In My Father's Shadow (24 page)

So what’s Stephanie doing there?
her mind
asked. She pushed the question away with a long, drawn out
sigh.

“James, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it. I’ll
probably just do my exercises, take a long, hot bath and veg out in
front of the TV.”

“You sure?” he asked, quietly.

“Yes. Call me tomorrow,” she said. “Bye, James.” And
she hung up before he could argue.

A huge, lead weight settled in the pit of her stomach
and she fought off the urge to throw her body on the couch and have
a good cry. Instead, she went to the mud room, tugged on an old
pair of riding boots, and tromped off to the stables.

***

“You playing or what, James?” RJ yelled.

Cole watched curiously as Jamie sighed and flipped
his phone shut. He tossed it on his discarded t-shirt lying on the
floor and returned back to the game, though his heart wasn’t in
it.

“Who was that?” Cole asked, mopping his sweaty face
with a towel, although judging by the guilt on Jamie’s face, he
could hazard a guess. His heart dropped as he thought about how
things were still so iffy with Ally. He didn’t know how to fix it
this time but he did know he wanted to. He missed her.

“Ally,” Jamie said softly.

“Did you tell her to come over?” RJ asked.

“I tried. I take it neither one of you asked her to
come over today either,” he accused. Cole and RJ exchanged guilty
looks. “I didn’t think so.”

“What’s the big deal?” Stephanie asked. “I mean, I
didn’t think Ally was a high maintenance type that would get all
upset if you didn’t include her in something.”

“She’s not upset,” Jamie defended. “And she usually
doesn’t get upset if we don’t include her in everything. Problem
is, I don’t think we’ve included her in much of anything lately.”
He grabbed his t-shirt and his phone. “I’m going to go over there
and check on her. She’s by herself and she wants to work on
basketball drills. Knowing her, she’ll overdo it and mess up that
ankle. It’ll kill her if she doesn’t make the State Team this
year.”

Cole groaned, knowing he needed to take the
opportunity to talk to her – reason with her. Maybe they could call
a truce and things could get back to some sort of normalcy. “Give
me a second, man. I’ll come, too.”

***

Cole’s nerves started in on him as he pulled through
the gates to Ally’s house and parked his car in front of the dark
pole barn. The four of them got out and Cole frowned.

“She’s not in the pole barn,” Cole announced as he
shoved his hands in his pockets. “I don’t know if that’s a good
sign or not.”

“Let’s just check the house,” Jamie suggested.

They dashed up the steps and Cole unlocked the door
with his key. They kicked the snow off their shoes as they listened
for her footsteps.

“Al,” Cole yelled. “Are you here?”

“You know,” RJ said thoughtfully as Jamie ran up the
steps toward her bedroom. “You two don’t act like much of a couple.
Are you or not?”

Cole snorted. “Who knows? I never know what’s going
through that head of hers.”

“She’s not up there,” Jamie reported as he dashed
down the steps.

Cole strode through the kitchen and opened the
basement door. “Al! You down there?”

“The basement is huge, dude.” RJ said. “Do you think
she heard you?”

“When I looked out on the deck, I noticed
footprints,” Stephanie said as she joined them in the kitchen. “Do
you suppose she went out for a walk or something?”

“Duh,” Cole said, rolling his eyes as a smirk lit up
his lips. “I bet she’s riding.”

He brushed past Stephanie and hurried to the French
doors, swinging them open and following the footprints to the barn,
the others on his heels.

“I didn’t know she had horses,” Stephanie said,
delighted. “Isn’t it too cold to ride?”

“Not for Ally,” RJ said, pulling his coat tighter
around his body. “She’s a freak.”

“I heard that RJ,” Ally said as she came around the
barn leading a gray horse. “You’re lucky I don’t lock you in the
stall with Ginger.”

“Who’s Ginger?” Stephanie asked, scooting closer to
the saddled horse nudging Ally’s coat pocket.

“An evil devil horse,” RJ said with a shudder that
had nothing to do with the weather.

Ally laughed and pulled half a carrot from her pocket
and offered it to her horse. “She’s not evil. RJ thought he was
being cool once and he upset her so she bit him.”

“Are you getting ready to ride now, Ally?” Jamie
asked.

“Just got in. I was hot walking Dancer before I put
him back.”

“Can I see the other horses?” Stephanie asked.

Ally nodded and motioned for her to follow. She led
her horse to a hitching post inside the barn, tied him up and
pulled off his saddle. “Go ahead and look around,” she told
Stephanie. “I need to take care of Dancer real quick.”

“James and I will show you the evil horse,” RJ said,
grabbing Stephanie’s arm and throwing Cole a meaningful glance.

Cole approached Ally from behind and wrapped his arms
around her waist. He leaned over and placed his mouth by her ear.
“I think I’ve been neglecting you lately.”

She shivered and clutched the brush in her hand,
holding it near the horse’s flank. She started thoroughly running
it over Dancer’s thick coat. He could see the moisture glistening
in her eyes and it tore at his heart. “I’m used to it by now,
Cole.”

“I told you I was terrible at this stuff, Al,” he
pleaded, squeezing her tightly.

She turned in his arms and sighed, butting her head
against his chest. “I know. I guess I’m not too hot at it
either.”

He lifted her chin and gently brushed his lips over
hers. He edged back and smiled. “All right, let’s try this. Let me
take you out on a real date and we’ll just sit back and relax – not
worry about how terrible we are at this or anything else. How about
if I take you out tomorrow night? Dinner, movie, whatever you
want.”

She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Okay,” she agreed before pulling his mouth back to hers.

“And this,” RJ boomed out in his best tour guide
voice, “Is two humans engaged in a rather racy display of public
affection.”

Ally pulled away from Cole and pointed the brush in
her hand at RJ. “What are you talking about, ‘racy’? And since when
is my barn public?”

RJ flashed his most charming smile and pecked her
quickly on the cheek. “Just playing with you, Ally, that’s
all.”

Ally giddily invited them back into the house and
ordered pizzas. Cole passed out soft drinks as they settled around
the kitchen table, discussing the past few weeks of school.

“The people at school are relentless,” RJ complained
as he snatched another slice of pizza. “They just don’t quit.”

“Tell me about it,” Ally moaned. “The girls are
pretty horrible, too. Did you know that my freshman year, some girl
asked me if I’d set her up with my dad?”

Jamie grinned and leaned across the table to leer at
her. “Was she hot?”

Ally threw a piece of pizza crust at him and hit him
right between the eyes, causing RJ and Cole to roar with
laughter.

“Yeah, well, I hope it settles down soon,” Ally
continued. “I think it’s getting to Alec.”

“I caught a couple of juniors bugging him the other
day,” Cole said. “They wouldn’t leave him alone.”

“Who?” Ally demanded, fury rolling off her body in
droves.

“Don’t worry about it, princess,” Cole said as he
sipped his drink. “I took care of them. You know I got Alec’s
back.”

“Yeah, but still,” she started to protest.

“Ally, he’s a tough kid and can handle his own
against others,” RJ said. “But there were four of these guys and
Alec was alone and they were persistent until Cole spotted them and
chased them off.”

Ally bit her lip and didn’t say a word, just patted
Cole’s thigh and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Well, thanks.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Cole said as he linked their
hands under the table.

The conversation switched to talk about the end of
Tight Control’s tour and how much fun they’d had as kids when
they’d been allowed to go.

“I wish I could have gone,” Stephanie sighed
wistfully. “My dad hardly ever travels – he’s a supervisor at some
office.”

“Well, we might be touring before too long,” RJ said
with a smug smirk. Cole offered a fist in which RJ immediately
bumped.

“Why?” Ally asked, her eyes wide. “Do you guys know
something you’re not sharing with me?”

“Relax, cuz,” Jamie said, glaring across the table at
RJ and Cole. “They’re not sharing with me, either.”

Cole grinned and made Ally’s heart flip. “Rhys Redden
told Dad that he wanted us to play for him this summer. He promised
he’d be honest and if he liked our sound, maybe he’d sign us.”

“Seriously?” Ally asked, jumping out of her seat.
Cole and RJ both nodded. She ran around the table, threw an arm
around both boys, and hugged them tightly. “This is fantastic! I’m
so proud of you guys!”

“Yeah, man,” Jamie said as he hauled both guys up
into a man hug. “This is so cool.”

“Well, it hasn’t happened yet,” Cole said, although
the smile didn’t fade from his eyes. “We just have to work extra
hard to make sure we’re sharp.”

“You will be,” Stephanie said confidently as she
shyly hugged both boys. “I know you will.”

It was on the tip of Ally’s tongue to ask Stephanie
just how she knew they’d be sharp but the mood was so light and she
felt so good being with her friends that she didn’t want to ruin
it. And the night was growing later, making her eyes droop.

“Why don’t you guys crash here?” she said as she
stood and stretched. “I’m going to head up to bed.”

Ally showed Stephanie one of the guest rooms and left
the guys to fend for themselves – they’d stayed plenty of times
before and knew where everything was located.

She changed into a comfortable pair of pajamas and
sat on her bed, removing her ankle brace, slowly massaging her
ankle. Someone knocked softly on her door.

“Come in,” she said, looking up curiously.

“Hey, Al,” Cole said quietly as he slipped into the
room. He plopped on the bed next to her. “Can I room with you? I
got voted out of the guest rooms and onto the couch.”

She rolled her eyes. “Keep the snoring to a
minimum.”

He smirked at her. “I don’t snore.”

“Yeah, right,” she started to argue but he gently
pushed on her shoulders until she was lying on the bed.

“Don’t argue with me, Al,” he said, moving closer.
“I’m always right.” He crushed his lips against hers. She threw her
arms around his neck in surprise and scooted her body further on
the mattress. He adjusted his body so that he was lying over her,
but supporting his weight with his arms. He deepened the kiss and
stroked her cheek as she melted into him.

“I missed you,” she said when she broke the kiss to
gasp for air.

“I know. I’m an idiot,” he said as he smiled at her.
He kissed her again then reluctantly tore his body from hers. “But,
no more.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” she said, rolling
her eyes at him. She slid to the floor and headed toward the
bathroom but he scooped her in his arms and dropped her back on the
bed.

“That’s no way to be,” he said as he pinned her arms
to the mattress and kissed her. “I’m trying to be nice and you’re
mocking me.”

“I’m not mocking you,” she said.

“I’m serious,” he said and his eyes darkened and
warmed. “I’ve been a jerk, I know, but I mean to make it up to
you.” He kissed her softly. “I really do love you, Al.”

Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as her
breath hitched in her throat. “You really do love me? I mean, as
like, more than a friend, sort of way?” she asked, hesitantly.

“Yeah now lie back down and tell me you love me, too.
I mean, if you do.”

“You know I do,” she protested.

He snorted. “Sometimes I wonder.”

She smacked him lightly. “I’m better at showing it
than you are.”

He sighed. “Al, do you really want to fight about who
sucks more at showing they love the other one, or do you want to
get comfortable here with me and get some sleep?”

She huffed and tucked her body into his once more.
“By the way,” he whispered. “I don’t think I heard you actually say
it.”

She groaned. “I did too! I told you that I loved you,
too!”

“No,” he countered. “I think you said something like
‘you know I do,’ which isn’t really saying it.”

“You are so infuriating, do you know that,” she told
him.

He flipped her on her back and loomed over her. “Say
it,” he smirked, peppering her face with light kisses, making her
giggle again.

“I love you, Cole,” she admitted, still laughing, and
pulled his mouth to hers again. He broke the kiss to smile at her
before dropping to the pillow and tucking her in his arms.

Chapter Twenty

Cole frowned as he looked into the glass cases of
glittering diamonds and sparkling rubies. Everything was so fancy
and big and gawdy and not at all what he was looking for. Nothing
met with his approval and he was sort of lost.

“What do you want to get her?” Stephanie asked, as
she peered into a case of diamond solitaire rings. “Like a ring or
something?”

“No,” Cole said quickly, panic shooting through his
body. He loved her, yes, but a ring was sort of a serious thing and
he definitely wasn’t ready for that. Not in the least. “Not a ring.
No.”

Stephanie grinned and patted him on the back in a
patronizing manner. “Okay, no ring. Let’s see….How about a tennis
bracelet?”

Cole’s brow furrowed as he shot her a puzzled look.
“She doesn’t play tennis.”

Stephanie groaned. “No, that’s not what that means.
Uh…nevermind. Here, check out these gold chains. They’re
pretty.”

Cole sighed and peeked into yet another glass case.
He’d spent most of the afternoon at the mall with Stephanie,
something he hadn’t really enjoyed.