Path of Destruction (Broken Heartland, #2)(57)

Cooper patted her knee and removed his hand. “You the jealous one now, Ellie May?”

She rolled her eyes. “Not so much jealous as…” She paused to think of the right term that would accurately describe how she felt. “Confused,” she finally finished. “I mean—why her? Specifically.”

Cooper sighed loudly and hopped down from the tailgate. “If I knew, I would tell you.” He shrugged then reached out to help her down. “Your brother said something to me once, about it not being as black and white as we all thought—not us and them, rich and rural. He was right. If he hadn’t ever said those words to me, I don’t know that I would’ve seen Cameron, like, really seen the person she was inside, but that stuck with me and I did. And now…”

“And now you’re falling for her?”

Ella Jane knew he could hear it, the disapproval and the hurt lacing her words, but tonight seemed to be the night for honesty. She hoped she could blame it on the drinking tomorrow.

Cooper opened his truck door for her, making it clear he wasn’t going to let her drive home. “I danced at prom tonight. Me. Danced. Prom. So…yeah. I guess I could be.”





Cooper hadn’t called or texted or sent any smoke signals that she knew of since his grand gesture at prom. She’d thought about texting him, but after the way he’d come into the dance, swept her off her feet, and then practically tossed her aside like yesterday’s garbage when he had to tend to Ella Jane, she was putting off the conversation she knew that they’d be having when they finally did see each other again. He’d feed her some line about Ella Jane needing him and she’d have to deal with it. The tightness in her chest every time she thought about him led her to believe she might not be able to handle that conversation just yet.

Maybe she should have been understanding, but it seemed like that girl was out to ruin every good memory she had—first with her threats of revealing her relationship with Kyle and now snuffing out whatever was going on with Brantley.

The other subject of the inevitable conversation was walking down the hallway toward her looking as if he’d just been told the world was ending. Hayden’s dark hair was a bit disheveled and his SBHS falcons T-shirt and wrinkled jeans said that he hadn’t put much effort into getting ready for school that morning.

“Hey,” Cami called out when he walked right by her without so much as a hello.

Hayden may have been labeled a snotty rich kid, but he usually didn’t snub his friends. And she sure hadn’t thought he’d snub her after they’d spent all night pouring their hearts out to each other after prom.

“Oh, hey,” he said, when he finally pulled himself from whatever it was that was distracting him.

“Everything okay?”

“I guess,” he said with a shrug. The lack of conviction in his words made it clear that everything was far from okay.

Cami side-eyed him as they continued to walk down the hall towards their lockers. She waited for him to elaborate.

“Things with Gran are not getting any better,” he finally confessed. “My parents are hell-bent on sending her to a home and nothing I say makes a difference anymore. They were going to send her when I left for college anyway. It just... It sucks.”

“I know it’s not what you want to hear,” Cami said, offering her two cents. “But maybe you should check out the facilities to see if they are actually as bad as you’ve made them out to be in your head.”

“Maybe.”

“I hate seeing you down and out all the time,” she said, tucking her arm through his. “It’s okay to admit that you can’t handle all of this on your own. There are paid professionals that are equipped to handle her condition.”

“I know,” he finally said. “I just hate feeling helpless.”

“Join the club.” She smiled halfheartedly.

“You are far from helpless, Cami-girl.” He looked down at her giving her that smile that she’d fallen for all those years ago, his dimples showing just enough to remind her how happy-go-lucky he used to be.

“So are you.” She nudged her shoulder against his before unlatching her arm from his to open her locker. “You know I’m always here for you, right? I mean, if you ever want me to go with you to check out a place for Gran, I’ll be there.”

“Thanks. Maybe I’ll make some calls. See what I can find.” He placed his backpack into his locker and shut it. “And about the other night,” he said, finally bringing up their desperate attempt at rekindling their relationship. More like a desperate attempt to forget the people in their lives that were threatening their sanity on a daily basis.

“Can we not?” Cami quickly interjected, earning a questioning look from Hayden. “Do we really need to talk about it? It was just a kiss. I think we said all we need to about it, don’t you?”

“I do.” He nodded. “Just wanted to make sure we were good.”

“We’re great,” she confirmed. “In fact, you’re about the most stable person in my life.”

“Likewise,” he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders for a quick hug. The final nail had been driven into the lid of the coffin containing their romantic relationship, but their friendship was stronger than ever. “I’ll catch you after school. Let you know if I have any luck on finding a place that isn’t terrible for Gran.”