Page 37 of Cooper

“So, it’s yours? All yours?” She clarifies.

“Laura also said that he left enough money for me to pay for all the expenses and upkeep for the rest of my life. She said that she would arrange for the payments to go into my bank every month, or I could get a lump sum.”

“Jesus. Are you serious?” Her eyes are wide.

“I’m very serious. Tommy was beyond kind and generous. And he trusted me. I’m so grateful. I just...I don’t even know what to say.”

I do know what to say. I want to tell her that I want her and Bean to stay with me, forever, but I know that she’ll freak out. With all that I know and shouldn’t know, I know that that would be a reasonable reaction. London can’t make any commitments to me and I get it. But this is one hell of a Christmas gift. “I feel awful. I can’t imagine how hard this must be for his kids.”

“Yeah.” She shakes her head. “Are you okay? I mean, I know that this is a huge shock, and I know how close you are to him.”

I’m closer to you. I love you more than I've ever loved anything else in the whole world, and I want you to stay with me, always. In this house that I can now call my own. Our house. But I know that there’s not a damn thing I can do about it now. You couldn’t even sign your name on the deed right now. Is all I want to say to her, but none of those words gets uttered. Instead, I just say. “Yeah. I’ll be okay. I’m sorry to barge in on your shift, but I didn’t think that this could wait. I'm sure some of these boys in here tonight are going to get wind of it, and I didn’t want you to find out from anyone else except me.”

“You’re sweet. I appreciate you doing that, but it wasn’t necessary.” She says softly, pulling me to her. “I would never begrudge you for something like that, especially after all that you’ve done for me and Bean.”

“All the same, I thought you should know.”

There are so many other things I think you should know, too, but I can’t tell you any of them. Just like you can’t tell any of your secrets to me.

...but all this soon comes crashing down, and there’s nothing that either of us can do to stop it.

Chapter 13

London

Liz is patiently looking after my table, and when I return, she takes one look at me, and asks, poignantly. “Who died?”

My gaze is on the floor.

“Shit.” She mutters. “Come with me.”

I don’t know Liz well, but everyone here is very nice, aside from the fact that Liz is bristly on a good day. So I follow her, not wanting to piss her off. “What’s going on?” She asks under her breath.

“Tommy, Cooper’s landlord, he passed away.”

She looks at me, eyes wide, and hisses. “No shit?”

I shake my head. “No shit. That’s why Cooper’s here. He wanted to tell me before it spreads through town and I’m the last to know.”

Her face changes. She looks me up and down. “Colton’s been watching you like a hawk. There’s something else, isn’t there.”

There’s lots, as a matter of fact, but none that I can tell her. So, I make up a lie. “I’m pregnant.”

She draws in a deep breath, but her face is alight. “I knew it. I just knew it. A woman knows these things.”

“Yeah.” I lie. “But nobody else knows. I just found out this morning.”

“How far along you figure?”

I do some fake period math. I’ve never been great at keeping score for that. Like I’ve mentioned before, I don’t think I’m fertile, and I’m too young to worry about menopause yet. So I put it out of my mind, and just keep a pad or two in my purse at all times. It comes when it comes. “It’s really early. I’m only about five weeks.” I say, remembering that I actually last had a period five weeks ago, because I ran out of pads when I was at the lawyer’s office, tying up some loose ends, and a legal assistant grabbed me one of hers out of her purse.

“So, Cooper doesn’t know yet?”

I shake my head. “That’s what I said.”

She puts her hand on my arm, almost maternally. “Is this a good thing or a bad thing, just so I know how to act around you.”

“It’s a good thing.” I pretend that it’s true. I’ve always wanted to have a house full of kids.

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