The Newcomer (Thunder Point #2)(54)

She looked at the face of an adorable little boy. Then she looked at Cooper. “Oh, God,” she said. “You feel like you lost your love of a lifetime!”

“No, Sarah. I feel like I have a son. I feel like I have more responsibility. To you, to Landon, to Austin, even a little bit to Spencer. Bridget asked me not to take Austin away from the only father he’s had and, of course, I agreed to that. But I have to find a way to get to know him. I have to be a father, even if I’m not a full-time father. I have absolutely no idea how that’s done.” He took a breath. “Baby, how the hell did you do it? Take on Landon when you were just a kid yourself? How did you do such a great job at that?”

Her eyes welled with tears. “And that’s what’s been beating you up?”

“Isn’t that a lot?” he asked. “I have a kid, Sarah. I have a family. It might be a part-time job, but Jesus. What if Bridget and I had known back then? What if we’d gotten married? I think Austin is lucky it worked out like it did. But I have no idea what to do next.”

Sarah wiped the tears from her cheeks. “You have a family,” she said.

“I know and it all feels kinda heavy for a guy like me. Am I going to get used to this?” he asked her.

“He has to come first,” she said. “Even if he has a good father already, you have to put your son first. He’s your first priority. That’s how it’s done.”

And that, Sarah thought, is going to make it even harder for us to be first to each other.

* * *

Mac hadn’t seen Cooper in a couple of weeks. He’d dropped into the beach bar one evening on his way home from work to discover that Cooper was away—some kind of family emergency that Rawley said Cooper would explain later. Mac left the bar thinking he would catch up with his friend eventually.

More than a week later Cooper walked into the deputy’s office.

“Break time?” Cooper asked.

“I’ll be damned,” Mac said. “I thought you’d made good on your threats and just sold the bar and land and left us.”

“Nah, I had business out of town. I wasn’t gone that long.”

Mac rubbed his neck, leaning back in his desk chair. “Right, but then I had a busy week and it seemed like you’d been gone forever. Well, good to see you. I heard there was some kind of emergency.”

“Yes and no. It turned out that my ex-fiancée’s husband was looking for me. She had cancer. Terminal. Time was short. I didn’t have much notice.”

“I’m sorry, man.”

“I didn’t know she was sick. By the time I saw her she was ready to go, just had a few loose ends and goodbyes to wrap up and then, thank God, she could just let go. It was hopeless and she was...man, she was suffering. I was one of her loose ends.” He looked down and shook his head solemnly. “I’ll be honest—that really screwed up my head for a while. Poor Sarah. She had to try to figure me out. I think she should’ve just slapped me a few times.”

“You okay?” Mac asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine now. But here’s the thing—you might be hearing from her husband and I wanted to give you a heads-up. The guy’s name is Spencer Lawson and I suggested he call you. I suggested he do a complete background search on me and that you are a personal reference, but one with a real professional expertise.” At the puzzled look on Mac’s face Cooper got right to the point. “I just got confirmation—lab work confirmation—but it was just a formality. It seems I have a son. And none of us knew.”

“Whoa! Cooper, you old dog!”

Cooper laughed in spite of himself. He pulled out his cell phone and showed Mac a bunch of pictures of Austin while he explained about the broken engagement, the bone marrow transplant work-up, all the details. “I’m going to have to figure out how to tell my family. My mom and dad, my sisters.”

“Probably prudent,” Mac said, but his grin was huge.

“I’m really surprised by how much I want to tell them, my dad especially.”

“I suppose you’ll be bringing him here to live with you?”

The smile left Cooper’s face. “Well, no. Spencer is a good father. Austin just lost his mother. He wants to stay with Spencer and why would I screw with that? But I am planning to visit in a couple of weeks. I want to take in a Little League game, maybe go out for pizza. I’m not practiced at this, man,” he said with an embarrassed laugh. “I haven’t even been that great an uncle to my sisters’ kids!”

“Oh, you’re good with kids. You might even be a natural—I’ve seen you with Landon.”

“He’s a lot older. Austin is only ten,” Cooper said. “Besides, I owe Landon. Through him I found Sarah.”

“How’s that working out?” Mac asked. “You and Sarah? Now that there’s a kid in the picture?”

“She’s completely afraid to get serious about me, but I’m wearing her down. I’m counting on Austin to soften her up a little. He’s cute as the devil—obviously doesn’t look that much like me,” he lied. And the grin was back. “I’m hoping that once I check out, Spencer will let Austin come for a visit. He really likes the idea of a Jet Ski. You know what’s so ironic? One of the reasons Bridget and I broke up was because I wasn’t ready for an anchor. I wanted to get married, that was real—I was ready for a permanent woman. But all the stuff that went with it—settled, house, no more contract flying to warring countries, kids...I wasn’t there yet. Little did I know.”