“He’s not old enough yet to be planning his future career.”
“Hey, you never can tell.” Cole turned back to TJ and watched him start to rebuild another tower.
TJ smiled up at Cole.
Angel watched. She could tell TJ loved the attention. He was starting to bond with his father. Angel wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or bad. It all depended on just how much of a role Cole wanted to play in his children’s lives. They really hadn’t had that discussion yet. She’d been too worried about Melissa to think about anything further.
Cole stood and appeared a little wobbly.
“Are you dizzy?” Angel asked, reaching out to offer a steadying hand.
“Yeah, a little there for a moment.”
“You should go rest for a while,” she insisted.
“Yeah. I guess so.” He turned and walked back to the guest room. He closed the door and lay down on the bed. He pulled his cell phone out and turned the ringer back on. He had put it on silent while he was in the hospital. He looked at the read out.
Six missed calls, one from Mack’s number and the other five all from his wife.
Shit.
He needed to call her back. Might as well get it over with. He punched in the number.
She picked up on the second ring.
“It’s me,” was all he said.
“Finally! I’ve called and called. Why didn’t you answer?” came her voice through the phone.
“I was in the hospital, remember.”
“I know where you were. Seems you could remember to check in with your wife.”
“Mandy, don’t start.”
“There’s no money in the account. How am I supposed to pay for shit?”
Cole sat up. “What do you mean? I left you over a grand.”
“Well, it’s gone. Food. Gas. I have expenses, Cole.”
He wanted to reach through the phone and choke her. “How could you have gone through a grand already?”
“I don’t know. But there’s no money.”
He blew out a breath in frustration. “I’ll call the bank and find out what’s going on.”
“I need money, Cole.”
“I said I’d handle it.”
“Well, how did it go? Everything okay with the kid?”
She finally got around to asking, Cole thought. “Fine.” Fuck. Her very voice was beginning to grate on him.
“So, when are you coming home?”
“I don’t know. This transplant is going to be pretty rough on her. I need to be here a while longer. See she gets through it.”
“What do you mean? How much longer? You said this would only take a few days.”
And let the whining begin, he thought. “Look, I said don’t start. Okay? It’s more serious than I’d thought. She doesn’t instantly get all better.”
“What about me?”
“What about you?” Cole snapped back. Her selfishness had come to the surface not long after they’d gotten married. It was really starting to turn his stomach.
“I want you home.”
“I don’t give a shit what you want,” he growled.
“You did your part. I don’t know why you have to stay now.”
“It’s important I be here. She’s my fucking daughter.” Cole was losing patience with her. Things had been rocky between them for a long time, and this just pointed out her neediness. He couldn’t stand clingy women. He just hadn’t realized how bad she could get. She was one of the most self-centered and controlling women he’d ever met. How he’d married her without seeing it was beyond him.
“Okay. Fine. So, another week, then?”
“I can’t say. It may take longer. I just don’t know.”
“Longer? Cole!”
“Mandy, I’ll be back when I can. Look, I’ll call you later. The meds they gave me are starting to make me sleepy,” he lied.
“You’d better call me. And I’m sick of getting your voicemail every time I try to talk to you. You better start picking up your Goddamn phone.”
Cole disconnected.
He couldn’t even bear to finish the call. It was always about her. Her needs. Her problems. Couldn’t she ever once think of someone else’s needs? My God, he hated to think what kind of a mother she’d make. She couldn’t hold a candle to the job Angel was doing dealing with a sick child.
Cole knew he wasn’t being fair, but to hell with fair. Was life fair to Melissa? Had it been fair to Angel?
He tossed the phone on the bedside table. He’d have to call Mack back later. He was in no mood to deal with him now. He was sure Mack wouldn’t be thrilled with him staying out here longer, either. Well, tough shit. He was just going to have to fucking deal with it. Besides, Mack owed him, and he knew it. For all the lies and bullshit he’d put him and Angel though. Maybe she wouldn’t be living seven hundred Goddamn miles away if it hadn’t been for the shit Mack had pulled. Mack was just going to have to make some amends. And if that meant cutting Cole loose for a couple of months, then he’d better get used to it.
Cole fell back on the bed and closed his eyes. He was weaker than he wanted to admit. It didn’t’ take long for sleep to claim him.
***