The Truest Thing - Hart's Boardwalk

Forcing himself out of the car, he heard Coop and Jess’s dog barking from inside the house. His strides were slow as he walked along the drive, past Coop’s truck and up the porch steps.

Just as Jack reached the porch, the door opened and Jessica stood there in her pajamas. Her skin looked pale and clammy.

He realized how goddamn selfish it was to have come here after being told Jess was sick.

“I’ll leave,” he said.

The doc’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you here?”

“I … uh … I came to talk with Cooper, but if this is a bad time …”

Suddenly, the dog, a huge golden retriever, bounded past Jessica and ran straight for Jack. He chuckled as the beast threw himself at him, his paws landing on Jack’s gut as he stumbled back under the force of the dog’s enthusiasm.

“Louis, down,” Jessica said weakly.

“You okay?” Jack asked, patting the dog as it tried to lick every inch of his hands.

“I’m fine. Cooper’s upstairs running me a bath.”

“I should—”

“Come in.” She stepped aside. “Clearly you have something to say, so you should come in.”

“He might not thank you for it.”

“He won’t get mad at me right now, so your timing is actually kind of perfect.”

“Should I be worried about you?” Jack frowned as he passed by her and into the house.

It looked different.

Back when Coop was married to Dana, the furniture was sparse and modern. There wasn’t clutter.

The house was earthy and cozy now, filled with photographs from Coop and Jessica’s wedding. There were a lot of books lying around.

Jack smiled to himself.

This was definitely the kind of home Jack imagined for his best friend.

“Would you be worried about me if something was wrong?” Jessica asked as she closed the door.

“Jess! Who’s here?” Cooper’s voice called from upstairs.

“A visitor for you!” she called back.

“I’d be worried,” Jack answered honestly when her gaze came back to his.

She smiled slightly. “I think I already knew that about you. But the evidence has been conflicting.”

Jack nodded. “That’s why I’m here.”

Jessica raised an eyebrow. “Well then … I think I’ll go take that bath and give you some privacy. Louis, come with me.”

The dog followed the doc to the staircase, and that’s when Jack noticed the slight swell of her belly in the tight pajama tee she wore.

“Doc …”

She looked back at him. “Yeah?”

He swallowed thickly, feeling a ton of emotions for his ex-best friend. “Congratulations.”

Her eyes widened ever so slightly and she glanced down at her belly. “Shit.” She gave a huff of laughter. “I’ve been wearing looser fitting clothes when I’m in public.” Her expression turned wary. “We didn’t want anyone but close friends to know. Until we’re past the twenty-three-week mark.”

“Your secret is safe with me.”

“It better fucking be,” Cooper growled from the stairwell.

Jack had been so busy looking at Jess, he hadn’t even noticed Cooper appear.

“Uh … I’m going to take that bath.” Jess hurried past her husband, giving his arm a squeeze as she went.

Cooper offered her a frustrated but loving look. “You call if you need me.”

As soon as the doc and Louis were gone, Cooper walked down the remaining stairs and strode toward Jack.

Jack braced himself.

His stomach was a riot of nerves.

“You want to tell me what the fuck you’re doing in my house?” Cooper asked casually. But his expression was anything but casual.

Jack exhaled slowly, forcing himself to hold Coop’s steely gaze. “Rebecca has been charged with aiding and abetting in the murder of a man named Caruthers.”

Cooper flinched back in surprise. “What?”

“A few weeks … fuck, I don’t even know where to start.” Jack dragged a hand down his face. “I don’t know where to start, Coop.”

There was a moment of silence and then something seemed to dawn on Cooper’s face. “Are you here … are you here to tell me why?”

He swallowed hard. “Yes. I’m not looking for anything from you. I … just … I’m in the position to tell you the truth now, and you deserve the truth.”

A muscle ticked in Cooper’s jaw but he didn’t respond.

Jack took that as permission to continue. “I’ll start at the beginning … Dana.”

His best friend’s expression hardened.

“She’d been coming on to me for a while. Then one day she called me up and said she needed to talk about you. That she was worried. So, I came over and she gave me all this shit about how you were blaming her for not getting pregnant.”

Cooper let out a huff of aggravation.

“I knew that shit wasn’t true. You know I never liked her.”

“And yet you fucked her.”

Jack looked away, the memories of the past dancing across his eyes. “She grabbed my crotch. Tried to initiate sex. I got the hell out of there. I was on my way to tell you when Ian called. He said that Rebecca had killed a man who’d tried to rape her. And Stu helped her bury the body. She was only seventeen.”