Taking Charge (25 page)

“Snogged?”

“Made out.”

“It was more than that for him.”

“Well, I need to spell it out to him tomorrow night.
Now what are you going to do?” Robyn wanted to know.

“I’m going to tell Mickey it’s over,” Sarah said in a
determined tone.

He’d tried to call his mom twice that morning. He
couldn’t do it. What Veronica had said about her wanting the family
together for Thanksgiving had hit him hard. Why didn’t he have it
inside him to forgive Bryn? What he’d done was low, but did it
matter now? He’d had his revenge when he’d put him in hospital and
trashed his apartment. What was he hanging on to? He had Robyn, and
now she knew everything about him and still wanted him. They’d been
so close last night. She’d held him, she’d kissed him, and, for a
moment, she had looked at him like she wanted there to be more. But
he’d hesitated and she’d made a wisecrack about something from the
Portage Panthers’ Hall of Fame. She still wasn’t ready.

She was nervous and she didn’t know what to wear. It
wasn’t that she thought she needed to put on an act for Cole, it
was just she hadn’t been on a date since high school and she wanted
this one to go right. Should she stick to jeans and a t-shirt or
should she wear something else? Did she actually bring anything
else? Actually, she was pretty sure she’d packed a navy blue wool
sweater that came to mid-thigh. It was still her, but it was a
little different. Yesterday’s good weather hadn’t lasted and it was
back to feeling like autumn again. She’d need her boots too. She
searched for the items in the case she had yet to unpack. This felt
so odd. She was going on a date with the man she’d said she’d
marry.

He looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror
and tweaked at his hair. This date was so important. He wanted it
to be perfect. He wanted to give Robyn a night she deserved. He’d
wanted to get her something, but flowers or chocolates weren’t
going to cut it. She’d probably want to see what the flowers tasted
like and make a display of the chocolates. She wasn’t like any girl
he’d met before, but he knew she was the right girl.

He slipped his hand into the pocket of his jeans and
felt the box inside.

“I’ve got a confession to make,” Cole said as he
pulled Leonora into the parking lot of the Old Country Buffet later
that evening.

“You’ve hired Angela Lansbury to play your
mother—that’s who’s coming tomorrow. And your real mother really
has been as stiff as a board in her cellar since well before we
met,” Robyn replied.

“You got me,” he said with a grin.

“I like Angela Lansbury.”

“I couldn’t get tickets for the monster trucks,” Cole
admitted.

“You’re kidding me! What sort of date is this? Please
tell me you haven’t booked a couple’s manicure or tickets to see
Legally Blonde or anything with Meg Ryan,” Robyn said.

“No, we’re going to this great country bar to shoot
pool and turkeys,” Cole informed her.

“What?!”

“Remember when you went out for coffee at the
hospital? Your dad told me you’re some sort of ace with a twelve
gauge. At first that knowledge scared me, but then Gerry from
maintenance told me about the bar,” Cole continued.

“You’ve entered us in a turkey shoot?”

“This is going to be your best date ever,” he told
her with a smile.

She smiled back at him. He couldn’t have picked
anything more appropriate.

“We might have to empty out the fridge. I am a great
shot. Come on, I’m starving!” Robyn announced as she ran toward the
restaurant.

Cole locked the car and hurried after her.

“Two adults please, with drinks. Oh, you are going to
love this place. Look at all the food! Are there burritos on the
buffet today?” Robyn asked the cashier as Cole prepared to pay.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Cole, you are going to die when you taste their
chili beef,” Robyn said excitedly.

“Robyn, maybe we should go eat at the bar,” Cole
suddenly suggested as he looked out over the counters of food,
taking hold of her arm.

“Are you crazy? This is the best place for great food
and it’s cheap. I know you have a million dollar house on the lake
and a great job, but I don’t, and I ditched the sugar daddy,
remember,” Robyn informed him, jogging off to find a table.

“Robyn, Grant and Jason are just over there,” Cole
explained, taking her arm again and stopping her in her tracks.

Robyn looked up and saw the two men choosing fries
and fried chicken from the counter just to her right. They were
chatting together and laughing. They both looked as if they didn’t
have a care in the world.

“Do you want to go?” Cole asked her.

“No,” Robyn said, vigorously shaking her head.

“What d’you want to do? I’d quite like to punch him
again, if I’m honest.”

“No, I’m going to take charge,” Robyn said and she
set off toward them, grabbing a plate from the stack.

Cole was quick to grab a plate himself and followed
right behind her.

“Grant,” Robyn greeted, standing beside him.

Grant looked up and paled at the sight of her, his
embarrassment clear for all to see.

“Listen, you’re here and I’m here, and I love this
food and I’m not leaving. And I don’t think you should leave,
either. But I want you to sit far away from that table just there,
because that’s where Cole and I are going to be sitting,” Robyn
said, pointing to her favorite table by the window.

She couldn’t look directly at Jason but she could see
him out of the corner of her eye. He was looking at her, his red
hair flopping into his eyes, his plate piled high with chicken and
fries.

“Robyn…” Jason began.

“Don’t talk to her,” Cole ordered, stepping
forward.

“No, Cole, don’t…please. This is our night, don’t let
him spoil it,” Robyn begged, turning to face him, a pleading
expression on her face.

“We’re going to sit down over there,” Grant ordered
his son.

“Dad, she has to know,” Jason began, nudging his
father’s arm.

“She has to know what?” Cole inquired, glaring at
Jason.

“Jason, I’m warning you. Just go sit down and eat,”
Grant said gruffly.

“What do I need to know?” Robyn asked,
swallowing.

“The District Attorney has decided to reopen the
case; I’m going to clear my name,” Jason said.

“That’s enough. You’ve told her, now let’s just go
and eat,” Grant ordered, taking his son by the arm.

“But why would they do that without new evidence?”
Robyn asked, her tone thick with shock.

“They have new evidence. I found a witness who saw me
in our backyard right around the time you were…” Jason started.

“That’s enough. We’re going to sit down. Now!” Grant
said, shooing Jason across the restaurant.

Robyn took a deep breath and looked at Cole.

“You okay?” Cole asked her.

“If he has a witness then…” Robyn started.

How did you analyze information like that? If someone
had seen Jason in his yard, then he couldn’t have been the one to
attack her. But then again, they had interviewed everyone at the
time, why suddenly had someone come forward? Could he or she be
believed? Thoughts spun around in her head and she couldn’t take
them in.

“Listen, let’s not think about anything until you
hear officially. You must have had some sort of caseworker when it
was all going on. If what he says is true, they’ll be contacting
you,” Cole reassured, putting his arm around her.

“Yeah, her name was Trudy and she kept suggesting I
cry. I don’t know whether it was because she thought it would help
or whether she just liked seeing people cry.”

“Hey, come on, nothing’s changed; we’re on our first
date. You’ve brought me to this great place and you’re making me
hold off from the food! Man, look at it all!” Cole said, indicating
the platters all lined up under the heat lamps.

“Why did he have to be here? Tonight was supposed to
be special,” Robyn said with a frustrated sigh.

“Hey, look at me. It is going to be special. Starting
with soup, right?” Cole told her.

“Don’t be fooled into having the soup. It’s nice but
it’s stuffed full of dumplings to make you so full you can’t manage
anything else. I start with burritos and work my way through until
I get to apple pie,” Robyn explained.

“You’re going to have to show me the way; it sounds
like I’m a complete eating novice,” Cole replied, putting his arm
around her shoulders.

“Now you hold the gun like this,” Robyn said later
at the turkey shoot at Logan’s Country Bar.

“Like this?”

“Oh God, put it down! Cole! You can’t be waving it
around like that! Have you never shot before?” Robyn asked,
grabbing the weapon from him.

“Robyn, I know Chicago has developed a bit of a
reputation, but we weren’t all tooled up on my street,” Cole
answered.

“Some weeks, when I was small, this is what you had
to do for a decent dinner. Here, like this,” she said, taking his
gun and positioning him around it.

She held his hips as he looked down the barrel and
lined up with the mid-distance target. Bringing her here had taken
a lot of thought. He knew what she’d like. He accepted she wasn’t a
girly girl. She could feel the muscles at the bottom of his back
and she felt her stomach contract.

“Where are the turkeys?” Cole asked, still looking
down the gun.

“Are you kidding me?”

“What?”

“We don’t really shoot turkeys, Cole. That’s what
they did in bygone days, now we’re aiming at targets. Like there!
And there!” Robyn pointed out.

She picked up her gun and released a pellet at each
target.

Cole dropped his gun to the floor and hurried to
cover his ears with his hands.

“Whoa! I’d forgotten how good that felt,” Robyn said
with a laugh of excitement.

“Really?”

“Really. Come on, it’s your turn,” Robyn urged
him.

“I think I’m going to be lucky if I manage to hit a
tree. What’s the prize?” Cole asked her.

“Turkey!” Robyn announced.

“I don’t even really like turkey,” Cole admitted,
lining up his gun.

“We’ll pluck it and strip it and chuck it in with
some pasta…or we could always barbecue. Shoot God damn it!” Robyn
urged.

Cole fired the gun and, after the sound of his shot
had echoed away, there was a loud squawk. Something large and dark
gray fell out of the tree in front of them.

“Jeez, Cole, you just shot a turkey at a turkey
shoot!” Robyn exclaimed, staring at him with a mixture of horror
and awe in her expression.

“Does that mean we win?”

He had to drive home, but he could really have done
with a beer. He was nervous and the box in his pocket was weighing
heavier as the night went on. Robyn had won fifty dollars and a
frozen turkey for being the best shot of the night, and the turkey
he had mistakenly killed was being packaged up for them to take
home.

Now Robyn was chatting to two cowboys about the
Panthers and suggesting they come to watch the next match. Despite
his apprehension about what he wanted to do, this was the best
night he’d ever had.

“So, you don’t shoot, you’re not so keen on turkey,
you like a loose milk carton lid…please tell me you dance,” Robyn
said to him, downing the contents of her beer bottle.

“Come on, Robyn, I’m a guy. Guys don’t dance,” Cole
reminded her.

“Cole Ryan, you are sexist! You lied to me on that
plane ride! How can I believe anything you say ever again?” Robyn
asked, her hand on her chest.

The jukebox kicked into Brooks and Dunn and people
began hurrying to the dance floor.

“Do you think Gerry from maintenance came here with
Leonora?” Robyn asked him, taking hold of his hand.

“I know they did,” he replied, smiling at her.

“Well, we’re driving the car, we’d better not let her
memory down. Come on,” Robyn said.

She pulled Cole down off the bar stool and led him
into the middle of the dance floor.

“Robyn, I don’t dance. What are they all doing?” Cole
exclaimed, looking at the people around them.

“Line dancing. Come on, try it. Just copy everyone
else,” Robyn urged as she put her thumbs into the pockets of her
jeans and mimicked the other dancers.

“You tell any of the team about this, I mean any of
them, you’re on cooking duty for a month and that doesn’t include
barbecue,” Cole said as he tried to step in time.

“You think they don’t dance? You wait until the
roadhouse reopens, you need to practice,” Robyn shouted over the
music to him.

“In Chicago we call this freestyle,” Cole replied,
taking her hand and spinning her around.

“Wait, don’t get out yet,” Cole said as he turned off
Leonora’s engine.

They’d arrived home, fifty dollars and two turkeys
better off and high on the excitement of the night.

“You want me to sing another Reba McEntire
number?”

“I really don’t.”

“You know, I know you weren’t keen on the dancing but
at the end there, you really had something going on,” Robyn said,
smiling at him.

“I bought you something,” Cole said, getting the box
out of his jeans.

He held it out to her and she took it.

“I saw it. The jeweler said there isn’t another one
like it. I had to get it,” Cole told her nervously.

Robyn opened the box to reveal a white gold and
diamond ring. The front of it was shaped into a leaping panther,
encrusted in diamonds. It was the most unusual and beautiful ring
she had ever seen.

“Cole,” Robyn said, tears pricking her eyes as she
took the ring out of its box and held it in her hand.

“I know how much the team means to you. I know how
much you love this town, and I also know how much courage it must
have taken you to get on that plane and come back. But I’m so glad
you did or we would never have met,” Cole told her.