Page 104 of Mine For The Winter

“Okay.” He rolled his eyes and put his arms around her. His hug was cursory at best. But she’d take it.

“Be good for Kris.”

“I will.” His eyes were on the hallway. In his head he was almost certainly already out of the door.

“And good luck. Give them hell.”

He laughed. “Thanks, Mom.”

“I’m sorry I can’t be there.” She’d looked at the schedules over and over again. But this weekend was impossible. Every table in the tavern was booked from lunch until close. And there’d be more customers to come in to stand or play pool or just hang around in the hopes that one of their reservations would be a no show.

“It’s fine.” Cole shrugged. “Kris will be there. And we’re heading out for dinner after, did he tell you?”

“He did. But when he says it’s time to leave, you have to go, okay?”

Cole gave her one of his ‘what are you talking about’ looks. She knew it well. She’d used it herself a few times as a teenager.

“I’m serious,” she said.

“Okay, okay.”

From the corner of her eye she could see Kris tramping up the path. She hadn’t had time to clear it yet, and his dark brown boots were making perfect imprints in the thick white snow. He looked up and saw her looking at him through the window and his mouth split into a grin.

Damn, her heart needed to stay cool.

“Hey.” Cole’s voice was further away. She hadn’t heard him run out to the hallway to open the front door.

“Hey.” Kris’ low voice echoed through the hall. “You ready?”

“Yep.”

There was a slap of hands – a high five, she presumed.

“Great.” There was so much warmth in his voice it made her smile. “Go throw your gear in the car. I’ll just say hi to your mom.”

“Bye, Mom!”

“Bye, honey.” She walked out of the kitchen to where Kris was standing and Cole was already halfway out of the door. “Hi,” she said softly.

“Hey you.”

“Thank you for this. It means so much to him.” She was fighting a losing battle, she knew that. Cole hadn’t stopped talking about Kris all morning.

His gaze drifted over her face. “It means a lot to me, too.” He ran his thumb over his jaw. “You sure you don’t want to go watch? We can switch, and I’ll cover the tavern?”

“You can’t.” They’d already talked about this. But he had a thing about her not being able to see Cole play. “I’m terrible at hockey. And anyway, Cole would kill me if you didn’t play against him.”

“I’m looking forward to it, too.”

“Are you coming?” Cole yelled from the car. Kris lifted a brow.

“I guess that’s my cue. I’ll let you know how it goes. And call you later.”

“Thank you. If there are any problems and I don’t reply immediately, just call the tavern. Somebody will pick up.” She knew from past experience that she’d barely have time to breathe, let alone check her phone for messages.

But she’d definitely be checking to see how Cole was doing.

“I told Cole you’re in charge. When you want to leave you tell him. Don’t take any sass from him or he’ll make you stay there all night.”

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