Page 101 of Sneak Attack

“How’d your day go?”

I broke a cookie in half but couldn’t bring myself to chew on either piece.

“Nate was there.”

“Yeah?”

“Well, he came later, after I cried for so long at her site the grass won’t need to be watered for weeks.”

It was a lame attempt at a joke, and it fell flat.

“Eden.”

“I’m okay. Better, maybe? It was hard, like you said, but I don’t know…if Nate doesn’t hate us for taking away his sister, and her family doesn’t hate you, I guess it’s getting harder to keep hating myself.”

The silence stretched on through the phone, and I didn’t have to wonder what he was thinking.I told you so, was probably on the tip of his tongue and I guessed he was trying to find a nicer way to say it.

“I love you,” he finally said, and the words rattled inside my chest, sending pleasure straight to my heart. “And I’m really proud of you. I know that wasn’t easy.”

“Nothing about this month has been easy.”

“But you haven’t strapped on your running shoes yet, right?”

I chuckled, and glanced to my bare feet, making themselves at home in Marley’s home and in Marysville in general.

In the last few weeks, I’d gained women who might be friends, help with closure, and the boy who I’d always loved, loved me back.

“Not yet,” I whispered, but there was a smile on my mouth and Cole knew it.

“Good.”

“I’m thinking I might not need them?”

A low rumble of approval came through the phone. “Good. That’s real good.”

Let’s hope I could hold on to that thought.

CHAPTER31

COLE

Considering my last public altercation with Selma, a couple weeks back, I wasn’t sure if it was wise or not I was sitting next to Grayson Hodges in a booth at the diner. I’d finally made an appointment with a lawyer, and the Sherriff was legally required to be the one to serve her papers for the custody arrangement my lawyer and I worked on.

I was hoping if we could handle this publicly, and at her parents’ diner, it would smooth the road for us to get this taken care of easily and quickly.

At least, with her parents there, she wouldn’t shout obscenities.

Irv and Theresa might despise me, but I still doubted they’d heard about Selma’s drunken trip to my house and her return trip home in Grayson’s cruiser. Small-town gossip spread quick, but most would be cautious enough speaking about the fiasco around them.

And while Grayson was there, he was sitting at the bar, giving Jasper and I privacy.

“Do you want some ice cream for dessert?” I asked Jasper. After I picked him up from school, we’d gone home to play with Bongo. He chased the dog around the yard until both the boy and dog came inside stinking to the heavens. I’d sent Jasper upstairs for a quick bath while I cleaned up the mess he managed to create in an hour after being home from school.

“No.”

“You okay?” I tapped his foot with mine beneath the table. He’d been extremely quiet all day. Could have still been his adjustment to school, but he’d been happy and all smiles when I picked him up. He’d also been surrounded by four other boys, including Archer.

“Uh-huh.”

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