A Mother's Love Ch. 02

"And, how are you?"

She gave me a sad smile. "I almost wish I was going with them, so I could help her. But I know that I can't leave Cole."

"He's recovered, you know. He doesn't need a handmaid any more."

She shook her head as she picked up the roast. "No, he doesn't. But, I still need him. Could you get the carrots and potatoes?"

The table was soon set, Cole and Brian coming back just as we were finishing. Brian slipped into his study as Cole joined us.

"Is that roast beef?" he asked excitedly. It was one of his favourite meals.

I grinned. "And candied carrots; mashed potatoes, too. Apparently, Estelle put this together for you."

"In that case, I should clean up."

Cole was back in a couple minutes, but Brian was still in his office. Amy was not too happy with her husband.

"He knows better than to make guests wait." She complained. "What's so important he had to do it before lunch?"

"My fault, Amy," Cole said. "I asked him to look up some information for me. I should have said it could wait."

Brian came in just then, handing a slip of paper to Cole. "Both are clear and never registered in Canada. Just make sure your friend is licensed and gets them properly registered as found heirlooms."

"I will. I, uh, should had told you it could wait."

He rubbed his hands together. "No, I think I needed that time for the smells of this wonderful meal to really get my taste buds ready. You know, Cole, in addition to being absolutely gorgeous, Amy has a magic touch in the kitchen. Shall we see if my little girl has learned everything my wife taught her?"

Amy blushed and lightly slapped his arm. "Stop it. Flattery will get you nowhere."

Brian leaned over to kiss her cheek. "Just the truth, love."

Despite what she said, she didn't complain again that he had come in late. The meal was excellent, and I could see the wheels turning in Cole's head. He would undoubtedly be asking Estelle to help with cooking a bit more. I tried not to feel jealous over that, even though I knew I was a passable, though not excellent cook. To be truthful, it would be much easier for me if I didn't have to worry about dinner every night. Now, I just needed to convince my ego.

We loaded up the van when we were done eating, using up pretty much all of the remaining free space. Cole and Estelle sat in the back seat, so the front passenger seat was filled with her things. There were goodbyes all around, and Brian took Cole to the side for a minute to say a few words. They shook hands, then he got in next to Estelle, sliding the door closed.

"What was that?" she asked.

"We didn't exactly have the quiet, relaxing week we had planned for," I said as I pulled onto the road. "We're both okay, but there are a few things you need to know. We met a guy on the trail, and he turned out to be an asshole of the first order. That was when we were heading to Rock Lake. Cole broke his arm after he attacked me, but he came back and shot Cole in the leg that night. It was just a flesh wound, but I didn't want to risk him skiing for several hours before it had a chance to heal a bit. The next night, he came to our tent. He would have killed Cole, but we were able to stop him."

"This guy shoots Cole, but you're able to just drive him away?"

"Basically. That would have been the end of it, but Cole got hypothermia that night. He had a bad reaction to stress, and we'll have to see the neurologist again to make sure it's nothing new."

That concerned her. "Was there any frostbite? How bad was the hypothermia?"

Cole placed a reassuring hand on her arm. "I'm fine, no permanent injury. I just fell asleep wearing my sweater after the asshole attacked us. I started sweating, and that happened to be the night the temperature plummeted. Mom saw what was happening in the morning and got me warmed up, sticking me in her sleeping bag while mine dried out. I was better by sundown."

"If it was that cold, how did she warm you up?"

"I put a wall of rocks around the fire pit to reflect the heat and built up the fire."

"You didn't do the cuddle-with-him thing?"

I laughed. "The experts recommend hot water bottles or warmed rocks now, placed around the groin, armpits and neck. The trick is to get them warm, but not too hot. And even that is only for severe hypothermia. The most important thing is to get the casualty dry, out of the wind, and bundled in warm clothing."

I hadn't actually answered her, but she thought I had. If I'd thought of the heated rocks trick, some of the things that came after may not have happened. And, when I thought about it, I was fine with how the weekend turned out.

"So, how did you get rid of the guy with the gun?"

"Good question. First, his right arm was broken, so he was already at a disadvantage. Second, he'd made the mistake of hurting my son, but not killing him. Cole wanted to make him pay for assaulting me, and I wanted to slowly skin him alive. Unfortunately, I didn't have that opportunity."

"What did the police say?"

"We, uh, didn't make a report."

"Why the hell not? He shot Cole and assaulted you! Why wouldn't you call them?" She leaned forward. "Aunt Maisie, what, exactly, did he do to you?"

"He did enough that I never want to see him again. Can we leave it at the? I made sure he got that message, loud and clear."

"You should have called the cops, even if they can't do anything."

"Stelle," Cole said. "That would have...complicated things."

She looked at him, then at me. I could see her eyes go wide in the mirror. "Shit. You killed him. Where's the body?"

"Sleeping with the fishes," Cole whispered.

She pulled him into a tight hug. "Fuck. That's a pretty shitty week. Who did it?"

"Can we just drop it for now, Estelle?" I said. "We're going to need time to process everything that happened."

"Yeah, sure. I'm just glad you're both okay."

"Me too," I said softly.

The rest of the ride home was quiet. We talked a bit, but nothing serious. I knew that I'd have to talk to Cole again, and Estelle had made it clear that she'd want some answers for her own questions. But, that would wait for now. I smiled as Hamilton finally came into view. It may not be the prettiest city in Ontario, but it was home.