing he saw on this earth, he wanted to see Cole and Debbie together…and happy.

Debbie took a deep breath and opened the door. Cole’s glare was as dark as the three-day growth of beard on his face.

“Hi!” she said. “You need a shave.”

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