Page 19 of Rebels and Roses

“Erica will be there when I get back,” Tom continued. “Besides, since I’ve been here this is the safest I’ve felt inmonths. I haven’t been this relaxed in forever. I get anxious at the mere thought of going home.”

“I admire your confidence, but are you sure Erica is going to wait around for you to decide to come back? That seems overly optimistic. She might be waiting but only to kick your ass. Pissing her off probably isn’t the way to stay in her good graces.”

Considering you’ve been cheating on her.

“It’s all good,” Tom replied confidently. “Like I said, being here has just been so freeing. I’m not burdened by worry and fear twenty-four hours a day. I mean…it’s okay, right? I can stay a few more days? If not…I guess I could get a hotel or something.”

If Tom had been rehearsing his puppy dog eyes, Cooper wouldn’t have been shocked. The guy looked so hopeful yet sad at the same time. He should let Tom go to a hotel. He could afford it, and Cooper didn’t want to be a part of the man’s hijinks with college girls.

“A couple of days,” Cooper heard himself saying. “Then you need to go home and face Erica. Holing up here isn’t healthy, and it sure as shit isn’t going to solve anything.”

“Thanks,” Tom said, his face splitting into a grin. “That’s great. Awesome. I won’t be any trouble, I promise. I’ll be like a mouse in the corner. You won’t even know I’m here.”

Cooper would know Tom was there.

Tom’s phone lit up, and he pulled it from his back pocket to check the screen.

“Shit,” he said, his face now pale and considerably less happy than he’d been seconds ago. Was that Erica calling asking where he was? “I need to take this. Sorry.”

Tom disappeared into the guest room where Zack still had a few things despite staying with Lucy most of the time. Cooper sat down at the kitchen table, flipping open his laptop. He was expecting an email from his editor about his most recent release.The publisher was still trying to press him about going out on some sort of “tour” of bookstores. He’d do a reading of his work in progress, answer questions, then sign books and shake hands while posing for photos that would end up on social media.

It sounded like hell on earth, frankly. Cooper had always been clear that he didn’t want his face out there. Anonymity suited him. He enjoyed being the man behind the curtain. Once his face was out there, he couldn’t control his own image anymore.

And if there was one thing a Winslow loved, it was control. He was as guilty as any of his siblings when it came to control. He wasn’t proud of it, but he also wasn’t actively fighting it either. As long as he wasn’t steamrolling everyone around him, it was fine.

He’d find some neutral, non-confrontational way to remind her that they’d all agreed that he wouldn’t be doing any book tours. Now or ever.

He was typing out his firm but polite reply when Tom returned, slightly out of breath and his face bright red.

“That was Fiona,” Tom announced. “She’s mad.”

“Mad?” Cooper echoed. “On a scale of one to ten, how mad?”

“Fifty. She’s furious.”

“You knew she would be when you stole her phone. Honestly, I’m shocked it’s taken her this long to call you.”

“She’s been calling for a while, but I didn’t answer until now.”

Evading her calls would simply make Fiona more pissed off as the hours ticked by.

“Why did you answer now? Wouldn’t it be easier to just give her back her phone and explain then?”

“I figured if she got really out of hand, I could just hand you the phone. I know you can deal with her.”

Jesus, Mary, and the camel. Did this guy take accountability for anything? He shouldn’t be shocked. He’d known the familyand had married into it. This wasn’t a surprise, but apparently, he’d forgotten with the passing of time.

“Tom, I am not dealing with Fiona for you,” Cooper said using his firmest tone. “Or anyone, for that matter. You stole her phone. You deal with it. End of story. You had to know what you were getting into. Fiona has a temper.”

And Cooper had a little scar on his temple in case he ever forgot that fact. She’d thrown a plate at him during one of their marital blowouts. Afterward, she’d cried and said she’d never actually wanted to hit him. It had been an accident.

“She’s furious, that’s for sure,” Tom declared. “I tried to explain to her why I did it.”

“What did she say?”

“She said that I’m an idiot, and then she hung up.”

Based on Tom’s squirrelly behavior in the last twenty-four hours, Cooper couldn’t argue the point.

---