Page 33 of Dark Side of the River

She was angry, and he wasn’t entirely sure how much of it had to do with him. But he suspected it was because he’d made it sound as if there was no chance there could be something going on between them because he wasn’t interested. That wasn’t the case.

He clamped his jaw shut, determined not to put his foot in his mouth again tonight. He’d let her call him tomorrow if she wanted his help. Otherwise, he’d start teaching Holly Jo about horses. It would be for the best. He liked Tilly, too much, and spending this time together had only made him like her more. He was afraid of getting too close because of his feelings for her.

But if she didn’t call tomorrow and they quit working together, he’d be disappointed. He’d come to look forward to seeing her. He enjoyed being with her, something he wouldn’t admit even under torture. They weren’t Romeo and Juliet, and their families were definitely not the Montagues and Capulets, but it was close. He couldn’t let this go that far. No good would come of it for either one of them.

He pulled up by her truck, glad this conversation was over. But Tilly didn’t get out.

“Tell me about Leann.”

Where the hell had that come from? His old girlfriend was the last thing he wanted to talk about. “You already know about her. Her suicide was all over the news, all over town.”

She shook her head. “Did you steal her from Stuart?”

He swore. “You can’t steal people without duct tape and a gun to their head. I really don’t want to talk about this with you. It was a horrible time in my life. I certainly don’t want to relive it tonight.” He met her gaze. “Did Stuart tell you that?”

“No. I know a friend of Leann’s. She doesn’t tell the same story as the one Stuart told me. She said Leann was never in love with Stuart, that she dated him a few times and he became really controlling and jealous and—”

“Tilly. That’s all water under the bridge.”

“But is it?” She turned to him. “Stuart has been acting really jealous, like he thinks you’re trying to steal me.”

Cooper held up both hands. No matter what he said, it would be wrong. “I didn’t come back to town to get between what the two of you have.”

“I know how Leann felt. Stuart and I went out six times in the weeks before you came back. Maybe it’s Oakley’s shooting or being around you, but—”

He stopped her. “Don’t. Please don’t.”

Tears pooled in her eyes. “Tell me you don’t feel anything for me, and I’ll never bring it up again.”

Cooper felt his heart fall like a stone into a bottomless well. “I will not come between you and Stuart.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

He shook his head. “Please, get out of the truck. This isn’t the time to get into...us.Please, Tilly.”

“I’ve never thought of you as a coward, Cooper McKenna,” she said as she climbed out and slammed the door behind her.

He grimaced at her words. The thing about even the chance of history repeating itself was enough to keep him from calling her back and trying to fix this tonight. He shouldn’t have come back home, and he sure as hell shouldn’t have feelings for Tilly Stafford.

Rubbing a hand over his face, he waited until she drove off before he headed toward the ranch. His head spun with thoughts and emotions that felt as tangled as barbed wire and just as painful to try to unravel.

He hadn’t gone far when he saw the flashing lights of a patrol car come on behind him. Swearing, he pulled over. He hadn’t been speeding, he doubted he had a taillight out and he wasn’t driving drunk.

That left only one thing. Stuart had seen him drop Tilly off at her pickup at this time of the night. Had he been sitting down the block waiting? Or did he just happen to be nearby? Cooper figured he was about to find out. He waited in his pickup as the sheriff pulled his patrol SUV up behind him, got out and walked toward him.

Cooper pulled out his license and registration, determined to keep this civil. But from the expression on the sheriff’s face, it was too late for that. He whirred down his driver’s-side window and did his best not to look guilty of anything.

TILLYHADN’TCRIEDover a boy since high school. After she’d left Cooper, she’d been too upset to go home. She’d driven to the hospital, glad to see that her mother wasn’t around. The nurse told her that Charlotte had gone home and wasn’t planning to come back until morning. Even better news, Tilly thought.

Now, as she sat next to her sister’s hospital bed, she let the tears flow. There had been a time when she and Oakley had shared confidences. She missed those long talks, when they’d covered for each other when one of them was in trouble, when they’d been close and shared everything.

“I can’t believe I let this happen,” she said to her sister in the privacy of the closed-door hospital room. With Oakley unconscious, she could pour out her heart in privacy. “Cooper McKenna. I know. You would have a fit if you were conscious. You’d tell me what a fool I am. How a relationship with a McKenna would never work. How Mother wouldn’t allow it.” She took a breath between sobs. “Not that it would stopyou. You always were braver than me. What am I going to do? I like him so much it hurts. I know he likes me, but he’s such a coward. He doesn’t want to hurt Stuart even though I tried to tell him that it isn’t like that between Stuart and me. Oh, I wish you’d wake up. I need to know about Cooper’s old girlfriend, the one who killed herself. I wasn’t paying that much attention at the time, but you always know the latest gossip.”

She studied her sister and frowned. “I wish you could tell me who did this. But I have a bad feeling that you got involved with that group that’s been vandalizing gas company property, didn’t you?” She sighed and wiped her tears. “I suspect it’s the reason you’re lying here now. Oh, Oakley, you have to come back. I need you. I love you. I’m sorry I’ve been a terrible older sister, so involved in my own life that I didn’t pay any attention to you.”

“You’ve always been that way.” The words came out raspy and barely audible.

For a moment, she thought she’d only imagined that they’d come from her sister’s mouth. She stared at Oakley. Those green eyes that Tick had mentioned fluttered open. Oakley did have beautiful eyes. Tilly began to cry with joy as she grabbed her sister’s hand.

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