The Ashtons - Cole, Abigail & Megan

mentioned lawyers?”
    “Some people only pay attention when money’s involved.” Like his father. Cole turned the subject. “Tilly’s change of heart is downright spooky.”
    Dixie chuckled. “You think you’re spooked. Hulk really doesn’t know how to act.”
    Ever since Hulk rescued Tilly from the Doberman, the dog had been following the cat with big, liquid, adoring eyes.
    Cole shook his head. “I never saw a cat take on a big dog that way. Pretty smart, getting on his back where the dog couldn’t get to him.”
    “That part’s instinct. Usually they only do it ifthey’re cornered, though. I guess Hulk didn’t want anyone else messing with his dog.”
    Cole snorted. “He thought the Doberman was coming after him.”
    “Cynic.” She yawned and snuggled closer.
    He ran his hand down her hair. He loved having her close enough to pet this way. “There’s an art deco exhibition in Frisco this weekend. I hoped you could go with me.”
    “Wish I could,” she said sleepily. “Weekends I stay with Aunt Jody.”
    For some reason that surprised Cole. She’d moved back to help take care of her aunt, so of course she’d spend time there. Yet somehow he hadn’t thought of her giving up every weekend…that’s where she’d been last weekend, he realized. When he’d thought she was out playing with her current boyfriend.
    He grimaced. His assumptions obviously needed adjusting. “Um…she needs round-the-clock care?”
    “She can’t be left alone. Mom stays with her on weekdays—she’s retired now, and living with her fiancé, so she can do that. We’ve got a home health aide who stays with her at night during the week.”
    That would add up fast. As delicately as possible he asked, “Is money an issue?”
    “Right now we’re managing okay. Aunt Jody had accumulated a pretty good nest egg for retirement, and her insurance covers most of the medical stuff. Not long-term care, though.”
    “I’ll go with you this weekend and help.” The offer slipped out unplanned, which made him uneasy.He wasn’t used to making impulsive decisions. But it was the right thing to do…wasn’t it?
    Dixie lifted her head, then propped herself up with one arm to study his face. “Are you sure? It’s a lot like taking care of a child. A large, sometimes angry child.”
    “I’m sure.” Of course it was the right thing to do. It was the sort of thing you did for a friend, after all. He wasn’t making any kind of commitment, just giving up a weekend. Big deal.
    Her slow smile dawned. “Thanks, then,” she said, and kissed him lightly on the lips.
    Usually Aunt Jody went to bed early, in part because of her medication, but she’d been delighted to have a man around. By the time Dixie washed up in the upstairs bathroom and headed down the hall to the guest room where she and Cole were sleeping, she was exhausted.
    Cole had been wonderful with Aunt Jody. When she’d come downstairs for dinner with lipstick smeared in fat circles on her cheeks in honor of his visit, he’d flirted with her gently.
    Dixie had had to leave the room to cry. Jody had always been immaculate about her appearance. Elegant.
    “Sorry I ducked out on you earlier,” she said as she padded up to the bed.
    “I tagged along to help, not to issue demerits. You’re doing enough of that yourself.” He held the covers up invitingly, and she climbed in beside him.“You think you aren’t supposed to have feelings about what’s happening to your aunt?”
    “Mama would have just smiled. It doesn’t get to her like it does me.” Dixie sighed and nestled close. “It’s not that she doesn’t care. She does, deeply. She just handles it better.”
    Dixie had always loved her mother…but, she admitted, she hadn’t always respected her. Helen had depended on men for so much, and they’d let her down, over and over. Even Dixie’s father had let her down by dying.
    Years ago, Dixie had decided she wanted to be like her aunt, bold and independent, not like her mother. She was being forced to see them both in a new light. And herself.
    “Your mom handles it differently than you,” Cole said. “Different isn’t better. Maybe it doesn’t hurt her as much to see Jody being childish because she remembers her being a child. You don’t. The only Jody you knew was the adult.”
    “Why does she have to lose that?” Dixie burst out. “She built the person she was, year by year, and now it’s all being taken away!”
    “I don’t know,