Page 43 of Cowboy Don't Go

Cooper stared at his father in surprise. “You heard the man.”

“Really?” Reluctantly, she handed over the lights to Ray. “You sure you’re up for that?”

He took the lights out of her arms with a smile.

“That’s so sweet of you. We took these down in such a hurry during that last windstorm, I totally didn’t take the time to store them neatly. Now look. Note to self: Next time, remember how much you hate detangling lights.”

“We’ve got this,” Cooper said.

“I’m putting you both in for a raise!” Cami said, only then remembering she had no such power. “I mean, I’ll tell Liam what gems you both are.”

Cooper grinned at her. Cami was adorable in a kid sister kind of way. He wondered if she ever slowed down? Between teaching, the ranch stuff, and helping to gear up for silent auction at the upcoming autumn festival in Marietta, she had her hands more than full. But he rarely saw her without a smile on her face. She was no doubt every kid’s favorite teacher.

As he and his father untangled the long strands of outdoor lights, Ray began to hum. His whole demeanor had changed since Cooper had ridden up the mountain with Shay.

That thought, naturally led to the next. The memory of that kiss he and Shay had shared. It ebbed through him again as if he’d waded through a warm current in a river.

“Penny for your thoughts, son,” his father murmured.

Surprised, he straightened and tugged a light through a tangled knot. “Just feeling grateful, is all. Mostly that you’ve decided to fight this thing.”

“Hmph. Could’ve sworn you were thinkin’ about a woman, just then.”

Cooper gave a nervous laugh. “Now who would I be thinkin’ of?”

“Cami’s pretty cute,” Ray allowed. “But unless I’m way off base, it’s not her. Shay?”

“Everybody knows how Shay feels about me workin’ here. She’d probably rather get a root canal.”

“Women are like Montana weather, Coop. You never know what to expect from them.”

If this morning was any indication . . . For a moment, he was back under that rock ledge, soaking wet with his arm around her shoulders.

“So,” he began, shaking off the memory. “You and Sarah . . . There’s obviously more to that situation than what you’ve told me. I mean, look at you. What’s happened between the two of you?”

He refused to look Cooper in the eye. “She drove me to my appointment.”

“You’re not fooling me, Dad. You know what I mean. What’s going on between you two? That wasn’t a simple ride into town. You two have some kind of history, don’t you?”

Ray took a deep breath. “That’s a long story.”

Cooper gestured at the monster tangle of lights which only seemed to grow worse as they worked. “We’ve got time.”

He focused on the lights for a long minute before he spoke, apparently torn between telling him the truth and continuing to hide it from him. “I . . . never told you about her because what happened was nobody’s business but ours, and telling anyone would have jeopardized Sarah. Her family. You were off at school and on with your life. And everything was complicated.”

“Complicated by her being married?”

Ray angled a look at him. “It’s not what you think. Not exactly. We became friends. Friends first, but it never went much further than that, physically. We—she and I—found we had a lot in common and, when we ran into each other, it was . . . we both enjoyed seeing each other. It . . . escalated to planning to run into each other. Spending time together away from Marietta for a few hours, away from prying eyes. I wasn’t trying to cause trouble in her marriage, but her marriage to Tom was in deep trouble already. She was planning to leave him.”

Cooper was trying to follow. “If it was just friendship, why keep it a secret?”

“Because . . . Tom could be difficult. Unpredictable. And . . . I fell in love with her. It was the first time since your mother. There was nothing for it unless she left Tom, which she wanted to do. And it almost happened.”

Cooper stopped unwrapping the lights, staring at his father. “Why didn’t it happen?”

He lifted a shoulder as if he wanted to close the subject. “Soon after, my life fell apart, and you know the rest.” He pulled a long strand of lights free and held up the end with the plug. “Ah. There’s one.”

“Oh, no. No, Dad.” Cooper had waited a long, patient time to get to the bottom of this. “You’re not going to just leave this story at that. Are you telling me that Sarah believed what they were trying to sell about you committing cattle rustling? That she abandoned you? After falling in love with you? Nearly leaving her husband for you?”

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