Home Town Hero (Pink Springs 2)

“All right, but you can call me if something changes.” He nods, giving me a warm smile before I exit out the back of the building to my Jeep. Before I get in, I check my phone and see I have a text from Lux. As I read it, I still can’t believe she’s pregnant.

Lux: What are you having for dinner? I’m thinking burgers.

Me: You always want burgers

While I’m getting in my Jeep I think about how it sucks that all we have on the regular now is texting. I can’t say I still don’t know almost everything she’s up to because we’re always texting even when we don’t have anything to talk about.

As I pull out of the back alleyway, my eyes drift over toward the police station, knowing Cooper is likely inside. We’ve both done well at avoiding each other. At least in keeping physical distance. He doesn't even come into the diner anymore.

Still somehow at every turn I see him. Even when I’m at Grams’ I'll catch the patrol car driving by, and although I know it’s part of his job to ride the neighborhoods, I swear it’s more often than it should be. Or maybe part of me is hoping that’s why. Hope that this is hurting him the same way it’s been hurting me. I keep waiting for the pain of his rejection to lessen over time, but it never does. I’m not going to chase any man, and I’m getting sick of waiting.

My phone goes off again, and I look behind me to make sure I’m not blocking anyone before I check it.

Lux: I heard Paula is back in town.

She sends a few puking emojis.

Me: No clue who that is.

If she’s back in town I might not have met her, and that name doesn't sound familiar. I let my foot off the brake just as another text comes in, and I glance over to the seat beside me to read it.

Lux: Right. Duh! She and Cooper were prom king and queen. She left town soon after Cooper enlisted. I wish she would have stayed away.

I stare down at the screen until a horn blares at me, and I jump, slamming on the brakes as a car drives around me. I’d slowly rolled into the street, not paying attention, and I curse my own stupidity.

“What the hell, Juno!”

I sigh because I know exactly who’s shouting at me without looking. When I turn my head I see Cooper Cross standing on the sidewalk, pissed off and glaring right at me.

“You need to watch what you’re doing,” he goes on, scolding me as stomps over and closes in on my Jeep.

With a smirk, I hit the gas and take off before he can get to my door.

Probably not the best idea to run from a cop, but what’s he going to do, arrest me? It’s not like he’s going to slap his cuffs on me because that would mean he’d have to get close. He avoids me like the plague, and I don’t know how much longer he can keep it up.

Lux’s wedding is right around the corner and we’re both in it. The thought of him bringing a date makes my stomach queasy. I’ve never seen or heard about him dating anyone in town, but now I’m wondering if this Paula chick will change that. I shake the thought out of my head, not wanting to go there. I’m getting way ahead of myself, which is something Lux always does, and I have to talk her off the ledge. There’s no sense in me worrying about something that might never happen.

It doesn't take me long to make it to my Grams’ house and I see her in the flower bed when I pull up. She’s right in front of the porch, and when she hears me, she stands up and gives me a giant smile.

She’s so different from my dad that it’s hard to believe he was raised by her. She told me a long time ago she lived in the city, and that’s where she raised him. It wasn't until after she lost her husband that she moved here to Pink Springs. It’s hard for me to see her as a city girl because this is the only way I’ve ever known her.

“Hey, sweetie,” she says as I jump down from my Jeep.

“Hey, Grams.” I follow her eyes when something grabs her attention, and my heart drops when I see Cooper in his patrol car.

He doesn't stop, though. He just slows to a crawl and then keeps on going. I guess I’m not getting arrested after all. He’s all but giving me a free pass around town to do whatever I want.

“I didn't think I’d see you tonight,” Grams says, pulling my attention away from Cooper. I walk over to give her a kiss.