Page 51 of Say I'm Yours
He isn’t lying. Presley and I were always in the kitchen and half the time we’d toss whatever she made because it burned so bad. If it didn’t burn, we’d wished it had. It was the little of this and little of that part she couldn’t do. Baking was always her niche.
We would spend hours imagining we were old married women, making things for our husbands. Some kids might have played house with dolls, but we did it with our houses. We would put our mama’s aprons on and pretend to be the Hennington wives. Presley would pretend Zach was coming home after a long day of baseball. She and I would clean the house, make dinner, and have big plans for a night of television with the boys. At least it worked out for one of us.
“He seems to be okay, unless he’s going to his parents’ house to eat.”
Cooper’s eyes shimmer as he smiles at me. “Well, I would eat your crappy food because that’s what a man does for a woman he likes.”
“Good answer.”
He leans down, kisses my cheek, and releases me. “How was the rest of your day?”
I groan. It was fine other than when I returned to the store, which was still a mess.
“That good?” Coop questions.
I fill him in on what is going on at the store as he leans against the counter. He listens as I tell him my fear with my mother and father. I know that Cooper can empathize because he took over when his dad couldn’t do it anymore. But that was what Forrest wanted, and I know I’m going to have to force my mom’s hand. She still thinks she’s thirty. “I don’t know if I should hire someone behind her back or talk to her about selling the store . . .”
Cooper looks at the bottle and then back at me. “I think it’s a tough call. You definitely should talk to her. It’s hard because it was my dad’s idea. He was the one who was tired, and I think he wanted me to take over everything before I could leave town.”
“Would you have?” I’ve always wondered if Cooper had bigger dreams than this.
I was always content to stay in Bell Buckle. As much as I hate it at times, I love this place. It’s full of heritage and landmarks. It’s a place where your kids can run outside from sunup to sundown and you don’t have to worry.
We didn’t have cell phones when we were kids; we had neighbors. That mentality is still strong here. I always hoped I would have kids that could experience a childhood even half as fun as mine.
Cooper takes a second to think and then shrugs. “I don’t know. When Presley left, it wasn’t a choice anymore. Someone had to take over on the farm, and that someone was me. I was angry about it for a while, but this is my life. Whatever choices I made, I don’t regret. I work hard and have a good life. I’m just hopin’ for the rest of things to fall in line.”
“Yeah,” I say on a sigh. “Hey, I meant to ask you, has Wyatt said anything about Angie? I called over there today, but she didn’t answer.”
“He’s at that family fishing thing so I haven’t heard anything. I know this pregnancy has been tough on her.” Cooper takes a swig of his beer. “I told him to take some time off to stay home, but he knows we’re shorthanded since one of the ranch hands left. I keep pushin’ him to take care of his family.”
“You know Wyatt . . .”
Family is everything to us here, but so is honesty and integrity. Wyatt is stuck between the two things he deems the most important. And to an extent, the Townsend’s are family. All our families are very deeply intertwined.
The timer dings, and I shoo Cooper out of the kitchen. I need to get the pie in while we’re eating so that it will be done in time. I open two more beers, put the pie in, drain the remnants in my first bottle, and plate our dinner.
“Here we go.” I sit the plate and beer on the table.
“This looks amazing, Gracie.” My heart sputters. Cooper never calls me Gracie. Trent is the one who started it, and he’s the only person that ever says it. I freeze and try to get myself under control, but Cooper grabs my hand. “Did I say something?”
I shake my head and I try not to let my nerves ruin tonight. “No, you didn’t do anything. Let’s eat.”
Cooper doesn’t release my hand, and my eyes go back to him. “Don’t lie. If I said or did something you need to tell me.”
He deserves to know why I became an ice sculpture. This is the stuff he mentioned and I need to be open. “No one else calls me Gracie but Trent.”
He leans back, clearly a little uncomfortable. We’ve done so well for the last thirty minutes, but once again, Trent manages to wiggle his way in. Thankfully, it isn’t literal this time.
“I’m sorry. It just came out.”
“Please, don’t apologize.” I take his hand. “It’s just that no one ever says that, and it took me by surprise. I’ve been having a lot of fun tonight, and I would like us to finish our dinner and then the God awful movie you picked.”
Cooper’s body relaxes a little. He shifts, rests his other hand on mine, and nods. “All right, but you’re going to choke on those words when you see the movie.”
“I doubt that,” I tease.
“You’ll see.”
