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  “Honestly, I’m not sure. But I know I need to talk to him and figure out a plan of action.” Elise flinched too, the rain coming down so fiercely that it sounded as though the roof might cave in from the attack.

  “Talk to Cody?” Savvy finished off her coffee and placed the mug on the table.

  “No, to Jack.” Elise swallowed the last sip from her cup and nodded matter-of-factly to her friend. Her mind was made up. She needed to talk to Jack about Cody, and she didn’t want to talk on the phone. She wanted to see him in person. And she wasn’t going to analyze the reasoning for that.

  She was just glad she’d packed a raincoat for this trip.

  * * *

  During the past two years, while he took the time to sell his home in LA, tie up loose ends and mourn everything he’d lost, Jack hadn’t felt lonely. He’d been grief-stricken. Depressed. Disillusioned. Solemn. Despondent. A whirlwind of emotions that collided and cascaded over his very being each and every day.

  But he hadn’t felt lonely.

  Until today.

  With the appearance of Elise and Cody at his home over the past week, he’d experienced a hint of what a family felt like again, and now that he’d been reminded...he ached for it.

  Yearned for it.

  But he knew that would only cause heartache when he started loving a family like he’d loved his before...and then lost everything. He didn’t want another woman in his world, didn’t want other children. So it was probably a good thing that he’d never see Elise again, let alone Cody.

  She was scared of him; he’d seen it in her eyes. Scared because she had no idea who or what he was. But Jack had told her the truth. Elise had no reason to be afraid of him, yet he had every reason to be afraid of her. He’d come to this place to get away from the potential of being hurt again because he cared too much. If he wasn’t close to anyone, then how could he be bothered when he lost them? Why would he care?

  But now, because of Elise and Cody, he did care. About both of them. And today, when they hadn’t shown up at their typical time, he’d assumed, probably correctly, that they’d never return.

  He should be glad for that.

  He should.

  But he wasn’t. And with every sound of thunder or rain, he wondered how they were faring at the children’s home. Once he’d learned where the place was located, he’d purposely planned his runs away from the area. He didn’t want to meet more kids at the home, because they might, like Cody, remind him of his children.

  Jack also wondered if the reason they hadn’t appeared this morning had more to do with the thunderstorm than the fact that Elise had clearly been freaked out about him when she left yesterday. Maybe she had planned to come and tell him that she realized how ridiculous that notion was, and that she and Cody wanted to continue spending time with him.

  Or maybe the rain had nothing to do with it, and they wouldn’t have come even if it were a clear day in June, because Elise had determined the risk wasn’t worth the reward, if she had to bring Cody near a guy like Jack.

  He pressed the button on the hot chocolate maker and watched the light brown liquid swirl as it heated. Might as well get some use out of the thing himself, since he wouldn’t need it for company.

  His phone dinged, which it’d been doing fairly regularly over the past couple of days, and he lifted it to view the text.

  Roland has called in all execs today for a meeting about Finding Home. I suspect they’re preparing to file suit for breach of contract. Is there anything you want me to say or do on your behalf?

  Jack closed his eyes, counted to ten. He’d been ignoring Vincent’s texts for days, but he wasn’t in the mood to receive more of them today. He’d put a stop to it with a single word.

  No.

  Then he set his phone to vibrate and slid it to the back of the kitchen counter. There wasn’t anyone he wanted to talk to. And even with that thought, he visualized Elise, stomping away through the woods in an effort to leave him as quickly and thoroughly as possible.

  If he were being honest, there was someone he wanted to talk to. Elise Ramsey. The one person in the world who had the power to destroy him, to grab his heart, make him care...and then what? She’d leave? She’d said she would return to Birmingham after Cody entered the school system, which would be a few weeks from now. Jack would be stupid to have feelings for another woman who would be taken out of his life, even if not by death.

  So why should he bother?

  Because you want to help Cody, his mind whispered, and then, a faint addition, and because you care about Elise.

  The truth of that infuriated him. He couldn’t care for her, or anyone else, because he couldn’t handle going through the loss if anything happened to her. He wouldn’t.

  And yet he wondered if she and Cody were okay in the storm.

  Footsteps outside, on his front porch, caused him to leave the kitchen and start toward the door. And as he reached it, a quick rapping knock beckoned from his visitor.

  God, he started, then scowled. Had he actually begun a prayer to ask Him to let this be Elise and Cody? He shook his head, grabbed the knob and opened the door.

  Elise wore a light turquoise raincoat with a hood that framed her face and drew even more attention to her dark eyes, high cheekbones, full lips.

  Had it only been a day since she’d left him standing in the woods? The truth of that question slammed his chest.

  He’d missed her.

  “I—” he started, then realized she’d come alone, “Where’s Cody?”

  A flicker of disappointment washed over her face, and though she masked it quickly, Jack hadn’t missed the emotion.

  “Is something wrong with Cody?” he asked, his voice gruff with concern.

  “In a way.” The skies were dark, in spite of the fact that it was just past noon, but a brilliant burst of lightning illuminated the sky and spotlighted the woman at his doorstep.

  She was even prettier now, with the rain providing a veil between her and the wooded surroundings. And she looked at him...as though she’d missed him too.

  Had she?

  Elise glanced down, away from his penetrating stare, and Jack silently reprimanded himself. Yes, he’d missed her being here, but he didn’t like the fact, and he wasn’t about to tell her. He’d simply grown accustomed to company, and that desire would dissipate once Cody started at the school and then found a new home, and once Elise returned to Birmingham.

  Then things would be the way Jack wanted.

  “Jack, it’s wet and a little cold out here. And I need to talk to you about Cody...” She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, and Jack noticed the turquoise galoshes that matched the raincoat.

  It’d help if she were merely beautiful; she didn’t have to be cute too.

  “So can I come in?” she concluded.

  He had lost his ability to think, because it hadn’t occurred to him to do anything but gawk. He mentally slapped himself. “Yes, sure. Come on in.” He edged back to let her enter, then watched as she slid off one of her galoshes and then the other.

  Fuzzy pink polka-dot socks. That was what she wore beneath her rain boots.

  She noticed where his attention had landed and wiggled her toes. “A gift from my oldest brother, Aaron. He knows I like warm socks, but he also likes to make them fun.”

  “How many brothers do you have?” he heard himself ask and then wished he’d stop trying to learn more about her. He needed to keep this relationship strictly professional. Even so, he awaited her answer.

  “Three, all older. And all of them try to tell me what to do,” she added, sounding like any younger sibling. He recalled AmyJo and Sadie fussing anytime JJ attempted to play boss.

  “Big brothers are like that,” he said, fondly remembering his son.

 
“Yeah, I’ve wondered how Cody was around his little sister and brother. I think he’d have been really helpful from what I’ve learned about his past.”

  Jack thought of how the boy had enjoyed sanding the furniture, putting it together and even hauling wood from the garage to the front yard. He hadn’t complained; on the contrary, he’d smiled more than Jack had seen him smile at any other time. “I bet he was a great big brother,” he said, noting yet another similarity to JJ.

  JJ had been amazing with AmyJo and Sadie.

  Cody deserved to be a big brother again, to have a family again.

  As though knowing where his thoughts had headed, Elise said, “The Mustang he wanted to see wasn’t at the football game last night. And he didn’t take it very well.”

  “Is that why he isn’t with you?”

  “That, and I’m not sure he would have wanted to weather the storm, either. It’s pretty rough out there.” As though her point needed emphasis, a resounding boom of thunder caused her to jump. “See?”

  “I do.” He had thought about that all morning, whether the rain would keep them away. “I’m a little surprised you came out in this weather.”

  She shrugged. “I have thirteen days to make progress with Cody, and he’s come out of his shell the most when he’s with you. I wanted to discuss some ideas about how to help him continue to make progress.” A heavy sigh escaped her, and she added, “And at the very least, get to where he was before that game last night. He was so disappointed, Jack. When we got back, he refused to even look at me when he went to his cabin, and this morning, his mood did not improve.”

  Jack hated that Cody had been so upset about the car. He’d seen how excited the kid got yesterday when he’d thought he’d get to see an actual vintage automobile at that football game. He couldn’t imagine how crushed he’d been when he arrived at the field to learn there wasn’t a vehicle to view.

  A flicker of an idea played with his thoughts, about a boy who had one goal in life, something that seemed trivial to everyone else but meant the world to the kid. Yet he was locked within himself and couldn’t explain the disillusionment of finding his hopes and dreams shattered.

  It’d make a decent theme, something akin to the story of the Pharisee and the cup in Matthew.

  “Jack?” Elise’s eyebrows were lifted, mouth quirked to the side as though concerned about where his thoughts had headed.

  So was Jack.

  And then it occurred to him, she’d entered his house without stopping to question the safety of the action. She no longer had the fear that he’d seen in her eyes yesterday. “What happened?”

  She looked even more confused. “What happened? To Cody? I just told you...”

  “No, what happened to you? Yesterday, you were angry, and you were afraid of me. I didn’t misread that. But today—” he shook his head “—that isn’t the case. What’s changed?”

  She chewed her lower lip, glanced toward the kitchen. “Do I smell hot chocolate?”

  Jack knew she evaded the question for a reason, but he also knew he was playing with fire, trying to figure the woman out. He needed to keep their conversations centered around Cody, not around the way Elise affected him when she was near.

  Or when she wasn’t.

  “Yeah, I made some in case.”

  “In case what?” she asked, smiling as though she suspected the answer.

  He wasn’t going to walk into the trap. Not completely. “In case Cody came back. I thought he might like a cup of hot chocolate.”

  She looked skeptical but didn’t comment. She merely walked toward the kitchen to look at the small white Cocomotion he’d purchased in Stockville. “This wasn’t here the last time I was in the kitchen.”

  “No, it wasn’t.” He moved toward the cabinet to withdraw two mugs. “Do you want a cup? I—” he paused, felt a little foolish for the impromptu purchase “—I bought some of those small marshmallows and whipped cream if you like that.”

  Her mouth curved upward, and Jack was taken aback by the beauty of the subtle smile. “When did you buy the hot chocolate maker?”

  Busted. “Last night.” He poured the two mugs of chocolate. “So would you like the marshmallows, or whipped cream?”

  “Whipped cream, please.” She leaned against the counter, crossed her arms and watched him retrieve the red-and-white can from the refrigerator. “You bought that for me and Cody, didn’t you?”

  He refused to look at her as he topped her cup with the white foam. “I thought we might be celebrating Cody seeing that Mustang.”

  “So you bought a hot chocolate maker, cocoa, whipped cream and marshmallows.”

  “I wasn’t sure what y’all would like,” he said gruffly. Then, grabbing a handful of the marshmallows and tossing them in his cup, he turned toward the woman still staring at him as though she knew him inside and out. “Here you go.”

  She took the mug but never broke eye contact. And Jack was having a tough time looking away.

  Finally, he shifted toward the counter, snatched his cup and said, “We can drink this at the table while we talk about Cody.”

  Cody. The only thing they needed to talk about. Not the way she looked cute in her fuzzy socks as she padded toward the table, or the way her oversize sweatshirt hung past her slender hips and made her seem even more petite. Like someone he should take care of.

  “So have you had any ideas about how to help Cody now that he’s retreated into himself again? That’s why you came here on your own, right? To get a game plan together before that meeting—the IEP—at the school?” He took a sip of the rich chocolate and focused on how perfect the machine made the liquid, frothy, like the kind he remembered getting at ball games as a kid. JJ had loved hot chocolate. So had AmyJo and Sadie. He wondered if Cody did too.

  “Is it okay if I’m completely honest with you?” she asked softly.

  No. Jack wasn’t certain whether he could handle complete honesty. He took another sip of the chocolate and prepared himself for what this woman, who’d caused him to think and feel things he’d sworn he’d tamped down forever, would say. “Sure.”

  She tried to sip the chocolate, then laughed when the whipped cream hit her nose. She wiped it away with her finger, grabbed a napkin from the middle of the table and giggled. “I don’t think I even got to the hot chocolate for all of the whipped cream.”

  Jack felt his face move into a smile. He couldn’t help it. This was so very...nice. “I may have overdone it with the whipped cream.”

  “It’s okay. I’ll stir it up a little.” Then she put her index finger in the cup and swirled it through the white cream to mix it with the hot liquid.

  “I do have spoons,” he said and couldn’t hold back the grin that remained firmly in place. She seemed so at home here, in the middle of his cabin and sitting at his table. Not at all like the skittish woman who’d left in a rush yesterday.

  “Oh, yeah, well, I’ve already taken care of it now.” She did a little shoulder lift, put her finger in her mouth to remove the liquid and then took a big sip. “This is amazing. I’ve got to get me one of those machines.”

  Her contentment was palpable, but Jack was no longer content. He couldn’t stop wondering what had changed. Why was she so comfortable around him now, after being so fearful only twenty-four hours ago?

  “You asked if you could be completely honest with me.” His smile had subsided. Something had happened, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know what. “Honest about what?”

  “About Cody. The truth is—” she huffed out a little breath, blew on her chocolate and then took another sip “—the most prominent progress I’ve made with him is when he’s with you. I honestly don’t think I can get him ready for the IEP without your help.”

  Jack’s chest warmed at the mere mention that he’d helped the boy. It wasn�
��t what he’d expected her to say; nevertheless, it ignited something within him that he hadn’t felt in a while. He’d needed to reach out to that kid even more then he’d realized.

  Truthfully, he still did. He hadn’t wanted to give himself the opportunity to open his heart to another child, or another woman, after losing his family. But he could almost feel the tight strings on his heart loosening, and he didn’t know how to stop them from unraveling completely.

  “So how can I help get him ready for the school meeting?” He sipped the chocolate, got a couple of the marshmallows in the swallow.

  “That’s the thing...I’m not exactly sure. I know that he has come more and more out of his shell and moved toward genuine communication, the kind he had before he lost his family, when he spends time with you.”

  “Well, that’s easy, because I like spending time with him.” He knew his next suggestion would only hurt him, only remind him more of what he’d lost, but there was no way he could turn his back on what Cody needed. No way he could turn his back on Elise, either. “You just need to bring him here each day.”

  Elise took another sip of her chocolate and seemed to ponder his recommendation before speaking. “That may prove to be a problem. He wouldn’t come out of his room today, not that we have the best weather for hiking. But I don’t know how long this disappointment about the car is going to affect him, and I’m genuinely afraid that when he does let me in again, I might be starting over at square one. And I don’t have time for that.”

  Jack had been nurturing an idea, something that he suspected might help Cody, based on what he’d learned about the boy. And he’d made a phone call earlier that would put that plan into play. “I have something for him to see. It’ll get here on Monday. Do you think if you told him I had a surprise for him that he would change his mind about venturing into the world again?”

  She bit her lower lip, looking as though she were trying to select the right words, and then sipped her cocoa. “I’m thinking that if anyone would know—” she took another sip “—what it would take to get someone who had retreated from the world to venture out again, it would be you.” She paused, while Jack waited, unsure of what to say. “What would it take, Jack?”