Rubbing at the spot between my breasts where the fox necklace I’d put on that morning was, I made myself head toward the door and pull it open. I waved at the guys on the main floor and gave them a grim smile when I made it to the main floor. I got a mix of a couple of head tilts, a couple raised hands, and one thumbs-up in response.
But it was Miguel standing in the middle of the room that had me pausing. “You’re good,” he mouthed with a slow smirk that seemed really pleased.
“Thank you,” I mouthed back, getting an even wider grin in response.
I shook my head at him before I turned around and headed back up the stairs.
At the office, I knocked on the door. “It’s Luna,” I called out, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jeans.
“Come in,” Mr. Cooper yelled back.
With my elbow, I moved the handle down and shoved the door open. Sure enough, the man who had raised this business from an auto body repair shop to include a successful restoration business was sitting behind his desk, clicking away on his computer with a concerned expression on his face. He tried to muster up a smile, but it fell off as quickly as it had come on.
“Little moon,” he breathed, shoving his chair back and getting to his feet… mostly. It was more of a stoop as he looked me over.
“I’m okay, Mr. C. I promise, sit down.” I gave him a smile I knew was strained as I took one of the ancient chairs across from his desk. Taking my hands out of my pockets, I pressed my palms together and then stuck them between my thighs. I didn’t miss the tight nature to Mr. Cooper’s movements as he sat back down in his chair and shoved it forward to settle down. In a gray Polo shirt and black khakis, he was dressed the exact same he always was since Rip had come, and he’d stopped working on the floor.
“They didn’t tell me about your face,” he murmured quietly, his mannerisms becoming more and more concerned by the second.
“It’s just a little cut,” I told him, shooting him a small, tight smile that only slightly made my cheek hurt. It was probably about time that I put more ointment on it.
He shook his head, his eyes glued on what I knew was the cut on my cheek. “I’m sorry, honey.”
“You don’t have anything to be sorry over,” I told him, honestly. “It’s all on my family, Mr. C. I’m sorry it happened here.”
My boss’s expression told me he didn’t believe me, and the way his shoulders curled and stooped confirmed it. “Rip is on his way. Let’s wait for him, okay?” he asked me, still speaking gently.
“Okay,” I agreed, flashing him an expression that hopefully said I didn’t want him to feel even a little bad about any of this.
It was my fault.
And Jason’s.
And Rudy’s.
And my dad’s.
But I could and would take responsibility for my own actions.
“You mind talking about something else until he gets there?” I asked.
Those green-green emerald-colored eyes watched me. “How’s the house coming along?” he decided to go with.
I had forgotten I hadn’t had a real conversation about my place getting broken into. The only person I’d gotten around to telling was Lily. What I hadn’t told her was that I hadn’t been staying there alone.
Much less that Rip and I had shared a couch and a bed those same times.
I wasn’t surprised he hadn’t blabbed about sleeping in my bed to Mr. Cooper either, but I tried my best not to even think about it in the first place. Then again, why would Rip tell him anything about me?
“Okay,” I told him, feeling like even more of a liar than usual. “My house got broken into a few days ago. The insurance is going to cover a lot of the things that got messed up. They didn’t actually steal anything but my laptop and my tablet.” They. My cousin and whoever else had helped him. Maybe the man I had thrown my boot at.
I wished I could throw it again, honestly. At his head.
“Oh, Luna, I’m sorry. They don’t know who did it?”
There it went. “The police had said there had been some robberies in the area, but no one I know said they’d heard that.” I swallowed, ignoring the ache right in the center of my chest. “My cousin… the guy I had an issue with in the lot… he admitted he was the one who did it.” The more I said it, the easier it would get. I hoped. “So it was him.”
A hand went up to his head to scrub at the top of it, reminding me of Rip who did the same thing. Mr. Cooper sighed. “I can’t believe they would do that.”
Then he didn’t need to know that it had to have been my dad who sent him. I didn’t have the heart to tell him.
The older man shook his head, clearly looking devastated. “I’m sorry, honey. You should have told me sooner.”
I didn’t want to tell him that I’d called him the night it happened, but he’d had his phone off. “Thanks, Mr. C. It’s all right. I’ll get it all sorted, but if I need help, I’ll let you know for sure.”
My longtime boss’s face dropped, and I could see the argument on his face. But he held the words back and said in a tone that made me feel a little bad, “If there’s anything Lydia and I can do, tell us. You know we’ll help you with anything, little moon. We love you.”
I knew they did, of course I knew they did, but I still told him, “I know, and I love you both too.” That was maybe the tenth time in all the years we’d known each other that I had said those words. “And I will let you know, I promise. I’m still just trying to wrap my head around it all. These last few weeks have just felt like a really bad dream.”
His nod said he understood, and I knew he did. But it didn’t wipe the resignation off his face. “Maybe you should look into getting an alarm system?”
Eh. “Yeah.” I paused and thought about withholding my conversation with Rip from him, but there was nothing to hide. And even if there was, I didn’t want to. “Rip helped me out with it, the day after it happened, that’s why he took the day off. To help me. I’m sorry if that caused a problem between you two.”
Mr. Cooper blinked, and luckily there were no hard feelings on his face from me keeping this from him but telling Rip about it. His voice was a little high, a little shocked as he basically wheezed, “Our Rip?”
Obviously, I wasn’t the only one surprised by this kindness, and it made me feel a little bad and a little defensive. “Yeah.” There was nothing to hide, and I didn’t want to keep this from him any longer. “He knew I’ve been scared, and he’s stayed with me the last few nights.”
I don’t even think he meant to ask, “He did?” But the question did come out of his mouth.
All I did back was nod.
I didn’t know what to do with the look that came over his face.
So I decided to change the subject. “How’s Lydia, by the way?”
I wondered if he was still hung up on Rip helping me out, but he managed to say, distractedly, “She’s great. She was asking me about you a few days ago. I think she was planning on inviting you over for lunch or dinner this weekend, if you’re free.”
“I’m always free for you two,” I told him honestly.
“Have you been going on your dates?”
“Kind of,” I told him, giving him a little smile.
Ripley had kept me company at the bar I’d been stood up at, I thought to myself. “I’ve gone on two and got left hanging at another one.”
I could tell he was distracted, but he still managed to ask. “Any winners?”
I almost snorted. “No. Not even close, but I’ve only gone on three. I don’t want to waste my time, and a lot of these guys don’t want anything serious so….” I shrugged. “I’m just being picky and don’t want to settle. I just want… the right man.” And my heart wanted the wrong one, but I wasn’t going to think about that again in the next millennium. Nope.
Mr. Cooper’s nod was grave, but his voice was even more serious. “I get it, honey.” He sighed. “I was married before Lydia. Did you know that?”
I hadn’t up until I had overheard his and Rip’s conversation—a conversation I wasn’t supposed to have been eavesdropping on. So I lied and shook my head.