by Ciana Stone
“Heck, no disrespect, but Tom’s been doing the Chief’s job for years. It’s about time he got a promotion. And maybe you’re right. I should just go see him.”
“I think it’d be the smart move.”
“Okay. Thanks, Riley.”
He looked at her without speaking for a long moment. “Now, you want to tell me what’s really eating you?”
“Am I that transparent?”
“To me, yes. What’s up?”
Cody almost said nothing. She wasn’t sure she should say the words aloud but they were gnawing at her gut. “I don’t think Hannah and Cooper are really in love.”
“Pardon?”
“I don’t. I mean all Hannah talks about is the plans for the wedding and Cooper told me how much she’s spent and shit on a stick, it’s more than a lot of folks make in a year. But for her, it’s all about the spending and when Cooper wanted to call a stop to it and elope, Daddy Quinlan offered an all expenses paid, private jet and the works trip to Paris to be married and then an around the world honeymoon.”
“Nice. So the wedding is off?”
“Oh hell no. Hannah told Cooper to tell his dad they’d take it—but as a honeymoon. The wedding is still on.”
“Well, if both of them want it then—”
“That’s just it,” she interrupted. “When Cooper talks about them as a couple, it’s always about how she’ll be the perfect hostess and companion—how she can talk about fine wine and fit in with ritzy folks. He never says he loves her.”
“And you don’t think he does?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know him that well. But I do know Hannah and don’t think she’s nearly as in love with him as she is his money. She doesn’t light up when he calls or walks in the room. Not like she does with Bryson.”
“Bryson Weathers?”
“Yep. You know Weathers construction is doing all the work at the church on that pond and gazebo and all the stuff she’s having built for the wedding. Him and Hannah see each other more than she sees anyone and every time he calls, she lights up like a Christmas tree.”
“Well, maybe she’s just excited about what he has to say about the project.”
“No.” Cody shook her head. “I know my sister and…” It hit her in that moment and she saw it all clearly. “Oh my god. She’s in love with one man and planning on marrying another.”
“Now don’t go jumping—”
“No.” Cody leapt to her feet, nearly upsetting the swing. “What am I going to do? I can’t let her marry Cooper if she’s in love with Bryson.”
“But you don’t know that she is, Half Pint. And you can’t go running off half-cocked on this. You’re liable to make Hannah real mad, not to mention your mama.”
Cody knew he was right. She couldn’t go rushing to Hannah with this epiphany. But she couldn’t just do nothing. She’d just have to think on this and come up with a way to keep Hannah from making the biggest mistake of her life.
Chapter Eight
Hannah saw Cooper’s car pull into the driveway. She dreaded seeing him. All they had done the last week was argue. About everything, but mostly about Belinda Mae Smith. She couldn’t stand the idea that Cooper might be the father of Belinda’s daughter. Every time she considered it, she spiraled into a fit of weeping or a fit of rage.
At present, she wasn’t sure what she felt except confused and miserable. If Cooper would lie about being the father of a sweet little girl and then abandon her, would he do the same to Hannah?
When he tapped on the front door, Hannah was tempted to not answer. She didn’t know if she was up for another round of fighting. No matter that they normally ended up in bed having wild make-up sex, the fighting was getting old.
Still, she couldn’t leave him standing on the front porch so she opened the door. “Good morning.”
“Morning.” He walked in, stopping to kiss her softly. “You look beautiful.”
“Hardly.” Hannah knew better. Her hair was knotted up on top of her head, held in place with a big banana clip and her T-shirt and old boxer shorts had seen better days. “Want some coffee?”
“Love a cup.”
She led the way to the kitchen, fixed him a cup, topped off her own and carried both to the table.
“Hannah, please don’t be mad at me anymore.” He accepted the cup but didn’t sample.
“Maybe I could stop being mad if you’d just be honest with me.”
Cooper looked at his coffee cup and turned it around on the table for a minute. “Look, here’s the whole truth. I didn’t really have a relationship with Belinda. We just fucked. That’s it.”
“Just once?”
“No.” He looked up to meet Hannah’s gaze. “It went on for a couple of months.”
“Then it was a relationship.”
“Call it what you want, but for me it was just sex. She was hot, wild and eager and that’s all I was interested in. When she started making noises about us being a couple, I stopped calling or seeing her.”
“So you didn’t know she was pregnant?”
“No. I knew. I mean she told me she was, but I didn’t believe her and told her as much. And I didn’t see her after that until the baby was born and she came back, demanding support.”
“And you paid her off.”
“Yes. I did and I’m not ashamed of it and won’t apologize for it. I’m not that child’s father and the DNA test will prove it.”
“Well if you were so sure, then why did you pay her off? I mean, did you already have a DNA test done to prove you’re not the father?”
“No.”
“Then how could you be so sure?”
“Because she screwed anything in pants!”
“Oh, so she slept around, making you sure you weren’t the father, but you gave her money anyway? Why does that make no sense at all to me? I just can’t understand why you’d give her a dime.”
It was clear from the thundercloud of an expression on his face that Cooper was annoyed. “Well, frankly, how could you understand? You didn’t grow up as the son of one of the wealthiest men in the world. You have no idea the lengths people will go to try to take from you. They’ll pretend to be your friend, your lover and bilk you for every dollar they can. They’ll lie and try to blackmail you, or steal from you or anything else they can think of to get what you have. So, no, you couldn’t possibly understand, but I’ll make it clear and I’m only going to do this once. I paid her just to get rid of the bitch. I knew she’d take the money and run and that’s just what she did. But thanks to your sister, now she’s back, trying to run a con that’s already played out. So I’ll play along and take the test and it will prove once and for all I’m not the damn brat’s father.”
“And if it doesn’t?” she asked and held up her hand as he started to protest. “No, just hear me out. What, if in the one million to one chance the child is yours. What then?”
Cooper smiled. “My dad has already taken care of that. In the million to one chance she is, she’ll grow up in the finest boarding schools in Europe. We’ll never be bothered by her. Hell, we’ll never see her.”
“Really?” Hannah was shocked she could even get the word out. She felt like she was about to vomit. Who was this man? If this is who Cooper was, then clearly she didn’t know him at all.
“I promise. That brat won’t be a problem.”
“Well, then I guess that’s one less thing to worry about.” She glanced at the clock on the stove. “Oh my gosh, look at the time. I have to get a move on. I promised to help Mama this morning at the bakery and I have a million things to deal with for the wedding and—”
“I get it, get out of my hair, Cooper.” He chuckled, stood and walked around the table to take her hand and pull her to her feet. “So, dinner tonight?” he asked after a kiss.
“Damn, it’s my night to close at the bar.”
“I’ll be glad when we’re married and you quit that bar.”
Hannah smiled. “Well, we’re no
t going to make it to the altar on time if I don’t get everything taken care of so shoo, you. I’ll call you later.”
“Okay. Love you.”
“Right back at’cha!” She smiled widely and twiddled her fingers in a wave as he left.
Once she was alone, she fell back into her chair at the table. She wished Belinda Smith had never come back to Cotton Creek, or that she would up and leave. Thinking about that had her jumping to her feet and heading for her room.
Ten minutes later, she was dressed and headed out of the door. The drive to the ranch took half an hour, giving her time to think about the conversation she’d had with Cooper. It seemed as though he and his father had considered all alternatives and had come up with plans to handle any contingency.
She supposed that was easy to do when you had the resources at your disposal that Lucas Quinlan commanded. One day all of that would belong to Cooper. She couldn’t imagine what that would be like. Already Cooper was a wealthy man, and getting wealthier every day with the oil boom. But add Lucas Quinlan’s fortune and Cooper would be one of the richest men in the world.
Oh my god, I’ll be one of the richest women in the world.
So rich she could go anywhere, do anything, have anything. But could she ignore Cooper treating people with so little regard? Or was he treating Belinda that way? Hannah nearly screamed with frustration. On the one hand, Belinda had taken the deal he’d offered, taken his money and agreed in writing that he wasn’t the child’s father. So maybe Cooper was right and the DNA test would prove that he had no responsibility for the child.
But if it proved otherwise, what then? Could he really ship a little girl off to live with strangers? Deny her of a family and people to love her? Would he really do that or was that simply bravado, trying to assure Hannah that nothing would interfere with their plans?
Those thoughts occupied her the rest of the drive. When she pulled up in front of the house, she saw the Cody’s truck was missing.
It was too early for Cody to have headed for the bar. Hannah got out of her car and went into the house through the kitchen door. Cody sat at the kitchen table with Bernice, having breakfast.
“Well, hey.” Cody looked up as Hannah entered. “What brings you here?”
“Just wanted to have a chat with my sister.”
“Then take a load off.” Cody got up to get another cup from the cupboard. “Want some breakfast?”
“No, just coffee.” She took a seat at the table and looked at Bernice. “You must be Bernice.”
“Me is Bernice Smiff,” Bernice said around a mouthful of eggs. “Me is three.”
“Well hello, Bernice. I’m Hannah.”
“You is Cody friend?”
“Well, not exactly. I’m her sister.” It was clear the term was foreign to Bernice so Hannah smiled. “Yes, I’m Cody’s friend.”
“Me too. Me Cody friend. Best friend.”
“Well it’s sure nice to meet you.” Hannah chuckled. Bernice was adorable. She looked up at Cody as Cody put a cup of coffee on the table in front of her. “Thanks.”
“Sure. So you wanted to talk?”
Hannah cut a look at Bernice. “Maybe it would be best if we waited until after breakfast.”
Cody frowned but agreed. “Okay, whatever.” She looked at Bernice. “You want some more eggs, butterbean?”
“Me not a bean.”
Cody and Hannah both laughed. “You’re absolutely right, Bernice,” Hannah agreed. “You’re not a bean—you’re a pretty little princess.”
“Me has princess dress!” Bernice exclaimed and climbed down from her chair. “Me put on dress.”
Cody smiled. “Well, all righty then. Do you remember where it is?”
“Yes. Me know. Me do it. Me big.”
“Okay, then you go put it on and come show us.”
“Me be back.” Bernice scampered out of the room.
Hannah looked at Cody. “You just let her run around by herself?”
“I put all her stuff in the small room under the stairs and made it a play room for her.”
“What stuff? I thought they showed up with just the clothes on their back?”
Cody shrugged and started gathering up plates. “I took her to the consignment store and got her things.”
“Cody Sweet, you softy,” Hannah teased.
“Yeah, whatever.” Cody smiled and called out, “You doing okay, Bernice?”
“Me fine,” Bernice’s answer came back.
“Okay, so you wanted to talk,” Cody said as she rinsed the plates and stacked them in the sink.
“It’s about Belinda.” Hannah turned on the water into the other side of the sink. She squirted some dish detergent into the water and opened a drawer to take out a dish rag.
“What about her?” Cody handed her one of the rinsed plates.
“She needs to leave.” Hannah started washing. By the time she’d arrived at the ranch she’d convinced herself that if Belinda would just leave, everything could go back to the way it was and everyone could be happy again. She would have the biggest and finest wedding Cotton Creek had or would ever see and then she could leave and start living the good life with Cooper, enjoying all the things she’d dreamed of.
“Why?”
“Because she’s messing up everything.”
“How so?” Cody scraped out the frying pan and grabbed another rag to clean the stove and tabletop.
“With her claims about Cooper being Bernice’s father. You know she signed papers when Bernice was a baby that he wasn’t the father. And she took the money he offered. So what’s this all about now? She’s already admitted that he’s not the dad so why put him through the test?”
“Well, if he’s not, the DNA test will prove it. And if he is…well, I guess you guys will start married life as a family.”
“Not going to happen,” Hannah said over her shoulder.
“What do you mean?”
Hannah told her what Cooper had said about Bernice being put into a boarding school. She had not even finished telling Cody before Cody’s face wore a look Hannah knew all too well. Mad.
“Hannah Jean Sweet, I can’t believe you just stood there and said that as if it were perfectly okay.”
“What?” Hannah put the last clean dish into the drainer and dried her hands.
“You know exactly what. What kind of person ships their three-year-old child off to live with a bunch of strangers?”
“I didn’t say I agreed. I said that’s what his father said he’d do for us. He said she’d grow up with the best of everything. The best clothes and schools and—”
“Who the hell are you and what have you done with my sister?”
“Screw you,” Hannah retorted and turned away. Cody’s reaction had triggered something inside her—something she realized she’d been covering up ever since she’d convinced herself that Belinda was the villain of the tale and Cooper the wounded party. Shame.
“Well fuck you too, little sister and that bastard you’re engaged to for being so heartless. Damn, what’s happened to you, Hannah? I can’t believe you wouldn’t have any more feelings for a helpless child than that. Talk about selling your soul. Damn, I’m ashamed of you.”
Hannah opened her mouth to protest, but no words would come. Cody was right. She was stunned and horrified. What had happened to her? How could she, even for five minutes, agree with what Cooper had suggested?
She literally staggered. “Oh my god, Cody. What’s wrong with me?”
Cody put her arms around Hannah and hugged her. “I don’t know. All I can tell you is from where I stand, it looks like somewhere along the lines you fell more in love with Cooper’s money than him.”
That hit entirely too close to home. Hannah tore away from Cody. “I have to go.” She took off running, through the back door and around the side of the house to her car. She couldn’t face Cody anymore, not until she’d figured out how she had become this person—a woman who would condone doing something
like Cooper proposed to a sweet little girl.
She completely forgot all the things she needed to do this morning. All she could think about was getting home and closing herself in her room. She needed to be alone, to figure out what it was she really wanted and to try and find herself again. The real Hannah. Not this person she was turning into.
Tears were streaming down her face when she drove up in front of her house. Her heart sank when she saw Bryson’s truck parked in the driveway. She couldn’t face dealing with wedding plans now.
She wiped at her face, parked and got out of her car. Bryson was sitting on the front steps and stood as she approached. He took one look at her and his legs went into motion. Hannah went into his arms and stood there sobbing against his chest in the front yard.
He held her, his arms strong around her and his body firm and solid against her. Even in the midst of her embarrassment, shame and upset, she recognized how safe she felt in his embrace. Like a harbor in a storm, being held by him soothed and eased her woes and she marveled at the feeling. How could something so simple as merely being held make her feel so safe and protected, as if nothing could harm her.
She pulled back to look at him and he smiled, reaching up to cup her face in his hands. “What can I do to make it better?”
Hannah teared up again. “I’ve made such a mess of things.”
“Come on.” He turned, put one arm around her and escorted her to the house.
Hannah didn’t protest. Right now, she was willing to do anything to escape facing herself and what she had allowed to happen in her life.
*****
“I really appreciate this,” Cody said as Riggs set the grocery bags on the kitchen counter. “I swear I thought she’d be back by now, but she said they want her to stay the night in the hospital after the dialysis.”
“It’s fine, baby.” Riggs leaned over to kiss her. “I get to spend the night with you and get a home cooked meal. It’s a win for me.”
“You might change that tune once you’ve tasted my cooking.”
“In that case, how about I cook?”