"Your father is in Fort Carson today," Jane said. "Michael and Teddy plan to go pick him up when he calls later."
"That's nice," Brenna responded absently, her thoughts still centered on Cole.
"Perhaps you would like to go with them."
She shook her head. "Not a good idea."
Jane got along well with the Colonel, a fact that always amazed Brenna, especially after she figured out that Jane assumed everyone got along with him as well as she did.
"It's been a good visit," Jane volunteered. "You know how stern your father can be, but I think he is
enjoying himself."
"We're going to go see airplanes with Grandpa," Teddy said, palling on Brenna's hand to get her attention.
"That sounds like fun," Brenna responded.
"Do you want to come?" he asked.
"I have other things to do today." Standing in line at the unemployment office held far more appeal than
spending time with her father. No matter how neutral the territory, he always managed to find a way to
make her feel defensive and on edge.
And face it, she told herself. She had plenty to make her feel on edge without adding her father to the mix. Yesterday she had promised herself the next time she saw Cole she would tell him she couldn't read. Well, she had spent a good part of yesterday with him, and she hadn't mentioned it. Not anything remotely close to it.
Jane left for class. Brenna set out crayons and a tablet of drawing paper for Teddy. She doodled with him, wondering how to tell Cole she could not read.
Her mental rehearsal took a dozen different forms, and none of it sounded right to her.You know that lawsuit. Well, that happened because I couldn't read a bank statement. I really did think I had several thousand dollars in the account. You find bank statements confusing, too? No, that isn't what I mean.
You remember that night you wanted to play Scrabble. Well, that's a little difficult. I couldn't spell the word Scrabble if you paid me.
She couldn't imagine boldly saying to Cole, "I can't read."
"I know that, Auntie Brennie," Teddy said.
She glanced at her nephew, unaware she had spoken aloud until Teddy responded.
"But you're learning. Just like me."
"Yes," Brenna said. "Just like you."
"I can help you."
"I know you can." She tousled Teddy's head, praying she would find the same matter-of-fact acceptance in Cole.
He called just as she and Teddy finished having lunch. "Will you be free by late afternoon?"
"I should be," she answered. "I have just one house to clean this afternoon, and it's a small one. I should be done by four-thirty or so."
"That's great. I intended to feed you dinner last night, and I missed it. We have to try again tonight. Maybe a picnic supper. What do you think?"
"That sounds like fun."
"I can't wait to see you," Cole said, his voice caressing. "You're hell on my libido and I have a problem only you can fix."
Warmth slid down Brenna's spine, and she wrapped the telephone cord around her finger. "You seem to have a one-track mind, Counselor."
"True." An instant of silence followed. "What about you, fair lady?"
"The same track."
"I love you, Brenna James. I need to get a few things together. I'll be in touch in a little while and we'll do something special tonight."
Michael arrived home a few minutes later. As Jane had, he invited her to go with him and Teddy to pick up the Colonel. After Brenna told him she had other obligations, he said, "Are you sure, sis? It's been a long time since you've spent any time with him."
"I'll have that chance later. He's going to be here a couple of more days, isn't he?"
"Yeah. I just hate to see things keeping going like they are between you two."
"It's the natural order of things," Brenna said without a trace of humor.
"He's not going to change," Michael said.
She felt her hands clench into fists. "He can accept me as I am or he can-"
Michael took one of her hands and uncurled her palm. "I don't mean to upset you. I was just hoping that some time with him might ease things between you."
"That's a nice thought, Michael. I think my best bet is to stay away from him. If we can get through one visit together without a fight, maybe that will be the beginning of better things." She smiled at her brother. "Besides, I have a date."
Michael grinned. "It's no contest then."
He left with Teddy a few minutes later. Less than a minute later, the doorbell rang, and Brenna answered it, assuming Michael had forgotten his keys or something else. The last thing she expected to see was a delivery from a florist shop-a beautiful bouquet of yellow roses, more brilliant than sunshine. She knew they had to be from Cole.
Brenna took the roses into her bedroom, inhaling their fragrance, and set them on the dresser. She pulled the small card out of its envelope, and groaned in frustration. "Dear Brenna" she recognized. The bold scrawl of the rest of the longhand was completely indecipherable to her. Symbol after symbol blurred together, and she could make out only the most rudimentary words.A. The. Of. I Love you, Brenna.
Carefully, she set the card aside. She would give it to Cole later, she decided. She called his office to thank him for the flowers. Myra, his secretary, told Brenna he was gone for the day. She hung up the telephone, suddenly apprehensive, sure that Cole had said he would call.
She left for her housecleaning job a few minutes later, reassuring herself that she had nothing to worry about He had said he would be in touch, and he would. If Cole was anything, he was a man of his word.
Chapter 21.
Cole glanced at his watch and wondered if Brenna had received the flowers yet. Every time her soft "I love you" feathered through his memory, he wanted to shout his elation, wanted to hold her close, wanted to cherish her in all the ways she deserved to be cherished. On the card he had written, "Grandmom once told me yellow is the color of love and faith. I gave you mine during our golden sunrise. Meet me at the pavilion in Washington Park at six o'clock for a picnic supper. Brenna, I love you. Cole."
He had contacted one of the upscale markets in Cherry Creek to put together the picnic supper. Linens instead of paper napkins. Cold jumbo shrimp instead of hot dogs. Hearts of palm instead of potato chips. The discipline Cole had forced on himself for years eluded him. Often, Brenna slipped through the cracks of his concentration. She had been happy this morning. He knew it. Her vibrant, warm smile was a marked contrast to the controlled, emotionless person she had been last spring.
Just before noon, Myra appeared at the door of his office, immediately catching his attention when she called him by name instead of calling him boss. "Andrew Mathias is on the line." Cole frowned, wondering why the district attorney for ZachMacKenzie's case would be calling him. He didn't have any appointments scheduled with the man.
"Do you want the file?"
Cole shook his head and reached for the phone. "Hello, Andrew."
"Cole," the other man responded over the line. "I wanted to let you know that I think you've got a
problem."
Cole took off his glasses, appreciating Andrew's getting to the point immediately instead of beating
around the usual pleasantries.
"I know your guy is in rehab." He paused.
Cole wondered if it was for effect, or if the man thought he might not know. "It isn't something we tried
to hide," Cole responded. "We knew you'd probably find out."
"I've got two more witnesses that will testify as to his drinking problem."
"Either of these witnesses see Mr. MacKenzie the night of the accident?" Cole asked.
"One of them."
Cole swung his chair away from the desk, and he stared through the window, where a steady stream of
traffic passed. The attorney on the other end of the line was silent, and Cole recognized the tactic for what it was. He, too, liked using silence to up the ante. "Do these witnesses have names?" Cole asked. "It's part of the discovery you're entitled to. Do you want me to fax them to you? "Yes."
"Ready to talk a deal?"
"My client has entered a plea of not guilty. Nothing has changed."
"I'll tell you what. You talk to my witnesses. Then call me. My office is open to a deal."
Cole knew better than to tell the D.A. he wasn't interested. Bluff or real, the call accomplished what
Drew Mathias had intended. Cole felt as though he had just found himself in the middle of a field with an ornery range bull breathing down his neck.
"I'll talk to your witnesses," he said.
"And I'lltalk to you in a couple of days," Mathias said, breaking the connection. Cole set the receiver back in the cradle, at once annoyed and suspicious of what Mathias could have that made him so sure they could plea-bargain the case. All he could do was wait until the fax came with the names. A scant five minutes later, the telephone rang in the outer office, followed by the distinctive whine of the fax machine when the line connected.
He surged out of his chair and went into the outer office where he watched the paper slowly feed through the fax machine.
"Problems?" Myra asked.
"As you damn well knew when you came to my door a minute ago."
"Ah, well, just so long as you don't shoot the messenger."
Her dry tone made Cole look at her, and he managed a smile, responding, "Not likely-all that workman's camp paperwork would be a pain."
The transmission finished, and Cole took the fax out of the machine. The two names on the D.A.'s sheet weren't ones Cole had come across before. He checked his calendar one last time-no appointments until his date with Brenna tonight, which gave him time to track down both persons. Mathias thought he had a bombshell, and Cole needed to know if he did.
When he left the office, telling Myra that he would be gone for the balance of the day. The first witness turned out to be Pamela's brother. Cole figured any family of Zach's ex-fiancee would pretty much see things the way she did, especially a protective older brother. Cole was one of those brothers himself and knew he'd feel pretty much the same way about anyone who hurt his sister. By the time he tracked down the second witness, a young woman, at a trailer court at the north end of the metro area, it was late afternoon. She came to the door, a pair of toddlers clinging to her legs.
Hoisting one of the kids on her hip, she came outside when Cole identified himself.
The first thing he asked her was why she hadn't been on the original witness list.
She ducked her head. "I was scared," she finally admitted. "A guy from that all-night gas station on the
corner called the cops-I know he did, because I asked him."