“Holy shit. Your real name is Celeste?” Jackson’s eyes widened. He ran his palm down the front of his shirt and set a serious stare on Cooper. “Coop. This is Celeste?”
Cici’s eyes ran between the two brothers, wondering what the hell was going on. She didn’t miss the knowing look that passed between Jackson and Erica, or the look of confusion on Cooper’s face.
“Yeah, why?” Cooper asked.
“Coop, the night Dad died, when Heath and I came to your apartment, you kept saying her name.”
Cooper met his brother’s stare, holding tightly to Cici’s hand. “What? You never told me that.”
“You were totally out of it. When we asked you who she was, you yelled at us. Man, I wish I’d have known, but you weren’t exactly in a sharing mood. For weeks you were wound more tightly than a top, and by the time you were rational enough that we probably could have figured it out, we were dealing with our own shit. It totally slipped my mind until just now.”
Cooper stroked his beard, his shoulders rising with tension. “What did I say?”
Erica’s eyes shifted to Cici, and Cici knew she was checking to make sure she was okay, but Cici wasn’t worried about herself. The man she loved was growing tenser by the second, and all she wanted to do was ease his pain.
“It doesn’t matter what you said, Cooper,” Cici assured him. “It wouldn’t have fixed the outcome.” Grief had slayed him once, and even if Jackson had known about her, what could he have done?
Cooper shook his head, as if clearing his mind, and turned a soft gaze to her. He searched her eyes, but she had no idea what he was looking for. She had only one answer, but he didn’t know the right question to ask.
“Ceese, if I could have calmed down enough to tell him who you were, he could have called you and explained. I couldn’t handle hearing your voice, but Jackson or Heath could have. You wouldn’t have been left in the dark.” He pressed his palm to her cheek and breathed deeply. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”
“Even at a time like this, when you’re looking back at all the heartache you went through, you’re still thinking of me.” She sensed Jackson and Erica watching them, but she didn’t care. Her heart was so full of Cooper that she knew she could trust him, and she wanted him in her life. She was definitely going to tell him about Melody tonight when they were alone.
Cooper smiled. “I’ve been thinking of you for four years. I just didn’t always know it.”
Cici’s cell phone rang, and she dug it out of her purse. Her stomach clenched at the sight of Tegan’s smiling image on the screen. Suddenly the secret she was keeping suffocated her. “I’m sorry. Excuse me for just a minute?”
Cooper, being the gentleman he was, rose beside her.
“You okay?” he asked.
She must have looked as frazzled as she felt. “Yes. It’s my sister. I’ll just be a minute.” She hurried toward the ladies’ room as she answered the call.
“Hi, Teg. How’s Melody?”
“Melody’s fine, but me, on the other hand…” Tegan’s voice trailed off. “Well, that’s another story. I had an accident on the slide at the park, and I’ll very soon be sporting a new cast. Luckily, I have the finest doc around Peaceful Harbor, and by ‘fine’ I mean ‘hot.’ Dr. Braden.” Her sister sighed dreamily.
Cici’s mind raced as she tried to process what her sister had said. “So where are you now? The hospital? Where’s Melody?”
“Your socially adept daughter is currently sitting beside my hospital bed coloring a picture for the hot doctor, who she’s already wrapped around her little finger.”
“Tegan, are you on pain meds?” Cici headed back out to their table, already mentally packing to get home as soon as possible.
“Yup. And I like it.”
“Jesus,” Cici muttered. “You sure Melody is okay? I’m coming home. I’ll meet you at the hospital.”
“No, no, no. I mean, yes, come home, but we’ll be home by the time you get here. Meet me at your place. That way Melody can play with her toys and I can lie low.”
“How will you get there?” She slowed down a few feet from the table to finish the call as Cooper spotted her and rose to his feet.
“Cab. I’ve got this. But I do think you should meet us there because I’ll be a little out of it with a clunky cast.” Her sister giggled, which meant she was definitely high on pain meds. Tegan wasn’t a giggler.
Cici hung up the phone just as Cooper came to her side with a worried look in his eyes.
His hand warmed the small of her back as he leaned in close as they walked toward the table and asked, “Everything okay?”
Her mind was reeling as they reached the table. “Yes. No. Tegan broke something. She’s at the hospital getting a cast. I really need to get back home.” And pick up our daughter. She was frantic, thinking about her daughter sitting in a hospital while Tegan was drugged out. She knew Tegan would give her own life for Melody, but her mommy instincts were on high alert, and she needed to get home. Now.