Read Online COLE (Dragon Security Book 1) by Glenna Sinclair - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Glenna Sinclair
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glancing back to where the baby was sleeping on the floor.
“He’ll be fine,” Cole said, catching my hand and tugging me the rest of the way up the stairs. There was a small hallway that was divided by three closed doors. He opened the first and I gasped. It was absolutely beautiful. They’d bought everything a baby could possibly need. A beautiful, white crib that was decorated with a sheet and comforter with big baseball appliques sewn onto it. There was a matching dresser, a dressing table, and a beautiful mobile hanging from the ceiling. They’d even thought to buy one of those fancy things that people put dirty diapers into.
“Look at this.”
Cole opened the closet door and there were dozens of clothes hanging from these precious, tiny hangers. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I turned away, afraid Cole would think my tears were ungrateful.
“They went a little overboard. But that’s how Mom and Dad do things. They can’t just do a little something. They have to go all the way.”
“It’s too much. They shouldn’t have done so much.”
“They did it for the baby, Amber.”
“I know. But…it’s so much. I can never pay them back.”
“They don’t expect you to. That’s why it’s called a gift.”
I turned to the crib and ran my hand over the silky, painted wood. I never would have been able to afford this, not in a hundred years working at that diner. Yet, they just walked into a store and pointed—and here it was. It was crazy the difference between the haves and the have-nots.
Cole moved up behind me and rested his hand on my shoulder.
“This is my parents’ way of saying they want to be a part of yours and the baby’s lives.”
“But I can’t expect them to buy everything for him. He’s mine.”
“I know. And I’m sure they know that, too.”
I glanced back at him over my shoulder. “I’m sorry. You must think I’m a terrible person that I look at all this and see what I can’t do and what they can.”
“No. I think you’re human.” He turned me around, his fingers brushing lightly against my jaw. “I know all this is a little overwhelming. But you need time to rest, to recuperate from the baby’s birth. And you need time to decide what you’re going to do next. I want you to have that time.”
“When I am recuperated?”
“We’ll take things one step at a time, okay?”
I nodded. He studied my face, and I felt this heat burning through me again. I didn’t understand it. My body hurt so badly from everything I’d been through with the baby’s birth, and my breasts were heavy with a need to feed him. But there was something about the way Cole looked at me that made my body ache in a new, different way from anything I’d known before. It scared me a little because I didn’t understand it.
“I don’t want you to feel obligated to take care of me.”
“I don’t. I feel obligated to provide safety and security to my nephew.”
That sliced right through me. I moved around him and headed back downstairs.
“Amber…”
Cole followed, grabbing my arm just as I reached the top of the stairs. I pulled away, moving back against the wall.
“Please don’t do that.”
“I’m sorry. I just…that didn’t come out right. I only meant that I want to help you because that’s what Peter would have wanted me to do.”
“Because of his son.”
“Because Peter was a good man and he was always helping people.”
He was right. I once saw Peter pay for this family’s meal because the father forgot his wallet at home and his wife was horribly embarrassed. He even left a generous tip for the waitress, Cindy, even though she wasn’t one of the better waitresses we had at the diner.
It made me wonder what Peter would have done if he hadn’t died in that car accident. Would he have taken the baby and me in just because it was the right thing to do? Or would he have done it because he really cared about us?
I brushed past Cole and went downstairs just as the
“He’ll be fine,” Cole said, catching my hand and tugging me the rest of the way up the stairs. There was a small hallway that was divided by three closed doors. He opened the first and I gasped. It was absolutely beautiful. They’d bought everything a baby could possibly need. A beautiful, white crib that was decorated with a sheet and comforter with big baseball appliques sewn onto it. There was a matching dresser, a dressing table, and a beautiful mobile hanging from the ceiling. They’d even thought to buy one of those fancy things that people put dirty diapers into.
“Look at this.”
Cole opened the closet door and there were dozens of clothes hanging from these precious, tiny hangers. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I turned away, afraid Cole would think my tears were ungrateful.
“They went a little overboard. But that’s how Mom and Dad do things. They can’t just do a little something. They have to go all the way.”
“It’s too much. They shouldn’t have done so much.”
“They did it for the baby, Amber.”
“I know. But…it’s so much. I can never pay them back.”
“They don’t expect you to. That’s why it’s called a gift.”
I turned to the crib and ran my hand over the silky, painted wood. I never would have been able to afford this, not in a hundred years working at that diner. Yet, they just walked into a store and pointed—and here it was. It was crazy the difference between the haves and the have-nots.
Cole moved up behind me and rested his hand on my shoulder.
“This is my parents’ way of saying they want to be a part of yours and the baby’s lives.”
“But I can’t expect them to buy everything for him. He’s mine.”
“I know. And I’m sure they know that, too.”
I glanced back at him over my shoulder. “I’m sorry. You must think I’m a terrible person that I look at all this and see what I can’t do and what they can.”
“No. I think you’re human.” He turned me around, his fingers brushing lightly against my jaw. “I know all this is a little overwhelming. But you need time to rest, to recuperate from the baby’s birth. And you need time to decide what you’re going to do next. I want you to have that time.”
“When I am recuperated?”
“We’ll take things one step at a time, okay?”
I nodded. He studied my face, and I felt this heat burning through me again. I didn’t understand it. My body hurt so badly from everything I’d been through with the baby’s birth, and my breasts were heavy with a need to feed him. But there was something about the way Cole looked at me that made my body ache in a new, different way from anything I’d known before. It scared me a little because I didn’t understand it.
“I don’t want you to feel obligated to take care of me.”
“I don’t. I feel obligated to provide safety and security to my nephew.”
That sliced right through me. I moved around him and headed back downstairs.
“Amber…”
Cole followed, grabbing my arm just as I reached the top of the stairs. I pulled away, moving back against the wall.
“Please don’t do that.”
“I’m sorry. I just…that didn’t come out right. I only meant that I want to help you because that’s what Peter would have wanted me to do.”
“Because of his son.”
“Because Peter was a good man and he was always helping people.”
He was right. I once saw Peter pay for this family’s meal because the father forgot his wallet at home and his wife was horribly embarrassed. He even left a generous tip for the waitress, Cindy, even though she wasn’t one of the better waitresses we had at the diner.
It made me wonder what Peter would have done if he hadn’t died in that car accident. Would he have taken the baby and me in just because it was the right thing to do? Or would he have done it because he really cared about us?
I brushed past Cole and went downstairs just as the
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