Cooper (The Family Simon 6)

There was a pause. “I’m not leaving until we do.”

“That’s your call.”

Another pause. “I’m not leaving Fisherman’s Landing until we do.”

Cooper stopped pacing and swore. He said every foul-mouthed cuss word he could think of, and none of them made his anger go away.

He eyed his truck and felt for his keys.

“Where you at?”

“This little diner—”

He was already moving toward his truck. “I’ll be there in twenty.”

He was there in fifteen. Cooper strode into A Charmed Life and came to a halt as he scoped out the place. A young mother and her son sat at the counter, the little boy digging into a bowl of vanilla ice cream while his mother toyed with her phone and stole an occasional scoop. The two front booths were taken—one by four young girls who saw Cooper and immediately began whispering. The other by a teenage couple who held hands as desperately as the looks they tossed at each other over the menus.

Near the back, four older guys occupied a table, and not too far away in the last booth, he saw an elegant foot bob along to a mystery beat. He started forward. The black boot was expensive, probably Louis Vuitton, if her tastes were still the same. As he came abreast of the table, the elegant boot gave way to dark denim jeans and a green wool jacket. Long blonde hair tumbled down a narrow back, though she gazed down at the table where her hands were crossed.

She was still, and Cooper paused, scowling at the taste of bitterness in his mouth. She glanced up suddenly, and Cooper would have liked to say he was prepared for her, but he wasn’t. He was also struck by a few things. Her complexion was sallow and tired, and her makeup couldn’t hide the circles under her eyes. Her hair wasn’t as lustrous as it had once been, and she was thinner than he’d ever seen her.

Holly Adams was still a beauty, but she looked fragile as hell. She stared up at him. Licked her lips nervously and waited.

Cooper didn’t make her wait long. He slid into the booth across from her and set his phone and keys on the table. Her hands were still clasped, but when she undid them, he noticed a tan line on her ring finger. A ring finger missing the proverbial ring.

He raised his eyes and met her gaze, not liking what he saw there. Not liking the stab of fear that punched him in the gut. Suddenly filled with the urge to get this over with and leave, he decided to cut to the chase.

“Why are you here?”

She blinked slowly, as if coming awake from a long sleep, and he wondered briefly if she was medicated. She glanced away, and then she moved her full coffee cup to the side.

“You look good, Cooper. You look happy.”

“Pretty sure right now I look pissed-the-hell-off.”

A small, wistful smile touched her lips. “Is this how it’s going to be?”

“Yeah.” It was all he had, and he glared at her, angry that she was here. “Why the phone calls? The need to see me?”

She moistened her lips, and he noticed a tremble there. That earlier punch to the gut returned, and he clenched his mouth tightly, waiting for her response. Dreading it, even, but wanting this over.

“They know.” Her eyes watered, and she exhaled shakily, glancing around as if afraid someone was listening in on their conversation.

“What the hell are you getting at?” He leaned back, as if space would make a difference. But he knew what she was going to say before she said it, and as her lips moved and the words came tumbling out, he kept shaking his head, hoping it was a lie. A misunderstanding. Yet the misery reflected on her

face told him otherwise, and for the first time since he’d laid eyes on her, he felt something other than anger.

He felt pity.

“After I was released from Still Waters, I decided to stay in Switzerland. I had no desire to come back here to a career that was over, a life that was in chaos, and to a man who hated me. The stories had died down. All the lies my publicist had thrown out there had been dissected and picked apart, but because I was gone, they eventually went away.”

She kept her gaze glued to her hands, her fingers worrying the edge of a napkin as she continued. “I met someone.” Her voice broke. “A lovely, simple man who…” She smiled suddenly, but it was small and sad, and Cooper moved restlessly in his chair.

“He was a farmer, if you can believe it. I was staying in a B and B, enjoying the anonymity, and suddenly, he was in my life and he had no idea who I was. He asked me to marry him six months ago.”

Her head jerked up, and the weirdest thing occurred to Cooper. He didn’t care. Not one damn bit.

“I would have happily lived my life with Nolan. On a farm. In the low country.”