“What can we do?”
“Nothing.”Lesley propped her chin on a palm.“We’re going to have to trust the Lord with this one.”Lesley took a sip from her coffee cup.“Cole keeps telling me that everything will be settled soon.I heard him say he was about to hand over the evidence or report or something.”
“What are you going to do until then?”
“Thanksgiving’s this week, and the bank’s closed for the four-day holiday.I think I’ll phone in sick tomorrow and stick around.At least, if anything happens, I’ll be there to make sure Cole’s all right.Let’s hope the whole thing will be cleared up by the weekend.”
Terry handed Lisa another cracker.The baby immediately glommed onto it, stuffing it into her small mouth.“You know, I feel like Nancy Drew all of a sudden—protecting the world from evil and upholding the cause of righteousness.”
Lesley tossed her sister a disdainful look.“Honestly, Terry, that was Zorro.”
The older sister wrinkled her nose.“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
Lesley drove home slowly, wondering how she would react to Cole when she saw him.She was terrible at keeping secrets.Her friends knew her well enough to realize that if they wanted something kept quiet, it was better not to tell Lesley.It wasn’t that she was a gossip, but anything that was meant to be kept to herself had a way of rolling off her tongue.Already, although she had the best intentions, she’d blurted out what she’d overheard.
The first thing she did when she walked into her apartment was phone the bank and tell Ben Fullbright that she wouldn’t be in for the remainder of the week.Slight feelings of guilt invaded her resolve as she replaced the telephone receiver.The day before Thanksgiving was always busy at the bank, but she had to stick close to home for Cole’s sake.She smiled, envisioning his reaction if he knew that she was calling in sick in order to stay at the apartment and protect him.
The light tapping sound on the other side of her wall reminded her of a high school drum cheer.She walked across the room and returned with her own message.
A moment later her doorbell rang.It was Cole.
“Hi.”Her eyes avoided his.
“I’ve been waiting to talk to you.”
“Oh?”
“Are you suddenly reduced to responses of one syllable?”He regarded her skeptically.
“No.”Her eyes followed the worn pattern in the carpet.
Cole’s index finger under her chin lifted her gaze to his.“I think we’d better talk?”
“Do you want coffee or Iacocca...I mean cocoa.”She turned and hurried into the kitchen.Oh no!She’d nearly done it again.
Cole followed her, a hand on her shoulder stopping her as she held the teakettle under the faucet.
“What’d you say?”
“Nothing.”She prayed he wouldn’t question her further.
“Something about Iacocca?”
“No, silly,” she said, desperately trying to brush off her blunder.“Cocoa, as in heated chocolate milk with melted marshmallows.”
“All right, I’ll have the Iacocca.”
“The what?”She looked up, startled.
“All right, Lesley.”Cole’s hands gripped her shoulders and turned her around.“Are you going to say it, or am I?”
She felt like stamping her foot and groaning her frustration with herself.“I didn’t want you to know that I’d learned.”
“Exactly what do you know?”
“About the recall and everything.”
“The recall?”His look was completely blank.“I think we’d better sit down and get this into the open.”He took the kettle out of her hand and set it aside.
