“You okay?” Maverick asked. He knew Cooper was riding the edge of something dark and with a certain anniversary coming up, he was worried about his brother.
“Okay is not generally a term I’d use to describe things right now, but I’m hanging in.”
Cooper finished his mug and went back for seconds, filling both of their cups though Maverick refused the additional shot of whiskey.
“Have you heard from Teague?”
Cooper shook his head. “Nope, but I’m not surprised. He was in a foul mood.” Cooper pointed to his eye. “This is what I got for trying to make him stay.”
“Shit.”
“Shit is right. It was not a good scene. Aunt Eden was crying for Christ sake, and Teague looked through her.” Cooper shook his head. “It was like he wasn’t even here. Makes me think of….”
“He’s nothing like her,” Maverick said, fighting the anger that very thought created.
Cooper glanced up and Maverick’s gut clenched, because the sight of such raw pain in his brother’s eyes wasn’t something Cooper let anyone see. Would his brother ever get over the woman who’d broken him?
“No,” Cooper agreed. “I suppose he isn’t. But I sure as hell hope he makes it through whatever it is he’s fighting sooner than later because it’s hard on Eden and Noah.”
“He’s tough. He’ll get there.”
“I can tell you one thing, he’s no good around people right now. I think he needs some space and some kind of peace. And I hope he finds it before some other poor bastard meets his fist. Teague’s got a lethal hook.”
Maverick chuckled. “And he’s only got one good arm at the moment.”
Cooper grinned. “Yeah, well, I’m not the only one with a black eye. I thought Aunt Eden was gonna go after me when she caught sight of Teague.”
“You’re lucky she didn’t. You do know where he learned to throw a punch.”
The men were quiet for a few moments, each lost in thought. Cooper eventually made his way to the kitchen area and whipped up a plateful of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast.
Maverick dug in with gusto. He was nearly done with his plate when Cooper cleared his throat and sat back in his chair.
“What?” Maverick didn’t like the way his brother was looking at him.
“What’s the story with Charlie?”
Maverick glanced back at his plate, shoving his eggs around and making a general mess of what was left of his food. He shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Cooper looked surprised. “What do you mean, you don’t know? You’ve basically moved in with the lady and her kid.”
“Broth
er.”
“What?”
“Connor is her brother.”
Cooper wasn’t impressed with his effort to deflect. “Okay. You’ve basically moved in with the lady and her brother. So what’s that about?” Cooper grinned. “You thinking of making this permanent?”
Maverick’s head snapped up so fast he heard the bones in his neck crack.
“Permanent? What the hell, Coop. We’ve only known each other for what, five weeks? Six?”
“And you’ve been living with her for several of them. You’ve never played house with a woman before. Hell, I don’t think you’ve ever dated a woman with a kid.”
“Brother.”