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Just considering that might be the case made Cole want to lock Annie away to keep her safe. He had a moment of clarity then as he came to understand how Duncan felt.

The love they each had for Annie, though of a different type, still led them to want to keep her safe at all costs.

Cole knew he had to resist that inclination because if Annie was balking against it already with her dad, he didn’t want it to become something between them as well.

Shoulders slumping, he sat for a moment before picking up his phone. He sent a quick text to his folks to let them know that he had arrived in Serenity.

When he revealed that he’d be around for New Year’s Eve and Day, they’d wanted him to stay with them. He’d explained that he’d be spending New Year’s Eve meeting Annie’s family.

His mom had been okay with that since she had shifted away from the New Year’s Eve parties of the past because of all the young children who were part of the family now. But they’d reserved the skating rink at the hotel for a skating party the next day.

It had been a while since he’d last skated, but he looked forward to doing it with Annie. He just hoped that whatever news Duncan received about the mysterious woman didn’t put a damper on his time in Serenity.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Annie had thought that Cole’s arrival would calm the nerves fluttering in her stomach, but that hadn’t been the case. If anything, they were worse.

Not because of anything Cole had done, but because her family was acting… weird.

Julian had started drinking already and appeared to be determined to make sure he rang in the new year thoroughly sloshed. That made her nervous because sober Julian could be unpredictable. Drunk Julian? That was never good.

And then there was her dad. Usually, when he was present at a family gathering, he was present. He didn’t pull his phone out or appear distracted. But that evening, his phone hadn’t moved from his hand, and he kept looking at it.

Even Elizabeth was on edge and kept glancing at her husband with a frown.

Only Benji appeared to be his normal self. Unfortunately, his normal that day included taking jabs at Julian for drinking too much.

It seemed it was only a matter of time before Julian jabbed back. But where Benji was jabbing with a metaphorical finger, when Julian finally snapped, he’d use a verbal sword.

She had already been worried enough about this evening when she’d thought everyone would behave and be normal. Now her worries were skyrocketing, and she was sure that the whole evening was going to explode with volcanic fury.

If that happened, Cole would undoubtedly bail, and she wouldn’t blame him.

As she waited for Cole to appear, Annie’s thoughts ended up going to her Bible study lesson for that week.

They had been studying the women of the Bible, and so far, the ones they’d read about had each put their trust in God despite being in difficult circumstances.

She thought of Queen Esther and how she’d put her life on the line to do the right thing. And how Rahab had helped the spies at the risk of her own life.

She had to admit that her relationship with Cole had been the hardest thing to entrust to God, especially once they’d gotten more serious. She’d never mentioned it to anyone, but part of her feared that at the end of the day, her dad would wield more power than God.

Realistically, she knew that wasn’t true. However, when it came to her life, it felt like she moved at the whims of her father more than according to what God had planned.

But as she sat there, hands clenched in her lap, the verse in Psalm 56 that they’d been given to memorize during their first lesson about Esther came to mind.

Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God, I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?

She kept reciting the verse, changing the last part toWhat can my father do to me?

“Cole!” Benji exclaimed as he jumped to his feet and hurried over to where Cole had entered the library, having been shown there by one of the household staff.

Cole grinned as he gave the teen a quick hug. “How’s it going, buddy?”

“Great!” Benji said. “I watched your game earlier, and you were onfire.”

“It was a good game,” Cole agreed.

“Must be nice to get paid so well for tossing balls around,” Julian drawled from where he was sprawled in his chair, another drink cupped in his hands.

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