Sunrise Point (Virgin River #19)(42)

“Who was that?” Luke asked.

“I don’t know his name but I’ll never forget his face. Just some jarhead who’d been to that bar a few times. Thought he was a goddamn hero. It’s a face I better never see again. I could forget that I stopped punching people.”

“Did the woman get in trouble? For blaming you?” Shelby asked.

“Nah. She was a civilian,” Coop said. “She finally allowed that it had been dark and she might’ve been mistaken. And she didn’t point at anyone so the MP’s were out of it. However, there were boys at the bar who caught up with a guy who bragged about teaching her a lesson. Problem number one—no one saw the incident occur and he might’ve bragged in the bar but when questioned, he knew nothing about it. They said they were real sorry when they let me out of jail. They also said if I wanted to avoid situations like that in the future, I might want to cut back on the drinking and try to date less vindictive women.”

“And did you?” she asked.

Coop rubbed his jaw. “Can’t remember the last time I got drunk, but I’ve never had great luck with women… .”

“Ever married?” she asked. “Children?”

“Almost married—twice. It didn’t work out. No kids. And I’m thirty-seven, kind of set in my ways. My life has changed a lot since I was twenty-two. I’ve been told I march to a weird beat. I guess I’m kind of a loner.”

“No family?”

“Oh, I have family,” he said. “Parents still living and three married sisters, a couple of nieces, couple of nephews. My family is all in Albuquerque, where I grew up. And I’ve been working the past ten years in either Costa Rica or the Gulf of Mexico for Texas-based oil companies.”

“That sounds like more than one company,” Shelby said.

Coop gave a lame shrug. “I never had a big role in the companies, the drilling, the pricing—my job was helicopter transport to the offshore platforms. But there are things you can’t help but see. When they get greedy and take chances on the people, on the wildlife and ecosystem… Let’s just say I get my back up. I’m a pilot—it’s safety first. Risk management. No amount of money is worth a life…”

“Absolutely not!” Shelby agreed.

“Not even the life of a duck,” he said.

Luke laughed. “Coop’s gotten a little liberal there.”

“Can’t help what I see,” he said unapologetically. “I can’t make the rules. I haven’t been a whistle blower, at least not yet, but I’m not going to work for a company that rapes the land and the consumer and puts the employees at risk while they’re doing it.”

“You?” Shelby asked. “Were you at risk?”

“Oh, hell no,” he said. “If they asked me to fly out to a rig in bad conditions, I wouldn’t go. They could always find someone who would go—that galls me. But I’m not a cop. Cost me a couple of jobs, but I was more than happy to let them go. I had to think for about ten seconds—let’s see, job? Life? Huh?”

“And now, you’re an ecologist? More or less?” she asked.

He laughed heartily at that. “I appreciate nature,” he said. “I respect it. As long as we don’t hurt anyone or anything by drilling, by supplying fuel, I’m good with that.”

“But you hunt,” she said.

“And wear leather. And fill up my tank. But I don’t shave safety regulations or take advantage of hungry people who need the work to feed their kids… Aww, get me off this soapbox, Luke!”

Luke laughed. “How do you like your slab out back? You have your traveling apartment all hooked up?”

Coop grinned and looked up at the sky. “I think I’m going to like this.”

* * *

Nora knew that Tom Cavanaugh would come for her on Monday morning, so she waited out in front of her little house, leaning against her five-year-old gray Nissan. She couldn’t wait to see the expression on his face. He pulled up at the usual time and just sat in his truck for a minute, staring. It made her let go a big laugh.

He finally got out of his truck and looked at her quizzically. “Do you have company?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Jed gave me a car,” she told him. She opened the back door. “With car seats!”

He pulled off his cap and scratched his head. “Just gave it to you?”

“He’s trying to make up for lost time, I think. It belonged to his lady friend, Susan. And rather than trading it in for a newer car, she sold it to Jed, who wanted it for me. I was pretty shocked. I still can’t believe it. And guess what? It’s very nice.”

“I guess that means you have a driver’s license.”

“Of course I do. I just haven’t driven in a long time.”

“Maybe you should let me drive you to the orchard until you have a couple of test drives,” he suggested. “You can tell me about your visit.”

“I think you’re disappointed I don’t need a ride,” she said with a laugh.

“Nah. But I kind of got used to the updates… .”

“We can talk at lunchtime. If you’re not too busy.”

He looked uncomfortable. She thought he actually squirmed a little, looking briefly away. “I don’t want anyone to think—”