The Perfect Homecoming (Pine River #3)

Alas, that was a pipe dream, because she couldn’t get rid of the grit.

She’d showered and dressed, and still felt grubby and tarnished after what had happened last night. She prepared herself as best she could to meet Cooper downstairs, to see the rejection in his eyes and feel the sting of humiliation under her skin. It took some effort, but Emma adopted an expression of indifference and went downstairs.

Cooper wasn’t there.

“He went to town with Luke and Sam,” Libby said.

“Left?” Emma said, thinking that Libby must somehow be mistaken.

“Yeah, he left,” Libby said, smiling. “Why? Did you maybe want him to stay?” She poked Emma in the side.

“No,” Emma said, ignoring the poke, and helped herself to yogurt. “I was worried you’d invite him to move in.”

“I haven’t yet,” Libby said pertly. “But I wouldn’t mind if he did. He’s very nice and he’s easy on the eyes.”

Emma eyed Libby suspiciously.

Libby shrugged. “I can look, can’t I?”

Emma sat at the kitchen bar with her yogurt. She pretended to flip through the pages of a magazine, but she didn’t see the pictures or words before her. What she saw was Cooper’s face. She shouldn’t be surprised that he left without a word to her after what had happened. He probably was so eager to get out of here and away from her that he’d been prepared to hike out.

But he was the one who’d said all that I can stay a little while business. Why had he even bothered to say it if he didn’t mean it? If there was one thing Emma couldn’t abide, it was people who said one thing and meant another, which, obviously, he had. But still, she’d hoped maybe there had been something more in that last kiss . . .

Grow up, Emma. You made your bed, now you lie in it.

Unfortunately, Emma couldn’t lie in the bed she’d made—she was too out of sorts. Miserable! Completely at odds with the person she had worked to become. Where did that leave her? Who was she now?

She picked up her purse and started for the door.

“Are you leaving?” Libby called after her.

“Yes!” Emma shouted back. Maybe for good. Maybe she’d get in her car and just drive until she ran into the ocean.

Emma didn’t drive away from Pine River, she drove to work. She’d been there a half hour when Leo said, “Wow, someone’s in a mood.”

“Who, your dad?” Emma was folding towels with her back to Leo. She knew he was talking about her, but wasn’t willing or ready to discuss her mood.

“No, you, sweetheart,” Leo pressed. “Someone piss in your Wheaties? Let the air out of your tires?” He paused to catch his breath. Leo wouldn’t tolerate a mention of it, but it was obvious to Emma that his breathing was beginning to degrade. “Who ripped your rompers?” he asked.

She turned around. Leo was strapped in his chair, his head buttressed by two thick pieces of foam on either side, a strap around his chest. It was amazing to Emma that Leo was always smiling. Always! As if he hadn’t a care in the world. She couldn’t force a smile today, and her troubles were so insignificant compared to his. “Just because I don’t run on at the mouth like you doesn’t mean I’m in a bad mood,” she said, trying to lighten her mood. Leo liked it when she talked that way to him. He liked to measure her response on his imaginary sass-o-meter.

“I am basing my expert opinion not on your silence, but how mean you look.”

“Mean!”

“As mean as hornets at a picnic, as my mother would say. Mom definitely had a way with words. So what’s up, Em? You can tell me.”

“Leo—”

“Don’t say ‘nothing.’ I hate when you say nothing when it’s so obvious it’s something. Make it quick, will you? The Methodists are coming over and if we’re lucky, there is pie involved.”

“Look, genius, you’re leaving for Denver in a few days. I would think you’d want to conserve your strength for that, so maybe you should shut up for a while.”

“Touchy,” Leo observed as she walked around behind his chair to put the towels on a table behind him. “That’s a sure sign of a bruised heart. I mean, all anyone can talk about is how rude you are to Cooper, which says to me that you totally have a thing for him. Which, by the way”—he paused to draw a deep breath—“is an opinion I’ve shared around town. It totally makes sense, seeing as how you can’t have me.”

Emma’s mouth gaped open. She raised her eyes to the water stain on the ceiling directly overhead and prayed that she would not bean this poor, defenseless man. “That’s ridiculous, Leo. My heart is not bruised, for God’s sake. I probably am rude to Cooper, but then again, I’m rude. And it doesn’t matter, anyway, because he’s gone back to LA.”

“No way!” Leo said. “Dani didn’t mention it when she was here at lunch, and she definitely would have mentioned it if he’d checked out. He doesn’t like the Beaver Room, you know. That’s my favorite room.”