The Newcomer (Thunder Point #2)(60)

“Yeah, thanks,” Landon said. “I’ll get it.”

A minute later he was sitting next to Cooper in the same relaxed position, feet up on the deck rail, chair leaning back, looking out at the ocean. It was a few minutes before Landon said, “Coop, do you understand women?”

Cooper turned to look at his profile. He grinned. “Not that often.” When Landon didn’t say anything, Cooper asked, “Girl trouble?”

“All over the place,” Landon said. “Maybe not trouble, exactly. More like confusion. Does it seem like Sarah’s in a bad mood these days? And Eve...she’s got all that stuff going on—sometimes she’s just plain pissy. Sometimes she’s crying about nothing or laughing about nothing.”

“Sarah seems okay to me,” Cooper said. “Maybe a little quiet now and then. She said she’s got work stuff going on—stuff that should be resolved soon. I don’t know anything about Eve’s mood.”

“She’s been upset about Ash and Downy—that went down badly. It freaked Eve out—she was afraid we’d get all serious and then I’d do something that nasty to her. Then Eve’s mom showed up after ten years and that had her all upside down. And I think Sarah’s been weird lately.”

“Landon, you gotta be patient, man. There are cosmic forces that have nothing to do with me and you. Like PMS. Ever think of that?”

Landon winced. “I try not to think about things like that.”

“I don’t blame you, buddy. And for God’s sake, never ask! That’s the kiss of death.” He took a sip of his coffee. “I think Sarah was a little worried about my trip to Texas. I think she doesn’t know what to make of this situation I’m in—all of a sudden I’m a father. I just try to reassure her—it doesn’t change anything between us. It’s gotta be a shock, though, huh? So if she’s moody, it’s probably because I threw her a curve....”

“You think she’s jealous or something?”

“Nah. I think she was worried enough about taking me on, now she thinks she has to take me and a kid on. It’s not really like that, though. Austin wants to live with his dad, Spencer. He feels safe there. I’ll just visit from time to time and they’ll visit here. You don’t show up in a kid’s life when he’s ten years old and take over. I mean, if he was in trouble I would. But he’s not in trouble. Spencer is a good guy.”

“How’d you end up with a kid?”

He shrugged. “Who knows? Since we were specifically trying not to have one, something obviously went wrong. But when you see that kid it makes you think maybe something went right....”

Landon shuddered. It was unmistakable.

Cooper pulled his feet off the rail and turned in his chair. “You want to talk about something?”

“No,” Landon said, but he didn’t make eye contact. “Did you have a girlfriend when you were in high school?”

“Not exactly,” Cooper said.

“What does that mean?”

“Well, like every kid that age, I was in love just about all the time. I lusted after a lot of girls who didn’t appear to lust after me. I had some dates. Most of them were first dates. I think there were a couple of girls I dated a few times.”

“So, when did you first, you know...”

“What, Landon? When did I get laid? Do we need to talk about the birds and the bees?”

Landon finally looked at him. “You trying to piss me off? No wonder Sarah’s cranky.”

“I was older than I wanted to be. I don’t know. Maybe seventeen, but probably eighteen. I didn’t have a girlfriend I’d been with for six months, that’s for sure. Now, what’s going on with you and Eve? We got problems?”

He shook his head. “It’s just that... Well, I don’t want to lose her. She’s really special. Perfect. I could never want a better girl. But I don’t want to... You know about her mom and dad, right? How they had to get married because Eve was on the way? And they were just kids? Eve’s mom was younger than Eve is now. Holy shit is all I have to say about that!”

“Guys don’t usually talk about things like that, but I’m capable of math,” Cooper said. “You and Eve getting a little too serious?”

“Not yet,” he said, and Cooper couldn’t tell if it was remorse, disappointment or fear behind those words.

Cooper leaned back and put his feet up on the rail again. “Okay, here’s what I have to say about that. You can probably save yourself a lot of heartache by being real careful, by which I mean lots of protection. But hear this from Papa Cooper—there don’t seem to be any real guarantees. Any time you want to talk about it...”

“Did you ever feel, you know, like you really loved someone?” he asked.

Cooper smiled at him and he hoped he smiled gently. “I feel that way right now,” he said. “I’ve felt that way before, as a matter of fact—times it didn’t really work out. And now I’m kind of glad it didn’t. I don’t mind telling you, Sarah’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I waited a long time to find her.” He clapped a hand on Landon’s shoulder. “It’s okay to feel like you love Eve. Nothing wrong with love, Landon. Some people find it young, some people have to wait awhile. But what you have to guard against is letting a little love make you a lot careless.”