Page 24 of Cole

Benji’s question came as no surprise, and Dawn had already said it was fine with her, as long as he was seated in front of them, so she could keep an eye on him. Andrew rarely joined them at church, showing up only if Annie and Benji were going in different directions after the service.

The older Benji got, the more challenging the security responsibilities became for Dawn and Andrew. Benji had a social life and hated being confined to the estate. He wasn’t allowed to have friends to the house, so he hated to stay on the property.Annie didn’t mind herself, but there were times when she also objected to being confined to the estate.

Sometimes, Annie could override Dawn and Andrew, but only after a discussion about the safety risks. Case in point was the invitation that Benji had been given to join Cole and his family on the lake a few weeks ago.

“Oh, wow!” Benji exclaimed, looking over Annie’s head toward the foyer. “Cole’s here.”

Annie’s heart skipped a beat as she turned around to see for herself.

Sure enough, Cole’s tall, fit figure was easy to spot over the heads of the people who stood between them and him. He was talking to someone, but as if sensing her gaze, he looked up and right at her.

Had he already known where she was standing?

He held her gaze for a long moment, then a smile spread across his face. Keeping his gaze on hers, he said something to the person he’d been talking to, then headed in their direction.

Annie took a deep breath as he neared, trying to calm the frantic beat of her heart. She hadn’t known he was coming to Serenity. He hadn’t said anything about it during any of their conversations over the past couple of weeks.

Ever since their first conversation, she’d been getting a text of some sort from him every day. At first she hadn’t known what to make of it, but she’d finally decided to just go with the flow. Sometimes, instead of a text, a video call request would pop up on her phone.

She hadn’t been sure why he’d stayed in contact with her, but she wasn’t complaining. So far, their conversations had been about their days. Hers were definitely more boring than Cole’s.

During those two weeks, he’d had two interviews on the sports network, filmed a commercial, gone to a children’s hospital to meet with sick children, and attended an awards show.

She hadn’t asked who had attended that awards show with him, and he hadn’t volunteered the information. In the past, she might have seen pictures of him attending such events. But this time around, she’d studiously avoided any reports on the show.

It was kind of fun to live vicariously through Cole, though. She’d worked on her sewing projects as he’d told her about visiting the kids at the hospital. It was something she would have loved to do.

Annie had broached the subject with Dawn, and though initially the woman had balked, she’d finally seen how important it was to Annie. Unfortunately, Jude—and then ultimately, her dad—had put a kibosh on that idea. Still, she hoped that one day she’d get the opportunity.

“Hey guys,” Cole said, his smile encompassing the three of them. “How’s it going?”

“I’m great!” Benji grinned back at the man. “How are you?”

“I’m doing really well.” Cole turned to Annie and Dawn. “How about you two lovely ladies?”

“I’m good,” Annie said.

“I’m good, too,” Dawn echoed.

“Glad to hear it.”

“I didn’t know you were coming,” Annie said as she noted his appearance. He wore a pair of dark jeans and a light green collared shirt. That shade of green looked lovely on him with his dark brown hair and eyes.

“No one did,” he said as he slid his hands into his pockets. “It was a bit of a last-minute decision.”

“How long are you here for?” Benji asked, giving voice to the question that had been on the tip of Annie’s tongue. It was probably better that he asked it rather than her.

“About a week. I’ve got to get back soon for training camp and the pre-season games.”

“That’s great,” Benji enthused.

“So, where are you three sitting?” Cole asked.

“Benji plans to sit with Amelia.”

“Well, do you two ladies want to sit with us?”

As if Annie would say no to that. Within minutes, they were seated in a row behind other members of the Halverson family. There were too many of them, however, to all sit in one area.

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