by Gina LaManna
“So, you’re old fashioned, huh? Chivalrous? How quaint.”
“I can be,” he said, his voice taking on a low, throaty growl. “When I want to be.”
I choked on a bite of my ice cream and just about needed the Heimlich maneuver to breathe freely again. Thankfully, Cooper was able to give me one solid smack on the back, and I was returned to normal. Except for some lingering watery eyes, which we both pretended to ignore.
“Thank you,” I said, as we turned around a bend in the lake. I chanced a glance up at Cooper. “For all you’ve done for me. With the car this morning, the ice cream, helping out Allie last night...”
“You’re an expensive habit, Jenna.”
I laughed. “I’m afraid that’s true. I do have expensive taste.”
“I don’t mind,” he said mildly. “Though I do think it prudent to let you know that, if I hadn’t already bid on Allie, I would have made an offer on you last night.”
“Yeah, right. Matt bid a grand right off the bat.”
“You say that like it would have stopped me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Cooper. I’m not that expensive.”
He flashed me the smallest of smiles. “Don’t sell yourself short, Jenna McGovern.”
“I’m sorry about that,” I said. “It wasn’t fair to ask you to do that for Allie.”
“I didn’t do anything for Allie last night.”
“But—”
“I did it because I wanted to make you happy,” Cooper said. “I like Allie just fine, but I happen to know Harry Hart was going to bid a hundred bucks on her either way.”
“He was?” I turned to look at Cooper. “Why didn’t you let him?”
Cooper shrugged. “I didn’t want to let you down.”
“You most certainly didn’t.”
“I didn’t do it for her.”
“No, you did it for the children,” I said with a cheeky grin. “At the hospital.”
“Right,” Cooper said. “That, and because I like making you happy.”
“Well, you’re on a roll,” I said, gesturing with the ice cream. “This is delicious. Do you want to try a bite?”
“I’m afraid to find out what food that color would do to my intestines.”
I laughed. “There’s only one way to find out.”
Cooper hesitated, looking like the last thing he wanted to do was inhale a taste of bright blue and pink ice cream. However, when I dug in with the little sample spoons the woman behind the counter had given us, he gave a sort of shrug and leaned forward.
“What the hell,” he said, and then took a bite straight off the spoon.
“Not half bad, huh?” I said, once I grasped the fact that I’d just fed Cooper Dear ice cream off a spoon. “What do you think?”
He gave a shudder. “Way too sweet.”
“Just the way I like it. How’s your vanilla?”
Cooper took the sample spoon from my hand and dug it into his cone. “You tell me.”
I extended a hand to reach for the spoon, but Cooper deftly avoided my clutches and lifted it so that the bite hovered just beyond my lips. I had no choice but to lean forward and take a sample from him.
“Not bad,” I acknowledged. “But not all that exciting, either.”
“Sometimes there’s nothing wrong with a little routine,” Cooper said. “Excitement is overrated.”
“Is it?” I asked, digging into my ice cream. “And are we still talking about food?”
“There is one thing I wanted to talk to you about that is unrelated to food.”
I stopped in my tracks. “You cornered me with ice cream?”
“I wouldn’t say I cornered you,” Cooper said. “Like you said, you’re free to drive away at any time.”
I gave a pointed look at the sparkling water that spanned between me and my car. We were almost halfway around the lake, and short of breaking into a sprint (which was totally unrealistic considering I’d worn my cute wedge sandals that didn’t exactly strap on tightly), there wasn’t much I could do in the way of escaping the clutches of Cooper Dear. I gave a harrumph.
“It’s about Matt,” Cooper said carefully. “You won’t be happy with me saying any of this, so I’m just going to spit it out before you try to stop me.”
“You always want to get together and talk about Matt,” I said. “What is it this time?”
“I don’t feel comfortable with you going out on a date with him. Alone.”
“First of all,” I said. “Dates aren’t usually alone. They’re at a restaurant, a movie theater—somewhere there are plenty of people around.”
“Is that the sort of date you two are going on?”
“None of your business.”
“I’m making it my business because I’m concerned for your safety.”
“Let’s just say it’s the sort of date where he doesn’t take me halfway around a lake so I can’t escape a conversation,” I retorted.
“Do you want to escape?”
“If you’re worried about me being alone with Matt, you’ve got this all wrong.” I ignored his question. “I’ve been alone with Matt almost every day since I arrived in town.”
Cooper looked down at his ice cream. His eyebrows furrowed as he licked at a runaway droplet melting down the side. “I see.”
“We’re going to a public place,” I said. “I don’t know where. Dinner. We’re keeping things simple.”
“Often when people go on dates, they drive to the destination together—in a car, all alone. Sometimes, they go home together.”
“What sort of dates are you going on?” I shot back. “This is a first date—no one’s going home with anyone. And anyway, in case you’ve forgotten, I have already slept over at Matt’s. He let me into his house when I was your murder suspect. How soon we forget.”
“Come on, Jenna. I didn’t know you back then.”
“I don’t know that it would have made any difference. You know Matt now, and you’re still investigating him.”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“Matt and I... are acquaintances,” Cooper said after some thought. “I wouldn’t say we’re friends.”
“And you and I are?”
He gave an exasperated sigh. “Hell if I know.”
I ignored his subtle jab. “If you took me out all this way just to try and convince me not to go on my date with Matt, you’ve wasted your breath. He won the auction fair and square, and I have no reason to think I’m in any danger whatsoever around my friend. So, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be going on my date. End of story.”
Cooper glanced at his feet. “Fine. I just wanted to voice my concerns.”
“Are you still actually looking into him as a suspect?” I asked. “I have to think that even you, with all of your macho police work—”
“My macho police work?”
“You know.” I shifted from one foot to the next. “With all of your, ‘I have to be fair to everybody’ attitude.”
“Ah.”
“Despite all that, I think deep down you don’t believe Matt did it. You know him better than you let on.”
“Then who did it, Jenna?” Cooper asked. “Who was at Matt’s house that day, waiting with a blunt object? Who else had the means and motive to kill Matt’s ex-girlfriend?”
“I don’t know. But I do know there was someone. It wasn’t Matt.”
“Fine,” Cooper said. “Then I’d encourage you to wait to go on your date with Matt until we’ve cleared him. You do that, and I promise I won’t say another word about it.”
“Yeah, right.”
“I’m giving you my word.”
“I mean, I’m not waiting,” I said. “There’s nothing to clear. Matt is my friend and a great neighbor. If he wants to go out tomorrow, I’ll do it. If he wanted to do anything to harm me, he could have already. He’s had plenty of opportunities. He’s not a killer.”
Cooper did some more cleanup of his ice cream cone, which wa
s rapidly melting. I didn’t have such problems, seeing as most of my cone had already disappeared. I was a stress eater, and Cooper was stressing me out.
“You obviously don’t have enough evidence to arrest Matt,” I said. “Otherwise, you would have done so already. So, what do you have?”
To my surprise, Cooper shrugged. “Not a ton. Her phone is missing, though. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
“Why would I know where her phone ended up?”
“I don’t know,” Cooper said. “You have a habit of poking your nose into things around murder investigations. You were at the crime scene that day, and you’ve been asking questions around town. If you’ve found anything that could be used as evidence...”
I inhaled a sharp breath and popped the last bite of ice cream cone in my mouth. I chomped angrily, swallowing before I resumed speaking. I really didn’t want to fall victim to another Heimlich maneuver. At least, not from Cooper. And I most certainly didn’t want to die in front of him.
“Are you thinking I would hide evidence in a murder case?”
“That’s not what I’m saying. I’m just asking.”
“No, you’re insinuating.”
“You’ve got a lot of blind faith in Matt,” Cooper said, coming to a stop in front of me. “I’m just saying, if there’s something that could help us put the real killer behind bars...”
“I would never hide evidence,” I said. “Even if it looked bad for Matt.”
“Really?” Cooper said. “You seem like you value loyalty above almost all else.”
“Not murder!”
“Great,” Cooper said. “That’s what I wanted to hear. So, if you happen to find anything incriminating against Matt, you’d turn it in?”
“I would,” I retorted. “But I haven’t, and I won’t. Because he’s innocent. I think I should be getting home.”
“We’re just about back to the car,” Cooper said. “Let me walk you to your new vehicle.”
“Speaking of said vehicle, I don’t feel great about taking a loan from you.”
“Well, I feel a little great that you’re not driving in a time bomb that’s due to explode at any second.”
“I don’t even feel particularly great about that fun fact. That’s how much I hate owing people anything.”
“You can pay me back. We already talked about it.”
“I don’t like you swooping in to try and help me when I can take care of a situation myself.”
“Jenna, are we friends?”
Cooper’s question caught me off guard. More curious was the way he stopped mid path, throwing his arms wide in a genuine look of confusion.
“Y-yes,” I said. “Well, at least, I think so. Sometimes I think so, other times, I’m not so sure.”
“Why?”
“Because you can be so aggravating!” I threw in the tiniest stomp of my super-cute wedge heels for emphasis. “We get so close to being friends—or whatever—and then you go and do something like this.”
“Like what?”
“This Matt thing,” I said. “I was having a nice time just walking and chatting and slurping ice cream, and then you brought up the murder case. You must have known you’d be picking a fight with me; you know exactly where I stand. I can’t help but feel like you brought me here just to grill me.”
“That’s not true at all.”
“Then, there’s the car thing. I really appreciate what you did for me back there, Cooper. I hope you know that,” I said, waving an arm for emphasis. “But there was a different way to go about it. I was trying to be independent and handle myself in front of Eddie, and you just swooped in and took over.”
“I wasn’t aware I was doing so much swooping.”
“You have a tendency to swoop.”
“I’m sorry.”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
“I said, I’m sorry,” Cooper said softly. He looked down at the sad ice cream cone in his hand. It drooped, a spot of vanilla plunking to the ground. “I didn’t realize I was making you feel that way. I only did it because I do see you as a friend, Jenna.”
“I feel the same about you,” I admitted. “And I’m sorry to explode on you, but it’s what I’m feeling, and I’m not good at keeping emotions inside.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. Anyway, it’s probably best if I get going.”
“Cooper—”
“I don’t know how to fix the car thing,” Cooper said. “You can pay me back if it makes you feel better. But don’t worry about it. I didn’t... I would have done it either way. Nobody deserves to be driving a Pinto around if they can help it.”
“Cooper—”
“I’ll follow you home,” he said. “If that’s okay with you. I like Eddie, but I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him. And that isn’t far.”
“I don’t know, it seems like you’ve got decent muscles.”
“Eddie’s a big guy.”
We exchanged the smallest of smiles.
“Are we okay?” I asked finally.
Cooper nodded. “I think we are.”
“Thanks for the ice cream. And the car.”
“Thanks for the company.”
We’d arrived at my vehicle, and Cooper opened the door.
He paused. “I had a nice day.”
“Me too.”
We lingered—me scooting into the driver’s seat while Cooper stood by the door. Our gaze met for a long moment. Then the last blop of Cooper’s ice cream plopped to the ground.
I gave him another weak smile and twisted the key in the ignition. “I’ll see you around.”
“In your rearview mirror,” Cooper said with a grin. “At least until we hit the highway. If this bad boy starts to wobble above sixty, don’t push it.”
Chapter 15
The drive home went surprisingly well, considering I was operating a vehicle that was half-log-cabin and half-recovered-scrap-metal. The entire ride back, I kept an eye in my cracked rearview mirror on Cooper as he followed me home.
When I turned onto my street, I hit dial on my phone and watched in the reflection as Cooper answered behind me.
“Yes,” he said slowly. “Can I help you?”
“I’m good,” I said. “Just a few blocks until I’m home.”
“You called to tell me that?”
“You’re still following me,” I said. “Are you hoping for an invitation inside my house?”
“I’m not that stupid. You’re annoyed at me.”
“I’m not sure I’d use the word annoyed.”
“What word would you use?”
“Well, it will be annoyed pretty soon if you don’t get back to work. I’ve already taken up enough of your time.”
“Normally, I’d be flattered at your thoughtfulness.”
“I am a nice person.”
“That you are,” Cooper agreed. “So why do I suspect you really wanted to drive somewhere else, and my ensuring your safe return home put a cramp in your plans?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I said. “I’m just going home.”
“Any plans for the rest of the day?”
“I need to buy coffee beans so I don’t give myself a concussion tomorrow morning.”
“Right,” Cooper said. “Well, good luck with that. I’ll see you around. And Jenna—”
I held my breath as he cut himself off mid-sentence.
“Never mind.”
“You can’t do that!” I retorted. I pulled into my driveway and swiveled around to face Cooper, but he didn’t stop. He just pulled a U-Turn and headed back in the opposite direction. “What were you going to say? Don’t leave me with a cliffhanger.”
Cooper laughed. “Nothing. You almost don’t sound mad at me, and I’d like to keep it that way. It isn’t destined to last long, so I’d like to enjoy it for as long as possible.”
“Cooper—”
“Just be careful,” he said finally. “Whatever you’re up to, please take
care of yourself.”
“Fine,” I growled. “I will.”
He laughed again. “I’ll talk to you later, Jenna.”
I turned the car off and sat in my driveway for a long moment. Just in case Cooper got it in his little investigative brain to turn around and swing back to check on me.
Then I remembered that I was an adult (with my own car!) and didn’t have to report to anyone. Not Cooper, not my mother, not Matt. I had my freedom back. Well, I had freedom for as long as a quarter tank of gas would last me, and then I’d get my freedom back once I got my next paycheck.
Reversing out of the driveway, I headed toward Butternuts and Bolts autobody shop. When I passed by the precinct, I slouched some in my seat, just in case Cooper happened to be peeking out the windows. Not that it would make any difference, seeing as my vehicle wasn’t exactly inconspicuous.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I didn’t see Cooper or his vehicle anywhere. However, my relief was short-lived. My phone rang and one glance at caller ID told me it was Allie.
“Hello?” After hitting answer, I turned on speaker to be hands-free. I didn’t need a ticket from Cooper, and my car was a long way from being equipped with nifty features like a functioning Bluetooth system.
“What happened to you?”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “I’m actually just passing the thrift shop. All is good.”
“I know, I saw you,” Allie said. “Cooper told us you got a new car.”
“When’d you see Cooper?”
“June’s cafe,” Allie said easily. “I can actually still see you coming down the street now. Pull over, will you?”
I heaved a sigh but did as she asked, wheeling the car into the parking lot of June’s café. There’d be no more anonymous driving for Jenna McGovern. Once the crowd at the Blueberry Cafe caught sight of my vehicle, they’d all know exactly where I was every time I left my house.
Allie and my mother were waiting for me outside of the cafe.
“Mom,” I said with a nod. “Allie.”
I waited for them to say something about my car. It took a while. They rounded the outside first, taking it in from all angles. The expression on my mother’s face said more than words.