Besides, it would be nice to hear her voice.
Eventually, Sophie settled down, and he set her away from himself at arm’s length. “Let’s see, now. Did you bring a hairbrush? Yes? Let’s see what we can do about those braids.”
“Can you braid hair?” Sophie was trying hard not to whine, something Cole appreciated more than he could say.
“How hard can it be? I used to braid reins when I was a kid. I was pretty good at it, too. Can’t be much different.”
Cole ran the hairbrush through Sophie’s brown curls, working with the tangles as gently as possible.
“Did you brush your teeth?”
“Not yet.”
“Do that right after breakfast, okay?”
Sophie hugged the rabbit to her chest, head bowed, noncommittal.
Using the brush, Cole made a swipe at parting the hair down the back of Sophie’s head. It resulted in a crooked line, off center, so he tried again. The second time was a little better. He parted the hair of one half into four strands and began trying to weave it into a flat braid, like he’d once done with leather. But the curly stuff didn’t hold together, and he quickly became all thumbs.
Dropping the hair, he picked up the brush again for another pass. “Where’s your sister?”
“She’s still in bed.”
“Geez,” Cole said, irritation starting to give him a knot at the base of his neck. What happened to the excitement about going to work?
“Just a minute, Sophie-bug.” Cole went to the base of the staircase and hollered upstairs. “Angela?”
No answer.
“Angela!”
In a grumpy voice, Angela shouted back, “What?”
“Are you up?”
“Yes!”
“Leave the attitude and come down for breakfast.”
No response.
“Did you hear me?”
“Yes!”
“Good God,” Cole muttered under his breath.
He went back to Sophie, who had settled herself on one of the barstools pulled up to the kitchen island and was pouring milk into a bowl of Cheerios.
“Let’s give those braids another go,” he said, picking up the brush. This time, it seemed like the extra height lent by the barstool gave him a different angle and a better grip on the silky strands of curly hair. He had one braid done, secured by a rubber band, and was starting on the second one when Angela came into the room wearing denim shorts, a low-cut tank top, and a sour expression.
Angela took one look at the first braid, which was sticking out at a funny angle, shook her head, and snorted.
“Those are sweet braids you’ve got going on there, Sophie.”
Sophie scowled.
“What’s wrong with them?” Cole asked.
“You’re supposed to divide the hair in three parts, not four.”
“So we’re doing it a different way.”
“Different is not always good.”
Cole gave Angela a look.
She shrugged and went to the counter to pour herself some cereal. “Just keeping it real.”
“These braids are okay, Sophie. In fact, they look real cute.” Cole secured the second braid with another rubber band and stepped back to examine his handiwork. The braids reminded him of Pippi Longstocking’s. He moved around the island to get a frontal view. “I like it. It looks great. In fact, you’ll probably set a new fashion trend in Timber Creek.”
Angela snorted again.
He could tell Sophie was torn between believing him and believing her sister. She started to climb off the barstool, presumably to go take a look at her hair for herself.
“Finish your breakfast, Sophie. We’ve got to go.”
Belle got up from where she’d been lying on the floor and limped over to the door.
“Looks like Belle needs to go outside. We don’t have any more time for hair. We’ve got work to do.”
Sophie scooped the last few bites into her mouth and then headed for the door with Belle, letting them both out into the yard.
Cole frowned at Angela. “You need to be nicer to your sister. She’s having a hard enough time without you teasing her.”
“I wasn’t teasing, Dad. You’re going to let her go up to the clinic with her hair like that?”
“Good grief, it’s only hair. And there’s nothing wrong with it.” Cole turned to more important matters. “I need your help today, Angel. I thought we had a plan. Let’s get it rolling, okay?”
“Whatever.” She placed her cereal bowl in the kitchen sink.
“Did you think about Mr. Brennaman’s offer to work in the front office this year? You’re supposed to let him know today.”
She shook her head and frowned. “I think it would be creepy, Dad. You know, to take Grace’s job like that.”
Cole had wondered how she’d feel about it and had already decided that if she didn’t want to do it, he wouldn’t push her. She still had two more years after this one to do that sort of thing if she wanted. “It’s okay with me if you don’t want it. But try to remember to call him sometime this morning. I don’t know if I’ll be able to remind you once I get started.”
“I’ll do it. You don’t have to nag me about it.”
He hoped her mood improved soon. “I wasn’t nagging, Ange.”
She muttered something as she went out the door, causing Cole to sigh.
Tess was already at the clinic, sitting at the computer, when they finally made it to work. Cole had called her earlier to let her know about Grace so that he wouldn’t have to talk to her about it in front of the kids.
“Good morning!” Tess seemed to be armed with her usual cheerfulness. But upon seeing Sophie, her eyebrows shot up. “Sophie, girl, come here for a second.”
Dutifully, Sophie went over to stand in front of her. Tess grasped her shoulders and turned her side to side, then once around, inspecting the little girl’s hairdo. “Did you do your own hair this morning, honey?”
“My daddy did it.”
A smile tweaked the corner of Tess’s mouth. “Lovely,” she said, sending Cole a look with eyes that twinkled.
“Is it all right if I adjust these braids a little bit for you?” Tess reached to take off one rubber band and undo the braid without waiting for an answer. “Here, I have a comb in my purse. Let me get it.”
“I told you, Dad,” Angela muttered as she flopped down in a chair in the waiting room.
Not used to feeling inadequate in his environment, Cole leaned over the counter to grab his schedule book and then withdrew into the treatment room to organize supplies for the day. He could hear Tess and Sophie talking.
“Why don’t I make some nice French braids? Would you like that?”
“Yes, I would. Mommy does those for me a lot.”
“Good. You have lovely hair, Sophie. Is it naturally curly?”
“I guess so.”
There was silence for a few moments, but Cole winced at Sophie’s next words.
“My mom and dad got a divorce.”
He listened while the conversation skipped a beat. Although sure that Tess must have heard the town gossip, he’d never told her about his family problems.
“Are you feeling okay about that?”
Cole thought Tess probably knew that he could hear them talking. He felt himself flush like a kid caught spying.
“No,” Sophie said, her voice thin and strained. “I’m sad.”
“It’s okay to feel sad, Sophie. You have a lot to feel sad about right now. Here, let me give you a hug.” There was a long pause. “Now, we’re all done with your hair, and it’s sooo pretty. Sometimes when we’re sad, it’s good to stay busy. Why don’t I show you how to wash those syringes over there with that teensy brush? Won’t that be fun?”