Page 22 of Gentle Persuasion

Cole slept the clock around. When he awoke, he could smell coffee and the aroma of freshly baked oatmeal cookies, and he could smell himself. He groaned, rolled over and off his bed, stripping his jeans and shirt as he walked.

The shower came on just as his last item of clothing came off. He walked beneath the jetting spray, reveling in the sting of water yet to warm.

The last thing he remembered was walking in on Debbie kissing his brother. And he vaguely remembered holding her and promising something about “being right back.” He grimaced as he reached for the soap and shampoo. It was obvious that he’d never made it.

He stood beneath the shower until the water got hot and then until the water ran cold because he’d emptied the tank. He exited the stall, grabbed a bath towel, and wrapped it around him as he walked back into his room to get some clean underwear.

A steaming cup of hot coffee and a plate with three cookies, still warm from the oven, sat on his bedside table. Startled, he half expected to see Debbie’s teasing face peeking out from around some door. But she was nowhere in sight. He sank down on the bed, unmindful of his still-wet body, and inhaled two cookies before he remembered to chew. The last, he savored with the coffee, thinking that a guy could get used to this kind of treatment.

He dried and dressed, gave his hair a half swipe with a comb, and gathered up his empty cup and plate.

“Got a refill?”

Debbie turned at the sink. She dropped the potato she was peeling back into the bowl and stuffed her hands into her apron pockets to keep from throwing them around his neck.

“You look better,” she said softly.

“I hope to hell I do,” he teased. “I saw myself just before I walked into the shower. It even scared me.”

She grinned. Buddy walked into the kitchen.

“Debbie made cookies,” he announced.

Cole nodded, holding up his empty plate.

“Chocolate chip is my favorite,” Buddy said.

Cole privately thought that his brother was nuts. He knew good and well that he’d just eaten oatmeal and raisin. He should. They were his favorite.

“Debbie made oatmeal and raisin,” Buddy continued.

Cole’s eyebrows shot up toward his hairline. Suddenly, he, too, was beginning to understand Buddy’s odd manner of conversation. Especially when he saw Debbie blush at Buddy’s last remark. And he knew that Buddy was explaining, in the only way Buddy knew how, that the kiss Debbie had given him had been innocent.

“I know, Robert Allen,” Cole said. “You can go to your room now.”

Buddy grinned. “I’m going to my room now,” he echoed.

They stared at each other and then burst out laughing. It was impossible not to. And for the first time since he and Debbie had parted company after their day at the beach, he felt happy inside himself.

“I’m starving,” he said. “What have you got to eat…besides oatmeal-and-raisin cookies?”

“Sit,” Debbie ordered. “It won’t take a minute. I’ve got anything you could possibly want.” She began rummaging through the refrigerator.

He watched the seductive sway of her body as she moved around the kitchen. His insides twisted themselves into pretzels, but he ignored the twinges. “Yes, Little Red. You certainly have.”

***

Cole and Debbie had come to an unspoken agreement. They’d agreed to disagree on certain issues yet to be resolved. Thankfully, it left the temperature in the Brownfield household somewhere back in the range of normalcy. No more frozen looks or cold shoulders between them, just lots of midnight dips in a chilly pool for Cole and sleepless nights for Debbie. Nothing serious and nothing that couldn’t be remedied…when the time was right.

But it took a routine call on a routine day for Cole to realize that time was not always going to be on his side…or waiting. Time had a way of running out when you least expected it. And for Debbie, it almost ran out for good.

***

“Just drop me off at the mall,” Debbie said. “You go on to your appointment, and I’ll take a cab home when I’m through.”

Morgan hesitated in the mall parking lot. It was broad daylight. Debbie was a grown woman, even if she was tiny. Women shopped alone all over the world…everywhere, every day. He knew he was just being overprotective. But he couldn’t help it. This tiny female had come to mean a lot to all of them, especially his eldest son.

“Well…” he began.

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