The Newcomer (Thunder Point #2)(43)

“All right, sweetheart,” Spencer said. “You’ve done your part. I’m going to get Cooper here a drink and send Mary Ann back in here to give you something. Sleep a little if you can. I’ll be back soon.”

“Thank you,” she said to her husband.

But Cooper didn’t move.

“Cooper?” Spencer said. “Come on, let’s talk.”

Cooper followed numbly. He passed the kids at the dining room table—two of them were boys in the right age group and he wondered if one of them was his biological son. Spencer led him into a study and closed them in.

“Mary Ann is going to give her a big load of morphine,” he said, going directly to a small wet bar. “She’s been holding off today, wanting to be alert when you got here. Scotch? Bourbon? Beer? Anything.”

“Yeah,” Cooper said. “Anything.”

Spencer poured two scotches and handed him one.

“Austin?” Cooper asked.

Spencer laughed. “I’m from Missouri and was down here for a teaching job. I always expected it to be temporary, but it turned out to be good for me. Bridget and I escaped to Austin sometimes. It’s a pretty town. I always thought she got pregnant there, but...” He shook his head. “Sorry you were blindsided, Cooper. She wanted to be the one to tell you. She didn’t say so, but I suspect she hoped that her appearance would influence you into letting Austin stay with me, live with me. It’s what he wants, but he’s only ten.”

Cooper took a sip of his drink and just shook his head.

“You’re taking this pretty well....”

Spencer laughed and shook his head. “Yeah, right. Well, I didn’t always take it real well. It took a lot of discussion, a lot of figuring the dates, a lot of jealousy on my part. Try to imagine finding out your son isn’t your son.”

“She didn’t cheat, Spencer. She told me she’d met someone—she’d just started seeing you. She hoped it would work out better than it had with me. I didn’t even take it seriously. I figured eventually we’d end up together, but the next time I got back to the States, she was getting married. I didn’t know about the baby. She never said anything about that.”

“I’ll be honest with you, Cooper. I was disappointed. Pissed. But I’ve had six months to think about things. Six really tough months—Bridget has been so sick. All I want is to go easy on Austin.”

“Why would I punish a kid by doing something like taking him away from the only father he knows?”

“Thanks. That’ll give everyone some peace of mind, his grandparents being here, as well. Especially Bridge—she needs reassurance. And...” He turned away for a second, took a sip of his drink before turning back. “I can’t even think about losing them both.”

“I want to know him,” Cooper said. “I mean, once we’re sure...”

“We’re sure, but I understand.”

“Are there more? Kids?”

Spencer shook his head. “We tried. We were just starting some fertility workups. That’s how we found out Bridget was sick. We did chemo instead. We thought we were beating the son of a bitch a few times.”

“What kind of cancer is it?”

“Started as colon cancer, but it’s just about everywhere now. Really, Bridget has been on borrowed time for a while. I’m sorry about this, Cooper. This is no way to find out.”

He just threw back his drink. He believed her—that she didn’t know. And how could he complain in the face of what these people were going through?

“Would you like to meet him?” Spencer asked.

Cooper just nodded. “What do I say to him?”

“Whatever you want. Maybe, ‘Nice to meet you?’”

“Should we wait until there’s a test to confirm this?”

“We’ll get that done, too. We have the supplies—a kit. You could get by with a swab. We’ll send it in for you. It could be as long as six weeks.”

“Bridget isn’t going to make it six weeks, is she?” Cooper asked.

“I don’t think she’s going to make it six days,” Spencer said. “But she knows how this is going to come out, Cooper.”

“Can I say goodbye?” Cooper asked.

Spencer smiled. “I think that would be nice. Let’s go do that before morphine takes over.” As they were leaving the study, Spencer put a hand on his shoulder. “You’re a good sport, Cooper. I can’t imagine something like this complicating my life right now.”

The guy’s going through cancer, losing his wife, and Cooper is a good sport? He was suddenly ashamed. When he got back to Bridget, he could see at once that some of the tension of pain had left her.

Cooper sat down on the edge of the bed and lifted her hand into his. “Bridge,” he whispered. “Are you awake?” She nodded weakly. “Bridget, I know I wasn’t a very good boyfriend or fiancé.” She gave a tiny smile and squeezed his hand. “But I want you to know something—that time we were together. That was good. I’m sorry it got a little messy, but no regrets from my end. And don’t worry about Austin. I’m not going to interfere in his life. He’ll be okay, Bridge. His needs will come first.” He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “Rest easy.”