Hearts Under Construction

by Hunt, Diann

  Cole remembered the meeting where he had pulled her out of a daydream and embarrassed her in front of the staff. “I guess it does at that,” he said with a definite tone of apology. Jax and Ellie continued to look at him. Feeling a mite uncomfortable, Cole decided this was a good time to flee. “Well, I’d better get to work,” he said, already edging his way through the kitchen.

  Back in his office, Cole shut his door. For some reason, he felt the need to be alone. Alex was getting on his nerves, constantly putting him in the middle of her breakup with Jax. Ellie herself had become a constant source of contradictions. One minute she played Miss Professional, the next, she betrayed him with a smile that made his insides turn squishy. He’d said it before, and he would say it again, the woman was dangerous.

  He opened a drawer to pull out a file and noticed the Bible Jax had left for him in the office. No one could see into his office, so Cole decided to pick it up and just stroll through it for a moment. Scripture after Scripture spoke to his heart. He wanted to make a change, and needed to make a change in his life, but how could he be sure he could trust this God of the Bible? He had trusted his mom, and she had deserted their family. He had trusted his dad who drank himself to an early grave. But his grandmother, well, he couldn’t deny her obvious walk with the Lord. She had that glow about her, too. If anyone could make him believe, it was her. His heart grew soft. How long he sat there lost in the memories, he wasn’t sure. He finally picked up his phone and punched Jax’s intercom number.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, Jax, are you free tonight or do you have class?”

  “I’m free. What do you have in mind?”

  “Um, I thought maybe we could go to dinner and discuss some things.”

  “Don’t forget you have an important phone call to make,” Jax teased.

  “Huh? Oh, you mean Alex?”

  “That’s the one.”

  “I’m not too worried about that.”

  Jax laughed. “I’m sorry to get you in the middle of all this, Cole.”

  “You’re not the one who is putting me there. Besides, I need to deal with it.”

  “Actually, if she makes things too uncomfortable, I’ll have to deal with it,” Jax said, with a tinge of worry in his voice. “I thought we could still work together, but now I’m beginning to wonder.”

  “Well, give it some time. Maybe things will all work out after a little while.”

  “Maybe.” Jax didn’t sound convinced. “So, when do you want to meet and where?”

  “How about Grant’s Steakhouse at six-thirty?”

  “I’ll see you there.”

  “Great.” Cole hung up the phone. He didn’t know where the evening would take him, but he decided it was worth checking out.

  Ellie and Cheryl settled into a corner booth at Grant’s Steakhouse. The waitress took their drink orders and passed out the menus. The hum of conversation around them and the heady scent of barbecue began to soothe Ellie.

  She glanced at the menu and rolled her head from side to side.

  “Tense day?” Cheryl asked.

  Ellie sighed. “Yeah, a little.”

  Cheryl folded her menu and laid it down. “So, what’s up?”

  “Did you already pick your meal?”

  “Yeah. I always get their Cobb salad. It’s the best.”

  “I should do that, too…”

  “Because you want it or because you’re on a diet?”

  Ellie smiled. “You’ll be happy to know I haven’t dieted for two weeks now.” She frowned. “Which reminds me, I have tons of tomato juice, cabbage and diet meal shakes to get rid of.”

  Cheryl laughed. “I must say, I’m impressed.”

  Ellie told Cheryl how she had surrendered her “control” problem to the Lord.

  “That’s great, Ellie. Finally, I can relax and not feel guilty that I’m not dieting when you are. After all, I need to lose ten pounds, you don’t.”

  Ellie laughed. “You look great the way you are. Aren’t we women so silly?” Ellie glanced around the room. “Oh, no, look who just walked in.”

  Cheryl followed Ellie’s gaze. Cole and Jax stood talking to the hostess at the front of the restaurant. “Is that a problem?”

  Ellie slouched down in her seat and cupped her hand over her eyes as if that could stop them from seeing her. “No, but I just hope they don’t spot us and try to sit with us. I wanted to talk to you alone tonight.”

  “Look, she’s taking them to the other side of the restaurant.”

  Ellie glanced up. “Oh, good.”

  The waitress served them their drinks.

  “So how is business going?” Cheryl asked.

  Ellie shared some of her latest business dealings. “You know, things are strange with Alex and Cole right now. I think they might be dating.”

  Cheryl had taken a sip of her pop and almost choked. She coughed a few times, gasped, and finally managed a “You’re kidding!” One more drink. “Did she and Jax break up?”

  “You mean I didn’t tell you?”

  Cheryl shook her head furiously.

  “Yep. Jax broke up with her the other day. Now she’s hovering over Cole.”

  Cheryl stirred the ice around in her glass. “Do you think she’s trying to make Jax jealous, or do you think she really likes Cole?”

  Ellie thought a moment. “I’m not sure. I just hope she doesn’t break up their friendship.”

  “Why would she? After all, Jax dumped her.”

  “Yeah, but you know how guys are, they always want what they can’t have.”

  Cheryl shrugged. “I suppose that’s true.” She stirred her ice some more. “So how about you, how do you feel about the idea of her and Cole dating?” She stopped twirling the ice and looked up.

  “What’s it to me? If they want to date, that’s their business.” Though she said the words with boldness, they rang as hollow in the air as they did in her heart.

  “You didn’t answer my question. How do you feel about it?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Ellie?”

  “Look, Cole is a coworker, nothing more. He made it clear that’s all he wants to be.”

  “You said he told you that it was his brother, Caed, who had said all that.”

  “True, but it’s not like Cole said he wanted it to be any different. Besides, we’re total opposites.”

  “In what way?”

  “Number one, he doesn’t share my faith. Number two, our personalities don’t mesh. It would never work.”

  “Opposites attract, you know.”

  The waitress stopped at their table and placed food in front of them. Once she left, Cheryl said the prayer over their meal and they picked up their forks.

  “I see what you mean about the faith thing, though. That’s important.”

  “Exactly,” Ellie said before scooping a bite of potatoes onto her fork and into her mouth.

  They passed the rest of their meal with friendly chitchat, catching up on each other’s lives. Ellie couldn’t help glancing over at Cole and Jax from time to time. Though they were partially hidden from her view, if she leaned back just right, she could see them. Cole’s expression appeared quite serious all through the meal, as if something troubled him. A thought struck her. Maybe he was telling Jax he wanted to leave the business. Jax had said many times he didn’t know how long Cole would stay. That’s why it had been so hard for Ellie to understand why Jax had made Cole a partner.

  “Are you okay?” Cheryl wanted to know.

  “Yeah, fine.”

  Cheryl followed her gaze. “Oh, you can see the guys from there?” She raised her eyebrows with suspicion.

  Ellie felt her cheeks grow warm. “Okay, guilty as charged.”

  “You see, you do care about him.”

  Ellie could feel her eye twitch, just the way Cole said it did when she was nervous. When had it started doing that? She couldn’t remember that happening before Cole had entered her life. “Cole looks ser
ious. Makes me wonder if he’s going to quit or something.”

  Cheryl looked surprised. “Why would you say that? Has he given any indication that he would?”

  Ellie touched her eye to make it stop twitching. Fortunately, the lighting was subdued, so she hoped Cheryl wouldn’t notice. “No, not really. But Jax has told me Cole is hard to pin down. He doesn’t like commitments.”

  “Do you think he’s running from Alex?”

  Ellie looked at her. “I hope not. I would hate to think that Alex is chasing him off.”

  “It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out,” Cheryl said, taking the last bite of her green beans.

  They talked a little while longer. Ellie dared another glance at Cole’s table. It looked as though their heads were bowed. That puzzled her. They couldn’t be praying. Must be studying some paperwork, she decided.

  Cheryl put her napkin on her plate. “You ready to go?”

  “Sure.”

  They placed their money in the plastic folder for the waitress and headed out of the restaurant. Once outside, Ellie fished through her purse for her keys. “Oh, good grief, I laid my keys on the table when I got my money out. I have to go back inside.”

  “Want me to wait?”

  “No, that’s okay. I’ll talk to you later. Thanks for meeting me for dinner.”

  “My pleasure, girlfriend. See you soon.”

  The two friends hugged and Ellie headed back inside. She walked hurriedly over to the table. The waitress held Ellie’s keys in her hand. “Excuse me, those are my keys. I just left them behind.”

  The waitress smiled. “Oh, good. I wondered if they belonged to you or the other lady, and I wondered how I was going to get them to you.” She handed the keys to Ellie.

  “Thanks a lot. I would have been in trouble without them,” Ellie said, turning to go. At the front entrance, Cole stepped up behind her.

  “Well, hello.”

  She recognized his voice instantly. “Hi.” She looked around. “Where’s Jax?”

  “He already left. Had to meet with a professor. I waited and paid the bill. Nice guy.”

  She smiled as they pushed through the doors and stepped into the evening air.

  “I can’t help feeling I need to top off my meal with an espresso. Want to join me?”

  His question caught her off guard.

  “I still don’t bite.” His eyes twinkled with mischief.

  “I think you’ve mentioned that a few times.”

  “And?”

  “And what?”

  “Have I bitten you yet?”

  Ellie pretended to think awhile about that.

  He raised his eyebrows. “Come on, Ellie, trust me.”

  There was a bit of a plea in his statement. Something about the way he said it caused the strains of “Kumbayah” to stir again. Why couldn’t she get that stupid song out of her mind? She knew she had gone to one too many camps.

  “Well?”

  The tune came to the forefront. She wanted to sway, start humming, and pull out a bag of marshmallows. Instead, she simply said, “I’d like that.”

  “Great. You can ride with me, or I can meet you at Tasty Grounds, which do you prefer?”

  “How about I meet you there?”

  He looked at her, a smile in his eyes. “One of these days you’ll trust me. I can feel it.”

  His words wrapped around her in a snug fit. Funny, this was one time she didn’t mind things fitting snugly. She smiled and walked toward her car. She was actually meeting Cole Preston for coffee.

  Was this a date?

  Chapter Sixteen

  Ellie got out of her car and looked up at the full moon which hung suspended over a distant maple tree. The air held a pleasant breeze, with no hint of the muggy weather they had experienced the week before. She pulled the strap of her purse over her shoulder and waited a moment for Cole to get out of his car. They walked toward the door of the coffee shop together.

  “Boy, it’s a nice evening,” Cole said, opening the door for Ellie.

  She felt warm but shivered in spite of herself. Something about this man did that to her. She just hoped her eye wouldn’t twitch.

  Once inside, the rich smells of coffee assailed her. Talk about a comfort food—mochas certainly did the trick for her. The whirring of the espresso machine and the contented chatter of patrons made her glad to be there. Especially with Cole.

  Looking around, Ellie found an empty wooden table for them while Cole ordered her mocha and his espresso. She settled into a seat, pulled out a mirror and checked her makeup, then put it away just as Cole turned to walk toward the table.

  “One skinny mocha with whipped cream,” he said, handing the hot drink to her.

  “Thank you, Cole.”

  “Hopefully, we won’t stir up a tornado this time,” he said, tossing her a wink.

  She grimaced. “Don’t remind me.”

  “Hey, it wasn’t all that bad. We got free drinks, after all.”

  “True,” Ellie said with a chuckle. “Wonder if Amy is working tonight.” She glanced over at the counter.

  Cole looked, too. He shook his head. “I didn’t see her when I was over there.”

  “That was a trip to the coffee shop I won’t soon forget.”

  Cole laughed. “Me, either.” He stretched his long legs to the side. “Boy, I need to start running again. My legs have been aching lately.”

  “It does help to stretch them out. I don’t run, but I do walk a lot at the park near my house.”

  He nodded and took a drink of his coffee. “I’ve been there. Nice park. In fact, that’s usually where I go to run when I have the time.”

  “Really?” Ellie commented with a smile. “I’m surprised I haven’t seen you there since I’m over there a lot.”

  “Like I said, I need to start up again. Unfortunately, it’s been a while.”

  Ellie smiled and gave an understanding nod.

  “So I guess you’re wondering why I asked you to come here?” Cole asked, putting down his cup.

  Uh-oh, she hoped this wasn’t another let’s-just-be-friends speech. Wait a minute, that was Caed. “I thought you were just being a good friend,” she said cheerfully.

  “Well, truthfully, I did just want to spend some time together. With all that’s happened since Caed whisked into town, well, let’s just say we’ve had one thing after another, and I’d like to start over—again.”

  Ellie laughed. “We do that a lot.”

  “Yeah. Lots of beginnings, never an ending?”

  The look on his face told Ellie he had surprised himself in saying that. She smiled but said nothing.

  “Actually…” He toyed with the jacket on his coffee cup. “I know you’re a woman of faith. You’ve told me so yourself.”

  His comment surprised her. She looked at him with caution, hoping she hadn’t done anything to offend him.

  “I’ve been doing a little searching of my own.”

  Now he really had her interest piqued.

  “Jax and I have been meeting weekly to study the book of John for some time now, and, um, well, tonight, I took a huge step. I prayed a prayer of commitment to the Lord.”

  Ellie stared at him, speechless.

  He looked a little sheepish. “Hard to believe a guy like me could do that?”

  She blinked. “Oh, no, not at all, Cole.” Without thinking, she reached over and cupped his hand in her own. “I think it’s wonderful.” Tears filled her eyes.

  “Now, don’t get sappy on me. You might make me cry.” He laughed.

  She giggled and reached into her purse for a tissue.

  “I’ve been wanting to do it for some time now, but just didn’t know how or if I could take the step. This is a whole new world for me. Commitment. Letting go of things and trusting Him. But I’ve been learning a lot from my study and also from going to your church. Listening to your pastor has made me want to know more.”

  “Cole, that’s great. I’m so happy
for you.”

  “Thanks.” For a moment, they both drank from their cups, lost in thought.

  “You know, Ellie, another reason I wanted to talk to you was, well, I want to be friends. I don’t want us to feel all weird around each other anymore, you know what I mean?”

  She smiled and nodded.

  “I’m not saying you have to marry me, but I could always use a friend.”

  Ellie laughed a little, though she wasn’t sure how to take his comment. She couldn’t deny that she wanted to be more than friends and had felt a twinge of disappointment, but Cole seemed to want her friendship most of all. God is in control, she told herself. If Cole wanted friendship, that’s what she would give him. If they had no future together, so be it. But she would be there to answer his questions about God and help him as much as she could.

  They talked together awhile, long past the time the last drop of their coffee had been drained from the cups. Ellie glanced at her watch.

  “Uh-oh, I’ve kept you out too late. Your dad will have my hide.”

  Ellie laughed. “Not my dad, but my boss might if I’m too tired to show up for work in the morning.”

  “Oh, boy, we can’t have that,” he teased. “You ready to go?”

  She nodded.

  They picked up their paper cups, tossed them into a trash dispenser, then walked outside together. “Hey, thanks for meeting me, Ellie. You’re a good friend.”

  Okay, she got the idea already. If he said that word one more time, she might have to hurt him. “You’re welcome, Cole,” she answered, pleasantly. She turned toward her car and headed for home.

  The next morning, Alex and Cole stood huddled in a corner of the kitchen whispering about something when Ellie walked into the room for a glass of water. She had a headache. Alex looked up and then back to Cole, ignoring Ellie altogether. Cole turned his back toward Alex and looked at Ellie.

  “Morning, Ellie,” he said, with his dazzling smile.

  “Hi, Cole. Alex,” Ellie said. Alex barely gave a noticeable nod. Her face looked pinched, as if she was in pain. By the looks of her tight pants, Ellie figured the circulation to her legs had stopped. That was bound to cause discomfort. Just the very idea made her feel better, though she tried to feel sufficiently ashamed of herself.