The Sea Glass Cottage

by RaeAnne Thayne

  “She said she has a migraine, so she called Caitlin and asked if she would come down with us.”

  Cooper smiled at the girl, struck again by how much she looked like her mother.

  Someone else he couldn’t save.

  “Thanks, Caitlin. Nice of you to help out.”

  “You’re welcome,” she said without meeting his gaze.

  Odd. Her face was pink and she looked like she wanted to be anywhere else in town. To be fair, if he had just run down the hill after three little boys, he might feel the same.

  “This shouldn’t take long,” Olivia said. “We only have about a dozen plants to put in the ground.”

  “Do we have to pull any weeds? I hate pulling weeds,” Charlie said.

  “That part, lucky for you, is done. You only have to do the fun part now—planting the garden, while I take pictures of you.”

  He wasn’t dreading that as much as he had expected, Cooper realized, surprised to discover more of his dark mood lifting. His day had been hard, but there was undeniable peace in being here with the boys and Olivia and her niece, planting something in anticipation of a big reward at some future time, even if he had to have his picture taken.

  25

  CAITLIN

  She was being so stupid.

  Caitlin wanted to dig a deep hole in the corner of his garden and bury her head in it.

  What was wrong with her? She couldn’t seem to put two words together. Everything she did say came out sounding backward and ridiculous.

  Cooper Vance would never want to even speak to her again, let alone have a father-daughter relationship with her.

  After a full day of trying to process the DNA results, she still couldn’t accept the idea that she had found her dad. None of it seemed real, like it was something she was reading about in a book, happening to someone else.

  She had a father. And she couldn’t even say two words to him without fumbling and stuttering over her words.

  She almost passed out when Melody called her, explaining that she had a migraine and asking if Caitlin would mind walking the boys down to the fire station so they could do the photo shoot with Olivia and Cooper. Her dad.

  She had almost said no. She wasn’t ready to see him again. It felt as if a bomb had exploded in her life and she needed like a week or two or twenty to process everything she had figured out the night before.

  DNA didn’t lie. That was what she kept saying to herself over and over again. If Melody was a close relative of hers, that had to mean Melody’s brother was Caitlin’s father. She couldn’t come up with any other explanation.

  Why hadn’t the genealogy website explained to her how she was supposed to have a conversation with someone who didn’t have any idea they were connected to her?

  “Want to help plant a couple?” Chief Vance asked her now.

  “Great idea,” Olivia said, gesturing with her camera at Caitlin. “You’re so photogenic. You would be great in the shots. We can show it’s a real community effort. Kids, teens, everyone.”

  She did not want to plant some stupid vegetables, but she couldn’t think of any way to get out of it. “Okay,” she said, looking down at the dirt. Anywhere but at Cooper or Olivia.

  “Here’s a shovel,” her aunt said. “Just make enough room for the start.”

  Caitlin had spent her entire childhood at the garden center. Jeez. She kind of knew by now how to put a plant in the ground, but she didn’t want to sound like too much of a brat in front of the fire chief, so she obediently followed directions.

  “Now a little water,” Chief Vance said.

  “Can we use the fire hose?” Ryan asked eagerly, which made Cooper smile.

  Did they have the same smile? She kind of thought so. Their mouths were shaped the same and she had that same little dent in her chin. Her butt chin, Jake called it.

  “I’m afraid the pressure of the fire hose would kill the plants,” Cooper said. “How about we just fill a bucket from the faucet there?”

  “What’s the fun in that?”

  He smiled and rubbed Ryan’s head in a kind of cute, sweet way. Caitlin couldn’t seem to look away from the sight of that big hand on the little kid’s head, a deep ache in her chest.

  Suddenly, she was aware of something else churning inside her. Something she completely hadn’t expected.

  She was angry. Full-on pissed. And she hadn’t realized it until right this instant.

  Why hadn’t he been around to rub her head or smile like that at her? She’d never had a dad to teach her how to ride a bike or take her fishing or take her to daddy-daughter dances.

  Where the hell had he been all her life?

  He had slept with her mom. He must have. While that made her feel weird to think about, she had to face facts. He had slept with her mom, at least once. When Natalie showed up pregnant, why hadn’t he stepped up to take responsibility?

  She was finding it more and more difficult to believe he hadn’t known. He had been in the military but he hadn’t been on another freaking planet.

  Okay. She was willing to give him a little latitude. He must have been, what, nineteen when she was born? He was the same age as her mother, so that would have been about right. Maybe he had been too immature and hadn’t wanted to step up and be a father. That sucked, but she could understand it.

  What about now, though? He wasn’t a nineteen-year-old kid now. He was a man. Her dad, who had made zero effort to reach out to her.

  She couldn’t do this anymore.

  “You should at least smile and pretend you’re enjoying yourself,” Olivia said.

  Why would she do that?

  “Are we done here?”

  “I think so.”

  “Good. Can you make sure the boys get back home? I have homework to do. I can’t spend all night here.”

  Otis whined and Cooper seemed a little taken aback by her sharp words, but Olivia didn’t react. Her aunt was probably used to her by now, which made Caitlin feel like the biggest beyotch on the planet.

  “I think so,” Olivia said. “Thanks for helping.”

  “Definitely,” Chief Vance said, giving her another smile that made her chest ache. “I’m sure Melody really appreciates you giving her a break, too.”

  Maybe if she’d had more time to prepare, she wouldn’t be such a mess about being with him right now.

  “Do you want me to take Otis with me?”

  “No,” Olivia said. “He’s fine to hang out here.”

  “And don’t worry about the boys. I can drop them off on my way home.”

  “All right.”

  She turned to go, suddenly afraid she would do something completely ridiculous like burst into tears, for no reason at all.

  “If you wait a couple of minutes, I can give you a ride back to Sea Glass Cottage,” Olivia offered.

  “I prefer to walk,” she snapped, then turned away feeling horrible and cranky.

  She was an awful person, she thought. Since Olivia had been back in Cape Sanctuary, she had been nothing but kind to her, but Caitlin couldn’t get past words her aunt had written years and years ago. She was a big baby. It was no wonder her dad didn’t want anything to do with her.

  She walked back up Harper Hill, her eyes burning. Tears began to drip down before she even made it to the house.

  She thought she would be so happy once she found her father. Taking that DNA test was supposed to be the answer to everything, all the questions that had haunted her throughout her life.

  Now that she knew the truth, why did she feel worse than ever?

  OLIVIA

  Olivia watched Caitlin stalk away, all too familiar with the frustrated feeling.

  What had she said this time? She went over the interaction of the past fifteen minutes and couldn’t figure out any triggers that might have set Caitlin
off.

  Everything was going fine. Then suddenly Caitlin’s mood had changed abruptly, as if somebody had made the mistake of flipping her angry switch.

  Olivia was beginning to think just her very existence was enough to annoy her niece. Stubborn girl. She sighed. It was at least half a mile back to the house from the fire station. She wanted to call her back and insist Caitlin allow her to give her a ride, but held her tongue. If Caitlin wanted to work off some of her pubescent angst by walking, Olivia wasn’t about to stop her.

  “What was that all about?”

  She glanced at Cooper, trying not to notice how gorgeous he looked in jeans and a fire department T-shirt that clung to his muscles.

  Who was she fooling? The man was so hot, she could barely keep her hands off him.

  “Who knows? Welcome to my life. Caitlin is always mad at me for something.”

  He looked after her niece, frowning. “Funny. I got the distinct impression she was mad at me.”

  “Why would she be mad at you? She barely knows you.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe she has a thing against herb gardens.”

  “I doubt that. She couldn’t be a Harper, Juliet’s granddaughter, and be opposed to any kind of garden. I can tell you that trying to figure out what goes on in that girl’s head is guaranteed to give anyone a migraine. Your garden is lovely. I hope you can harvest some fresh herbs for years to come and make delicious meals for the fire department.”

  “Thanks for your help.”

  “And look! We’ve already got twenty comments on the post.”

  “Yippee,” he said, his tone and expression conveying exactly the opposite of the enthusiastic word.

  “You’ve been a good sport. The mayor will be happy and hopefully it will bring more people to the fund-raiser. That’s the important thing.”

  “You’re right. Thanks for the reminder.”

  He looked so tired suddenly, his features tight and tiny lines spanning out from his eyes. Since the moment she arrived at the fire station, she had sensed something was wrong, something she suspected had nothing to do with her or this photo shoot.

  She thought he had perked up after the boys arrived, but now she could see traces of that discouragement return.

  Caitlin was heading home. And Juliet wasn’t there, which meant Olivia had an hour or two free.

  She suddenly had an idea that might lift his spirits while also giving his sister a break from having to fix dinner. It meant she would have to spend more time with him than she knew was good for her, but she would somehow manage.

  “Hey, it’s such a pretty evening, I was thinking about grabbing a pizza from DiPalma’s and eating at the park. Are you guys interested? It would be my treat, my way to pay you back for helping me out.”

  “Yay!” Charlie exclaimed.

  “We love pizza,” Will informed her.

  “I want to go to the park!” Ryan added, as if the food was incidental.

  They all turned their attention to Cooper. He hesitated, then gave a smile that seemed mostly genuine.

  “Sure. Pizza is always good.”

  “Great. It will take me a few to check in with Melody and give her the new plan, then order the pizza. I just hope she hasn’t planned something for dinner.”

  “I think she was making a casserole,” Will said. “But she could always eat it herself and give us leftovers tomorrow.”

  She smiled at his logic. “That’s true. Okay. I’ll call her to make sure she doesn’t mind. If it’s okay with your mom, then I’ll order the pizza. You guys have to promise you won’t complain if your mom wants you home. We can do the park another time.”

  “We won’t,” they all promised. She wasn’t sure she believed them but the point was moot anyway, since Melody was thrilled to have an evening to herself.

  “Are you sure it’s not too much trouble?”

  “Not at all,” Olivia said, glad she could give her friend a break.

  Once that was settled, she called to order the pizza, instructing the delivery driver to meet them at the park, then grabbed a blanket out of the back of her SUV.

  “Everybody ready?” she asked when Cooper and the boys rejoined her after putting away the tools.

  “Ready!” all three boys called at once.

  They headed off for the two blocks from the fire station to the largest city park, Driftwood Park, which led down to an easily accessible beach.

  The boys fought over who could hold Otis’s leash, so she came up with the idea of setting a timer on her phone and having them trade off every three minutes.

  “You’re full of surprises,” Cooper said as they walked. “I know you’re putting in long days at Harper Hill and also running your own business. Keeping track of three active boys is probably the last thing you must feel like doing.”

  “I don’t mind,” she answered honestly. “I didn’t have anything else going on tonight.”

  “Where’s your mom?”

  “If you can believe it, Henry Cragun took her down the coast to look at a job site. This is their second trip down there in a week.”

  “That’s nice.”

  “Especially because that gives me my first evening free since I’ve been back. I would love to spend it watching the sunset over the water and Driftwood Park has a great view.”

  “That does sound nice.”

  “If Melody has a migraine, she could probably use a rest, too. Or if she’s feeling better, she could go to the grocery store on her own or sit in her beautiful garden and read a book.”

  She was painfully aware of him walking beside her, tall and tough, his features unreadable.

  “You are a good person, Olivia Harper,” he said gruffly after a moment.

  She basked in the warmth of his words, though she knew they weren’t precisely true. She was still haunted by the events in that coffee shop. If she were truly a good person, she wouldn’t have cowered under that booth. She would have stood up to protect the barista the moment the attack started.

  If she were a good person, her relationship with Juliet wouldn’t feel so strained and difficult and maybe she could have a conversation with Caitlin without wanting to bang her head against the wall.

  “I’m not as good as I should be,” she admitted. “But I’m working on it.”

  “That’s what life is about, isn’t it? We’re all works in progress, aren’t we, just trying to become a little better every day?”

  Yes. He was exactly right. She was taking small steps, but at least she wanted to think she was heading in the right direction.

  They reached the park soon and headed for the grassy play area overlooking the beach, where she had told the pizza delivery service to find them.

  The sunset looked as if it would be spectacular, with puffy clouds on the horizon that would add depth and interest to the sky. She wished she had brought her good camera instead of leaving it locked back in her car but figured if the sunset was truly wonderful, she could at least capture it with her phone.

  The boys immediately hurried to the play area, soon swinging and going down the slide. They hadn’t been there long before the pizza driver showed up.

  “I got this,” Cooper said, pulling out his wallet.

  “Forget that! It was my idea,” she protested.

  They bickered for a moment, but then Cooper ended the argument by handing money to the driver, who closed his hand around the bills.

  “Keep the change,” Cooper said. The driver grinned at the big tip and hurried back to his truck before Olivia could stop him.

  The boys were instantly drawn to the food and hurried back to the blanket for a slice of pizza. Olivia had ordered root beer as well as a couple of water bottles. She wasn’t at all surprised when each of the boys went for the soda.

  They ate on the blanket, laughing while the boys tol
d knock-knock jokes and tried to do tongue twisters.

  She was glad she had a jacket as the evening air began to cool. It didn’t seem to bother the boys, who ate quickly and then hurried back to the playground.

  After they were gone, Cooper stretched out beside her on the blanket. “This was a good idea,” he said.

  “Thanks. I do have them once in a while.”

  “I think you have them more than once in a while,” he said, his eyes closed behind his sunglasses.

  Unable to resist, she snapped a couple of pictures of the boys playing together with her phone, lit by the fading light, to send to their mother. By the time she turned back to Cooper, his breathing was steady and she realized he had fallen asleep.

  He seemed relaxed and comfortable, with his ankles crossed and one hand above his head.

  Under other circumstances, she would have been tempted to take a picture of him for the fire department’s social media site, labeling it The Chief At Rest. It would definitely go viral, but she knew he would hate that. Anyway, it would be a gross invasion of his privacy.

  Instead, she watched him sleeping, noticing how the tension seemed to seep out of him as he truly relaxed his guard.

  She was failing miserably at protecting her heart around him. Every time she thought she was safe, that she couldn’t possibly fall for him, he did something sweet like help Charlie with his Rs in one of the tongue twisters or catch Ryan at the bottom of the slide or check in with his sister to see how she was feeling.

  Or trust her enough to fall asleep next to her.

  Yeah, she was falling hard.

  She watched the boys, trying not to give in to the panic suddenly kicking through her like Will beating against the air on the swings.

  She couldn’t. She had her life figured out. She was going back to Seattle as soon as it was safe for her mom to return to the garden center. She had an apartment there, a job, her company, a life.

  She couldn’t risk everything she had worked for by doing something completely stupid like opening herself up to having her heart broken—especially not by a man like Cooper. If she wasn’t brave enough to climb out from beneath that table at the coffeehouse, she certainly didn’t have the strength to take on a man like Cooper, who risked his life on a daily basis.