The Perfect Homecoming (Pine River #3)

The twins came to the office on the day that Michael was “in charge” of them. Michael believed he was being a supportive father and husband, but in truth, he brought the tots to the office to be ruled by an inattentive committee of four grown men. It was remarkable to Cooper that Michael, who had always had such a sharp eye for detail, never seemed to notice the havoc those two wreaked. They were into every cabinet, every drawer. They liked strewing paper about and losing keys, and even that day, as Michael perused the contents of the fridge, Braden had lost interest in the truck and was laughing hysterically as he pummeled Cooper’s ass with his little fists. At least, Cooper thought it was Braden.

“Since when is it un-PC to think maybe the workplace isn’t the right place for babies?” Cooper had demanded of his partners, throwing his arms wide before swiping Braden up and holding him upside down, much to the delight of the boy.

“Since we all had them or have them on the way,” Michael said, and shrugged at Cooper’s incredulous look. Even Jack’s wife was expecting their first child. “Times change, dude. You gotta roll with it.”

“Roll with it? So, what, you’re suggesting I go out and get a kid because you have?”

“I’m suggesting that maybe TA is changing. Maybe it’s not the same outfit it used to be, and there’s no real point to hanging on to the past,” Jack had said calmly, as if he were speaking to a lunatic.

“Changing into what?” Cooper had demanded. “How about earning a living? How about getting the hell out of the city and doing something fun?”

“We still earn a living,” Eli had said. “But maybe we work fewer weekends and maybe we don’t hurricane surf.”

Dammit, even now, Cooper was still pissed about that discussion. It had been only a couple of years ago that the four partners had been united in their life views—the more women and extreme sports, the better. They’d been well compensated for their adventures and were in high demand—

Well.

They used to be in high demand. Their ability to take some of the better jobs that took them out of the country into dangerous places had suffered when the herd of babies had started to grow and wives had gotten involved. It was like his three partners had walked off a movie set, leaving Cooper to hang lights or tidy up. He didn’t like it. He didn’t like feeling even slightly adrift.

But that afternoon, Cooper had felt more defeated than ever as he’d dislodged Braden from under his arm and handed him to Michael, who promptly set him down and handed him a wooden spoon. Braden beaned his brother almost instantly with it, setting off a round of screeching and tears.

“So what did Carl want?” Michael asked as he forcibly removed the wooden spoon from Braden’s hand.

Cooper told them. About the medal, about Emma’s flight to Colorado, to some place near Pine River.

“Emma Tyler!” Jack said, his eyes sparking when Cooper told them who the woman was. “Now she is one good-looking woman.”

Cooper could not disagree. She was possibly the most attractive woman walking around Hollywood. Or Colorado, wherever she was. Too bad she was so strange. “Nevertheless,” he’d said, “we are not in the business of chasing down people who steal trinkets from their lovers.”

“I agree,” said Michael. “Seems like a waste of our time. Why would he get mixed up with her, anyway? Everyone knows how she sleeps around.”

“Oh yeah?” Jack asked, interested.

“Hell, I don’t know,” Michael said. “I’ve heard it.”

“Who cares who she sleeps with?” Eli had said with a wave of his hand. “How much is Carl willing to pay?”

Cooper showed them the piece of paper on which Carl had written his offer.

For a moment, no sound but Elmo could be heard as the men stared at the zeroes scribbled on that paper.

“Well now,” Eli said. “We are in the business of extreme sports. And we’ve got the canyoneering trip late next spring for Fox Studio execs. We haven’t decided where, have we?”

“We have not,” Michael said firmly. “And this seems like a perfect opportunity to go and explore some possibilities in Colorado, am I right? We’ve had good luck there, and it’s a dry winter—Leah and I canceled our ski trip because there is no snow.”

“Wait,” Cooper had said. “Are you suggesting we go and look at mountain locations in the dead of winter?”

“Why not just consider this an opportunity to do some advance legwork on Carl Freeman’s dime?” Eli had asked. He’d put his hand on Cooper’s shoulder. “Just take a drive around, Coop. A look-see.”

“Great idea,” Jack said. “I’ll draw up the contract with Carl.”

“Come on guys—” Cooper was set to argue, but at that particular moment, he felt something wet on his leg. He glanced down. One of the twins had managed to get the lid off his sippy cup and had poured his milk on Cooper’s leg and foot.

Cooper looked at that cherubic face, then at his three partners, all of whom were trying very hard not to laugh.

“Great. Just great,” Cooper had said tightly, and had walked out of the offices before he’d said something he would really regret.

And he did love the mountains.