Page 94 of Cooper

“New York City! Have you been?”

“I have.” He nods as they walk into the house, almost forgetting about me.

Except Cooper doesn’t forget me.

Even as he talks to my sister, he glances back and winks.

It’s probably stupid and reckless, but I’ve completely fallen in love with this man.

THIRTY-ONE

Cooper

I eat morein two days at Natalia’s parents’ house than I’ve probably eaten in the last six months. Meals are hearty and plentiful, snacks are constant, and her mother is a phenomenal cook. Food at the palace is delicious; this is next level. I’ve never eaten better meals in my life. Or so many of them.

Life here never stops, though.

Natalia’s mother is always cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, taking care of Greta while Lucianna is in the hospital, tending to her small but robust garden, and more. Natalia’s father works six days a week. And they’re long days, from six in the morning until six in the evening, and then he putters in the yard with his relics. Even Femke works hard as hell for someone who just graduated high school. Because her job is too far to walk, she leaves with her father at six, even though her shift doesn’t start until eight. She works until four and then waits for her father again, though she takes care of errands in town for her mother in that time.

Their lives are hard, but they don’t seem bitter, merely focused on what they have to do.

The only day off is Sunday and they go to church, so Natalia and I sleep in at the inn. We have breakfast in town and are meeting her parents back at the house for lunch before we start heading back to Hiskale.

“I’m worried about Lucianna going home,” Natalia says as we drive to the farm. “Pieter hasn’t even been to the hospital to see the baby.”

“We can bring her back to Hiskale with us,” I suggest.

“That’s what I’m thinking too. But what will we do about Greta? Someone has to watch her, and my mother won’t be there to help.”

“I don’t know. We have to balance convenience with her safety. And Greta’s.”

“I wish Femke could come too. She could help out with Greta until Luci’s back on her feet…but I’m afraid that would freak my parents out completely, to lose all their kids and the new grandbabies in one fell swoop.”

“Femke’s enlisted in the military, right?”

“Yes. She goes to basic training in September.”

“Do they know?”

“Not yet.”

“I don’t know the answer, babe. It’s complicated.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to draw you into family drama.”

“Your drama is my drama.”

I smile. “You’re a special man, Ryan Cooper.”

“And you’re my very special woman.”

I lean over, covering her mouth with mine. I’ve spent a lot of time inside her this trip, but it never feels like enough. Our lips lock and linger, caressing and sealing the bond between us. It gets stronger every minute we’re together, and I wonder if these are the feelings a few of my buddies talk about—how the love waiting for them at home is what gets them through deployments.

And I don’t want that.

I don’t want to be apart for months or years at a time.

I love our current situation.

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