Road Trip with the Best Man

by Sophie Pembroke

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  COOPER WATCHED DAWN walk out of the door and knew in that instant she’d taken his heart with her.

  Well, it wasn’t as if he’d be using it, anyway. He’d probably hardly notice it was gone, once he got back to work.

  ‘Is she right?’ Justin asked, sounding oddly anxious.

  Turning to face his brother, Cooper raised his eyebrows. ‘Right about what?’

  Justin shifted from one foot to the other, looking from the ring on the side table to his brother. ‘Do you really think no one could love you for anything but your money?’

  ‘Don’t you?’ Cooper asked bluntly.

  Because that was how it worked. People used love, sex and even friendship to get what they wanted out of the world. And what people wanted most, in Cooper’s experience, was exactly what he had: money and power.

  Why would anyone want anything else from him?

  ‘I think I might have just made a huge mistake,’ Justin said.

  Blood pounded in Cooper’s ears. ‘You want Dawn back.’ Hadn’t he known it would come to this?

  But Justin laughed. ‘No, you idiot. And, even if I did, she wouldn’t have me.’

  ‘You’ve got as much money as I have. Why wouldn’t she?’

  ‘Because she’s in love with you.’

  Cooper shook his head and threw himself onto the pale-blue couch his mother thought was calming, but had the most uncomfortable cushions in the world. ‘So now you believe her motives are pure.’

  ‘I think I might have misunderstood them.’ Justin dropped to perch on the coffee table in front of Cooper, his expression sincere. ‘I met Cynthia at work, two weeks before the wedding. I told myself that I was imagining the connection between us, that it was just lust or something. Dawn was everything I’d ever wanted in a wife, so what reason did I have to look elsewhere, right? But I couldn’t deny the way I felt when I was with Cynthia, and I couldn’t avoid her, because we had to work together. And, with every moment that passed, I became more and more certain that she was perfect for me.’

  ‘Why didn’t you say something? Call things off earlier?’ Cooper asked.

  ‘Because I’m a coward. And I didn’t want it to be my fault.’

  Cooper huffed a small laugh. That made sense. Justin never had liked taking the blame for anything.

  ‘When I found that credit card statement, I thought about everything you went through with Rachel and I thought...what if this is the same? And maybe I convinced myself it could be, so I had an excuse to not show up at the altar that day.’ Justin looked up, his gaze locking with his brother’s. ‘I don’t regret not marrying Dawn. It wasn’t meant to be, not the way I’m meant to be with Cynthia.’

  They all find their true love and get married within two years.

  Dawn’s voice echoed in Cooper’s head. She was right; it had happened again.

  But it wouldn’t for him. He was sure of that.

  ‘So, you don’t think she’s a gold-digger?’ Cooper asked.

  Justin shook his head. ‘And neither do you. Do you?’

  ‘No.’ Cooper sighed. ‘I’ve known she couldn’t be since almost the day we set out on this road trip, although I tried to convince myself otherwise. I wanted to believe you, brother. And I needed a reason to—’ He broke off.

  ‘To keep your hands off her?’ Justin guessed.

  ‘Something like that.’

  ‘But the point is, Coop, if she’s not after your money, you must have something else she wants.’

  ‘Like?’ Because, for the life of him, Cooper couldn’t imagine what else he had that was worth a damn.

  ‘Like your heart,’ Justin said gently.

  But Cooper didn’t have that to give. Dawn had already taken it.

  And suddenly he wasn’t at all so sure he could live without it. Not without holding hers in return.

  He jumped to his feet. ‘I have to go.’

  Laughing, Justin tossed him a set of car keys. ‘Her passport’s in the glove box. Save me a courier fee.’

  ‘You can spend the savings on our wedding present,’ Cooper called back over his shoulder.

  * * *

  Dawn drove and drove. Focussing on the road ahead of her meant that she didn’t have to think about everything she’d just walked out on. And, when the thoughts crowded in anyway, she turned Elvis up louder on the radio and let him block out her own pain with songs of his heartache.

  Eventually, though, she needed to stop. Even Claudia, the best ride in the country, got a little uncomfortable after a while—and besides, she needed coffee if she was going to do this drive alone.

  A familiar sign flashed on the roadside up ahead, and without thinking Dawn turned towards it, parking Claudia alongside Caroline’s Diner and trying to forget the man with whom she’d stopped here last.

  Inside, everything was just as it had been the day before, as if her whole world hadn’t shifted and quaked since then.

  The same waitress who’d served them yesterday brought Dawn a coffee without even being asked, and Dawn sat and sipped it while staring at the menu without reading the words.

  Justin had been cheating on her. He’d honestly believed she’d only wanted his money.

  And now he’d convinced Cooper of the same.

  And Cooper, idiot, believed him. Not because he didn’t know Dawn, but because he didn’t know himself.

  Oh, he probably thought he did, but he had no idea. She could sympathise, though. She’d spent long enough being someone she wasn’t for other people. She just wished she could have taught Cooper how to break away from that too.

  She’d wondered, all through their trip, how to reconcile the Cooper she was getting to know with the one she’d heard stories about. The serious, boring workaholic who was too busy for family, or friends, or love. The business shark who always got the best deal, who protected the family finances and business interests. The protective older brother who didn’t approve of Dawn.

  None of those people were the Cooper she knew. The one he’d been on their road trip.

  She wished she could show him the man she’d fallen in love with.

  She wished he could see him too.

  The bell over the door to the diner rang, but Dawn didn’t turn around. There was no one coming for her.

  But then the jukebox kicked in and Elvis started playing.

  She frowned. Coincidence. It was just that sort of diner.

  Then Cooper slid into the seat opposite her, and hope flared in her heart again.

  ‘You were right,’ he said.

  Dawn sipped her cold coffee. ‘About what?’

  ‘Let’s say everything, just to be on the safe side.’

  ‘Probably a good idea.’

  Cooper sighed. ‘I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Dawn. You know I—’

  ‘I know.’ At least, she thought she did. ‘You know I’m not after your money.’

  ‘I do. I just... I struggle to see what else you could want.’

  ‘Why?’ When it was so blindingly obvious to her, how much more he had to offer.

  Running a hand through his hair, Cooper stared across the table at her. ‘I told you about Rachel.’

  ‘Just because one woman only wanted you for nefarious reasons, doesn’t mean they all will, you know.’

  ‘It wasn’t just one.’ Cooper looked away out of the window and Dawn felt her heart sink.

  ‘Tell me.’ Reaching across, she took his hand in hers and listened.

  ‘When I was twenty-one, and just starting out at the company, my mother brought in this student-placement candidate called Melanie and asked me to show her around. She was gorgeous, and funny, and I played the big guy on campus, showing off for her.’

  ‘So far, so normal. Who wouldn’t?’

  ‘Yeah, well. What
I didn’t know was that she was taking all the company secrets I let slip in an attempt to impress her and passing them on to her boyfriend, who just so happened to work for our competitor.’

  Dawn winced. ‘Ouch.’

  ‘That’s why I should have known better, when Rachel came along. Why I should have listened to Justin when he tried to tell me what she was really like.’

  ‘And why you listened to him this time,’ Dawn guessed.

  ‘Exactly.’

  She sighed. It wasn’t as if she didn’t understand his position. Wasn’t as though she didn’t have fears of her own—that Cooper would turn out to be like every other guy, running off to find his true love the moment he was done with her.

  She couldn’t know it wouldn’t happen. She just had to have faith.

  And so did he.

  ‘You told me you don’t know what else I could want from you,’ she said slowly. ‘And I get that in the past people have wanted your money, or your business, or whatever. But to me? That’s the least interesting thing about you.’

  ‘Then what is it that you want?’ Cooper asked.

  Dawn smiled. That one was easy. ‘I want the man I went on this road trip with. The man who explored weird roadside attractions with me and sang Elvis too loudly with the top down.’ Was that so much to ask?

  Apparently so. ‘The thing is, Dawn...that man doesn’t exist. He’s...he’s like you with Justin. He’s me pretending to be someone else, just for a little while. Just for the escape.’

  Dawn tilted her head as she looked at him. ‘I think you’re wrong.’

  ‘You think you know me better than myself?’ Cooper asked, eyebrows raised.

  How presumptive would she have to be to say yes?

  Except she did. And he was still wrong.

  She took a breath and let it out fast. ‘Yes. I’m pretty certain I do.’

  ‘Go on, then. Tell me about myself.’ Cooper leaned back in his seat and waited.

  The words came without her even having to plan them. A truth she was so sure of she didn’t even have to think. She just believed. ‘I think, this last week, you were being the person you wanted to be. Free from work and everything else, you got to be yourself, maybe for the first time in years. And I think you liked it.’

  ‘Doesn’t change the fact that I have to go back to normal on Monday morning,’ Cooper pointed out.

  ‘It could.’ He looked at her with confusion, and Dawn sighed. ‘I spent months trying to be the woman I thought Justin wanted, right? I was playing a part. But, with you, I was myself. And I think you’re looking at it the wrong way round. The person you’re going back to when you walk into the office on Monday...that’s the act. That’s you being who you think you need to be. But you don’t. You could be my Cooper, all the time.’

  ‘Yours, huh?’ Cooper gave her a small smirk.

  Dawn stood her ground. This wasn’t a joke. This was their future. Possibly. ‘If you wanted.’

  And he did want. She could see it in his eyes. The only question was whether he’d let himself have it. ‘And if I do? What happens now?’

  Wasn’t that the million-dollar question? Dawn sighed, swirling the last of her coffee around in her cup while she considered her answer.

  Love had always been easy for her. It was making it last she’d struggled with. And this, she knew, was her best chance. She had to do this right, and she had to do it her way. As herself.

  ‘I have to go back to California,’ she said eventually. ‘I have a job to get back to. I have to check on my family, distribute Buffalo Bill keyrings before they all fly home. I have to sort out my life, myself. Figure out how to live as me again, before I can do anything else.’

  ‘And us?’ Cooper asked. ‘What happens there?’

  She looked up at him, smiling sadly. ‘I think you need to do the same thing. I think you need to go figure out the Cooper you want to be, in the real world, not just on the road. And then...’

  ‘And then we can try,’ Cooper finished for her. ‘See who we are together.’

  ‘Exactly,’ Dawn said, relieved that he seemed to get it.

  She didn’t want to leave him. But she needed to know that she’d be able to stay—and so would he. Needed to know who she was on her own, before she let anyone else in again. And just in case, once she was gone, Cooper did what everyone else had done and found what he was really looking for—and that it wasn’t her.

  It was a risk, but one she knew she had to take.

  Maybe she wouldn’t find her happy-ever-after with Cooper. But she wanted to give it her best shot. As herself.

  Cooper lifted her hand from the table. ‘I’ve got your passport in the car. I’ll drive you to the airport in Claudia. Justin can get a ride out here and pick up his car himself.’

  ‘Eager to get rid of me?’ she asked.

  ‘Eager to get you back again.’ He frowned. ‘Should we set a date? A place?’

  Dawn considered. ‘Three months.’ If she couldn’t get things together in that amount of time, she probably never would. ‘You can pick the place.’

  Cooper’s smile made her feel a little nervous. ‘I’ll let you know,’ he promised.

  Dawn smiled back, already knowing that these were going to be the hardest and longest three months of her life.

  Three months later

  Kansas in November was cooler than Cooper had imagined it would be. Still, if everything went to plan, things should be warming up any time now.

  As long as Dawn showed up.

  It had been a long three months. Sure, they’d texted most days, and called from time to time, but the process of extracting themselves from the lives they’d been living for others, and finding the ones they wanted to live for themselves, had taken time and energy.

  Cooper had started small. Listening to Elvis in his office. Eating a burger for lunch now and then. Finding the quirkiest and weirdest New York attractions and visiting them. He’d started choosing his own clothes—ones he liked, rather than ones that matched what everyone else wore at the office.

  Next, he’d upped his game by actually taking weekends. Of course, he’d struggled to fill them alone, but it turned out that some of his colleagues could actually become friends, if he gave them the chance, so he’d tagged along on nights out, trips to sports events and even a birthday party or two.

  It all felt a little empty without Dawn, but even then he was happier than he’d been in years—except that week on the road with her.

  His biggest step, though, had been with the board of directors. It had taken some convincing, but between Justin and him they’d managed it—and, suddenly, Cooper’s whole life opened up with possibilities. Which was what led him here, to Kansas, in November.

  Standing beside the world’s biggest ball of twine with a diamond ring in his pocket.

  ‘That is one big ball of twine.’

  Cooper spun at the sound of her voice, moving towards her even before he saw her. When he did, he stopped and just drank in the image.

  She had her hair up, bouncing in a high ponytail that hit between her shoulder blades. Her bright pink lipstick matched her woollen coat, and her smile lit up his heart.

  ‘You came,’ he said, still amazed at how beautiful she was.

  ‘You think I’d miss the world’s biggest ball of twine? Never.’ Stepping closer, she braced a hand on his chest and stood on tiptoes to press a kiss to his mouth. ‘Besides, I missed you too much.’

  ‘I missed you too,’ he murmured back. ‘So much.’

  ‘So, I have news,’ Dawn said.

  ‘So do I.’ News he really, really hoped she’d like.

  ‘I quit my job,’ Dawn said. ‘Only, not really.’

  ‘That makes no sense.’

  She grinned. ‘I know. The thing is, I loved doing the marketing and promo side of my work, but
working with the same products all the time...it got a little dull. So I decided to go freelance, and my company hired me on the spot to keep doing what I’m doing, only for more money. Plus I get to take on other clients, too, and I can work from anywhere I want in the world.’

  ‘That sounds...perfect.’ And it happened to fit in perfectly with his plans too.

  ‘What’s your news?’

  ‘Justin and I decided to change the structure of the business,’ Cooper said, remembering his brother’s smile when he’d suggested it. ‘He’s taking over a lot of the stuff I used to do—which, since Cynthia wanted to move to New York anyway, is pretty much perfect for them.’

  ‘So what will you be doing?’ Dawn asked, a small frown in the middle of her forehead.

  ‘Basically? Whatever the hell I want.’

  She laughed. ‘You don’t take half-measures when it comes to designing your ideal life, do you?’

  ‘Why should I?’ Cooper asked. ‘The deal is that the business will utilise me in a consultant capacity—using my knowledge of the business and the market to troubleshoot wherever I’m needed. It means more time travelling, visiting different sites, different places.’

  ‘Sounds like you’ll be on the road a lot.’

  ‘Which is why I bought Claudia,’ he admitted. ‘And this.’ He pulled the ring from his pocket and held his breath.

  ‘You bought Claudia?’ Dawn asked, still caught up on the first part of his sentence. ‘The most impractical car in existence who only plays Elvis?’

  ‘You love that car. I’m also rather hoping you might like the ring.’

  Her eyes widened as she finally focussed on the diamond in his hand. ‘You want to marry me?’

  ‘I want to spend my life with you,’ he corrected. ‘On the road, at home, everywhere. I want to be with you. Everything else is negotiable.’

  ‘Except for Claudia.’

  ‘Hell, yes, we’re definitely keeping Claudia.’

  ‘I can live with that.’ Dawn finally raised her gaze from the ring to his eyes, and his breath caught at the hope and love he saw there.