Jackson Hole Valentine

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“No.” Cole shook his head and his jaw jutted out. “Not happening.”

Their momentary truce had taken a sharp detour south.

“Meg.” This time it was her turn to be on the receiving end of the attorney’s unyielding gaze. “You said you hadn’t found an apartment yet. I got the distinct impression money was a major factor.”

“Travis and Mary Karen told me I could move in with them.” She forced some enthusiasm into her voice. It wasn’t easy.

Meg knew if she moved into her brother and sister-in-law’s home, Charlie would have an unending supply of playmates. But would he be swallowed up in the chaos? Would she be able to get to know him? To help him heal? Still, to move in with Cole…

She shivered.

“I know Travis and Mary Karen,” Ryan said slowly, appearing to choose his words carefully. “They’re great people and wonderful parents. But they have five children under the age of seven. Do you really think that’s the best environment for Charlie right now?”

Meg had been prepared to argue until he asked the very question that had been troubling her. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to say no. She settled for a shrug.

“I’m not suggesting that the two of you live together permanently,” Ryan began.

“Thank God,” Cole said.

“Just give it a couple months.” The attorney fixed his gaze on Cole. “By then you’ll each be in a position to care for Charlie on your own or—”

Ryan paused to take a sip of coffee.

“Or?” Meg prompted.

“Or you’ll have killed each other.”

The bistro on Scott Lane was crowded with playhouse patrons enjoying post-performance chocolate and espresso while listening to live jazz.

Thankfully, Jackson Hole embraced casual, so Meg didn’t feel out of place in her jeans and sweater.

“Are you absolutely sure this is what you want to do?” Travis’s eyes were dark with concern.

When her brother had asked her to run into town with him to have some dessert and coffee as a thank-you for the fabulous meal she’d prepared for his family, Meg had immediately agreed.

Since she’d arrived in Jackson last week, she and Travis hadn’t had much alone time. His wife must have sensed this, because she’d insisted she wanted to stay home and encouraged Travis to take his sister out.

Meg had been excited, thinking how good it would be to have some one-on-one time with her brother. She’d never considered he might want to revisit her decision to move in with Cole.

“Mary Karen and I would love to have you and Charlie stay with us.” Travis’s hazel eyes—so like her own—shone with sincerity. “We don’t want you to live with Cole because you feel you don’t have other options. Because you do. Have other options, I mean.”

Meg let her gaze linger on his handsome face. Though his sandy-colored hair was much lighter than hers and he’d inherited a tendency to freckle that she’d somehow managed to escape, their features proclaimed them as brother and sister. It wasn’t until Meg had returned to Jackson Hole that she’d realized just how much she missed him.

He was only a year older than her, and when their parents had passed away, it had been the two of them—working as a team—who’d kept the family together.

“Margaret,” he said when she didn’t answer, pushing his chipotle chocolate pudding to the side and covering her hand with his. “I don’t know what happened between you and Cole back in high school but I do know that he hurt you.”

“That was a long time ago.” Meg took a dainty bite of the French macaroon, preferring to focus on the delicious morsel rather than on the past.

Travis’s eyes burned with a protective fire. “Are you saying you’ve settled things with him?”

Meg didn’t want to lie to her brother, but if she said no, she already knew what would happen. He’d insist she stay with him.

Not that she didn’t love Travis and adore his wife and children, but after spending the past few days in his household, she’d concluded Ryan was right. With one set of six-year-old twin boys, a four-year-old boy and a set of one-year-old twins, her brother’s household was very busy. Okay, to a woman used to living alone, it was chaotic. Which meant it was way too crazy for an only child grieving the death of his parents.

“It was high school, Trav.” Margaret forced a laugh and waved a dismissive hand. “It’d be pretty sad if I was still holding on to something that happened fifteen years ago. We were just kids.”

Travis’s eyes searched hers. “If you’re sure…”

“Have you ever known me to hold a grudge?” Meg kept her tone light, hoping to dispel the clouds of doubt lingering in her brother’s eyes.

The words nearly got caught in her throat but it was worth the effort it took to spit them out when the lines of tension around his eyes eased.

“If he’s anything like he used to be, Cole is a good man.” As if he’d suddenly rediscovered his appetite, Travis dipped his spoon back into the chocolate pudding he’d been ignoring. “I played ball with him back in high school. He was one of the guys who went out of his way to be nice to Chip.”

“Chip” was Christopher Stone, a mentally challenged classmate. He’d been the student assistant for the football and basketball teams during their high school years.

It didn’t surprise Meg that Cole had been nice to Chip. He’d always had a soft spot for the underdog. Was that admiration she was feeling? She pushed the feeling aside.

“Whatever happened to Chip?” Meg hadn’t thought of her former classmate in years.

“He’s a sacker at Hinky Dinky. Appears to enjoy the work.” Travis returned the greeting of a very pregnant young woman and her cowboy husband before returning his attention to Meg. “I want to help you move tomorrow. I have surgery in the morning but I can reschedule my afternoon appointments.”

“I appreciate the offer, Trav, but all I have is a couple of suitcases.” It was true. Even if it wasn’t, Travis had done so much for her already. Not only had he opened his home to her, he’d hooked her up with Lexi’s attorney husband, Nick, who’d given her free legal advice.

Travis took a bite of pudding then set his spoon down. “What about the rest of your things back in Omaha?”

“Even as we speak, friends are boxing up my clothes and personal items to ship to me.” Meg swallowed a sigh. Though it felt good to be “home,” there was much about her life in Omaha that she was going to miss.

“It’s going to be rough on you for a while since you don’t have a paycheck—”

“I also won’t have any rent, utility or food costs,” she reminded him. She didn’t want Travis, or anyone else, feeling sorry for her.

“You’ll need spending money.” Travis reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out an envelope. “Mary Karen and I want you to have this.”

Reluctantly, Meg took the plain white envelope from his outstretched hand. She opened it to find a wad of bills stuffed inside. Even as her heart warmed at her brother’s generosity, Meg pushed the envelope across the table. “I can’t accept this. It’s way too generous. You have your own family—”

“You’re my family, too.” He shoved the envelope back. “I can’t tell you how much it means to have you back in Jackson Hole.”

“Still—”

“Still nothing.” Travis’s jaw set in the determined tilt Meg remembered all too well. “Trust me, Mary Karen and I won’t even miss it. Consider it an early birthday gift.”

Meg rolled her eyes. “We don’t exchange gifts.”

“We’re starting a new tradition,” he said with a straight face.

She had to laugh. She knew her big brother and recognized that this was a fight she wasn’t going to win. “Okay, I’ll take your money. But I’m paying you back.”

“Convince even one of our siblings to come home to Jackson Hole and you’ll have paid me back a thousandfold.”

Meg started to chuckle but stopped when she saw his face.

“I haven’t seen Zac in five years,” Travis said, his voice heavy.

“Me, either.” Meg shook her head. Of all their siblings, Zac had been the most creative. The most headstrong. And next to Travis, the one she missed the most.

While she couldn’t guarantee she’d be able to get one of her brothers and sisters back to Jackson Hole, she’d do her best. Not only for the sake of the man sitting across the table from her, but for her own, as well.

Cole tightened the straps on his knee brace and decided he must have gone crazy. It was the only explanation that made any sense. Why else would he have agreed to let Meg move in?

He slid to the side of the bed and held on to the headboard while pulling himself upright. Catching sight of his reflection in the full-length mirror, he frowned.

While the running pants were comfortable, he felt like he should be going for a jog, rather than entertaining guests.

Not guests, he reminded himself, Meg and Charlie. While Meg might be considered a guest, Charlie was definitely family.

“My son,” Cole whispered the words aloud for the first time, the taste sweet against his tongue.

For the past five years, ever since he’d heard Joy had given birth less than nine months after their fling in Austin, he’d wondered if Charlie was his son.

By the time he’d heard the news, Joy was married to Ty. Still, Cole had contacted her. She’d insisted the baby was her husband’s child, but her words—and the timing—didn’t ring true. When he’d suggested they do a DNA test “just to be sure,” Joy had started to cry.

At that point Cole had let the matter drop. After all, he didn’t know for sure. And, in the eyes of the law, Charlie was considered Ty’s son. Not only that, Ty was a good father and he and Joy were happy together. In the ensuing years, Cole had become a friend to Ty as well as to Joy and a favorite “uncle” to Charlie.

But now everything had changed.

Grabbing his crutches, Cole made his way slowly to the living room to await Charlie and Meg’s arrival. He stifled a groan as he eased into the overstuffed leather chair. The time for making excuses was over. Once Charlie was settled in, he’d start hitting the therapy hard. And he wouldn’t need Meg’s help. No sirree.

He couldn’t believe he and Meg would be living under the same roof. It was like some twisted fairy tale. To think there had been a time when he’d have given anything to have her be the last person he saw at night and the first one when he woke up. That, of course, was before he discovered she couldn’t be trusted.

The ringing of the doorbell saved Cole from revisiting that awful time when he’d learned she’d betrayed him. The melodious chimes had launched into a second refrain by the time he made it to his feet.

He hobbled around the furniture, carefully avoiding the treacherous rugs. Excitement built inside Cole. Having the opportunity to be a father to Charlie was a dream come true.

Still, it had come at a high price.

Too high, Cole thought grimly. Joy and Ty had been like family—closer, really, than his own brother—and he felt their loss to the very core of his being.

He’d made it all the way to the edge of the foyer when the door opened and Meg and Charlie spilled inside, laughing and talking.

“I hope you don’t mind us not waiting.” Meg stomped on the rag rug, sending the snow on her boots flying across the marble floor. Tiny flakes of white ice crystals clung to her hair.

“I was c-c-cold,” Charlie said loudly, whipping off his Denver Broncos ski cap, his hair standing straight up. “I could see my breath and everything. If I’d waited much longer I’d ‘ave froze to death.”

The little boy’s expression was so earnest, Cole swallowed the laughter welling in his throat.

“Couldn’t have that.” Cole gestured to the coat closet off to Meg’s left. “If you’d like to hang up your—”

“I’d better keep mine on.” She slanted a glance at Charlie. “We’ve got some bags. I should bring them in before my car is covered with snow.”

“There’s a garage door opener on the side table,” Cole said. “It’s yours while you’re here.”

A garage door opener. A simple tool, nothing more. Then why did it suddenly feel so… intimate?

If it felt intimate to Meg, she gave no indication. She simply grabbed the control, dropped it into her pocket then turned to Charlie, who was unbuttoning his jacket.

“Leave it on, sweetie,” she said to the boy. “I’m going to need help carrying the bags into the house.”

“I don’t want to carry any dumb old bags,” the boy whined. “I wanna see my room.”

“You can see your room,” Cole answered before Meg could respond, “after you help Aunt Meg.”

Charlie’s face took on a mulish look. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but closed it when Cole shot him a firm glance.

“Okay,” the boy said with a huge sigh.

“Thank you, Charlie,” Meg added. “I appreciate the help.”

“Is there anything I can do?” Cole asked Meg.

“Thanks for offering, but we’ll be able to manage.” For a second her smile was open and friendly. “Look at Charlie’s muscles.”

Beside her, the boy puffed with pride. “I’m real strong. I picked up this big punkin from our garden that even Daddy couldn’t lift.”

The sharp pain of loss sliced through Cole’s heart. As much as he’d wanted to take a bigger role in Charlie’s life, he’d never wanted it to come at Ty’s expense.