I take another small sip of the bourbon and decide to ask something that’s been on my mind heavily. “Coop…what happened with the fire and your dad?”
Coop’s shoulders droop a bit from a silent sigh, but he turns from the pancakes and looks me square in the eye and with no hesitation. “He and I were working a crew over at the middle school, and he was around the back doing some trimming when he saw the smoke. Apparently it started in the cafeteria kitchen and spread across the back of the entire building.
I blow out a distressed breath. There are classrooms on the back to left of the cafeteria.
“He ran in,” Coop continues, glances at the pancakes, and then looks back to me. “Hell, we all did once we realized what was going on, helping to usher the kids out until the fire department got there.”
“You went in too?” I whisper.
“Our entire crew did,” Coop says with a wave of his spatula. “They’re all good guys.”
“What happened?” I ask, not wanting to know, but really needing to know. I had no clue Coop was there to witness this, and I’m horrified beyond the max to think of him being there.
Coop turns away from me, and for a moment I think it might be too painful for him, but he merely reaches into a cupboard to pull out two plates. He starts moving the cakes off the griddle as he talks. “Dad went back in one time too many. We were pretty sure we had everyone out, but the fire department wasn’t there yet. He wanted to make sure.”
“Did you try to stop him?”
Coop shakes his head, turns off the burner, and brings the plates to the kitchen island. He’d previously set out utensils, butter, and syrup. He pushes a plate across to me and doesn’t bother taking a seat, instead preferring to stand on the opposite side of me so we can maintain eye contact. He takes another slug of his bourbon, draining the glass with a hiss through his teeth, and then sets it down.
He starts to put butter and syrup on his pancakes, then answers my question. “I didn’t know he’d done it. I was on one side of the school helping teachers wrangle kids and make sure they were at their designated spots. Dad was on the other side, but if I knew he was going in again, I would have stopped him. But you know him, Eden…stubborn cuss. A hero to the end.”
My heart feels so heavy with sorrow I want to burst into tears. Coop Senior was the nicest man. Raised an amazing boy on his own who became my first love. For a clear moment, I have a wave of pure regret for ever leaving Coop, and thereby not returning to Newberry after college. I would have been happy here with people I respected and cherished. Instead, I got swept up in the most bizarre lifestyle that both brought me incredible joy, but also almost broke me on more than one occasion.
“They say he was probably overwhelmed with smoke and got disoriented,” Coop continues without me asking nosy questions. “Official cause of death was smoke inhalation.”
“It’s hard to make sense of,” I murmur as I stare down at my pancake. “An unfair waste of a good man.”
Coop gives me a smile that’s both sad and accepting at the same time. “It wasn’t a waste.”
“What?”
“There was a little boy he found who had gotten separated from his class,” Coop said softly. “He was unconscious but still alive. Dad got him out, and went right back in, afraid there could be more. He never came back out.”
My hand comes to my mouth and my eyes fill with tears. I suck in a breath and drop my hand. “Oh, Coop…I’m just so sorry. I know how close you were to your dad. I feel even more wretched about what happened when the town council reached out to me.”
Coop stares at me for a moment and I can’t guess what emotion I’m watching form in his blue eyes. Finally he gives me a smile as he pours syrup on his pancakes. “Hey, it’s all water under the bridge. But I think you should stick around. You clearly needed an escape, you’ve got the master suite, and I’m working most of the time so you’ll have the place to yourself. You can get some rest and relaxation.”
“It’s been forever since I took a vacation,” I admit wistfully.
When I left LA, it wasn’t with the idea of having any “me time.” It was pure escapism, but Coop has a point. I’ve got some appearances scheduled that can be moved or canceled, and I’m seriously doubting I’m going to do this movie with Brad. I’ve got to talk to my attorney about it, though, to see what kind of hit I’ll take. It’s a such a minor role and involves so few days on set that I doubt they can be too pissed if I back out.
And then my next big movie starts the month after that, with filming to take place in Europe.
“You know,” I tell him as I forego butter and just stick with syrup. I drizzle it over my pancake and say, “I think maybe I will stay for a few more days and just chill out. I could get lost in the master library and decompress.”
“Before you get too cozy,” he says as he cuts into his stack, scooping up a forkful, “want to go fishing tomorrow?”
“Down at the creek?” I ask as excitement courses through me.
“I’ve maintained the trail even though no one but me uses it,” he says with a devilish smile. “I could use some downtime too. We’ll pack a picnic. Make it a day thing.”
I tilt my head and look at him with curiosity. Just like that, we’ve slipped into easygoing conversation and we’re planning to spend time together tomorrow. I have no clue what this means, but I know it means something if the butterflies in my stomach are any indication.
Chapter 10
It’s just rebound sex…
Coop
I pull a T-shirt over my head before I trot down the stairs. I’d chosen a pair of beat-up khaki shorts as well my oldest pair of tennis shoes to hike down to the creek. I’m strangely excited to be going fishing with Eden today. I’m going to make breakfast for us first, then I’ll put together a picnic lunch. I heard Eden’s shower running just now and I know she’ll be down soon. She might be a famous actress and world-renowned model, but I know Eden…she won’t be putting on makeup or airs to go fishing. I’ll be getting the country girl today.
Funny. For fourteen years, I’ve not thought about her that much. I haven’t seen her movies, and yes, I ogled the cover of Sports Illustrated, but that’s because all the dudes in town were. I didn’t stay up to speed on her famous life unless someone in town mentioned it to me, and I went on with my not-so-famous one.
It isn’t that we didn’t love each or that we didn’t want it to work. But we were only eighteen and our goals took us in two different directions, so it just wasn’t workable. I stayed in school while Eden dropped out and traveled the world as a model. We really tried to make the long-distance thing work, but it wasn’t long before it was clear that it wouldn’t.
Still didn’t mean it didn’t hurt on both sides, I’m sure.
Just as I hit the landing, someone knocks on the front door. I don’t even hesitate to reach out and open it, although I can’t imagine who it could be.