The Colonel leveled a stare that Cole knew was meant to intimidate. "Just who the hell do you think you are?"
"Your future son-in-law," Cole said. "And we might as well get one thing straight right now. If you ever, ever, want to be welcome in our home, you'll give Brenna the respect due her." Cole looked down at Brenna, felt the fine trembling of her body where it brushed against his. His voice gentle, he asked, "Have you had breakfast yet?"
She shook her head without looking at him.
He tipped his head toward her. "Would you like to have breakfast with me?"
"Yes," she replied, meeting his gaze, her eyes clear and direct.
Cole offered Michael his right hand. "I told you if I came back it was for keeps. We'll call later." Cole paused, then turned to face Brenna's father, and after a second offered the man his hand. "When we meet again, sir, I hope it's under better circumstances."
This time the Colonel didn't accept the offered hand. Cole held his out a moment longer, meeting the man's eyes, recognizing the challenge. Cole turned away from the older man, winked at Michael, and walked with Brenna out the front door.
"Cassidy." The Colonel's voice followed them outside in an imperative command.
Cole wanted to ignore it. Instead, he turned around and faced the door, the figures inside shadowy beyond the screen.
"I'm not finished."
"That's where you're wrong."
"I can find you, boy, no matter who you are or what you do, I can ruin you."
"Damn your arrogance." Cole released Brenna's hand, his temper no longer in check. He climbed the two steps to the apartment door. Cole opened the door and held it there with his foot.
The Colonel might be used to operating in an environment where people were cowed by his belligerence. Its effect on Cole was to make him angrier than he had been since the day he had watched Harvey Bates subject Brenna to the same kind of aggression.
"First," Cole said, "don't ever threaten me. I won't be playing by your rules, and I can promise you I give as good as I get. Second, Brenna is a free agent who can go where she wants, when she wants. If she wants to come back in here, I won't stop her. Third, I'm in love with her, and I protect and cherish the people I love. Take that as a threat, Colonel, or a friendly warning. As far as I'm concerned, you can go to hell."
Cole removed his foot from the door and let it slam shut. Turning around, he found Brenna standing in the middle of the sidewalk, her expression stricken.
"Do you want to go back in there or come with me?" He knew his voice was too harsh, but he couldn't help it. Only after the words were out of his mouth did be recognize they sounded like an ultimatum.
"With you," she answered without a shred of hesitation or doubt. Cole smiled and took her hand. Her own answering smile wasn't much, but she squeezed his hand. He helped her into the Jeep, then slid behind the steering wheel.
Brenna glanced at Cole when the vehicle pulled away from the curb. Her thoughts raced, but one overwhelming fact stayed with her. Cole had defended her. She hadn't expected to ever have his friendship again, much less his love.
Cole negotiated the Jeep through traffic, a pair of reflective sunglasses hiding his eyes. His expression was harsh, though, and she wondered what he was thinking.
Son-in-law. A thrill of anticipation shot through her. Somehow, things would be all right.
Absently her attention focused on the mountains that drew closer as Cole drove northwest and she understood he was taking her home. Afternoon thunderstorms would gather over the mountains later, but for now, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Like life, Brenna thought. She and Cole had problems to solve. For the moment, though, their future seemed as clear as the summer sky.
She hadn't dared hope he would forgive her for deceiving him. Now that she had a second chance, she was determined to give Cole the kind of honesty he deserved. No evasions. No lies by omissions. No deceptions. Not even small ones.
By the time Cole exited the highway for the last lap toward home, he decided that he had been too heavy-handed with Brenna's father. She had things well in hand when he got there, and she had been winning her own battle. Once again, he should have held on to his temper.
Then, minutes later, he turned onto the road that led to his house, feeling as insecure as a teenager wanting to kiss a girl for the first time. He stared at the house as though he had never seen it before. He hadn't consciously planned to bring Brenna here, had focused only on going someplace where they could talk without being interrupted.
Now that he was here, he had no idea what to do next. He turned to Brenna, unsure of how she would feel about being here. He got out of the Jeep without looking at her and walked around to open the door for her.
His voice was gruff as he held out his hand. "I hope this is okay—coming here, I mean."
"It's fine." She placed her hand in his, and at her touch, he trembled.
She looked up at him suddenly, as if she knew just how unsure of himself he was. She gave him a slow smile. "I'm scared, too," she said.
"Ah, fair lady," he whispered. "C'mon."
Brenna followed Cole onto the porch, then into the kitchen. It was spotless except for a cup and plate in the sink. Cole didn't release her hand even when he opened the refrigerator and surveyed its meager contents.
"Do you want cereal or eggs?"
"I want to talk," she answered.
"Okay." He closed the refrigerator and led her through a pair of glass doors that separated the kitchen from the entryway. In the living room, he sat down on one end of a high-backed couch without releasing her hand. His eyes were full of so much hunger and regret, she nearly flinched.
Brenna sank down next to him. "I'm sorry. I should have—" she began.
"I'm sorry. I should have—" he said at the same moment.
Cole caught her face within his large hands. He gazed at her long seconds, watching her eyes dilate and grow smoky. He leaned forward and brushed his lips across hers in a caress of silent apology. Her lips trembled beneath his as she returned his chaste kiss.
Brenna held herself rigid, half frightened that she would wake up in a moment and discover this was yet another unfulfilled dream. But in her dreams, his lips weren't this soft. In her dreams, Cole's hands had never held her with such care. In her dreams, she didn't feel the erratic pounding of his heart beneath her hand.
Tears welled as she realized what she had nearly lost. She wrapped her arms around his neck, sighed and parted her lips, touching him with the tip of her tongue.
He returned her touch in kind, urging her closer, reveling in her taste that was the sweetest, the best he had ever known. The knowledge that he had nearly lost her made him tighten his arms around her until her breasts flattened into his chest. She pressed herself even closer, her fingers ice-cold against his neck, a marked contrast to the searing heat of her mouth, her renewed tears leaving his face as wet as her own.
"Oh, God, Brenna. I love you so much," he said between long, soul-rending kisses. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
"I know." She ran her fingers through his hair, traced the outline of his face, pressed her lips across his high cheekbones, then captured his mouth again in a kiss that was as necessary to her as air. "I didn't mean to hurt you, either."
He pulled her across his lap, looped her arms around his neck, and wrapped his own around her back. Holding her close, he rubbed his cheek against her hair. Nothing had ever felt so right, and he wanted to make damn sure she knew there was nothing more important than the two of them together. He wanted to take her upstairs and make long, sweet love to her until they were both mindless. But they had to talk.
"I wish … I had done things differently the other night." Cole closed his eyes against the remembered hurt of Brenna standing in the middle of the room with tears in her eyes.
"Don't," she whispered, pressing her hands against his mouth.
"But, if I had—"
"Things would have come apart some other time," she finished.
"The fault—"
"I don't want any blaming here," he interrupted. "For either of us."
"But—"
"No. We can move past that. We are past that."
She brushed his hair off his forehead. "What do you suggest?"
"I don't know. I'm just scared to death of losing you."
"I know," she whispered around the lump in her throat.
He brushed her hair away from her face. "Marry me."
She met his gaze and tears filled her eyes.
"I love you, Brenna," he whispered. "Marry me."
She brought his hand to her mouth and kissed it. "I can't. I love you, but don't ask that of me. Not now."
"Brenna—"
"You'd be ashamed of me."
"Never."
"I know you don't believe me, but I can't—"
"Read?" he finished. "I believe you. I've thought about you all week. I know you were telling me the truth."
"I never finished school—"
"I'll take you in my life any way I can get you."
"It—marriage—will never work. Sooner or later, you'll be in the position of being ashamed to be—"
Cole stilled her words by pressing his fingers against her lips. "I've never known anyone I admire more. I wasn't angry because you couldn't read. I was angry because—"
"Because I lied to you."
"Ah, fair lady—"
"If I had been truthful…" Brenna swallowed and dropped her gaze from Cole's. "And … the truth is … I won't saddle you with an illiterate wife." She lifted her eyes. "I'm enrolled in a tutoring program, Cole, and I want to go back to school. I want to earn my GED."
"I'm glad," he said, "but I'd want you whether you—"
"Would you, Cole?" she whispered. "Honestly? I believe you love me." She touched his cheek. "But for you to believe in me, to respect me, I need to believe in me, I need to respect me. Do you understand?"
"I'm trying, fair lady."
"Your offer to marry me—"
"Stands," he said.
She smiled. "Ask me the day I've earned my GED. If you still want me then—if you still love me then, I'll marry you."
"That might take years."
She smiled. "I want to be your wife. That could be a pretty powerful inducement."
He grinned. "Does that mean I can give you a ring?"
"Like going steady?" she teased.
"More like promising to say yes when I ask you to marry me," he answered.
"No diamonds."
"Oh, there will be diamonds," he countered, offering his hand. "But if you insist, I can wait until you have your GED."
"What's this?" she asked, nodding toward his extended arm.
He leaned forward and kissed her. "When we shake hands on this, fair lady, we have a legal, binding contract that I'll hold you to."
Brenna glanced at his large callused hand, then raised her eyes to his. Her lips curved in a smile. "Are there any terms in this contract I should be aware of, Counselor?"
He grinned. "I thought I'd take you upstairs in a minute and demonstrate the terms I have in mind."
She placed her hand in his, trusting in him and the future that would be theirs. "Sounds like a good deal to me."
* * *
Eighteen months to the day later, Cole waited for Brenna at the end of a platform full of dignitaries passing out GED certificates. She stood with a group of other graduates, her head high. Cole had eyes only for her.
Overall, the months had sped by. Brenna had insisted on keeping her own apartment, and the only token of commitment she had accepted from him was his old high-school class ring, which she wore on a chain around her neck. He had never seen anyone work harder. She drove herself relentlessly. Along the way, Michael encouraged her and at the same time reminded her she didn't have to be perfect—all she had to do was her best and let the devil take the hindmost. That encouragement and support cemented his friendship with Cole. Recently she had begun to make plans for college, which he applauded.
Brenna's name was called, and Cole watched her stride across the platform. When she was handed her GED certificate, he took her picture and heard Teddy's and Michael's cheers from the audience.
She came toward him, her smile brilliant. He held out his hand and steadied her as she stepped off the platform. Then he kissed her, took her left hand in his, and slid a huge diamond solitaire on her finger.
"I hope you believe in short engagements, fair lady."
She laughed, looking so radiant she took his breath away.
"Grandmom already told me she's counting on a Valentine's Day wedding."
His eyebrows lifted. "That's three weeks away."
She smiled. "I know."
"Perfect."
And it was.
* * * *
CASSIDY'S COURTSHIP Page 25
