“Uncle Cole.” Once again at his side, Charlie tugged on his sweater. “Aren’t you going to take Aunt Meg’s hand? She’s had it out there a long time.”
“Worried I’ll let you fall?” she softly taunted, a smile on her lips.
“Not in the least.” Cole closed his fingers around Meg’s, disturbed by the intensity of emotions the touch aroused.
He met her gaze. Despite his earlier gibe, he wasn’t worried she’d let him fall. From what he’d seen, she was too much of a professional to let personal feelings influence her job performance.
In less than a minute Cole was settled on the floor, strapped into the machine, feeling it work its magic.
Meg, with enthusiastic help from Charlie, had propped him up with pillows against the back of the sofa.
“Now what?” Charlie asked.
Cole opened his mouth to suggest they watch the basketball game on television, but stopped himself in time. This was his son’s first night with him. He couldn’t believe he’d considered television even for a moment.
“Can we watch TV?” Charlie asked, plopping down on the floor beside him.
Cole swallowed a chuckle at Meg’s look of shock.
“I thought tonight might be a good chance for the three of us to get better acquainted,” she said diplomatically.
“What did you have in mind?” Cole tried to keep the suspicion from his voice. While he’d never been a holding-hands-around-the-campfire kind of guy, he wanted to keep an open mind.
Charlie’s brows pulled together. “I don’t know what akwadented means.”
“It means,” Meg said, settling into a nearby chair, “that we get to know each other better by asking and answering the same questions about each other.”
“I dunno,” Charlie said, his expression uncertain.
Cole glanced longingly at the fifty-two-inch television. The basketball game was looking better by the second.
“For example,” Meg said, apparently not dissuaded by their lack of enthusiasm, “my favorite color is green. What’s yours?”
Charlie shrugged.
The look on Meg’s face fell. Cole knew he could squash this game with a few well-chosen words. But that would be mean. Plus he’d vowed to keep an open mind. He forced excitement into his voice. “Mine is blue.”
“That’s my favorite color, too,” Charlie said.
“See, isn’t this fun?” Meg asked. The smile remained on her lips but he heard the strain in her voice, saw it on her face.
Charlie looked at Cole.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Cole said.
“It’s fun,” the little boy echoed.
Cole grinned. That was his boy.
Meg sighed.
“Let’s stick with the basics for a little bit,” Meg said, then proceeded over the next thirty minutes to ferret out their favorite food, their favorite pet—they all liked dogs best—even their favorite thing to do in the evening.
When Charlie said sitting on his daddy’s lap while listening to him read Warren and Dragon was his “most favoritist thing in all the world,” Cole’s throat clogged up.
“You had a nice daddy,” Meg said. “I had a nice daddy, too.”
Unexpectedly she shifted her gaze to Cole. “How about you?”
“He was great.”
“Looks like we were all blessed with wonderful fathers,” Meg said softly.
“Did your daddy read you Warren and Dragon?” Charlie asked Cole.
“I don’t remember.” Okay, it wasn’t a truthful answer but if he said no, Charlie would surely ask why. There was no way Cole wanted to get into his father’s reading difficulties.
“I think it’s time to unhook Uncle Cole from the machine.” Meg slanted a glance in Charlie’s direction. “Want to help, deputy?”
The boy’s somber expression immediately brightened. He pumped a fist in the air.
Cole braced himself when Charlie jumped to his feet. But he’d taken only a few steps when Meg reached out and laid a restraining hand on the boy’s arm.
“It’s important to be gentle.” Her tone was soft but firm. “Understand?”
Charlie nodded. “I can, I can be gentle.”
Cole released the breath he’d been holding as Meg patiently showed the boy how to release the straps.
“I can do it,” the boy said loudly after Meg’s demonstration.
“Show me,” Meg said.
With his tongue between his teeth, Charlie carefully unhooked the straps one by one while Cole murmured encouragement.
Once he was finished, Charlie threw his hands up like a wrestler who’d just pinned an opponent. “Yes.”
Meg clapped him on the back. “Fabulous job, deputy.”
“I did good, didn’t I, Uncle Cole?” Charlie’s voice quivered.
Meg had made it clear she thought the boy had done a good job, yet it was Cole’s approval Charlie sought.
“You did indeed.” Cole reached up and ruffled the child’s hair, pride flowing through his veins like an awakened river.
Still, when it came time for the brace to go back on his knee, Cole wasn’t sorry that it was Meg’s competent hands that helped him put it on and held out a steadying hand as he rose to his feet.
“That was fun, Aunt Meg.” Charlie leaned in close. “Can I help again?”
“Absolutely,” she said.
Cole glanced at Charlie’s beaming face. He thought of all he’d learned tonight about his son. And all that Charlie had learned about him. That never would have happened if they’d been watching a basketball game.
“Thank you,” he said to Meg when Charlie ran to the bathroom.
“For helping you up?”
“No,” he said. “For making the evening…nice.”
A look of shock flickered in her eyes before she shrugged. “It was important to me that he had a good first night here.”
“Well, I appreciate it,” he said, surprised by the admiration flowing through his veins. Cole didn’t want to have these feelings for her, didn’t want to feel the bar between them lower by even the slightest inch.
But he told himself there was no need to worry. He’d let down his guard once before with her and had gotten burned. He wouldn’t be making that mistake again.
Chapter Six
The ringing of her cell phone woke Meg from a sound sleep. She fumbled with the bedcovers, reaching blindly for the phone charging on the bedside stand.
“Margaret.”
“Zac?” Meg jerked upright, instantly wide-awake at hearing her brother’s voice. “What time is it?”
“Two.”
“Two o’clock in the morning?” She squeaked, tightening her fingers around the phone. “Is something wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong.” He chuckled. “Can’t a guy call his sister to see how she’s doing without it being a problem?”
Not in the middle of the night.
The words never made it to Meg’s lips. Zac called so rarely that she’d gladly take his calls no matter what the time of the day or night. She smiled into the phone. “It’s good to hear your voice, bro.”