For His Brother's Wife

“You looked like you’re a million miles away,” she said, smiling as she started across the room toward him.

“I was just taking a trip down memory lane,” he said, motioning toward the boxes of his father’s things.

When she stopped beside him, he didn’t hesitate to put his arms around her waist to pull her close. His brother might have been a damned fool, but Cole wasn’t. He knew exactly what a wonderful treasure she was.

“Did you get the program for your charity group finished?” he asked.

“Y-yes,” she said, sounding a little breathless. “And I had enough time to make dinner afterward.”

“I didn’t realize it was that late,” he said, checking his watch.

Her pretty smile sent his blood pressure up a good twenty points. “How is your knee? Do you think you can sit at the table, or would you rather me serve you dinner in bed again?”

Releasing her, he grinned as he reached for his crutches. “I’m not going to lie to you. My knee hurts, but I think I can make it through dinner before I have to lie down.”

“You should have taken a nap this afternoon,” she said, preceding him across the foyer and down the hall.

“Actually, I’m glad I didn’t,” he said, realizing it was true.

As hard as it had been to read those emails, Cole couldn’t say he was surprised at finding the evidence of his brother’s duplicity. It just proved what Cole had thought for a long time. Craig was a narcissist with little or no conscience—maybe even a sociopath. He had uncaringly used Paige for the sole purpose of making himself feel superior, and Cole couldn’t believe he had been beating himself up for the past several days because he felt he had disrespected his brother’s memory and marriage.

Cole shook his head. He had no idea where things were going with Paige, but there was one thing he was positive of. From here on out, he was done feeling the slightest bit of guilt or remorse for anything that happened between Paige and him.

* * *

After dinner, Cole slowly retreated to the family room, while Paige cleaned up the dishes. He hadn’t said as much, but she knew his knee was probably throbbing unmercifully. She had caught him wincing a few times during dinner when he didn’t think she was looking, and he didn’t try to argue when she suggested he lie down to watch the news.

But when she’d offered to get him some of the pain medication, he had refused. She could understand his reluctance, given the way he reacted to it, but she didn’t like to see anyone in pain, especially not Cole.

She nibbled on her lower lip. They joked about her worrying over him, but the truth of the matter was, she wouldn’t want it any other way. She loved that Cole allowed her to care for him, loved that he seemed to appreciate her efforts and was more comfortable with her doing things for him.

It was such a contrast to the way Craig had always been when she’d tried to do things for him. The few times he had been ill, Craig had been irritable and hadn’t seemed to want her anywhere near him. She had been disappointed at first. But as the years passed by, it had ceased to matter.

Frowning, she chided herself for once again comparing Cole to Craig. They might have been twins, but their personalities were as different as their looks, and it was past time to stop noticing the contrast between the two brothers.

It bothered her a bit that Craig always seemed to come up lacking when she thought about them. He was dead and there was no sense in focusing on his shortcomings in life. Craig couldn’t help it that she had fallen for Cole all those years ago before she had even met him.

Deciding to make a conscious effort not to compare the men from now on, Paige turned out the kitchen light and went down the hall to the family room to check on Cole. She found that he had fallen asleep, and she wasn’t going to wake him.

But the moment she turned to go over to sit in the armchair, his eyes opened and he reached up to catch her hand in his. “Where are you going, sweetheart?” he asked, grinning.

“Did you take some of the medication?” she asked.

The sound of his rich laughter caused a warm feeling deep inside her. “No, and I don’t intend to.” He hooked his thumb toward the empty mattress beside him. “Why don’t you kick off your shoes and stretch out beside me? We can watch the Rangers game together.”

“Who are they playing?” she asked as she slipped off her shoes and sat down on the sofa sleeper’s mattress.

He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter who they’re playing. It’s the Rangers. I always watch their games.”