Lesley didn’t hear from Cole for another week, one of the longest weeks of her life.Unable to contact him by phone, she wrote him long, chatty letters every night.She tried to offer assurances, but after the first few days she realized these would do little to comfort him.
The January snows melted, and February quickly turned to March and the promise of spring.Cole wired her a dozen long-stemmed red roses on Valentine’s Day with a message of his love.Lesley didn’t doubt his love, but she recognized that his hate for Jennings was far stronger than any of his feelings for her.
With April came Easter and the return of her parents from Arizona.Cole had told her he’d fly in the weekend her parents returned, so he could meet his future in-laws.
Lesley picked him up at the Spokane airport.When he stepped off the plane she was shocked at his appearance.His features were strikingly gaunt, his dark eyes haunted.The smile on her lips wavered as he stepped into the terminal.
Tears blurred her vision as Cole approached.He set his briefcase on the ground and hugged her fiercely, burying his face in her neck.
“I’ve missed you,” she whispered brokenly.
“I know, love, I feel the same way.”His kiss was as urgent as his embrace.He smiled into her eyes and gently brushed a tear aside.“I like your hair.”
Her hand reached automatically for the short curls.She’d had it cut last month.
“You look terrible,” she replied honestly and brushed an imaginary piece of lint from his suit coat.
“But I’m making progress.”He placed his arm around her waist, pulling her close to his side.
“Are you?”She didn’t mean to sound so unsure.Progress—but at what price?
“Only a little, I admit.”
“This battle can go on for years, can’t it?”
He tensed and his hand tightened around her.“I won’t let that happen.”
“It’s already happening,” she murmured.“Cole, you’re killing yourself over a stupid airbag.Is it worth it?Answer me, is your life worth less than some invention?”She knew she sounded angry and unreasonable, but she couldn’t stand by and say nothing.Not anymore.
Lesley could feel him withdraw.He stopped mid-stride, and although he continued to hold her, he might as well have been miles away.
“Yes,” he said finally, his dark eyes stony-hard.
“If I can’t have justice, then I’ll have my revenge, and that’s worth more than anything...even you, Lesley.”
Chapter Ten
“Even me,” Lesley repeated, stunned.“Cole,” she breathed, “look at what you’re doing to yourself.I realize better than anyone how terrible this ordeal has been for you.”
“You couldn’t possibly know,” he announced and savagely raked a hand through his hair.
“Maybe not,” she conceded.“But I see what’s happening to you.I hear the bitterness in your voice, I read the hatred in your letters.And then I look at what all this has done to you physically and I want to cry.What happened to the man who asked me to marry him?The man who wanted a home and family?”
“I still want that,” Cole insisted.“But don’t you understand, I’m doing this for us.”His mouth was tightly pinched, and Lesley recognized that his temper was held on a taut rein.
“Then you’re lying to yourself and to me.”
They paused in front of the baggage carousel.Lesley centered her gaze on the variety of suitcases as they arrived instead of glancing at Cole, afraid of what his eyes would say.
“Nothing like this has ever happened to me,” she continued,“I guess you could say I’ve lived a sheltered life.”She felt Cole’s gaze roam over her face, and turned to offer him a weak smile.“In some ways I have you to thank for one of the biggest strides I’ve made in my spiritual life.”
“I don’t understand.”
Lesley had doubted that he would.“Do you remember Halloween night when I told you I was going to pray for you?”
Amusement touched his mouth and Lesley wondered how long it had been since Cole had smiled, really smiled.
“I remember.”
