Izzy longed to make it better, but she feared nothing could fix what Riley’s mother had broken. “That’s not true, Riley. You have us.”
“For how long?” He looked from one to the other. When Cooper didn’t reply, Riley shoved back his chair and shot to his feet. The chair crashed to the floor, and Riley ran from the room.
Joker sat in the doorway, looking at them in that judgmental manner only cats have, then he turned and followed Riley up the stairs.
Cooper pushed his hand through his hair. “That didn’t go over so well.”
“Did you really expect it would?”
“Hell, no.” Cooper sighed. “I should go talk to him.”
“Let him be for a while. He needs time to process all this.”
“Process what? That his mother doesn’t want him once again? And he thinks I don’t either?” Cooper pulled his hand from hers and covered his face with both hands, groaning. “What a fucking mess.”
Izzy nodded. “Yeah. What are you going to do about your nephew?”
“I’ll be moving next year, and who knows—there are no guarantees in hockey—I could get traded during the season. That’s no life for a kid.”
“So says you.” She rolled her eyes. He was making feeble excuses, and he knew it. “You’re the man who moved all over the country as a military brat. Do you regret it?”
He looked like a trapped animal. “Uh, no, but Riley’s not me. He needs stability.”
“He needs the stability of people, not places. He needs to be able to count on one person in his life. Obviously, that person isn’t you.”
At least Cooper had the decency to look guilty, but she wasn’t done with him yet.
“You’re taking the easy way out. You love your life planned out. No disruptions. Exactly how you want it to be. That’s why you’re leaving at the end of the year. You want to control your destiny, and you’re scared shitless you might not fit in Ethan’s future plans so you’re bailing first and using your past in Seattle as the excuse.” She leaned forward and tapped his chest. “You, Cooper Black, are a spineless coward, afraid to take risks.”
“Spineless coward?” He stood and straightened his shoulders, raising his chin. His eyes shone with defiance. Izzy resisted the urge to smile. Cooper wouldn’t back down from a challenge, and she’d played him perfectly. Now what he chose to do with her challenge would be up to him.
“You’re just going to throw him away,” she said just to add a little more incentive behind her challenge.
“I’m not throwing him away. I’m sending him to live with my parents in a few weeks when they get back from their Europe trip.”
“And when were you going to tell him that? And me?”
Cooper had the decency to look sheepish. “Soon. I just found out myself. I called them after we talked to Julie.”
“At least let him stay through the football season. Don’t uproot him now.”
Cooper chewed on that for a moment. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”
Izzy glared at him, sad and pissed for Riley. Not only did he face rejection from his mother but from Cooper as well.
“You’re an asshole,” Riley yelled from the doorway, startling both Izzy and Cooper. A few seconds later, they heard Riley’s footsteps pounding up the stairs.
“I wonder how long he’s been standing there?” Cooper sighed and put his head in his hands, looking tired and defeated. Izzy almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
“Long enough.”
“I should go talk to him.” Cooper hedged, as if he were hoping she’d give him a reason not to.
“Yes, you should.” Izzy refused to cut him any slack. Their eyes met, and Cooper nodded, his mouth drawn in a grim line.
Cooper went upstairs, while Izzy waited. She clenched her hands together and prayed it’d work out for all of them.
A few minutes later, Cooper trudged back down the stairs, his shoulders slumped and his eyes troubled. “His door was locked. He wouldn’t talk to me. Told me to go to hell. I guess I deserve that.”
Izzy didn’t deny the fact or sugar coat her answer. “Somewhat. You’re just one more person who’s abandoning him.”
“My parents can do a better job than I can. This is for the best.” Only Cooper didn’t sound so convinced. In fact, he looked downright conflicted.
“Are you sure, Cooper? Are you really sure?”
“I’m not fucking sure of anything anymore.” He shook his head and scrubbed his hands over his face. Izzy went to him and put her arms around him. She might be pissed as hell at him when it came to Riley, but she could see he was hurting. He wrapped her in his arms and held her close.
“I didn’t think it would be this difficult,” he whispered in her ear.
Izzy smiled against his cheek. He might pretend he didn’t care, but he did, and she’d do everything in her power to show him how much Riley meant to him.
And how much he meant to her.
She grabbed his hand and led him to bedroom.
They needed time to sort this out, see where things went, but right now they needed time in each other’s arms.
Yet it broke her heart to think of Riley alone in his room with nobody.
Two weeks later, life went on, and November wasn’t exactly starting out well. Cooper’s convictions to send Riley to his parents wavered. He didn’t have all the answers anymore. Instead he had questions, lots and lots of questions.
Cooper lay on his back, stroking Izzy’s hair. She slept soundly next to him. He couldn’t sleep. Too many things ran through his mind over and over.
His sister’s blame.
His own guilt.
Riley’s hurt.
Izzy’s disappointment.
For a man who prided himself on controlling every aspect of his life, Cooper didn’t have one ounce of control over the recent incidents in his life, except maybe his hockey game. Though lately, even that seemed to be spiraling out of control.