The Time in Between

by Kristen Ashley

  “If you have to ask, you weren’t paying attention,” I replied.

  The roughness was still there, but he’d added amusement when he muttered, “Oh, I was payin’ attention, honey.”

  “Mmm,” I mumbled, cuddling closer.

  “You want coffee?’ he asked.

  I did.

  But much more, I never wanted to move from where I right then was.

  “In a minute.”

  He reached out to his mug but didn’t take a sip.

  I saw it come straight to me and I looked into its creamy depths, seeing not even half of it was gone and it was still steaming.

  Back in the day, we took our coffee the same way.

  I wrapped my hands around the warm mug, Coert’s fell away, and I lifted it to my lips to take a sip.

  And discovered we still did.

  I fought back an audible sigh at that knowledge and the sweet intimacy of sharing Coert’s coffee.

  But I still sighed.

  Silently.

  But happily.

  Coert turned the page on the newspaper again.

  “What about you?” I whispered after taking another sip.

  “Never read another newspaper again without thinking of going down on you on it, so trust me on this, I’m all good, Cady.”

  I grinned smugly into the coffee mug.

  And right then, sadly, living our impossibly real dream of being together again was broken when Midnight barked.

  I heard her start to move and bark again before a loud, clearly angry knock came at the door.

  Coert’s body went solid and mine followed suit.

  Midnight again barked and I heard her nails against Coert’s wood floors as she headed toward the front door.

  The knocking stopped, started again, Midnight went into a continual bark, and I pulled my head from his neck to look up at him and see his jaw was set, his eyes aimed in the direction of the front door.

  He didn’t like our impossibly real dream broken either.

  He got up, his arm tightening around me to hold me to him as he slid me off his lap and put me on my stocking feet.

  “Stay here,” he ordered over Midnight’s barking, not looking at me, eyes still aimed in the direction of the front door.

  He moved that way too, and when he did, I put the mug down, glanced at the floor, found my panties, bent to grab them and stepped into them, quickly pulling them up my legs.

  Midnight stopped barking only to give out a happy, welcoming woof.

  I would know why when I heard Coert’s murmur (if not the words) and then a loud, demanding, “She in there?”

  Elijah.

  It was then I was on the move.

  “I just heard about this shit,” Elijah bit out before I made it to the door from kitchen to hall.

  I moved into the hall and Midnight dashed to me to share the good news Elijah was there.

  I gave her head a rub even as I carried on walking toward Coert, who stood in the open door, Midnight trotting beside me.

  But my eyes were aimed at what was on his porch.

  Elijah filling the doorway.

  And Verity standing beside him, uncomfortable to the point she looked like she was fretting.

  “We were having coffee in town,” she said fast, the instant she laid eyes on me. “I told him. I didn’t think he’d get mad because it’s, well . . . awesome. But he got mad. I tried, Auntie Cady. I promise I tried to talk him out of coming. But he called Uncle Mike, and Uncle Mike gave him the sheriff’s address and now . . .” she looked like she gulped, “we’re here.”

  How Mike had Coert’s address I didn’t have to guess.

  It was how Pat had it and used it to go talk to Coert.

  The investigator’s reports.

  It was Christmas Eve.

  And that evening Mike’s early present that he wouldn’t want was going to be getting a piece of my mind.

  “It’s okay, honey,” I murmured, coming to stand by Coert who immediately put an arm around my waist and pulled me to his side.

  Elijah was staring down at Coert’s sweater on my body with a comical look of disbelief.

  “Go back to the kitchen, Cady. You stand here, you’ll catch a chill,” Coert said quietly.

  I didn’t get the chance to refuse this request because Elijah announced, “A week ago, you were movin’ back to Denver because of this guy.”

  “Elijah—” I began.

  “And now you’re bringin’ Midnight over to his house,” Elijah spoke over me, saying this like I was taking my dog with me on a trip to have tea with Satan.

  “This is complicated,” I told him.

  “I explained that,” Verity put in quickly. “I . . . it probably wasn’t mine to tell, but when I shared I thought it was good news,” she went on to explain just as quickly.

  “Really, it’s okay, honey,” I said to her.

  “Verity, I’m Coert,” Coert put in, and I watched Verity look to Coert and her eyes danced a little before she smiled a shy smile.

  “I’m Verity, Aunt Cady’s niece.”

  “Got that,” Coert muttered, amusement back in his voice.

  “Jesus, are we serious here?” Elijah clipped, jerking a thumb at Coert. “Because of this guy, a week ago you were flippin’ out.”

  “I’d invite you two in to give you time and explain but I hope you get that this is our first morning together in a very long time, and I kinda want it to be just me and Cady,” Coert said.

  “And I kinda want your assurances you’re not gonna dick her over,” Elijah reported.

  I felt my body stiffen but Coert’s didn’t, not even a little bit.

  Relaxed and very easily, he simply, but very firmly, said, “You don’t have my assurances that I’m not gonna dick her over. You have my promise I’m not gonna dick her over. We’re together. That means something to me because I’m in love with her and I have been for years. But this time, I’m going to do everything in my power to protect it.”

  Elijah’s head jerked at that.

  Verity smiled at that.

  And I pressed myself in Coert’s side at that.

  “I . . . well . . . uh, shit,” Elijah mumbled.

  “I cannot tell you the relief I feel that I won’t be alone in looking after Cady,” Coert continued. “Her family’s here now but they live far away, so until she can build her crew here, you and I are all she’s got and it’s good to know I’m not alone in giving her that.”

  It was then I melted into his side (even though he wasn’t correct, I had Walt and Amanda, Rob and Trish, Jackie and maybe the two blondes from town, and I made a note to share that with him, just later).

  Verity looked like she was fighting clapping her hands together and jumping up and down.

  Elijah was staring at Coert with his mouth hanging open.

  “Sometime later you and me’ll go get a beer and get to know each other. But now it’s cold, the door is open, I haven’t given Cady breakfast yet so I hope you don’t take offense when I ask us to end this here. For now,” Coert finished.

  “Right, uh . . .” Elijah took in Coert’s sweater on my body again before he shifted awkwardly and lifted a hand to scratch the back of his head, “I’ll just take Verity back.”

  This brought to my attention that Verity and Elijah were getting coffee at all.

  I looked to her and widened my eyes.

  She looked to me, now beaming, and widened her eyes back.

  I fought giving her a thumb’s up.

  Midnight danced around all of us excitedly, probably wondering why Verity and Elijah weren’t coming in.

  “Have a good Christmas Eve,” Coert drew a line under it, also drawing me away from the door.

  “Right, yeah, uh . . . you too,” Elijah said and looked at me. “Later, Cady?”

  “Later, Elijah,” I said softly and turned my eyes to Verity. “Later, honey. I’ll be home around five. Okay?”

  She nodded. “Have a great Christmas Eve, Auntie Cady.”


  I gave her a different kind of smile and said, “I will, sweetie.”

  “Midnight,” Coert called while closing the door.

  My dog dashed in.

  I spied Elijah turning stiltedly to Verity but then reaching a hand casually to take hers before he guided her to Coert’s steps as Coert closed the door.

  When he turned to me, I tipped my head back and my body forward, pressing into my hands in his chest and lifting up on my toes whereupon I whispered conspiratorially, “They’re out for coffee.”

  Coert slid his arms around me, doing it grinning.

  “Yeah.”

  I looked to the door then to him.

  “He was holding her hand,” I shared.

  “Yeah,” Coert agreed.

  “I . . . do you . . . you’re a guy. Would a guy take a girl out for coffee if he wasn’t, you know, interested in her?”

  “She’s young but she’s cute and my guess is he hasn’t missed that so that answer would be no. But he’s all about you, though not in that way, in the way he thinks the world of you and she’s your young, pretty niece. So that answer is different since no way in hell he’s gonna go there. Sorry to burst your bubble, but gotta share that coffee was a friendly with his landlord slash woman he feels he needs to look after slash friend’s pretty niece.”

  I felt my face fall as I fell back to my heels.

  “She the one in Connecticut?” Coert asked.

  “She’s at Yale.”

  Coert’s expression went guarded.

  So I asked, “What?”

  “That guy is a solid guy but he’s rough and I bet he knows it. She’s at Yale and she dresses like you and I bet he hasn’t missed it. So baby, think you best let it be what it is now and don’t get your hopes up. Definitely don’t raise hers.”

  “Verity’s not like that,” I shared.

  “She’s at Yale. She’s a Moreland. He didn’t have the money to get his own place after his girl got shot of him. Again, Cady, don’t get your hopes up or hers.”

  “She won’t care,” I told him.

  “He will,” he told me knowingly.

  “Oh,” I muttered, seeing the wisdom in this statement, my gaze again drifting to the door.

  His arms gave me a gentle shake so I looked back at Coert.

  “She’s young. She’ll find the right guy.”

  I nodded.

  “And he’s a good man. He’ll find the right girl.”

  I nodded again.

  “Now can we have breakfast?” he asked.

  I made a mental note to have a chat with Verity so she’d manage her expectations when it came to Elijah.

  And I made another mental note to hide my disappointment when I did that.

  Then I nodded one more time.

  Coert’s arms went from around me but his hand took mine and he led me back to the kitchen.

  He sat me on his stool.

  He made me my own cup of coffee.

  And I read his paper as Coert made breakfast for me.

  Coert

  “It’s okay by me.”

  Coert looked from his place in his living room to the kitchen where Cady was, paper, ribbon, bags and the presents he’d bought Janie and hadn’t yet wrapped strewn all over his island, Cady hard at work wrapping.

  Her choice.

  And she’d made it with apparent glee.

  Something that made Coert gleeful because he freaking hated wrapping presents.

  “You know you can say no,” he said to Kim.

  She was silent.

  He turned his back to Cady and his eyes to Janie’s tree before he said, “I bought this, where we are now, I get it and it sucks that I did that to you, making you think you have to agree to important shit so I won’t get ticked.”

  “This isn’t that, Coert.”

  “Okay, you say that but I gotta believe that’s true before I tick you off by doin’ something you say is okay to do but you don’t think it is, and then that bites me in the ass later and I got no ground to stand on because I bought that too.”

  “Coert,” she said slowly. “Okay, I’ll admit, this is going very fast. You told me about her yesterday. You want our daughter to meet her family tomorrow. Which is Christmas. But . . . I think . . . well, I guess that, uh . . . you know . . . I have to put the shoe on the other foot. I mean, I know it’s not the same as you falling terminally in love with a girl while you were undercover, and then all the drama that happened after your cop status was outed, but I was really, really into my high school boyfriend. And he broke up with me because his family moved to Spokane. And say he came back to live in town and told me he’d been in love with me all this time and couldn’t live without me. And his family was here for Christmas but they were going back to Spokane, and who knew when they’d all get to meet me or Janie. If I had that shot to let Janie meet him and his family when everybody’s buzzing on the Christmas vibe and it’s sure to be all good, I’d wanna take it and I’d hope you’d get it.”

  Coert felt his lips twitching. “Terminally in love?”

  He heard the smile in her voice when she replied, “Well, you kinda died for all other women when you met her.”

  “Yeah,” he muttered, liking the smile in her voice, the amusement she gave him and he really liked that was where they were when they were talking about something like this.

  But mostly, he was liking that description because it was true. That happened.

  And now Cady was back, wrapping Christmas gifts at his island.

  “You sound different.”

  She sounded different when she said that and all amusement fled at how that was.

  “Kim—”

  She spoke over him.

  “Like a new Coert. I can tell you’re being sensitive to me but I can still hear it.”

  “Kim—”

  “You’re happy.”

  Coert fell silent.

  “She gives that to you. You give that to Janie. If she and her family give that to Janie, Coert, how can I say no?”

  It was then, for the first time in a long time, Coert remembered why he’d spent four years with Janie’s mom.

  “I appreciate this, Kim, but still, think on it. We’ll talk more after Janie goes to sleep. Okay?”

  “You mean, at one o’clock in the morning when her Santa excitement has worn her out?”

  Coert smiled. “Maybe earlier. We’ll talk quiet.”

  He heard her laugh.

  Yeah, he remembered why he gave her four years and more, why he took them, and it might be selfish but listening to her laugh he was glad he’d had them.

  Because now he could focus on that while he was building something more solid under the family Janie had rather than focusing on something that wasn’t like that at all.

  “Right, we’ll talk quiet,” she agreed. “And I’ll let you go. Bring your appetite. Christmas Eve dinner is beef tenderloin.”

  “I’ll come hungry,” he assured. “And Cady made us a pie.”

  He heard her chuckle before, “Perfect. Janie’s like her dad. Loves cupcakes but it’s always been about pie. Good start to this Cady earning devotion from our girl.”

  He liked the chuckle.

  And he liked the idea of Janie giving something like that to Cady.

  “Right,” he muttered, but even muttered it too came out amused.

  “Okay, Coert. Do you wanna talk to Janie?”

  “Yeah.”

  She gave him to his daughter.

  His daughter talked his ear off for ten minutes.

  Coert barely said a word until he said goodbye.

  When he’d disconnected, he stared at Janie’s tree.

  Then he walked into his kitchen to give Cady the news.

  “I know it’s you.”

  Coert looked from shoving clothes into the washer to Cady, who was standing at the counter beside the dryer, folding a pink pair of Janie’s tights.

  “Pardon?” he asked.

  Her eyes to Janie�
��s folded tights that she was putting in a hamper, she reached to the pile of clean clothes and grabbed a pair of his jeans.

  “Inside me,” she said softly to the jeans. “Touching me. I know it’s you, Coert.”

  He had no clue what she was talking about, but the words she was saying didn’t sit great with him.

  So it came out edgy when he asked, “Who else would it be?”

  She turned those green eyes to him.

  “Tony.”

  Coert stilled.

  She held his gaze.

  “I’ll say your name over and over as much as you want, again and again for years and years if that’s what works for you. I didn’t have your name before so I can imagine why you wouldn’t want that kind of thing before. But if you’re demanding it now because you want to make sure I’m with us, us, here, now, Coert and Cady, I want you to know I know it’s you.”

  He’d given her everything he could give when they were together.

  And he’d kept everything from her just the same.

  But it felt good knowing that regardless of that, she knew him down to the bone.

  Still.

  “I might need that for a while, honey,” he said quietly.

  She nodded and looked back to his jeans. “Then that’s what I’ll give you.”

  He stared at her profile, the gentle curve of her jaw ending in the thick waves of her hair.

  That was right there.

  In his laundry room.

  Folding his goddamned jeans.

  “You get I love you?” he asked.

  “I love you more,” she said to the jeans she was now stacking on a pile of others she’d folded.

  “That might not be right,” he gave her the truth.

  She looked at him again. “I’ll take that too.”

  He reached out an arm, hooked a hand behind her neck and drew her to him.

  Then he took her mouth.

  He ended the deep kiss with a succession of quick, soft ones before he let her go.

  He turned to the laundry detergent.

  Cady turned back to a pile of unfolded, fresh, clean clothes.

  “Right, I’ll feel her out, make sure what she said on the phone is what she means, and I’ll call you later to let you know for sure if me and Janie are comin’ to dinner tomorrow.”

  It was quarter to five. It was time for Cady to leave and Coert to get over to Kim’s for Christmas Eve with his daughter.