Page 107 of Mine For The Winter

Kris bit down a grin and started the engine up. “Who do you want to sit next to you?”

“I don’t know. I mean Reece is my best friend, so he probably should. And Noah is popular, everybody loves him. If he sits next to me everyone will think I’m cool.” He pressed his lips together, his brow furrowing like he was thinking hard. “But Daniel’s dad didn’t come and I feel kind of sorry for him because his dad is always letting him down. He promised to take him to Disney World in the summer but then he got married instead. So I don’t know. I guess I’ll have Reece and Daniel.”

There was a lump in Kris’ throat that he couldn’t swallow away. “You’re a good kid, you know that?”

“It’s hard on Daniel. His dad left home last year. His mom keeps crying all the time and Daniel hates that. He keeps asking me if he’ll get over it but I don’t know. I can’t remember a time when Dad lived with us.”

“Do you miss him anyway?” Kris asked.

“No, not really.” Cole shrugged. “Can you miss what you’ve never had?”

“Yeah, I think you can.” Kris turned left, following the long line of cars toward Marshall’s Gap. The roads were thick with traffic, but most of it was heading the other way, to Winterville. “I wish I’d known you when you were little.”

“You do?” Cole asked. From the corner of his eye, Kris could see him grinning.

“Yeah. I do. I regret not keeping in touch with your mom and you.”

Cole was silent for a moment, the only sound in the car was the tapping of his fingers against his denim-clad legs. “Will you be leaving again?” he asked.

Kris took a deep breath. He wasn’t used to the candidness of kids. They didn’t skate around a subject like adults. Just wham and you were there.

“I’m not sure.”

“I wish you’d stay. I like you coming to my games.”

They’d reached a red light. Kris pressed the brakes, pulling the car to a stop. “I like coming to your games, too.”

“And Mom’s been happier since you’ve been here.”

He bit down a smile. “Your mom deserves some happiness.”

“Yeah, she does. So will you stay?”

Kris turned to look at him. Cole was staring right back at him, his eyes wide and honest.

“I’d like to.”

“Then do it.”

He made it sound so easy. And maybe it was. But the kid didn’t know what was going on between him and Kelly. And it sure as hell wasn’t Kris’ right to tell him. It was up to Kelly when and where they talked to Cole about their relationship.

Or if. That thought made his throat feel tight.

“I think my mom likes you,” Cole said right as the light turned green.

“What?” Kris almost forgot to put his foot on the gas.

“Like girls like boys, I mean. Would you stay if she liked you?”

Damn his perceptiveness. “I… yeah… I guess.”

“Then tell her that. I don’t mind if you become girlfriend and boyfriend. As long as you promise not to do that kissy stuff in front of me. Daniel had a girlfriend last summer. They kept holding hands and running off together. It was kind of gross.”

Kris laughed. “Isn’t Daniel a little young to have a girlfriend?”

Cole shrugged. “I dunno. But he’d liked her for the longest time. And then she broke his heart.” Cole sighed. “It took him two days before he wanted to play Pokemon Go again.”

“That’s a long time,” Kris agreed, trying not to laugh again. He felt on steadier ground now that they’d stopped talking about him and Kelly.

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