Cole returned to Natalie’s and walked in the front door.
“Daddy, daddy!” Both TJ and Melissa ran to him and hugged him. He hugged them back, wondering if they were ever going to be a real family now.
Natalie came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. She took one look at Cole’s face and knew something was wrong. “What is it? Is everything okay?”
He went into the kitchen and sat down. TJ and Melissa each climbed up on a knee. He looked over their heads at Natalie. “She’s awake, but she wouldn’t talk to me. Told me to leave, repeatedly.”
“Did you tell her you loved her?”
He nodded. “Yes. I said everything I could think to say to make her see that I loved her, that I wanted her.” He shook his head. She wouldn’t listen.”
“Oh, Cole. It’s just her stubborn pride, when she’s had time to heal and she feels better, I’m sure—”
“No. I don’t think it’s going to matter. I think it’s too late for us.”
“Don’t say that.”
He looked at her, his eyes tormented. “I’m done. I don’t know what else to try.”
Natalie straightened up. “I do.” She threw the dishtowel down and walked out of the room.
Cole stood with a child in each arm and followed her down the hall.
She went into TJ’s room and pulled a duffle bag from out of the closet. She started opening drawers and filling the bag with clothes.
Cole set the kids down and told them to go in Melissa’s room and play. He kissed them on the forehead, and they ran off. Turning to Natalie, he asked, “What are you doing? Natalie, stop.”
She stopped what she was doing and looked at him. “You’re taking the children back with you.”
“I’m what?”
“They’re going with their father for a while. At least until their mother gets out of the hospital,” she stated as if it was already a done deal.
“What are you talking about? I can’t just take the kids away from her.” Cole stared at her like she’d lost her mind.
“Not take them away from her. Just care for them for a little while.”
“And how is that going to help anything?” This logic escaped him. Completely.
“Cole, for one thing it would help me out. I can concentrate on getting her home and getting her well. Secondly, when she’s well enough she’ll have to come out and get them. Then you can talk…on your terms,” she explained.
Cole leaned against the doorframe, folding his arms. “You’re really going to stand there and tell me you believe that’ll work? Are you crazy? She’ll probably call the cops on me,” Cole argued.
Natalie slammed a drawer shut. “I won’t let her.”
He shook his head, not believing in this plan.
“Cole, we’ll come out to get them together. She’ll talk to you, and if after that she still wants to come back to Arizona, then fine, I’ll help her get the kids back. But I’m also going to make it clear to her that I’m selling the house, and I’m going back to California.”
He straightened from the doorframe, shaking his head in denial. “I told you before, I don’t want to be her only option.”
Natalie walked over to him, took his hands in hers, and looked up at him. “Cole, trust me, please,” she pleaded softly.
He stared down at her face. A part of him believed she was grasping at straws, and another part of him wanted desperately to believe her. Finally, he conceded, “I hope to hell you know what you’re doing.”
“Think you can handle being a full-time dad for a couple of weeks?”
Cole nodded solemnly and whispered, “That’s one thing I am sure of.”
***
The next morning, Cole told Natalie he had an errand to run. He came back about an hour later with a big black, shiny SUV.
Natalie saw him pull in and asked him when he walked in the front door, “Did you swap your rental?”
“Nope. I got this for Angel and you. Here are the keys.”
“What? We don’t need a rental car,” Natalie objected, staring down at the key chain he held out. It was not the kind of key chain a rental company puts on a set of keys. It was the kind a dealership puts on.
When she hesitated to take the keys, Cole reached out, took her hand in his, and put the keys in them, closing her fingers around them. “It’s not a rental. I bought it.”
“You bought it?”
“Umm hmm. Are the kids ready to go?”
Natalie was still staring down at the car keys. “What?”
“I still need you to run me back to the dealership to pick up my rental car. I had to leave it there when I drove this one home.”
“Cole, wait. I don’t understand. Why did you just buy a car, a brand new car? An expensive, brand new car?”
“For you and Angel. So you’d have a reliable car to drive to California. Besides she needed one. I wouldn’t trust that hunk of junk she has to make it across the desert without breaking down.” Cole wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince her or himself. He didn’t want to admit that this might be a small form of bribery. At this point, he admitted he was ready to take her anyway he could get her. He was tempted to tell Natalie about the money.
***
A couple hours later, the kids were loaded up in the rental, and they were ready to head out. It was after dinner and getting dark. Cole had thought it best to try to travel as far as he could at night while the kids slept in the backseat.
Before they left, he handed Natalie an envelope to give to Angel when she got home. She promised she would. It contained his divorce papers and a letter he’d written to her.
Natalie waved them off, crying. She knew this was for the best, but she was going to miss the children.
***