The Newcomer (Thunder Point #2)(40)

“Stand by,” Spencer said rather than “hello.” Cooper could hear some moving around; he heard a door close. Then came the hello in a stronger voice.

“Spencer Lawson?” Cooper asked.

“Yes. Cooper?”

“You asked my father to forward a message to me? You wanted me to call?”

Cooper heard him take a deep breath. “There’s no way to ease you into this, Cooper. Bridget wants to see you. She’s dying.”

He sat up straighter. “What?”

“Cancer. She’s been fighting it like a trouper, but the days of the fight are over. We suspended chemo, hospice is here, her time is short. And she really needs to see you.”

“Why?” he asked.

“Trust me, it’s important. You need money for travel? For time away from work? Whatever it takes, I’ll cover it.”

“Spencer, come on—we don’t have any unfinished business. That was all a long time ago. She told me she was happy with you.”

“We had some very good years,” he said. Cooper could hear the emotion in his voice. “This disease has been hell. Cooper, you have to come. She’s hanging on and I don’t think she’ll let go until she sees you. Please. She’s bad.”

“Can’t you tell me why?”

“She has some things to say to you,” he said. “She wants to talk to you before she dies. And she doesn’t have much time.”

“God,” Cooper said. “She’s not even forty! This isn’t about amends or anything, is it? Because we’re square, me and Bridget. It wasn’t meant to be, all right? There’s nothing to work out—I could tell her that on the phone if it would make things easier.”

“Cooper, I want her to have whatever she asks for. We’re staying in her parents’ house in San Antonio. All she wants is to talk to you. It might take a couple of hours, that’s all. Where are you? Are you in a foreign country? Can you come, even if it’s a quick trip? I’ll pay the—”

“I got it,” he said. “I just don’t like mysteries and secrets, that’s all.”

“I feel ya, pal. We’ve been living with cancer for almost three years now. Talk about mysteries and secrets. I’ll text you the address. You have my cell phone number—let me know when you can come. Hurry, please. And, Cooper? Bring a suit.”

Cooper just sat and looked at his phone. He hung his head. He felt Sarah’s hand on his back, gently soothing. He turned to look at her. “She’s dying. Apparently soon. She wants to see me.”

“Oh, Cooper,” Sarah said. “Maybe she wants to clear her conscience about your romantic falling out or something.”

“She doesn’t have to do that.”

“Well, apparently she thinks she does.”

“I have this place to run,” he complained.

“I’ll help. Rawley can open, I’ll come over after work. I have the weekend off. I’ll let Landon hang out and help—he’ll love that. It’ll be okay. But I can’t be here in the morning to explain things to Rawley—I’m flying tomorrow.”

Cooper gave a half smile and went through his phone directory. He hit the call button.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“I bought him a phone. Now let’s see if he’ll answer it.”

“What?” came Rawley’s gruff voice.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Cooper said. “You didn’t throw it in the ocean.”

“It’s late.”

“I can hear your TV,” Cooper said.

“That don’t mean I’m awake.”

“All right, sorry about the time. I just got a call from someone—an old friend is real sick. I have to go pay a visit. I’ll be gone a couple of days and Sarah says she can help out. Can you handle things around here?”

“Don’t I usually?”

“I’d like to think I contribute here and there,” Cooper said.

“Just go do it,” Rawley said.

“Listen, if there are complications or schedule problems, just hang a sign on the door—closed for family emergency. All right?”

“I’ll handle it,” Rawley said.

“Thanks, man. Hey, and you kept the phone!”

“It was inconvenient. But I got games, books and music on this phone. Decent contraption.” And he hung up.

* * *

It was only minutes after Cooper called Rawley that Sarah left, promising to be there to cover for him the next evening. She took the Razor across the beach, going slowly to avoid any people who might be walking or sitting on the sand. When she was leaving him, he was understandably quiet. Melancholy.

Timing was an interesting phenomenon. She had just been thinking that it was time to let Cooper in on her secret, to talk to him about her pending assignment. But she hadn’t, and then the phone call came. It was funny that Cooper had been anxious to clear the air about any lingering ties she might feel toward her ex-husband, Derek, but she had never considered that there might be relationships in his past that hadn’t been fully dealt with. This woman, this dying woman...was this something that haunted him? Had he, like Sarah, harbored a feeling of failure, of grief? And he had told her, there had been two engagements....