The Newcomer (Thunder Point #2)(39)

“I can warm up that casserole....”

“I think I can make do on ice cream.”

Nine

Cooper liked the tempo of his life, and this was a first for him. It was almost the end of April, and virtually every other day was sunny. Sometimes they enjoyed the sun all day long. He had something of a schedule going. He liked schedules. He had been in Thunder Point for six months and felt more settled than he had in places he’d lived for much longer. After making sure there was coffee and sweets left for the beachcombers out on the deck, he often went out on the bay on his Jet Ski or paddleboard. Sometimes Sarah came out very early, tying Hamlet up at the dock and going out on the bay with him. He had many chores during the day—fixing things, cleaning things, buying things, taking delivery on things so the bar/deli could run smoothly. Evenings he served drinks and food—deli food—because the sunset was astonishing in its beauty and drew people to the beach and to his deck. And many evenings Sarah was with him, like this evening.

They’d locked up the bar at about nine, gone upstairs to his room, shared a meal prepared by Carrie, made excellent love and cuddled in front of the fire—a second-floor extension of the hearth he’d had built in the bar—and watched TV.

The principal people in his life had their issues—Mac’s ex had been around, disrupting his family life, and Gina’s daughter had suffered some sort of emotional problems. Sarah was still troubled on and off about her future with the Coast Guard, except when he was holding her—then she seemed to have no worries. But his little beach bar made a surprising amount of money and he loved it. All things considered, from Cooper’s stand point, life was pretty stable.

And then the phone rang.

He looked first at the caller ID—his parents were calling. Then he glanced at his watch—it was 11:00 p.m., 1:00 a.m. in New Mexico. Trying to mask worry he felt given the time of night he answered the phone. “Hello?”

“Coop,” his father said. “Sorry about the time, son.”

“I’m up, but it’s the middle of the night there. What’s going on, Dad?”

“I just got a call from a man named Spencer Lawson, Coop. He’s married to Bridget.”

“I know who he is,” Cooper said. At one time Cooper had been engaged to Bridget. They parted over ten years ago. First they broke off their engagement because they just weren’t on the same page with all that meant. Then they ended it completely when Bridget stopped seeing him because she’d met someone else, someone she ultimately married. “What did he want?”

“He left a number, said it was urgent that he get in touch with you. I told him I’d call you, but I wouldn’t give him your number.”

For a moment, Cooper had a sinking feeling in his gut. “Is she okay?”

“No, Cooper. Apparently she’s sick or something. I tried to get the details out of him but he said he’d only discuss it with you. I’m sorry, that’s the best I could do.”

“I’ll take care of it,” he said. “Give me his number.”

After Hank Senior reeled off the digits, he added, “He said to call any time of day, don’t worry if it’s late or early—he’d be there. And, Coop? Let me know what this is all about, will you?”

He let go a dry laugh. “If it’s not too embarrassing,” Cooper said.

He hung up and stared at the number. Then he went to his sofa to sit beside Sarah. “Very strange,” he said.

“What is it?”

“I told you I was engaged twice,” he said. “The first time was to Bridget Cunningham. We dated for about six months, got engaged, couldn’t agree on anything, broke up pretty soon after. I was doing contract flying for a security company that was outsourced by the Army—I was away a lot. Out of the country most of the time. After breaking up, we were on and off for a while. We were young—we knew pretty quick it wasn’t going to work.”

“What went wrong, Cooper?” she asked softly.

“I’m not sure,” he said. “We didn’t seem to want the same things. She expected me to find a more stable job, for one thing, so I’d be around all the time and stability was not exactly my middle name. It wasn’t too long before she told me there was someone else, but you know me—I mean the younger me. I didn’t take her too seriously. I hadn’t talked to her for a long time—months—and called her when I was back in the States. She told me she was married. To this guy,” he said, showing her the phone number.

She ran a finger around his ear. “Did she break your heart?”

“A little bit,” he said. “I got over that pretty quick. I haven’t even thought about her in a long time. Now her husband needs me to call him—says it’s urgent.”

“Call him,” she said.

“It’s late, and I see by the area code, they’re still in Texas. He did tell my dad not to worry about the time. Maybe tomorrow...”

She laughed at him. “Men and women are so different. Aren’t you curious?”

“I can be curious until tomorrow,” he said.

“Listen, if you don’t want to call him while I’m here, I was planning to go home, anyway,” she said.

He grinned at her. “Well, I never thought I’d say this, especially to a woman, but I don’t have any secrets from you.” He punched in the numbers. The call was answered on the first ring.