“But you said—”
“Forget what I said. We got a great deal on the part so your initial deposit covered everything,” he said.
As he finished, a man who looked to be about the same age as Adam came around the back side of the bench. The guy, who didn’t stop walking after tapping Adam on the shoulder, held up the hand in a wave.
“Coop! How’s it going bud?”
“Uh, Johnny, hey, good, good. How are you?”
“Good, wife’s pregnant again and I’m late for work. Catch you at the game Monday night?” He asked and stepped off the curb to cross Main Street.
“Couldn’t get out of it if I tried, take it easy!” Adam called after him and waved before turning back to me.
“Coop? You’re Cooper?” I knew the width of my open eyes must have freaked him out because he turned away from my gaze for a moment and dropped his chin.
“I can explain.”
“You know what, no. I don’t want an explanation. I should go,” I said and stood up to follow the same path Johnny took across the street.
“Deb, wait,” he said and stood up off the bench.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
But I had already looked both ways and hustled across the street before he could say another word. I was mortified. All the gushing I did, how I wanted to track down the infamous Cooper. And I had been saying it to Cooper. My hand made its way to my forehead and clamped on as if I could keep the memories from stopping my legs on their steady progress away from Adam. Coop. Damnit. I turned at the end of the crosswalk to hurry for my room, my cheeks and chest blazing with embarrassment.
At the thought of the room I had a wave of panic. I just took off from the guy who, apparently, paid for my beautiful suite for the weekend. I couldn’t tell if my increasing headache was due to the hand that tightened on my forehead, or the state of my life. I felt like a first class idiot.
Thankfully, Main Street wasn’t very long and the hotel came into sight within a couple minutes. As I pulled the door toward me, I felt the warmth from the safety of the lobby. It took every ounce of my willpower not to turn around. Mostly because I knew, this time, he wouldn’t be there. Warm tears threatened the lids of my eyes.
As I entered the lobby, Chloe lifted her head up from the desk. Our eyes connected as I briskly traversed the expanse of forest green carpeting. In seconds, her expression went from a huge grin to pinched eyebrows to a full frown as she came out from behind the front desk and stopped me in my tracks.
“I thought you had the day off?” I asked, cutting off the question I could see all over her face.
“Mrs. Yandell’s grandkid is sick but you don’t care about that…” she trailed off and looked at me so hard I could feel my face burn when she continued, “Okay, what did he do?”
“Excuse me?” I replied.
“That face on your face,” she said and swirled a pointer finger in a circle around my face, “doesn’t happen unless someone was a jerk. And I’m guessing it was you know who.”
“You mean the guy who just embarrassed the hell out of me? Yeah, it was.”
Chloe sighed and shook her head, “I figured maybe it would be different with you.”
“What would be different with me?” I was thoroughly confused.
“Because you didn’t know him at all. Because you didn’t grow up here. Because he actually wanted to take care of you and made it clear.”
“What, by putting me up in his hotel, paying for my car repairs at his garage? Buying me dinner at a diner he owns? Without even telling me who he is, like I’m some kind of charity case?”
Chloe’s lips curled upward into a thin smile, “Oh boy, okay this is more dire than I thought.”
“Dire? Me? What do you mean?” I said and crossed my arms across my chest.
“Deb, let’s sit down,” Chloe said and pointed at an overstuffed sofa and chair set next to the now-cold fireplace in the lobby.
I followed her and sat on the opposite side of the sofa so we could face each other to talk.
“Now, I know it’s true we haven’t known each other very long but here’s the thing. Coop, er, Adam, doesn’t just do that kind of stuff for everybody. Wait, that’s the wrong place to start, let me back up,” she said and took a deep breath.
“I’m not going anywhere. Apparently Coop is holding both my car and pride hostage,” I replied and flung my arms into the air like tossed spaghetti strands.
“About six years ago, Adam’s grandfather passed away. Mister Cooper was the coolest guy in the world and Adam’s family was responsible for a lot of the growth in Cedar Falls. But his parents split when he was young and his grandparents raised him. So when Mr. Cooper died it was a huge blow to the whole community but Adam especially.”
“Wow,” I said, convinced my mouth was hanging open.
“Yeah, and of course he had to take over all the businesses. But,” she paused and looked down at the hands she wrung in her lap, “the truth is he’s trying to sell all the businesses.”
“Why didn’t you tell me all this when I asked if you knew him?”
“First of all, you asked if we grew up together.”
“That’s true,” I considered.
“Second, I didn’t know you felt the same way about him as he obviously feels about you.”
“How he feels? If you mean irritated and inconvenienced then, you’re on the right track.”
Chloe laughed, “Hardly, Deb. Like I said, Adam doesn’t frequently take five minutes out of work to do anything. After Mrs. Y set up your room he called saying to give you the room, gratis. Then I heard he took you to dinner. And I knew he liked you. It was the buzz all around town. I saw that look he gave you when we ran into him…” She trailed off and shrugged.
“This is all beside the point. He lied to me.”
“Did he though? I mean, lying by omission is a pretty weak argument. And besides, if you didn’t like him too would you be this upset? So what if he bought you dinner or fixed your car. That’s what he does, he helps people.”
I looked up at her and took a few deep breaths. It was impossible not to consider what Chloe was saying. And the only place inside that seemed to do the considering was my heart. It ached as if I was falling in love.
But could a person actually start falling in love after only two days? It wasn’t like me to even like a guy after such a short time. But I opened up to him like I’d known him for much longer. I couldn’t shake this sappy love at first sight vibe surging through all my veins. I was the person who picked on people who said love at first sight was a real thing. Sappy wasn’t my style. Not usually. Until now.
“So what am I supposed to do?”
“Tell him.”
“That he’s hot and nice and sweet and that if I lived closer I’d like to date him despite not knowing who he was until this minute and then getting mad at him for it?”
“Yup.”
“Just like that?”
“Yup. I mean, you do think that, right?”
I inhaled a deep breath, “Yeah, I definitely do.”
“Then why not go for it?”
The corners of my mouth attempted to turn upwards into a smile, knowing Chloe was right. But before I could fully form a grin, I thought back to what happened earlier. Adam couldn’t feel the same, he would have said something when I touched his hand. Wouldn’t he? Instead of curling to a smile I yanked my lips to the left with a twitch of a muscle in my cheek. Hot and cold.
“How could he forgive me when I was mean just because I learned his last name?”
“Eh, you thought he was mean, too. You got over it, right?”
“Yes,” I said, feeling a little sheepish.
“Then there you have it,” Chloe said, and, apparently satisfied it was the end of our conversation she leaned backwards into her corner of the sofa and crossed her arms.
After our conversation, I brought myself to my room, head swimming. I considered everything Chloe said. And I thought about the l
ooks Adam tossed in my general direction. Laughing at movie quotes. Sharing something so personal about his past. The bench incident.
Could Chloe be right? Was it actually possible that someone so selfless, generous, and hot as hell had similar feelings for me? I shook my head, wanting to just put the entire thing on pause while I slept off another crazy day.
After a night of tossing, turning, and obsessing over this guy I barely knew, I slept in late on Monday. By the time I left my room, heading for breakfast, it was close to eleven in the morning. When my feet touched the lobby carpeting, Chloe waved at me from the front desk.
“So much for your three days off,” I said as I approached the counter.
“Yeah, I know but we’ll trade later next week,” she said then stood up and leaned toward me, “have you thought more about what we talked about last night?”
“About Adam? Yeah, now he’s all I can think about so thanks for that.”
Chloe let out a giggle, “Good. Now, you should hunt him down and tell him before you lose your nerve.”
“Who said I had any nerve?” I asked.
The phone rang in the office behind the desk. Chloe all but jumped to run and pick up the call. I couldn’t hear her conversation from where I was sitting. So I didn’t move. I didn’t think I could walk even if I wanted to. My legs felt paralyzed. Chloe appeared beside me and I turned my head.
“That was, uh, him. Your car is done.”
“Really? How did he get that done so fast? I hoped it would be later today…”
I trailed off, suddenly, inexplicably sad that I’d have to leave Cedar Falls. And it occurred to me that my family had only marginally entered my thoughts for the past day. Not that I’d entered theirs either, evidently. Acknowledging the silence from my phone since I broke down forced a frown. I looked to Chloe for answers she couldn’t give.
“Honestly I don’t know but he asked me to bring you over and,” she paused and bit her lip, “um, that your keys would be inside the car.”
My belly felt as if it had fallen out of my body and hit the floor, “He won’t even be there? I was right, he doesn’t want to see me.”
“He does, Deb, I promise you. The guy is just a stubborn, overworked moron sometimes. Look, I’ll call Lenny to come in and cover for me then we can go get your car now so you two can talk and work this mess out.”
After Lenny arrived, Chloe and I rode the few minutes to the garage in silence. I couldn’t get it out of my head that he liked me. Then I had to go and screw it up by being an idiot. I shook my head at myself.
When we arrived at the garage everything was dark. The bay door was closed and when I tried the lobby door it wouldn’t budge. Locked. I walked around the building. No Maxima.
As he said, my pile of keychains and keys were waiting for me on the driver’s seat. Chloe waited until she knew Betty would start then waved goodbye as she pulled out of the lot. Alone in the quiet parking lot, I placed my forehead on the steering wheel and sighed. My body felt tired. Worn down from the barrage of my weekend.
I parked out front of Cooper Hotel and, with a weak lift of my arm, waved at Chloe on my way to the staircase. Once I got back to my room I looked around at my life strewn all over the place. The exhaustion took me over yet again so I plunked down on the mattress on top of the covers. I fully intended to rest my eyes for a few minutes. By the time I woke up it was close to two in the afternoon.
What was I thinking letting Chloe convince me to go and try to find Adam? There was no way I could face him now. I had treated him like crap just because he wanted to help me? What kind of person does that? There was only one thing I could do. Go home. I started packing. While I traversed the room, collecting bits of my messy life for the suitcase, I dialed my father’s number.
The machine beeped in my ear, “Hey dad, it’s me. Again. I’m coming down today. I have my key. Okay, love you, see you in a couple hours.”
With cautious steps I tip-toed halfway down the grand staircase. The front desk was empty. I called out for Chloe. Nobody peeked their head out from the office. I turned and almost ran back up the stairs to retrieve the bags I’d left at the top.
Grabbing my bags I went back the way I had just come and then crossed the lobby. I placed my room key and a note (with a sorry and my cell phone number) just over the counter on the desk and plucked a business card from the display. I was going to pay back every dime I owed Adam and be done with this place for good. I’ll mail a check, I thought and shoved the card in my jacket pocket.
Outside, Betty sat curbside in front of the hotel, right where I’d parked her earlier. I tossed my suitcase in the back, climbed behind the wheel, and started her up. Without thinking of anything else, I pulled away from the curb. It was time to get down to Santa Barbara. I needed to take my life off pause and get back to living it. The way I’d wanted to before my car died and brought me to this place.
I didn’t belong in Cedar Falls. I was meant to be back with my family. Safely tucked into the life I tried to run away from. My place in society. A socialite with daddy’s credit card. I’d have to let my blonde hair grow back out so I could blend right back into the life of California royalty. Tears streamed down my cheeks and I had to use my sweatshirt cuff to wipe them away so I could see to drive.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
I arrived in Santa Barbara to a dark and lifeless house. He still hadn’t tried to call me back. Maybe he went to stay at Uncle Gary’s? I pushed through the heavy wood front door, anxious to get to my bed and sleep off the past few days. Calling out as I traversed the halls lent itself to nothing more than a silence that deafened me. I don’t know what I expected but it certainly involved more mourning family members gathered around a fireplace with glasses of wine and a number of photo albums strewn across the coffee table.
After I warmed and ate some tortilla casserole, watched some of the news to catch up on life in Santa Barbara, and admitted that I didn’t like the thoughts creeping into the front of my mind, I climbed the stairs. Dragging my suitcase behind my body like it weighed 200 pounds I moved toward my bedroom door.
Silence, plus an empty bed greeted me as I entered my childhood bedroom. The greeting was less than I longed for but also exactly what I needed. I used my foot to close the door behind me, hoisted my suitcase up onto my old floral comforter, and sighed.
With pajamas and bathroom stuff gathered, I went to rinse my irritation down the drain. After the world’s longest, hottest shower, I slathered about a gallon of lotion on my body and pulled on my pjs. Feeling my eyelids droop further shut with every minute that passed, I all but fell in bed and, unlike the light, went out in an instant.
The next morning I woke up to the smell of brewed coffee but the house sounded no more alive than it had the night before. Where is everyone, I wondered as I clicked off the bedside lamp. My robe wrapped me in terrycloth comfort as I made my way to and down the stairs. There was nobody in the living room. No fire going. No old and empty vessels for alcohol left behind after everyone drowned their sorrows. Was I really the only one here? The only one who cared?
I craned my neck down the hall and heard a dull chatter. Dad watching the morning news. The spoon clanked against the side of his coffee mug as I entered the room. He too was wrapped in his robe. No doubt I came by my morning attire honestly. I smiled to see the back of his silver, thinning, tousled hair.
He adjusted his glasses and I took another step inside the room. The answering machine on the wall in front of me blinked a number indicating new messages. All mine, I assumed. Could be the reason I hadn’t received a single call back. He hadn’t received a single message.
“Hey dad,” I announced and entered the kitchen.
He jumped a bit and turned with a hand on his chest, “Jeez, you startled me. I thought that was your car I saw pull up last night. Coffee is—,” he stopped talking when I opened the cabinet for a mug.
“I got it, thanks. Where is everybody?”
“What do you mean
?”
“Rachel, Uncle Gary, Bobby, Katie, even Sallyanne, everyone,” I replied and added four sugars to the bitter black liquid in my mug.
“Home, I guess. It is really early,” he said and shrugged.
“Uncle Gary should be with his family right now. And Rachel too.” I slugged back a gulp of liquid attitude adjuster.
“Gary has a lot going on right now, he doesn’t need distractions.”
“His wife just died,” I said, a thick layer of sadness laced around my words, “your sister-in-law and Ray’s mom. He’s your brother. Family isn’t a distraction, dad. Has anyone even checked on them since it happened?”
Alternate Plans (California Dreamin' Series Book 2) Page 8