Everyone Loves a Hero

by Marie Force

  “Likewise. How’ve you been?”

  “A little better.” Her pretty face lifted into a small, sad smile. “I miss you, but I’m trying to move on.”

  “I’m so sorry about what happened.”

  “We were caught up in all the Captain Incredible magic,” she said with a rueful expression. “I’ve come to see it was doomed from the start.”

  Cole had no idea what to say to that, so he asked the obvious question. “What’re you doing here?” The last he knew, she lived in Portland, Oregon.

  “I decided I needed a new start. My sister lives here, so I moved last month. I’m working at one of the galleries.” With a shy smile, she added, “And I’m writing again.”

  He was surprised they hadn’t run into her earlier when they were visiting the galleries. “I’m so glad to hear that. I’ve thought of you—”

  Her hand on his arm stopped him. “Please don’t say what you think I need to hear. That won’t help me.”

  Humbled by her quiet grace, Cole met her green-eyed gaze, remembering how hard he’d tried to fall in love with this gem of a woman.

  “Um, Cole?”

  Olivia’s voice blasted him out of his reverie and returned him to his present predicament. But before he looked away, he saw the flash of hurt that dashed through Chelsea’s eyes.

  He put his arm around Olivia. “This is Olivia Robison. Olivia, Chelsea Harper. We met after the blizzard landing. She was a passenger on the flight.”

  “I remember reading about the two of you.” Olivia’s expression remained neutral as she shook hands with Chelsea. “Nice to meet you.”

  “You, too,” Chelsea said.

  Cole’s stomach constricted at the tension he heard in Olivia’s voice. She had to be getting tired of running into his ex-girlfriends. What if she decided she’d had enough of it? The thought sharpened the pain circling in his gut.

  “Well,” Chelsea said, “I’d better be getting back to work. It was really great to see you, Cole.”

  “You, too.”

  Chelsea’s gaze took in both of them. “Take care.”

  Cole watched Chelsea until she ducked into a door on the next block, and then he ventured a glance at Olivia whose eyes were fixed on the building down the street.

  “She’s very beautiful.”

  “Yes.”

  “She was in love with you.”

  “Yes again.”

  Olivia crossed her arms and finally looked up at him. “What happened?”

  “I didn’t love her,” he said with a helpless shrug. “I wanted to, but I just didn’t.”

  “Why not? She seems perfectly lovely.”

  “She was. I mean, she is. But something was missing.” He tucked a strand of Olivia’s hair behind her ear and caressed her cheek, hoping to allay the fear he felt coming from her. “It bothered me, you know? Here was this woman who was so perfect for me in every way, and yet I couldn’t love her. That was the first time I really thought something was wrong with me, that I was deficient in some important way. But that wasn’t it.”

  “What was the problem?”

  He looked again at the gallery where Chelsea worked before he lowered his gaze to Olivia. “She wasn’t you.”

  “Cole.”

  “I know you probably think I’m feeding you a line because of what just happened, but I swear I’m not. I never understood what was missing until I met you.” He gestured toward Chelsea’s building. “She wanted more than I was willing to give. After it was over, I remember thinking that if I couldn’t love Chelsea, what hope was there for me? You know? When she walked away, I told myself I should be sad or lonely or disappointed. But I wasn’t. I wasn’t anything.”

  He cradled Olivia’s face in his hands and gazed into her eyes. “If you walked away, I’d never get over it. That’s how I know everything about us is different.”

  “I want so badly to believe that.”

  Cole experienced a surge of panic. “You can believe it. I swear to you, Olivia.”

  “I’m not going to lie to you and tell you your past doesn’t bother me because it does. It’s hard picturing you with other women.”

  “Then don’t. Picture me with just you because that’s the only place I want to be, Liv.” He tilted her face so he could see her eyes. “Do you believe me?”

  “I’m trying,” she said softly. “But I’m still scared.”

  “Of what?”

  “That you’ll find someone you like better—”

  Oblivious to the other people passing on the sidewalk, he captured her mouth in a quick but passionate kiss. “It’ll never happen.”

  “You have women throwing themselves at you everywhere you go.” She looked away. “So many opportunities.”

  “None of which would ever tempt me.” Cole suddenly realized this was the most important conversation he’d ever had. “Not when I have you in my life. Not when I finally have everything I’ve ever wanted.”

  The obvious battle she was waging with her emotions touched his heart. He hated that she now had one more reason to doubt his love for her.

  “How about we get back to our day?” he asked, forcing a cheerful tone. “Ready to paint the bridge?”

  Despite her nod, he still saw concern lingering in her expressive eyes.

  “Everything’s going to be okay, Liv. I promise.”

  She attempted a smile. “Let’s go.”

  ***

  They drove to Golden Gate Park where the bright sun kept the fog from consuming the bridge.

  “Do you want to paint it from this side or the other?” Cole asked.

  Mesmerized by the view, Olivia said, “This is fine.”

  He came up behind her, put his hands on her shoulders, and rested his chin on the top of her head. “Want me to disappear for a while?”

  “You don’t have to.”

  “You don’t want me watching.”

  “I wouldn’t mind if you did.”

  “Really? I thought you artist types were very secretive about your works in progress.”

  “Other artist types maybe. But not me.” She went up on tiptoes to kiss him. “And not if it’s you who’s watching.”

  “I’m honored.” He stole another kiss and went to get her supplies from the trunk of the car. “I should’ve gotten you an easel, too,” he said, surveying the picnic table she had chosen.

  “And how would we have gotten that home?”

  “I do have a few connections with the airline, you know.”

  “The table is fine.”

  “Do you need anything else?”

  She cracked open the bottle of water they had bought for her to use with the watercolors. “Not a thing.”

  “And you’re warm enough?”

  “I’m fine,” she said with a giddy grin. She couldn’t believe where she was and what she was about to do. “I hope you aren’t going to be bored.”

  He bent down to kiss her cheek. “Take your time. Minutes, hours, whatever you need.”

  Squeezing the hand he had placed on her shoulder, she said, “Thank you,” and got busy setting up the table to her satisfaction.

  “Are you sniffing the paint?”

  “I love the smell of new paint.” She held it out for him to take a whiff.

  His face crinkled with disgust. “Ew.”

  “It’s an acquired taste.”

  “Apparently. I’m going to take a walk so I don’t mess with your groove.”

  “You don’t have to.”

  “I know.” He kissed her nose. “Have fun. I’ll be back in a bit.”

  “Okay.” Olivia watched him go and then turned her attention to the bridge.

  She studied the span for several minutes as her mind wandered back to the incident in Sausalito. Another woman from Cole’s past. They seemed to be just about everywhere. If she were wise, she’d run from him as fast as she could before he could do to her what he’d done to them.

  As she puzzled over the situation, Olivia kept coming back
to a saying of her father’s: call ’em like you see ’em. In other words, judge people by the way they treat you, not by what others say about them. If she were to judge Cole solely based on the way he’d treated her, he’d get a gold star.

  Here she was sitting in Golden Gate Park about to paint the bridge she’d dreamed of seeing in person for most of her life. He’d done that for her. He’d brought her here, bought the paints, and given her all the time she needed to indulge her passion. On top of that, he’d encouraged her to apply to art school. That was the Cole she knew. That was the only Cole she knew. And that was the Cole she would love and believe in, unless he gave her a reason not to.

  Determined to have faith in him—and in them—Olivia dipped her brush into the paint and got busy.

  Chapter 22

  Cole walked for an hour along the scenic path that overlooked the bay, all the while resisting the urge to go back to see what Olivia had gotten done. But he kept walking because he wanted to give her time to work without any distractions.

  Along the way he thought about Chelsea and the brief but passionate affair that had followed the landing in the snow. The media had gone wild over the romance between the hero pilot and the grateful passenger. They’d been on the covers of two magazines and were recognized everywhere they went. In the midst of all the madness, they’d struggled to find time alone together, and Cole had struggled to figure out why he was unable to feel even the most basic of emotions for a wonderful woman who adored him.

  The affair had ended as suddenly as it began when Chelsea came right out and asked him if he loved her, or if he thought he ever would. When he’d said nothing, she’d had her answer. For a long time afterward, he’d thought about the stricken expression on her face when she realized he didn’t feel the same way she did. He hadn’t seen or heard from her since then. Until today. And of course, it had to happen when he was with Olivia.

  Cole was ashamed of many of the meaningless interludes in his past, but he didn’t regret anything about his time with Chelsea. He’d tried as hard as he possibly could to make it work. At one point, he’d almost had himself convinced he was in love. The niggling feeling that something elemental and necessary was missing had kept him from saying the words she’d needed to hear. It took meeting Olivia to understand what had been lacking with Chelsea, and now that he had it, he’d do whatever he could to keep it.

  He looked up to realize he’d traveled further away from Olivia than he had intended. Turning around, he headed back. As he got closer to her, he saw an older man talking to her. A small white dog on a leash waited patiently at his feet while the man talked with animated hands. Olivia hung on his every word.

  Cole’s heart began to beat faster, and he broke into a run. What was I thinking? I shouldn’t have left her for so long in a strange place.

  “Hey!” he called to let her know he was coming.

  Olivia looked up at him with a bright smile. “Cole! You won’t believe it!”

  He arrived at the picnic table and moved to position himself between her and the tall, distinguished man with white hair and warm blue eyes. He looked nothing at all like the predator Cole had conjured up from a distance.

  “This is my, um, boyfriend, Cole.” Olivia’s cheeks flushed with color. “This is Victor James. He walks his dog here every Sunday.”

  Still eyeing him warily, Cole shook the other man’s hand.

  “I know you from somewhere,” Victor said, his eyebrows furrowed in thought as he studied Cole.

  “He’s the pilot who landed the plane in the blizzard and then saved the captain’s life,” Olivia said proudly.

  “Captain Incredible!” Victor cried. “Of course!”

  Cole cringed. If he never heard that stupid nickname again, it would be too soon. “Guilty as charged.”

  “Well, it’s a great honor to meet a true American hero,” he said, shaking Cole’s hand. “I was just telling Olivia that I have a large collection of San Francisco area art, and I love her view of the bridge. She’s wonderfully talented.”

  “Yes.” Cole’s heart tripped with excitement for her. “She certainly is.” He glanced down at the table and did a double take. The painting was magnificent. It was the bridge, but it was so much more. Hues and textures and depth. And that she’d managed to do it in just an hour’s time. “Oh, Liv. Wow.”

  “My sentiments exactly, young man. In fact, I was just about to offer your lovely lady a thousand dollars for it.”

  Olivia gasped. “What?”

  Victor took another long look at the painting. “You’re right,” he said thoughtfully. “A thousand’s not enough. How about three?”

  “She accepts,” Cole said when he realized Olivia had gone mute. “Three thousand it is.”

  Victor reached into his breast pocket. “I only have a thousand in cash on me. Will you take a check for the rest?”

  “She’d be happy to.”

  Cole accepted the ten one-hundred-dollar bills and spelled Olivia’s last name for Victor, who tore the check out of his checkbook and handed it to Cole.

  “But,” Olivia sputtered, “it’s not finished.”

  “I love it exactly as it is,” Victor insisted.

  “Sign it,” Cole said softly.

  Dazed, Olivia glanced at him. “What?”

  “Sign it,” he said through clenched teeth.

  “Oh. Right.” She dipped her brush into the blue paint and put her name in the corner.

  Only Cole noticed the slight tremble of her hand. He lifted the painting off the table and held it for Victor. “Give it a minute to dry.”

  When Victor’s white toy poodle realized they were about to resume their walk, it began to dance around at his feet.

  “Nice doing business with you, Olivia.” Victor held out his card. “I’d be interested in seeing more of your work, especially anything local.”

  Since Olivia now seemed paralyzed as well as mute, Cole took the card from Victor and handed over the painting. “She’s working on something at Fisherman’s Wharf, too. I’ll have her manager get in touch.”

  “See that you do.” Victor made a kissing sound that got the dog’s attention. “Come along, Tootles. We need to hit the frame shop.”

  After they had walked away, Cole let out a loud whoop, hauled Olivia into his arms, and swung her around.

  “Oh, my God,” she whispered as she clung to him. “Did that seriously just happen?”

  “What? You making three grand or introducing me as your boyfriend? I’m not sure which part I liked best.”

  “Cole, he paid me three thousand dollars for my painting. That’s the first time…”

  “I know, baby.” Wiping a tear from her cheek, he smiled. “You’ve got a client. A real, live client.” Leaning in, he kissed her softly and then reached for her hand, putting the stack of bills and the check on her palm and curling their joined hands around it. “I’m so proud of you I could bust.”

  “Before you bust, do you mind answering two questions for me?”

  “Shoot.”

  “Who exactly is my manager, and how much of a cut is he expecting?”

  Cole tossed his head back and roared with laughter.

  ***

  Olivia floated on air. She had relayed the story four times now—to her dad, both her brothers, and Jenny, and it hadn’t gotten old yet. Three thousand dollars for something she had created! It was beyond her wildest dreams, and the money gave her a financial cushion that would be a huge relief as she moved into her apartment.

  Cole, who was just as excited, waited patiently while she made her calls. When she hung up with her brother Andy, Olivia crossed the room to flop down next to Cole on the sofa. The wad of bills and the folded check sat on the table in front of them.

  “I still can’t believe it,” she said, staring at the money.

  “Just think, we have all day tomorrow, too. You can do Fisherman’s Wharf, Chinatown, Pacific Heights. At the speed you work, I’ll bet you could triple your take in
the time we have left.”

  “I wouldn’t know what to do with that kind of money.”

  “The first thing you’re going to do is pay your taxes.”

  “I am?”

  “You’ll need to file a 1099 with the IRS.”

  “A ten ninety what?”

  “Don’t worry about it. I have a friend from home who’s a CPA. I’ll get you hooked up with him.”

  “It’s only three thousand dollars, Cole. I don’t need an accountant.”

  “It’s just the start, Olivia, and you do need an accountant.”

  “If you say so.”

  “Hey, I’m your manager, right? You need to listen to me.”

  “How much is this piece of advice going to cost me?” she asked warily.

  His face lifted into a lascivious grin. “I’ll let you pay me back in trade.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Oh, gee, lucky me.”

  “No, lucky me. I’m sleeping with the art world’s next big thing.”

  “I don’t like to mix business with pleasure, so if you’re going to be my manager, we’ll have to cool it in the bedroom.”

  “In that case, I quit.”

  Olivia laughed and reached for him.

  He brushed his lips over her cheek in a soft caress. “Are you happy?”

  “I never knew it was possible to be this happy. You’ve changed my whole life. You know that, don’t you?”

  He shook his head. “I didn’t do it. You did.”

  “You had faith long before I did.”

  “Maybe, but it’s your talent that’s opening these doors for you, and tonight we’re going to celebrate you and all your good news.”

  Her tongue danced lightly down his neck. “Could we maybe have a private celebration first?”

  “What’d you have in mind?”

  She whispered her suggestion in his ear.

  He cleared his throat. “We might be able to fit that into the schedule.”

  “Now aren’t you glad you’re my ex-manager?”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  ***

  Cole emerged from the bathroom wearing a dark blue suit with a starched white shirt and a royal blue tie.

  Olivia stared at him.

  “What?”