Read Coda Books 06 - Fear, Hope, and Bread Pudding (MM) for Free Online

to her. “Stop acting as if I’m going to fall apart at the drop of a hat. I’m not as fragile as you think.”
    He couldn’t bring himself to lash out at his mother, so he’d snapped at me instead. I accepted it, because anything else would make it harder for him. He stood up and went into the kitchen, leaving the rest of us in awkward silence. I still didn’t necessarily like Grace, but I felt compelled to try to explain. “I’m sorry,” I said to her. “The thing is—”
    “Don’t worry about it.” She began gathering her gifts, packing them together into one box. It gave her an excuse to avoid meeting my eyes. “It’s nothing, really. It was just something I picked up in the airport anyway. It doesn’t matter a bit.”
    I looked at the gifts again. I was no expert on baby items, but I’d been in plenty of airports, and I was pretty sure nothing here had come from one. I glanced up at her again, but she was still doing her best not to make eye contact with either my father or me. She took her small bundle of gifts down the hall to her room.
    “Wow,” my dad said quietly. “That was uncomfortable.”
    “No kidding.” I couldn’t help but feel that the entire mess was his fault. He was the one who’d insisted on inviting her. He was the one who’d divulged our plans to adopt. “Why did you have to tell her?”
    He was unfazed by my anger. “It seemed like the thing to do. I suppose I should have warned her that it was such a touchy subject—”
    “A ‘touchy subject’?” My voice was getting louder, but I couldn’t help it. “Is that how you see it? You think he’s being unreasonable?”
    “Jon.” My father’s voice was steady, his gaze level on mine. “Is picking a fight with me really going to make this situation any better?”
    I sighed in frustration. “No.” Although admitting it only annoyed me more.
    “I didn’t think so.” He pointed toward the kitchen. “I think he needs you right now.”
    “I know.” But I wasn’t ready to deal with it yet. I put my head in my hands and counted to ten. I thought about Cole’s words. I’m not as fragile as you think . No, he wasn’t fragile, but his hold on hope was tenuous at the moment, and I knew how desperately he needed it. And no matter how he tried to pretend he could handle anything on his own, eventually he’d turn to me. Whenever that happened, I had to be ready.
    I took a deep breath, stood up, and headed for the kitchen.
    “Jon?” my dad said when I was halfway across the room.
    “Yeah?”
    “Thanks for the watch.”
    It brought me up short, and I laughed before I could bother to wonder why it was funny. “Merry Christmas, Dad.”

    C OLE already had his emotions under control again by the time I made it into the kitchen. He pretended nothing had happened at all, and I followed his lead. We generally had fun together when he cooked. In theory, I helped him. What I actually did was get in his way a lot, but it amused him to be forced to work around me. It was as if having me there reminded him that he wasn’t alone anymore. It gave him some kind of reassurance that he was needed and appreciated.
    “What’s all the bread for?” I asked when he began to cut a giant loaf of it into cubes. I also noticed he was consulting a cookbook, something I’d rarely seen him do. He seemed to keep most of his recipes in his head.
    “Bread pudding.”
    “Why?”
    “Why not?”
    “You don’t even like bread pudding.”
    “What makes you say that?”
    I could barely keep from laughing. “Oh, let’s see. How about that time in New Orleans? I suggested it and you said, and I quote, ‘Darling, please! Who on Earth would want to eat a lump of soggy bread for dessert? It’s too dreadful to contemplate.’”
    He rolled his eyes, unimpressed by my imitation. “I’m sure you’re mistaken.”
    I wasn’t though, and we both knew it. There was a reason he hadn’t wanted bread pudding back then, just as there was a reason he