The Ashtons - Cole, Abigail & Megan

first thing in the morning. Neither did she.
    When she finished eating she carried the plate to the dishwasher, loaded it and brought the coffeepot back with her. She poured herself a second cup, then topped off Cole’s. And spoke. “Put the paper down.”
    He looked up. After a moment he nodded, unsmiling this time, and folded the paper. “Do I get a trial, or are we going straight to the sentencing?”
    “We’re still in the investigation stage.” She sat across from him, sipping coffee and studying him over the rim of the mug. “Why?” she asked softly. “Why did you run?”
    For a long moment he looked at her, not speaking. He drummed his fingers once, then nodded. “I’ll tell you what happened—now, if you like—but it had nothing to do with you. I’m hoping you’ll be willing to reach a verdict without knowing more.”
    She shook her head, confused. “Why not just tell me?”
    For a moment she glimpsed emotion, stark and ragged, in his eyes. Then he looked away. “This isn’t easy for me to say, but you were right. I’ve been holding back from you emotionally. Making excuses to stay away. I did it on purpose. I was testing you.”
    Feelings rippled through her, strong and complex. “I guess I failed, then, if you had to run off.”
    “No.” His head swung back. “I told you, that had nothing to do with you. I found out something about my father. Something…” He shook his head. “I should have come to you. It didn’t occur to me, which doesn’t say much for the way I handle things, but…all I can say in my defense is that I’ve always kept stuff about him to myself. I reacted the way I’m used to reacting. I went off to deal with it alone.”
    She hurt for him. “What did you learn?”
    “It’s big, it’s important, but not as important as this.” He reached across the table and took her hands in his. “Not as important as what I finally realized. I wanted you to love me, you see.”
    She swallowed. “Cole—”
    “Let me finish.” His grip tightened. “I didn’t just want you to love me—I wanted you to prove it. I thought I couldn’t live with the uncertainty. Then, when I came back from my driveabout, I thought you’d left me.” His voice turned bleak. “That cleared things up wonderfully for me. I’d driven you away.”
    He was talking faster now, the words tumbling out. “All I could think was that I wanted you back. No tests, no guarantees—none of that mattered. I wanted you back. Period.” He met her eyes, then one corner of his mouth kicked up. “And then, of course, I found out that your leaving didn’t have a thing to do with me.”
    She blinked several times. She’d cried too much in the past two days. “No, it didn’t. But why don’t you want to tell me why you left?”
    “Because,” he said softly, “I wonder if you’re doing the same thing I was. Testing me. Waiting for me to fail. If you need reasons to trust me, Dixie, I’ll give them to you. This is not a test. But I’m hoping…” He had to stop and swallow. “I’m hoping you’ll take me on faith. Because that’s how I’m taking you from now on. I love you, and love means trust, not tests.”
    Just like that, the thing that had changed while she slept fell into clear, shining focus. Somewhere along the line she’d stopped seeing Cole. All she’d been able to see were her fears. But those fears had been phantoms, and they’d faded when real tragedy loomed…then evaporated once he was there with her.
    As if she’d swallowed a year’s worth of sunshine and it was rising, irresistibly making its way into every cell of her body and every corner of her mind, Dixie smiled, slow and certain. “Good. Because I’m crazy in love with you.”
    He let out one clear, loud crow of laughter. “Then come here, woman! What are you doing so far away?”
    She was laughing, too, as he caught her up in his arms. Oh, she was caught, all right—caught for good, hopelessly entangled, tied up in knots…and set free in Cole’s arms.

Epilogue
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    “D o you think your mother is ever going to forgive me?” Dixie asked, leaning forward to check her lipstick in the mirror on the back of the visor. It was nearly eight at night. They were running a little late—but it had been a busy day.
    “No need,” Cole said wryly. “She blames me entirely for our decision to run off to Vegas. You’re in the clear.”
    “Well, my mother blames me for depriving her of a wedding, and thinks you hung