Once Upon a Dare (Risky Business)(32)

He turned his attention to the harried looking receptionist, who was juggling two phones and typing simultaneously. He had to give the woman credit. She was the epitome of efficiency. He anxiously waited for her to hang up the phones before approaching the desk.

“Hello,” he started, giving her a dimpled smile. “My name is Cole Bennett and I’m looking for my niece, Lulu Kline. I believe she was admitted this morning.”

The receptionist looked him over, the frazzled pinch of her lips softening as her gaze fell on his mouth. She batted her eyelashes and he had a pretty good idea what she was thinking.

“Broken arm, right?” she finally asked, typing on the keyboard. Her fingers flew over the keys, although her eyes remained fixed on him.

His stomach dropped. He’d hoped it was just a sprain or something. Lulu was an accident-prone child, but she’d never broken anything before. Unable to trust his voice, he nodded at the receptionist.

“We were expecting you,” she explained, handing him a visitor’s badge. “Let me just call someone to escort you back.”

Cole followed an orderly, who didn’t look much older than Lulu, through the labyrinth of exam rooms. When they reached 113C, he knocked lightly on the door. It swung open and Anna jumped to her feet. She sighed with relief when she saw Cole standing in the hall.

“It’s about time,” she said, giving him a half-smile. Anna rushed forward and hugged him. Cole wrapped his arms around her tiny frame, which reminded him where Lulu got her frailness. Despite her feisty personality, Anna had always been delicate physically.

When she finally released him, he stepped back and studied his sister. For all the traits they shared—dark hair, blue eyes, and fair skin—there were just as many they didn’t. Anna was petite, nearly a foot shorter, and had bone-straight hair, unlike Cole, whose hair was out of control if not trimmed twice a month.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, squeezing her hand. “I got here as soon as I could. Traffic was a mess. You okay? Where’s Joe?”

“He’s at work,” Anna explained. She pulled her hand from Cole’s and sat on the bed next to Lulu, stroking her daughter’s hair. Lulu gave him a shy smile. She looked more like her mother every day. Seeing her there in cutoff shorts with a dusting of freckles on her nose reminded him of Anna at that age. “Joe couldn’t get away. Besides, you know how he feels about hospitals.”

Cole’s temper flared. Lulu had a broken arm and Anna hadn’t been in a hospital in nearly two years, not since her miscarriage, and Joe couldn’t take the f*cking afternoon off? He knew that being in the hospital would tear open old wounds for Anna, which was another reason Joe should’ve been by her side, regardless of his own discomfort. He was her husband, for chrissake, and his family needed him. What could be more important than that?

“Lulu, why don’t you show Uncle Cole your cast?” Anna coaxed, changing the subject. To his surprise, Lulu smiled and it lit up her whole face.

Cole took a deep breath and pushed his anger aside. He didn’t want Lulu to see him angry. Joe was her father and he loved her, despite his many other shortcomings. After all, they were a family and that was a sacred bond, one Cole was unlikely to ever experience himself.

“Want to be the first to sign my cast, Uncle Cole?” Lulu asked, carefully holding up her plaster-covered right arm. She seemed to be in good spirits, which he attributed to the empty pill cup on the nightstand. At least they’d given her something to manage the pain. Cole was always impressed by the resilience of children, although it didn’t increase his desire to start a family of his own any time soon. There was no place in his busy life for midday hysteria or afternoons in the ER.

“Lulu, how on earth did you break your arm?” he asked, shaking his head and eyeing her sternly. “You need to be more careful or you’re going to give us all gray hair.”

“It wasn’t even my fault!” Lulu braced her good hand on her hip and cut her eyes at him. She was the spitting image of her mother. “It was Tommy’s fault!”

“Was not either!” his nephew argued as he sauntered through the door with a can of orange soda in each hand. He put the drinks on the nightstand and rushed to Cole’s side, flinging his arms around his midsection. “It wasn’t my fault, Uncle Cole. We were just wrestling is all.”

He ruffled Tommy’s hair. “Maybe you better take it easy on your sister next time, what do you say?”

“Whatever! More like I better take it easy on him!” Lulu chimed in. Tommy scrunched up his face and stuck his tongue out at his sister, but said nothing. “If I hadn’t fallen off the-”

“There won’t be a next time!” Anna corrected, giving both of her children a stern eye. “If I catch you wrestling in the house again, you’ll both be grounded until you die.” She pretended not to notice when the kids rolled their eyes.

“So, where can I sign?” he asked, pointing to Lulu’s cast. He pulled a black pen from the breast pocket of his jacket. What the hell was he supposed to write on the cast of an eight-year-old girl, anyway?

“Anywhere you want, but don’t write anything embarrassing!” Lulu giggled and offered her arm. He held it gently, afraid of pressing too hard and causing her discomfort. Placing the tip of the pen against her cast, he lightly scribed his name. “Can I be a flower girl in your wedding, Uncle Cole?”