Page 59 of Gentle Persuasion

Debbie jerked away from Case, mortified that she’d lost control, and quickly swiped at her tear-stained face, unwilling for Morgan to see her in this condition.

“And Case! It’s great to see you, son. I hate to be rude, but where’s my grandson?”

Debbie stood back as the proud parents quickly ushered Morgan to the bedroom. He beamed as he looked long and hard at the tiny baby sleeping soundly on the bed.

“He looks like you, doesn’t he, Case?” Morgan was overwhelmed by the emotion of seeing such a tiny bit of his own immortality.

“Yes, Dad, he does,” Lily answered. “And I can’t wait for him to wake up so you can see his eyes. They’re so blue…”

“All new babies have blue eyes,” Morgan teased.

“Not like these,” Lily said. “He has his daddy’s eyes.”

Case still couldn’t get over the joy he felt at hearing those words, his daddy’s eyes. He couldn’t believe that he and Lily were parents. But the proof was there in the middle of the bed.

Debbie started forward when the phone rang in the other room.

“I’ll get it before it wakes the baby,” she said, and dashed down the hallway to the phone on the table. “Hello!”

Her voice was soft and breathless. Cole groaned and cursed the Fates as he realized he was finally going to have to talk to her, even if it wasn’t face to face.

“It’s me,” he said.

Debbie almost dropped the receiver. It was the first time in thirty-six hours that she’d heard his voice, and even now, he didn’t sound a bit better than he had when he’d stormed out of the house.

“So it is,” she said shortly, and then waited.

Cole cursed softly. This wasn’t going to be easy. “I just thought I’d call and let you know Rick is out of the woods.”

“That’s wonderful,” she said. “Are you still working…or are you just running?”

The sarcasm was not lost on him. It made him defensive…and that was not a wise move. “You don’t understand a thing about it,” Cole said.

“That’s possible.” Tension hummed between them. “I can’t read your mind. And you certainly haven’t talked to me about anything. You slept with me, but you damn sure haven’t talked.”

“Listen, lady—” he began.

She cut him off short. “No, you listen,” she cried. “I know you’re going through a bad time, Cole. So is Rick. So is Tina. But they haven’t shut each other out. They’ve been leaning on each other for strength.”

“How would you have felt if it had been me instead of Rick? How would you like it if we’d had children and you were left alone to raise them?” Cole argued.

Debbie heard the pain in his voice. But he wasn’t listening to her. She had to make him understand. “I know one thing, Cole Brownfield. I would be proud to call you husband. And I’d be strong enough to raise our children alone…if I had to. But we won’t have to worry about any of that now, will we? You’re too busy trying to fix what never happened. You’re too busy assuming that I’d be a quitter.” Her breath caught in a sob as she finished. “Well, I’ll tell you something, mister. I’m not the quitter. You are.”

Case stood quietly at the end of the hall, listening. He wanted to wring his brother-in-law’s stupid neck.

He’d never known a family as determined to do everything their own way as the Brownfields. It had taken years off his life, just worrying if Lily would ever get over her hang-up about being scarred long enough to see that he loved her just the way she was. The scars were gone now, but Case hadn’t forgotten the pain of wondering. He could tell his friend Debbie was suffering the same way. He headed toward her.

Debbie looked up, saw Case coming down the hall with a determined expression on his face, and thrust the phone into his hands. “Here, you talk to him. I don’t have anything else to say.” Then she walked away with her head held high and ignored the fact that she was dying inside.

“I don’t know what the hell is going on,” Case growled into the phone. “And I don’t want to. But if you don’t do something about it, Cole, I’m going to have to punch your face.”

***

It hadn’t taken Case Longren long to get to the point. Cole smiled to himself as he hung up the phone. It was what he’d most admired about the tall Oklahoma cowboy the first time they’d met.

In his heart, he knew that Debbie was right. He was the one running from the truth. And the truth was, he loved her to desperation. If he lost her, it would kill him.

Then what the hell am I doing? If I don’t get myself together and get home, I’ve already lost her.

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