My One and Only (Ardent Springs Book 3) (24 page)

“Dammit,” he mumbled against her mouth.

“Ignore it,” she ordered, locking her arms around his neck.

Cooper pulled free. “I can’t. That’s the business phone.”

Leaning on her side, she watched him answer the call, take down a location, and say he’d be there in a half hour.

“Do you really have to go?” she asked once the cell was back on the table.

He dropped a quick kiss on her lips. “I really do. That was Dale Lambdon with the sheriff’s office. A couple high schoolers buried a Mustang in a ditch out on Highway 76. I need to tow them out and see how much damage they’ve done.”

“Send Frankie or Ian. We were just getting started.” How was she supposed to put off thinking about her crappy situation if he left her there alone?

“Ian doesn’t run the tow truck, and Frankie handled calls all weekend. It’s my turn.”

“There aren’t any other tow services in the county?” she pressed.

Cooper rose to his feet. “If you got a call from the hospital, you’d have to go, right?”

“Come on,” she replied. “Pulling a car out of a ditch isn’t the same as delivering a baby.” The minute the words hit the air, Haleigh smacked a hand over her mouth as Cooper’s face went hard. “Oh my God,” she said. “My mother’s voice just came out of my mouth.”

“Unless she’s a long-distance ventriloquist, that was you.” Draping the loose towel around his neck, Cooper said, “I know the difference between what we are, doc. You don’t need to remind me.”

Haleigh leapt from the bed to chase him to his dresser. “Cooper, I’m so sorry. That isn’t what I meant. What you do is important.”

“But not life and death. And I didn’t have to go to school for nearly a decade to learn how to do it.” With clean clothes in hand, he charged back into the bathroom.

“Please, Cooper,” she begged, trailing behind. “This is the perfect example of what I was talking about earlier. I say stupid things. Things I don’t mean.”

“Let it go,” he said. “It’s fine.”

“It isn’t fine,” she argued. “That was a horrible thing to say. I don’t know where it came from.” After buttoning his jeans, Cooper reached for the deodorant, pretending she wasn’t there. “Dammit, look at me!” she yelled. “I love you and I would never say anything to make you feel inferior because I’ve known that feeling my whole life and you don’t do that to someone you care about.”

The Speed Stick hit the counter. “What did you say?”

Now that he actually was looking at her, Haleigh realized she was standing in the middle of his bathroom stark naked and raving like a mad woman. Snatching a towel off the bar to her left, she wrapped it around herself. “I said I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Unblinking, he said, “You said you love me.”

“I did?” Replaying the heartfelt speech in her mind, Haleigh heard the words play back. “I did say that,” she whispered, as surprised as Cooper looked. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“But you did,” he said, crossing the distance between them. “Did you mean it?”

“Well, yeah,” she hedged, unable to lie when he was staring at her so intently. “But you don’t have to say it back. That’s not why I said it. I just needed you to know that I didn’t mean what I said. Originally.”

“I love you, too,” he said, a smile splitting his handsome face. “I can’t believe you said it.” Sweeping her off her feet, Cooper spun them around with a bark of laughter. “I love you, Haleigh Rae Mitchner.”

“Who’s the overachiever now?” she asked, clinging to his shoulders. “That’s twice now and I’ve only said it once.”

Looking like a big kid with a ticket to Disney World, he said, “Then say it again.”

Toying with the damp curls behind his ear, she fulfilled his request. “I love you, Cooper Daniel Ridgeway.”

The whoop of joy took her by surprise, and Haleigh buried her nose in his pine-scented neck, unsure how they’d gone so quickly from her blatant blunder to proclamations of love.

“I still have to go,” he said, dropping her to her feet. “But this will be the fastest tow Dale has ever seen. And then I’m coming back to make love to you for the rest of the night.”

Feeling the blush crawl up her neck, Haleigh smiled into the most beautiful green eyes she’d ever seen. “I would like that very much, Mr. Ridgeway.”

Chapter 25

Haleigh had ordered him not to do this, but Cooper wasn’t about to sit back and let Abby throw away a more than twenty-year friendship without an explanation. Besides, Haleigh was still at work and what she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

To Cooper’s surprise, Ian answered Abby’s front door.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Cooper asked.

“I’m moonlighting as a butler,” the smart-ass replied. “Nice to see you, too, cuz. Come on in. We were just finishing up dinner.”

“
We?
” Cooper echoed. “You make it sound like you live here.”

“Not yet,” Ian said with a grin. To his boss’s scowl, he added, “I’m kidding. Damn. What’s up your butt?”

Stepping into the foyer, Cooper glanced toward the living room. “I need to talk to Abby.”

“Good luck with that,” Ian whispered. “She’s been walking around like a ticking time bomb for days.”

“That’s why I’m here.” Elbowing the younger man, he said, “Take Jessi out back or something. I don’t want an audience for this.”

Ian nodded. “I can do that.” Walking ahead of Cooper, he stepped into the living room and said, “Hey, Jes. Let’s take Emma out back and sit on the patio.”

“Why?” she said, spinning to look over the back of the couch. When she spotted Cooper, she grabbed the baby’s blanket from beside her. “Good idea.” With Emma on her shoulder, she mouthed
good luck
in Cooper’s direction.

He responded with a nod as Abby walked in from the kitchen and abruptly stopped. “When did you get here?”

“Just now,” he answered. “We need to talk.”

“I’m not interested.” She turned tail and marched back through the arched doorway.

Determined, Cooper followed. “Get interested,” he said. “Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?” she asked, stacking cups in the top of the dishwasher.

“You know what, Abby. Why are you so against me and Haleigh being together? And why are you throwing your best friend away like a piece of garbage?”

Keeping her back to him, she said, “I told you. She’s wrong for you.”

“Actually, she’s perfect for me,” he said, walking around the island to stand beside her at the sink. “We make each other happy, and I’d expect you to be supportive of that.”

“Then you expect wrong.”

“Look at me, Abby,” he ordered, spinning her to face him. “You’re breaking her heart, dammit. She’s your oldest friend.”

“Which means I know what she’s capable of,” she argued, slamming the tea towel onto the counter. “I know the damage she can do firsthand.”

“Why do you make her sound like a monster?”

“Leave it alone, Cooper. Just get out while you can.”

“There’s something you’re not telling me, Abbs.” Grabbing her hand, he said, “Why have you turned on her like this?”

His sister snatched her hand away and yelled, “Because Haleigh Rae is the reason that the last words I ever said to my husband were in anger! Thanks to her, my husband died in the sand on the other side of the planet and I didn’t tell him I loved him.”

Before Cooper could respond, Haleigh stepped into the kitchen and said, “Cooper, would you leave us alone, please?”

“I—” he started, but she held up a hand to silence him.

“It’s okay,” she said. “Let me take it from here.”

Recognizing the calm assurance in Haleigh’s eyes, he backed away, stopping beside her. “I’ll be out back if you need me.”

“I appreciate that,” she said.

Turning back to see Abby staring out the window over the sink, Cooper left the two women alone.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Haleigh asked, patience and understanding replacing the hurt and confusion of the last few days.

Shaking her head, Abby replied, “Because there was nothing you could do to fix it.”

Taking a guess, Haleigh said, “Kyle didn’t want me to move in here, did he?”

A nod yes was her only reply. Words weren’t really necessary.

“You should have told me.”

“Why?” Abby spun. “What difference would it have made? Was I supposed to tell my oldest friend that my husband didn’t want a drunk living under our roof?”

She was being deliberately mean, but Haleigh didn’t blame her. This wasn’t Abby talking. It was the hurt. The loss. The anger.

“I would never have expected you to go against your husband’s wishes.”

“You’ve gotten so good at playing the martyr, haven’t you? Is that how you’ve blinded Cooper? Played up the Mommy Dearest story so he believes that your addiction isn’t your fault? That you can’t be blamed for all your bad decisions?”

“I’ve taken responsibility for all of my mistakes, but unlike some people, Cooper doesn’t hold them against me. He doesn’t consider me damaged goods because I’ve made some bad choices. And though you can lay a lot of things at my feet, Abby, I didn’t kill your husband.”

The grieving woman clung to the countertop until her knuckles were white. “He was so mad that I refused to tell you no. That I had the nerve to defy him. When he got mad, Kyle couldn’t sit still. That’s why he volunteered for that extra duty. He wasn’t even supposed to be out on the road, Haleigh Rae. But he went because I’d made him mad. Over you.”

“He was in a war zone, Abby.” Haleigh moved slowly around the island. “The same thing could have happened the next day when he was scheduled to be out there. You making him mad didn’t get him killed. You didn’t kill Kyle any more than I did.”

“No.” Abby shook her head and turned to face the window. “I should have agreed with him. I shouldn’t have been so angry that he wanted me to turn you away. I should have been a better wife. If I’d just done what he wanted, he’d still be here.” Shaking, she cracked. “It’s my fault.”

Haleigh wrapped her arms around her friend. “You’re wrong, honey. None of it’s your fault.”

After a brief struggle, Abby surrendered, spinning to return the hug. “I loved him so much, Haleigh Rae,” she sobbed. “I want him back.”

“I know you do,” she said, stroking Abby’s hair. “I wish I could do that for you.”

Haleigh’s shoulder grew damp with warm tears as the sobs racked the slender woman’s body. She couldn’t help but shed some of her own. When the crying subsided, Haleigh reached for the towel to dab at Abby’s cheeks.

“Why did you let me move in anyway?” she asked. “I’d have understood if you’d told me the truth.”

Abby’s breath hitched. “You didn’t have any place else to go, and I didn’t want to be alone. But then I started to feel like I’d betrayed him, like I chose you over him, and I got angry. Angry that Kyle took that patrol that wasn’t his. Angry that you were here and he wasn’t.”

“You have every right to be angry about all of that.”

“But I shouldn’t have taken it out on you,” Abby said, the tears coming again. “I don’t know what happened. I saw you and Cooper getting closer and the idea of you being happy made me even madder until I couldn’t see straight. Cooper is right, I’ve made you out to be a monster when I’ve been the awful one. God, when I think of the horrible things I’ve said.”

“Forget about it,” Haleigh said, relieved to have her friend back. “A lot of what you said was true, but I want you to know that I’m really trying to do better. I’m going to make you proud of me, Abby.”

“I’ve always been proud of you, Haleigh Rae. Always. You’re the reason I became a nurse.”

“I am?”

Abby shared a watery smile. “I knew I didn’t have what it took to be a doctor, but I still wanted to be like you, so I settled for nursing school.”

“Oh, hon,” Haleigh said, squeezing Abby’s shoulders. “You’d make a fabulous doctor.”

“Are you kidding?” Abby said with a harsh laugh. “Nurses really run the show. I wouldn’t trade my RN for an MD any day.”

Relief and love filled Haleigh’s chest. “I love your guts, Abby Lou.”

“I love your guts, too, Haleigh Rae. I’m so sorry. For everything.”

“I’m the one who’s sorry. I shouldn’t have dropped my mess of a life on your doorstep.”

Taking her hands, Abby said, “Your mother put you in a tough situation, and I’m glad I could be here for you. What you said is true. The same thing could have happened to Kyle any moment that he was there. But I can’t help knowing that if he hadn’t taken that duty, he might have come home. And then I get angry all over again.”

“I know what it’s like to lose someone because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Haleigh said, remembering how she’d cried on Abby’s shoulder for weeks after her dad had been killed. “You helped me through it, and I’m here to return the favor, okay?”

Abby nodded. “Okay.” After several more sniffles and an extended hug, her friend pulled back to ask, “Do you really love my brother?”

Unable to suppress the sappy grin, Haleigh said, “Yes, I do. Very much.”

“Good. Because he’s loved you for years.”

The grin slid into a full smile. “That’s what I hear. How did I miss that?”

“You were too busy believing that no one could love you, I guess. If you don’t believe something is possible, you don’t see when it’s staring you in the face.”

The truth of Abby’s statement struck like a blow. Other than her brother and Abby, Haleigh never imagined anyone would ever really love her. Not when her own parents hadn’t been able to do it.

“Then it’s a good thing that your brother is a determined man,” she said.

“Yes,” Abby agreed. “Yes, it is. And if you decide to live with him, I’ll understand, but you’re welcome to stay here as long as you need.”

Grateful to have such an amazing person in her life, Haleigh brushed a stray lock out of Abby’s eyes and said, “I won’t be moving in with Cooper anytime soon, but I won’t be staying here much longer either. It’s about time I start acting like a grown-up and get my own place.”

“But I thought you couldn’t afford to do that while paying your mom’s bills.”

“I’ll figure something out,” she answered, not sure how yet, but determined to stand on her own. “Now I think this night calls for hot fudge sundaes. What do you say?”

Flashing a smile so much like her twin’s, Abby said, “I’ll get the bowls. You go get the others.”

By Monday morning, Cooper had pulled off two miracles.

The first being the preservation of Haleigh and Abby’s friendship, which he didn’t really have all that much to do with, but he’d enjoyed taking credit for the save all weekend. The second was the reason he’d stopped by Snow’s Curiosity Shop.

“I hear I owe you an apology,” he said, stepping up to the coffee counter at the back of the store.

Lorelei glanced up from arranging cookies in the glass display. “Don’t apologize to me. I’m not the one who’ll have to explain why there isn’t enough food to go around on Saturday.”

“Ah, but we’ll have plenty of food. I’ve lined up not one but two new vendors.”

She stopped with a stack of treats in her hand. “The event is this weekend. You found food vendors willing to commit on such short notice?”

Cooper nodded.

Dropping the cookies on the tray, Lorelei propped her hands on her hips. “This better not be Girl Scouts running a lemonade stand.”

“Oh, ye of little faith,” he said. “I found a barbecue joint in Gallatin that runs a food truck on the weekends. Lucky for us, they had an opening for this Saturday.
And
the owner has a friend who runs a taco truck in Hendersonville. She had a cancellation, so I signed her up as well.”

“That’s amazing, Coop.” Lorelei barreled around the end of the counter to poke him in the chest. “I can’t believe you did it.”

He pulled a sheet of paper from his back pocket. “Here’s the info on both with contact names and numbers. I’ve also given them your info in case they have any questions.”

Staring at the sheet in her hand, Lorelei shook her head. “You’ve had us all fooled, Cooper Ridgeway. You’re a lot more than a good ol’ boy with a toolbox and a penchant for flirting.”

Slightly insulted, he said, “Believe it or not, there’s a brain between these big ears.”

“Oh, no,” Lorelei said. “I didn’t mean—”

“I know what you meant.” With another tip of his hat, he said, “I’ll let you get back to the counter.”

“Wait.” A delicate hand wrapped around his wrist. “Really. I’m sorry I said that. I’ve always known you’re a smart guy, Cooper. You wouldn’t be running such a successful business if you weren’t.”