Under the porchlight, Cole read the text message for the fourth time.
If he went inside, he’d have to share the news with Hailey, and the bubble they lived in would pop. The longer he stayed outside, the longer he could hold onto this fantasy life.
He had the woman of his dreams.
He had two beautiful, confused, lost little girls who, for whatever reason, had come to take comfort from him.
He had the closest thing to a family he’d ever known.
And it was damn hard to let it go.
The door cracked open, and Hailey stood there with Evvie on her hip.
“Cole.” The little girl shouted as though they hadn’t just seen each other ten minutes before he’d taken her sister to the bus. She lunged for him.
He caught her and held her close. “Hey, sweetie.” She smelled like faffles and baby shampoo.
As he entered the house, Hailey said quietly, “Looks like you got some bad news.”
“Not bad, no.”
“Here.” Hailey got the three-year-old set up at the coffee table with cookie cutters and playdough and then led him toward the kitchen where they could watch her. “What’s going on?”
“I heard from the PI. He talked to Darren’s mother.”
Her features tightened, and she went on alert. “Okay.”
They’d been waiting to find out if the woman was interested in meeting with them. Her response would decide the outcome of their lives—all four of them. “He said she cried when he told her what happened to Darren and that she very much wanted to meet the girls.”
“Meetthe girls. She didn’t say adopt them. She saidmeet.” She said it more to herself. “Okay, so, when is this going to happen?” She had her eye on Evvie as she spoke. There was a fierceness there. Like she wouldn’t let anyone hurt that little girl.
He blew out a breath. “This morning.”
Her attention snapped over to him. “Today? Now?”
“It’s tentatively scheduled for eleven.” He saw her anxiety and quickly added, “But only if you want to.”
“We’re not bringing the girls, right? I want us to meet her first.”
“We can play this however you want.” He felt himself backpedaling, wondering how to rewind the clock. Half-wishing they hadn’t pushed the private investigator. “Do you need more time? I can reschedule.” The idea of staying in the bubble until he had to leave in two weeks worked for him, but it left the outcome in Hailey’s hands, which wasn’t fair. He needed to tie everything up before he left.
She let out a defeated breath. “No. We need to do this while you’re still here. I want you to meet them.”
“Okay. I’ll let him know we’ll be there.”
They both watched Evvie happily chatting to herself. Sensing their attention, she looked up and grinned. “Lookit. I make cookies.” She got up and ran right past them.
“Where are you going?” Hailey asked.
They both followed the little girl into the pantry.
She strained on the tips of her toes to reach a bag of frosted animal crackers. Head tilted back to look at them, she asked, “I have cookies, LaLee?”
Hailey dropped to a crouch, pulling the little girl into her arms. “Yeah, sweetie. Today, you can have all the cookies you want.”
They parked in front of a cottage right across the street from the lake.
Neither made a move to unbuckle their seat belts. They sat in the quiet of the Land Cruiser, the ticking engine the only sound. Cole’s stomach twisted with dread.