By My Side

CHAPTER 16

"Phoebe, I am going to put you on the couch. Let me know if I am hurting you in any way." He carefully set Phoebe down on the couch and wrapped a blanket around her shivering body. She sleepily thanked him and closed her eyes.

"Oh, no you don't." Cole carefully shook her shoulder until she opened her eyes. "You're supposed to stay awake for at least another hour." At her doubtful look, Cole shrugged. "Just humor me, okay? You probably scared a good ten years off of my life span with that little stunt, Phoebe. What were you thinking?"

"I guess I wasn't thinking at all," she admitted with a pained grimace. "I just wanted to put up that last decoration that you and Jake missed, but the ladder wasn't close enough. It was pretty stupid, wasn't it?"

"Yes," Cole agreed with a shiver. Witnessing Phoebe's fall had been one of the scariest moments of his life. His feelings for Phoebe and her son had grown a great deal in the short time that he had known them both. He was actually, in a small way, quite grateful to the Kenginstons. If it hadn't been for their custody threat, Phoebe never would have had a reason to turn to him for help.

"You're supposed to be making sure that I don't get bored and fall asleep," Phoebe teased. "Not the other way around."

"Sorry," he laughingly apologized. "I guess I was just...woolgathering," he teased her back. "So, what can I do to keep you entertained?"

Phoebe pursed her lips in concentration and thought for a moment. "You could tell me about your family," she finally suggested.

"My family? There is really nothing to tell."

"Oh, please?" Phoebe implored him with a pout.

"Okay," Cole reluctantly agreed, "But don't say I didn't warn you. Where shall I start? My mother, Charlotte, grew up on a small farm in Idaho and my dad, George II, grew up in New York City. They were complete opposites. Everything that was natural was loved by my mom. Everything that was manmade was coveted by my dad. How they were ever able to fall in love and marry, let alone live a happy life together, has always been a mystery to me."

"They sound so sweet," Phoebe laughed. "I almost wish that...well, never mind. Tell e about you as a child. Were you a handful?"

Choosing not to question her further about her wish, Cole continued to enlighten Phoebe about his childhood adventures. The stories went on for the better part of an hour. He talked about his parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and even his Great Aunt May.

"I used to love going there as a child. My parents would take me for a month or two every summer. It was one of the only times during the year when I would get to play on the beach. My Aunt May would wake me up some mornings as early as five a.m. and we would sneak out, just the two of us, to go to the beach. We would build sand castles together and...well...let's just say that those are my favorite childhood memories."

"You're lucky," Phoebe commented with a yawn. "You not only had parents who loved you very much, but you had an aunt whole gave you the world."

"Phoebe—"

"I'm really tired," she interrupted. "I think that maybe I should rest now."

Recognizing the change of subject for what it was, Cole chose to let her get away with the behavior...for now. "Okay." With one smooth move, Cole had Phoebe in his arms and was halfway up the steps before she realized what was happening.

"Cole Jargen, what in the world do you think that you are doing?" Phoebe cried as she grasped his neck in fear.

"Taking you to bed so that you can get some rest."

When Cole laid her head on her bed and pulled an arm chair from the corner of the room over to the side of the bed, Phoebe began to worry. "Thank you very much for carrying me up here. Now you may leave. I know you must be tired and you have work early tomorrow, so..." Hoping that he would take the hint, Phoebe laid her head on top of her cotton pillow and feigned sleep. Peaking through her eye lashes, she saw that he was trying to sleep in the oversized chair that he had dragged over, she became increasingly agitated.

"You can't stay in here with me, Cole. It doesn't look right."

"It doesn't look right for a husband and wife to share a room?" Cole replied with a cheeky grin.

"You know what I mean," complained Phoebe, throwing a glare at his grinning face.

"I know what you mean," signed Cole, "but I won't leave you alone. Not until I am sure you aren't suffering from a concussion. Unless you would rather go to the hospital and have a doctor look you over," he suggested, starting to rise to his feet.

"No! Uh, no thank you. That won't be necessary." She stayed his upward motion with a shake of her head and a lifting of her palm. "You can stay, I suppose. Just stay on your side of the room and we will be fine," she finished decisively.

With a snort, Cole sat back in the chair and tried to find a comfortable position. There was none to be found. "Who in the world picked out these awful chairs?" he grumpily thought to himself. The second the stores opened tomorrow morning, he was having this one replaced with a great big, comfortable lazy boy recliner. He didn't care what his interior decorator had to say about it. Comfort was far higher on his priority list than style.

Phoebe lay on her side facing away from Cole cursing her bad luck. It wasn't enough that she had to be living with him in a fake marriage. Oh, no. She had to fall off of a stupid ladder and cause him to feel as though he had to share a room with her now, too. She couldn't sleep with him so close. Listening to the clock hands ticking by with the passing of each second, she prayed that the night would pass by quickly, so that he would leave and she could fall into an easy rest. At this rate, it was going to be a very long night.

Cole sat in his chair listening to Phoebe's erratic breathing. It was pretty obvious that she was not comfortable sleeping with him in the same room, but he wasn't going to leave her alone until he was absolutely sure that she wasn't suffering any ill effects from the fall. She was lucky that she hadn't broken her neck. Crossing his ankles, he closed his eyes and tried to force himself to sleep.

That sleep, though, was impossible. Every time he closed his eyes, those familiar images of Phoebe would appear. He couldn't deal with being this close to her and not being able to hold her in his arms. If he had to go through this all night, he was going to go completely crazy.

Only after he heard Phoebe's breathing even out and knew that she was finally asleep, did Cole allow himself to fall asleep.