by Raine Thomas
Abigail looked to her left and smiled again. “Oh, look. My friend, Joan Shumaker. Come on over and I’ll introduce you.”
Glad to be off the subject of her relationship with Cole, Everly followed Abigail with more enthusiasm than she might have otherwise. She studied the female in Abigail’s sights with curiosity. She was tall and heavily curved with short dark hair in a classy cut around her face. Everly would describe her as intriguing, especially when her dark eyes zeroed in on her.
“Joan, so nice to see you,” Abigail said, approaching the woman and giving her an air kiss by her cheek.
“Nice to see you, too, Abby,” Joan said. Her gaze returned to Everly.
Everly watched the exchange in increasing puzzlement. Abigail had mentioned they were friends, but she made a face when Joan called her Abby. No one else had addressed Abigail by the nickname. Maybe the concept of friendship was stretched among the wealthy, she thought.
“I wanted to introduce you to Cole Parker’s date, Everly Wallace.” Abigail turned to gesture toward Everly with her martini glass.
Joan extended a hand. “Nice to meet you, Everly.”
Everly took her hand and gave it a firm shake. “Likewise, Joan. Are you with—?”
“Oh, goodness,” Abigail interrupted. “There’s Whitney Plouchard. Would you ladies excuse me for just a moment?”
Everly watched as Abigail made a beeline for another table. Then she looked awkwardly at Joan.
“Is it just me, or was that really strange?” Joan asked.
Laughing, Everly nodded. “Glad it wasn’t just me.”
“You get used to it with this crowd.” Smiling, Joan gestured at the seat beside hers. “Why don’t you have a seat? These events are nothing if not networking opportunities.”
“Oh.” Everly sat down, not wanting to be rude. “I’m going to admit that I don’t think I’ll have much in the way of contacts for you. This isn’t really my circle. I only know one or two of the people here.”
“Perfect,” Joan said as she sat down. “Quite frankly, most of the people here bore me. So, tell me…how did you and Cole meet?”
Chapter 49
Cole found Marshall and a number of his teammates gathered near a buffet table and second bar on the far end of the ballroom. They greeted him with friendly enthusiasm. When someone offered him a shot, he turned it down. He wanted to be clear-headed later when he got Everly alone in that gown.
“Good to see you, man,” Marshall said. His eyes were already slightly glazed from a few too many drinks. “You know I hate these things.”
“We all hate them, Marsh,” Cole said, patting his tipsy friend on the shoulder. “Abigail sent me over here to get you. They’ll be serving dinner soon. You look like you could use a side of beef with that stuff you’ve been drinking.”
“Don’t tell me you’re going all church-proper on me, man,” Marshall complained.
“Nah. Just picking my battles. If I bring you back, I don’t have to listen to Abigail get on me for not doing what she said.”
“I hear that.” Marshall said. “Women nag, don’t they?”
“It’s a part of life.”
Someone handed Marshall another shot, which he downed before Cole could stop him. A round of raucous laughter ensued. Cole wondered if Caroline was anywhere nearby. The owner’s wife would have a fit if she saw the team blatantly getting intoxicated at a function like this.
Wait a minute, he mused. When had he become the voice of reason?
“Hey, man,” Marshall said, trying to clap a hand on Cole’s shoulder and missing. He righted himself with a laugh. “Whew. All right. You might be right about the drinks. Guess we should head to the table.”
Cole was all about it, but they were drawn into conversation by a couple of the players he hadn’t seen since the end of the season. Although he wanted to catch up with the guys, he kept looking across the ballroom. He wanted to get back to Everly.
“Hey, where’s Randy, anyway?” Marshall asked, referring to another of the pitchers in the starting rotation.
“Didn’t you hear?” Nick asked. “He tore his UCL in a game of football the day before yesterday. They’ve scheduled surgery for next week. He’s out for the season.”
“Holy shit,” Marshall said. He looked at Cole. “Jesus, that sucks.”
Cole frowned. He hadn’t yet heard the news. Randy was a pivotal part of their rotation, and a great guy to boot.
“He’s going to need some serious rehab,” Nick said. “He’s taking it pretty hard.”
“Oh, sure, Cole,” came Abigail’s voice. “I send you off to get Marshall and you end up joining the fun.”
Turning, Cole watched her approach and gave her an apologetic smile. He looked for Everly and didn’t see her. His smile faded.
“Sorry,” he said. “It proved a bigger task than I thought. Where’s Everly?”
Abigail walked up to Marshall and slid an arm around his waist. “She was having an intent conversation with Joan Shumaker. I didn’t want to interrupt, so I thought I’d see what you were up to.”
Joan Shumaker? Cole wondered what Everly could possibly want to talk about with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s top sports reporter.
“You brought your little piece with you to this thing?” Marshall asked. His voice had started slurring.
Cole stiffened. “Did you just call Everly my ‘little piece?’”
Marshall made a buzzing sound with his lips. “Sorry, man. That’s the alcohol talking. I’m sure she’s a great girl.”
“Yeah.” Irritation laced the word.
“Don’t be upset, Cole,” Abigail said, reaching out and touching his arm. “Marshall’s intoxicated, but I know he’s concerned about how quickly things are progressing between you and Everly. What do you really know about her, after all?”
“That’s none of your—”
“We’re your best friends,” she interrupted. “Of course it’s our business. On top of that, you’ve accused one of my oldest and dearest friends of harming Everly. I know Rebecca would never do something like that. Something isn’t right about the entire thing.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Abigail pursed her lips and studied him as though she was deciding whether to answer. Finally, she said in a low voice, “I don’t want to step on your toes or offend you, Cole. I’m just putting this out there in case it ends up being true. I’d hate myself otherwise.”
“Get to your point, Abigail.”
Marshall spoke up. “Man, who’s to say Everly didn’t do those things to herself?”
“Seriously?” Cole couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You think Everly beat herself up with a baseball bat?”
“Naw, man. But she coulda paid someone. You don’t think she knows anyone who can swing a bat?”
Cole blinked. “You’ve got to be kidding me right now.”
“There are some very accomplished actresses out there, Cole,” Abigail said, her voice pitched to reason with him. “I’m just asking that you consider every angle before you go getting too serious about this girl.”
“Yeah, thanks.” Cole shook his head. “I’m going to find her.”
He excused himself and headed back to the other side of the ballroom. Abigail and Marshall’s accusations blew him away. How could his friends think those things about Everly? An actress? Please.
Then his brain flipped to the scene where she said she skipped drama club on the day of Aiden’s suicide.
Shut up, he told himself. They don’t know Everly. You do.
He shouldn’t have left her alone, he thought as he scoured the ballroom for her red hair. She didn’t know anyone here and was probably feeling out of place.
When he didn’t find her at their table, he made his way back in the direction where he’d seen Joan earlier. He came to a halt when he saw Everly sitting with the sports reporter at her table. They really did look intent on their conversation. He eased closer as he tried to decide whet
her or not to interrupt.
“—to repair the damaged tissue,” Everly said.
“That long?” Joan asked.
“Yep. Without therapy, it will…” Everly trailed off when she spotted Cole. She exchanged a brief look with Joan before a smile touched her features. “Hi, Cole. Do you know Joan?”
A slew of questions ran through his head. They were on a first-name basis? How did they know each other? Who had they been talking about? Had she mentioned that she was a physical therapist?
“Yes,” he said out loud. “Hi, Joan. Great to see you again.”
“You, too, Cole. Everly here has been keeping me entertained while we await dinner.”
As if on cue, the loud sound of a microphone being pulled from its stand echoed through the ballroom. It was a clear sign dinner was about to be announced.
“On that note, you two enjoy your meal,” Joan said. “Perhaps I’ll see you later.”
“Sure thing,” Everly said, getting to her feet. She took Cole’s elbow. “Very nice chatting with you.”
Cole nodded at Joan and then started in the direction of their table. “I didn’t know that you knew Joan.”
“I didn’t. Abigail introduced us. She’s really nice.”
“Ah. What did you two converse about?”
“A little of this and a little of that. Mostly boring girl stuff.” When he didn’t respond, she asked, “Is everything okay?”
He looked down and saw the troubled look in her eyes. Was she distraught because she knew he’d overheard them talking? Or did she just sense his darkening mood?
And why was he overreacting to a simple conversation?
Seeing no reason to spoil the evening by jumping to conclusions, he forced a smile. “Everything’s fine. Let’s go and eat some outrageously overpriced food and then make fools of ourselves on the dance floor.”
“Only if we do something YouTube-worthy. Not worth it otherwise.”
“We’ll see what we can do.”
Chapter 50
A week after the ball, Everly headed to Cole’s after spending the day cleaning her grandpa’s house and doing laundry. She was looking forward to sharing the evening with him. Hopefully it would help reduce her out-of-control stress level.
The biggest cause of her stress over the past week was her father. He’d approached her while she was grocery shopping the day after the ball. She’d been so shocked to see him that she dropped a carton of eggs.
“What are you doing here?” she’d asked, her voice trembling in anger.
“We need to talk,” he replied. “I want you to come to dinner with me. My treat.”
“I don’t want to go to dinner. We’ve said everything we need to say to each other.”
He sighed. “Look, Everly…I overreacted. I shouldn’t have done or said what I did. The truth is, I don’t know how to relate to you. I never have. But that doesn’t mean I’ll stop trying.”
For the first time, he looked at her with something besides disdain or indifference. Instead of giving her hope, it made her wary.
Was that sad, or just really wise of her? She couldn’t say.
“Try all you want,” she said at last. “I’m not asking Cole—”
“Hey, I know the plan with Cole changed from what it was initially,” he interrupted. “It’s come between us, and it shouldn’t have. I take responsibility for that. I didn’t foresee you getting emotionally entangled.”
She stared at him. What was he talking about? Did he know that she had started working with Cole because of his injury? Was he taking a stab in the dark in hopes she admitted it?
Knowing she was a terrible liar, she hesitated to respond. His wording confused her.
“You don’t know anything about my relationship with Cole, so don’t pretend to,” she said at last. “Now I’d appreciate it if you’d leave me alone to shop.”
“All right,” he’d said with another sigh. “I’m not leaving the country, though, Everly. Know that.”
She had watched him walk off and barely managed to get through the rest of the shopping trip. Just a few days later, he had called her on her cell. She wasn’t sure how he’d gotten the number at first. Her grandpa eventually admitted that her father had stopped by to apologize while she’d been at work. She reasoned that her father got her number off her grandpa’s cell.
Their conversation had been brief. He wanted her to give him a chance. She wasn’t ready to do so.
Now she had to live every day wondering when he might make a reappearance or give her a call and throw her into another tailspin. Perfect.
Adding to her stress this week was the lack of time she’d had with Cole. Between her volunteering commitments, a pre-term study session with Justin, her Prix Fixe schedule, and Cole’s meetings with a few companies that wanted him to represent their brands, they’d both been busy. They hadn’t even gotten to celebrate New Year’s together because he’d been a part of a downtown parade and countdown celebration. She felt like they’d only had time for physical therapy, which didn’t do much to further their relationship.
And the fact was, she felt like they needed to do something to get things back on track. Since the ball, Cole had been acting more removed. It was subtle…so subtle that she’d nearly convinced herself that it was all in her head. But part of her wondered if the distancing she’d noticed was due to the fact that he was a month or so from having to report for spring training. She was going to start back to school in just over a week, too, which meant her schedule was about to tighten up.
Had Abigail been right? Was he trying to distance himself now before things got more complicated as the season started?
She wished she had the courage to talk to him frankly about how he was feeling. After she made such a mess of it the last time, however, she was hesitant to bring it up. Did he love her? Was this all more than an off-season fling for him? Before the ball, she’d really thought so.
Now, she wasn’t so sure.
Pulling up to the gate, she waited for him to greet her. His voice came over the speaker.
“You have reached the real-life decoy of Cole Parker. I’m not here at the moment, but if you’ll leave a detailed message, I might get back to you…if you’re a gorgeous redhead. And it wouldn’t hurt if you’re bearing Girl Scout cookies. Thin Mints.”
She laughed. “Would you settle for a gorgeous redhead who’s very interested in having lots of hot sex with you?”
The gate started swinging open.
“I figured as much,” she said with another chuckle as she drove through.
He greeted her at the back door. She was happy to see him smiling. He’d looked so serious lately. When he leaned down to kiss her, she let her concerns fall to the wayside and focused on him. If she wanted to reduce her stress, she needed to clear her mind.
“Hello, Ms. Wallace,” he said.
“Hello, Mr. Parker. How’s your day been?”
“Quite excellent.” He closed the door behind them and walked with her toward the stairs. “A couple of the deals Wayne’s been negotiating are about to close. You’ll be seeing my ugly mug on the front of cereal boxes pretty soon.”
She grinned. “That’s so cool! I’m very happy for you.”
“Thanks. I’ll probably have more athletic shoes than Zeus soon, too, if all goes well. I thought maybe we could give some to the kids in your neighborhood.”
“That’s sweet of you. I’m sure they’d love it. They were beyond thrilled when they got the signed bats, balls, and gloves you sent them for Christmas.”
They reached the kitchen. Cole had poured them some wine. He took the glasses off the kitchen island and handed one to her. “It was nothing. I’m glad they got a kick out of it.”
It hadn’t been “nothing” to Rayshawn and the other kids. She’d had children and parents coming up to her to thank her for days after they received the gifts. Since she hadn’t known that Cole had arranged for it, she’d been just as overwhelmed by his generosity as th
ey had.
“Then we’ll drink to cereal and athletic shoes,” she said with a smile.
He lifted his glass in salute, then sipped it. “I also finally got to play my Christmas gift.”
Her eyebrows lifted as she swallowed a sip of wine. “You opened it? Isn’t it more valuable in the box?”
“What fun is a game if you can’t play it?” he asked.
She guessed he didn’t have much reason to be concerned about the game’s value. He surely had enough money to retire now and live a comfortable life of leisure without working another day in his life.
Taking her hand, he pulled her into the family room so they could sit on the sofa. “How was your day?”
“Oh, full of lots of fun stuff. Wrestling dust bunnies. Tackling soap scum. Manhandling the laundry.”
“Sounds violent. I hope you saved some energy for me.”
She smiled. “I’m sure I can rustle some up somehow.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” He drank more of his wine. “Anything else going on? Your schedule has been packed.”
“Nothing worth reporting, that’s for sure. This coming term is going to kick my ass.”
“I’ll bet.” He studied her for a moment. “Would you rather do something mindless than have a conversation right now?”
“More than I can express.”
Grinning, he set his glass down and reached for the fancy remote on the coffee table. “Excellent. Prepare to be initiated into the world of video gaming.”
“Oh, boy.”
He shook his head as he got the controllers ready. “I hear your doubt. Just wait until you’ve gotten your first knockout. You’ll discover that all of your aggression has found an outlet. Your stress will melt away like Thin Mints in the Atlanta summer.”
“What’s with the Thin Mint obsession?”
“Margaret brought me some. I ate the whole box in a day. I’m addicted now.”
Her eyes widened. “We’ll have to work out extra hard to make up for that.”
He groaned. “I should have kept my mouth shut.”
“I didn’t say what kind of work out,” she said with a wiggle of her eyebrows.