Tender Mercies
Page 14
“You’re right.” He merged over a lane and turned into a nearly-deserted parking lot along Broadway. Traffic had eased, and the lights in the buildings along the road were mere dots—an inhabited office here and there...someone working overtime. Cooper shifted into reverse, turned the Mustang around.
Lexi stole a look at him. Waves of dark, damp hair curled over the nape of his neck and his biceps were taut as his hands clenched the wheel, white-knuckled. Beneath the glow of a streetlight, she saw that his jaw was set in a tight line and his gaze seemed to pierce the darkness as he struggled to see down a storm-swept road through the black. The Mustang bounced through a pothole.
“Think, Lex,” Cooper said. “There must be somewhere he’d go...somewhere he’d feel safe until the anger, the hurt wears off.”
“Wait!” She sat up and splayed one hand on the dash in front of her. “Turn here, Cooper. Quick!”
There was one place Andy would go when he felt he had nowhere else to turn—one place he knew he’d be safe.
Thursday’s Child.
They turned a corner, and the glare of lights through an expanse of gymnasium windows told her all she needed to know.
“Look, Cooper. He’s here. Thank God.”
Cooper skidded to a stop in front of the building and they both raced toward the double front doors. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, Lexi realized Cooper had lost his limp. His long, powerful strides overtook hers as they jockeyed down the hall.
The sound of a bouncing basketball reverberated off the walls.
“Andy!”
He looked up at the sound of Lexi’s voice and the ball slipped from his hands. For a moment, all three stood stone-still while the ball bounced into a corner, echoing like cannon shot through the nearly-deserted building.
“You came.” Andy’s gaze slipped from Lexi to Cooper. “You really came.”
“Of course I came. You called me, didn’t you?” Cooper’s voice was filled with the strain of worry coupled with exhaustion. “You gave us an awful scare, sport.”
“I-I’m sorry.” His eyes filled with tears as he dropped his gaze. “I’ll bet I’m really in hot water now.”
Lexi’s heart filled, and she felt his hurt as if it was her own. She went to him, drew him in and wrapped her arms around him as sobs wracked his trembling body.
“It’s going to be OK, Andy,” she soothed. “Whatever happens, we’ll make it through.”
“Promise?” He wiggled in closer and clung to her as if he’d never let go.
“Yes, I promise.”
“I don’t want to go to New York, or anywhere else. I like it here.”
“No one said you have to leave.”
“Not yet, but she will. Mom will.”
“Let’s just take things one step at a time. Trust me, OK?”
“O-OK.”
Cooper sauntered over to wrap his arms around both of them. His embrace protected, comforted, soothed away the hurt. The scent of him was so familiar...so very Cooper, that Lexi nearly broke down.
“I think we should go home and talk this out,” he murmured as he brushed her hair with his lips. “We need to talk it out—all of it.”
“Yes,” Lexi smoothed a hand over Andy’s flushed cheek to brush away tears as his trembling subsided. “It’s time to stop running away. Let’s go talk it out.”
“You’re gonna ground me for sure now, aren’t you?” Andy swiped huge, round eyes with his forearm.
“A week, at least.”
He groaned. “Man, I really hate cleaning the bathrooms.”
Lexi laughed and patted his back. “You’ll survive it.”
The three walked to Cooper’s car, hand in hand, while a thought played over and over through Lexi’s mind.
Andy found a safe place to vent...at Thursday’s Child.
****
“Is he sleeping?” Cooper asked.
“Out like a light.” Lexi slipped off her sandals and slid into the wicker chair beside him. He offered her a glass of tea, and she took a long drink to ease the ache in her parched throat. “I’ve never seen him cry like that. It was...frightening.”
“It was a long time coming, Lex. I think he just needed to let loose. You can only hold things inside for so long before you blow. I think we both realize that now.”
“Yes...we do.” Her gaze found his, and she saw a glimmer of the boy there, the one she’d fallen in love with so many years ago...
...the one I still love.
“I’m not going to Seattle, Lex.” His voice was rough with pent-up emotion. “I’m not going anywhere but...here.” He leaned over, gathered a strand of her hair and tucked it behind her ear. The brush of his knuckles across her cheek made her shiver. “I second Andy’s sentiments on the point...I like it here, too.”
“But, Terri said—”
“I never should have left you in the first place, Lex. I had no right saying the things I said to you that night. It was ugly and wrong…I was wrong—and foolish.”
“I was wrong, too, Cooper, to keep my true feelings from you. I should have never pushed you away. We should have talked about it—talked things out.”
“I didn’t leave much room for talking, the way I went on and on about being drafted. I got so caught up…can you ever forgive me?”
“Can you forgive me?”
“I already have, Lex.” His eyes shone bright with truth. “I love you, Lexi. I’m staying here—for good. No more football...at least not pro.”
Tears blurred her vision, and her heart felt full…oh, so full. “I forgive you, Cooper. Oh, I forgive you. But to give up football…your dream…”
“Not anymore.” He grinned. “I may be persuaded to toss the ball around with Andy and the kids at Thursday’s Child from time to time, and I heard the coaching position at the high school might come available when the coach retires at the end of this season, but that’s it.”
She lowered her gaze. “We may not have a Thursday’s Child program much longer. The papers came this week, saying we have to move. The building’s going up for sale, Cooper. We’re done.”
“Maybe not.” His car keys jangled in his hands. “Wait here.”
“Cooper...” She watched him lope down the driveway to the Mustang that was parked behind Terri’s beat-up sedan. “What are you doing?”
He returned, grinning, with a sheaf of papers. “I’ve lived my dream, Lex. Now, it’s time for you to live yours. We can’t let all the kids down, can we?”
Lexi’s heart thudded like a base drum as she scanned the first page. “Oh, Cooper, this is a contract to purchase the Thursday’s Child building and grounds. But how? When?”
He shook his head, pressed a single finger to her lips. “You’ll have to go by the bank, sign a couple of papers. But the rest is done. The building belongs to Thursday’s Child now.”
Tears filled her eyes. “Oh, Cooper...this is more than amazing. It’s...”
“Love.” He drew her into his arms. “I love you, Lexi Taylor.”
She nestled her cheek to his chest, breathed in the familiar, woodsy smell of him. “And I love you, Cooper Jackson.”
Epilogue
“Renee,” Lexi strode into the office. “We’re gonna need to hire two more summer counselors to keep up with the flow of kids. It’s unreal how they just keep coming through the doors—more every day.”
“Hire them.” Renee tapped a sequence of keys to close the program on her computer screen. She glanced up and grinned. “We’ve got the funds for a half-dozen more, if we need that many.”
“We just might.” The words warmed Lexi. Outside the window, sunlight danced and shimmered off the crystal-blue water of the olympic-sized pool that had been installed over the winter months. In an hour, the Channel Ten News Team would arrive to film the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
She watched Cooper run across an expanse of grass along the pool fence, a football cradled in his arms like a baby. Andy chased at his heels while the spunky dark-haired g
irl named Katie cheered him on. The two had become fast friends since Katie’d helped Andy with his bathroom duties the week he was grounded, after running away that long-ago stormy night. Andy came to Cooper’s shoulder now, and it wouldn’t be long before he rivaled Cooper in height and weight.
It’s amazing the difference a year makes.
After a short stint in Knoxville, Terri returned to New York. She thought she might write the great American novel, but quickly found the solitude monotonous and boring and decided to perform in a nightclub instead. Maybe an agent would see her show, and decide to take her along on a ride to the big time. It didn’t take much convincing from Cooper to persuade her to leave Andy behind to finish school, which was just fine with Lexi. She’d grown to love Andy as if he were her own...Cooper had, too.
And Cooper, well, he’d found his niche running camps for the kids at Thursday’s Child and coaching the high school football team where Andy planned to play next fall. With Cooper’s help, he showed a lot of promise. There’d already been talk among the scouts who came to visit from time to time.
Laughter drifted through the office window on a breeze that held the first hint of summer. The sound filled Lexi’s heart and made her smile. She loved Cooper...had loved him from the first time she met him in the school cafeteria when they swapped lunches in sixth grade.
She fingered the diamond on her finger and thought of the wedding bands she and Cooper chose to pair with it when they married next month. The rings were beautiful, solid...a symbol of the promise of their life together.
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