He was seated in the waiting area of the middle building, here to visit to the mayor. The administrative assistant for the mayor and the city manager sat at a desk in the corner. It was the only desk in the room; all the rest of the furniture were chairs and a small sofa. Not many people stopped by, he guessed. It was located just off 1341, across the street from the Coopersville Brewpub.
Barnabus Lee Cooper, his old friend, was the owner and proprietor—no, make that president—of the cooperative. Coop was the youngest son from that family of vultures, working to be a new type of businessman, not anything like his daddy and granddaddy before him, which was a good thing in his book.
Hank took a breath and smiled, his way of calming his nerves and putting a pretty face on the emotions that being back here evoked. He was here to offer a proposal that would change the face of this town if approved by the city.
Coopersville had been a home to him once. He’d spent the first part of his childhood wishing to be someone else’s son, a dream that had never materialized. He’d hated living here after that, and he’d spent his high-school years a very angry young man. Revenge had been his fuel, and it had helped him become a prosperous businessman. The image of Cooper Two broke and suffering, dying alone, had helped him become richer than even he’d imagined.
“Mr. Ryder? The mayor is ready to see you now. He’s in the first office down the hall,” the assistant said, interrupting his musings.
“Thank you,” he said, following her directions.
Juan was the mayor now. Hank vied between laughing out loud and feeling proud that a person who had once been another good friend had reached such a lofty position. It used to be the four of them—Juan, Luis, Coop, and him—growing up, all antic-filled boyhood fun until it wasn’t.
Hank stepped into the mayor’s office and found Juan sitting behind a desk, ear glued to the phone. His office looked out over the city-hall square through a nice-sized window that took up most of one wall. No hiding in here from the citizens. Hank could see the fountain in the middle of the complex and Cooper’s pub across the street. He stood at the door and waited.
“Yes, yes,” Juan said into the phone. He smiled at Hank and waved him in with his free hand. “Yes,” he said one final time before placing the telephone back on its receiver.
“Hank Ryder,” he said, hands and arms spread open, matching his smile as he stood to greet him. “How long has it been?” Juan asked, striding over to meet him at the door.
“Twelve years,” Hank said, placing his hand in Juan’s.
“Well, that’s way too long,” he said in that lyrical way of his, a hint of the Spanish he’d grown up speaking. “Have a seat.” Juan pointed to one of the two chairs placed in front of his desk. “How is life treating you?”
“Good. You?”
“Everything’s good here, man. Hell, I’m the mayor,” he said, laughing. “I remember, you and me, us…ah…youth. Those were the good old days.”
“Some of them were,” Hank said, and smiled. “How’s your family? How’s Luis?”
“Good. Neither of us are married; we’re still holding out for the right women.”
“Cooper?” Hank asked.
“He’s fine, not married either,” Juan said, losing a little of his smile. Ah, some things never change, Hank thought, watching Juan, and his smile tempered now.
“So what brings you to town?” Juan asked.
“I’m here on business,” Hank said, pulling out a small leather portfolio from his briefcase. He handed it to Juan.
“It’s a proposal that I would like to present to the city,” Hank said, watching as Juan opened the folder and began reading the contents. It took him about five minutes to make it through the major points.
“Why are you doing this?” Juan asked.
“Doing what? I’m offering the city a way to become more profitable. It’s a good deal, one that the council should consider. The jobs that it would bring in could provide substantial financial benefits to the town,” Hank said, ignoring the mayor’s question.
“Why are you doing this?” Juan asked again.
Hank smiled. “What’s the process for bringing that to the council and having the city vote on it?” he asked.
“All proposals go to committee first for review, so if you’re serious, we’ll start there. If there’s agreement at the committee level, it moves on to the full council,” Juan said.
“Well, let’s get started. Have I given you enough information to put things into motion, or do you need something more formal from me?”
“No, this is sufficient, but it would be good to have more copies perhaps, at least for the initial committee stage. Someone will be in contact with you to give you the date of that committee meeting. They’ll want you to attend,” Juan said.
“Alright then. I’ll have the extra copies delivered to you by this afternoon,” Hank said.
“As far as I can tell, a good deal of your proposal hinges on your success in purchasing tracts of land. It might not be as easy as you think getting Tom Baker and the Proctor boys to sell you their land. You’ll also need the city to sell you the Quarry golf course. You do know that the Quarry can’t be sold without Cooper’s approval? Can’t have a country-club development without the country club and golf course, and I can’t see Cooper agreeing to that. So just how seriously do you want me to take your proposal?”
“First right of refusal,” Hank said.
“Excuse me?”
“First right of refusal is what Cooper Three has. And he won’t stand in the way. You and I both know that I can force him to give up the course,” Hank said, correcting the mayor.
Juan smiled, and it was nowhere near sincere anymore.
“It was good seeing you again, Hank, and I will forward this on to the appropriate committee. They’ll be in touch,” Juan said, standing now, his smile all but vanished. The meeting was at an end.
“I look forward to hearing from them,” Hank said, standing up now too. Juan escorted him back to the waiting area.
That was that, Hank thought on his way out. A little bit of regret still resided in his heart about the way things had turned out. Another small tinge of regret for the friendship he and Cooper had once shared, for what Cooper had endured growing up, and for what Hank was about to put him through again. He wasn’t as cold as people believed. There was a small part of the tender-hearted boy still left inside him, and indirectly, it was the reason he was back here in Coopersville, stirring things up.
#
Monday afternoon
Kendall found Cooper in his office, sitting behind his desk. He looked up when she lightly tapped on the door. She was here with Myra and the Colonel, their same Monday afternoon routine. They’d just been to bingo.
“Hey,” he said, moving over to where she was standing just inside the door.
“I can’t stay long, or Myra and the Colonel will start in with the what-took-you-so-long questions,” she said.
He pulled her inside, closing the door behind her.
“So…” he said.
“So…” she said, and they both started laughing.
“Clarification on exactly what you meant by the summer?” she asked. He kissed her, his hands at her waist.
“When you want. When I want,” he said.
“Simple,” she said.
“Uncomplicated,” he said, and kissed her again. “Tonight, it means. Come by my house. Too soon? Need a break?” he said, smiling, scanning her face.
She laughed. “What did you think I’d say? Tonight is fine. I want it as much as you do.”
“I like that about you. A woman who knows her own mind, who settles her debts, and who enjoys having sex with a man who knows what he’s doing.”
She laughed. “And that would be you? The man that knows what he’s doing?” she asked. “Well, I agree, in case you had any doubts.”
“I didn’t, but thanks for the compliment,” he said, chuckling. “Do you know where I live?”
“Who doesn’t know the location of the famous Coopersville mansion, perched it the heart of the small but fine city of Coopersville. It sits about three stories high, taking up a whole city block. I’ve seen it.”
“That’s not where I live.”
“It’s not?”
“I live down from the Quarry golf course, off Old Quarry Road.”
“You do?”
“I do.”
“Where?” she asked, searching her brain. “In one of those little blue houses?”
“Yes.”
“I thought those were rent houses…four of them, right? Two on each side of the road, before the bend?”
“Yes. They were once reserved housing for the operation managers at the Quarry before it closed. Luis lives in one. The one next door to me is empty, and the other one is rented out to Celeste.”
“Your ex, right?”
“Yes.”
“Interesting,” she said, teasing. “Okay, and you live in one?”
“Why not?” he said.
She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t really care where you live. What time?”
“After seven p.m. Luis is closing tonight,” he said.
“So you do take a break from here, in addition to your Wednesday evenings at Myra’s,” she said.
“Yes. I’ll either head over to the Quarry to tool around on the course or do some brewing. And now that I’ve got you here, and all signed up for the summer…” He didn’t finish his thought, kissed her instead, aligning his body with hers.
“I’m going to talk to Myra about us. I’ll tell her that we’re friends, and that we’ll be hanging out together for the summer,” she said, running her strategy by him, in case he had a problem with anyone knowing.
“Sure. I think she’ll be pleased.”
“You think?” she asked.
“You don’t?”
“Are you kidding? I was being sarcastic. Yes, she’s pleased, probably going through wedding paraphernalia as we speak,” Kendall said.
“I’ll see you later,” he said, and kissed her again. He opened his door and watched her as she walked down the hall. He smiled before he went back to work.
#
Kendall stared down at the knitting needles in her hand. It was early evening. She was practicing her knitting stitch, and it was slow going with her. It would probably never be anything she’d do long term, but for now it was something she could share with her aunt.
She sat on the couch, half listening to the TV. Myra sat on the other end from her, knitting too, having much more success with the dress she was making for someone’s grandchild than Kendall was with her project.
“So, Aunt Myra,” Kendall said.
Myra looked up from her knitting.
“I might be spending some time with Cooper this summer.”
“Might, or will?” Myra asked.
“Will,” Kendall said.
Myra smiled. “That’s good, Kendall. That boy’s been on the lookout for someone like you for a long time,” she said.
“No, it’s nothing like that. It’s nothing serious, I mean. I’m leaving mid-August. I have a life and a career in Austin,” she said.
“I know, but let’s not worry about that for now. Let’s just enjoy this summer. It’s a great idea, you two. We can all be about the business of getting to know one another, you getting to know me and Cooper and this town. There are worse places to live. I know you like Austin, but it’s big…Here we all know and support each other.
“You could work here, you know, and drive up to the city when you have to. It’s not that far away. I’m sure you can fix your schedule so you don’t have to travel there every day. I hear companies are allowing their employees the option to work from home these days. Or if Cooper still has his daddy’s condo, you could live in it when you’re in Austin.”
“Right. I see you have it all figured out,” Kendall said, smiling, still surprised by her aunt’s desire for her and Coop to be together.
“I’m glad you’re not one of those young women who think you have to hide what you’re doing by sneaking around, all that booty-call business, as you young women say.”
“No, I don’t sneak. I’m an adult, and so is Cooper, and if I want to have sex, I will. I ask for what I want, and hopefully he does the same.”
“Spoken like a strong woman who knows her own mind. What time are you meeting Cooper this evening?”
“Any time after seven.”
“It’s six fifty-five now,” Myra said, touching her watch.
“Oh, Myra, is that a hint?” Kendall asked, laughing. “I’ll see you later.” She walked over and placed a kiss on the top of her aunt’s head, just as she seen Cooper do countless times.
#
Kendall made a left turn at the Brewpub onto Old Quarry Road, on the lookout for Cooper’s home. According to him, it was the second one on the right. It sat back off the road, with a cement driveway leading up to it.
It was a single-story home that resembled the house found on the Coopersville beer label, except it was made of wood and painted blue, not brick. A white porch, five inches or so from the ground, ran the length of the house. An overhang, also painted in white, covered the porch. The door was trimmed in white too. There were no flowers in the bed that ran around the porch. She parked, stepped out, and followed the stoned path to the front door.
This was not what she’d expected, but maybe it should have been, given all she’d learned about him so far.
She knocked and smiled when he opened the door a few minutes later.
“Hey,” he said, all seductively sexy. She took a breath and tried to settle her thoughts. “You found me. Easy?” He stepped aside so she could enter.
“Very,” she said, stepping inside, her gaze on everything at once, smiling at what she saw, which was so different from what she’d expected to find. It was a really nice, open space, no doors to hide behind. “Do you mind?” she asked, turning in a circle, trying to see it all at once.
“Nope,” he said.
It was a square—no, more rectangular, just as it looked from the outside—but it was longer than she’d expected. Standing with her back to the front door, she could see his entire home except for the bathroom. Large-planked wood flooring covered the lot of it. She wasn’t sure if it had been treated or not, but the wood matched the shelves that covered the wall to her left. The shelves that ran the length of the home, filled with everything ranging from books to sheets, small artworks, and towels, depending upon what part of the house you were in, everything neatly arranged into small stacks. A light grey paint covered the walls where they weren’t lined by shelves.
“You’re neat,” Kendall said out loud.
Cooper laughed. He was standing by a couch and a chair, a small rug covering the floor in front of the couch.
“Living room,” she said, and he nodded.
“Kitchen, dining room, and bathroom,” he said, pointing to each area as he did so.
She walked through the whole of it, stopping at the back door. She looked out through the window. A small deck with three metal chairs and a couple of loungers, all painted red. There was a small building to the right of his house, connected by the deck and the roof. Nice head cover for inclement weather. He stood behind her, looking out the window with her.
“It’s where I do my brewing. Where I try out new recipes, ideas that I have…It’s like a cook’s test kitchen,” he said, answering before she asked.
“Can I see?”
“If you want.”
“I want,” she said.
There was nothing special about the square-shaped room, she realized when she stepped inside. It was purely functional. Shelves and cabinets sat above the counter that circled the room, and the space was filled with lots of brewing equipment, a large sink, and a stove.
Metal containers sat on counter and on the floor. One small window was positioned above the sink. Two stainless-steel refrigerators stood side by side
, glass-fronted and filled with rows upon rows of beer. An old wooden table sat in the middle of the room.
She opened the door to one of the refrigerators. “You really take this beer thing seriously,” she said.
He laughed.
“I think I would like to see you in action. I’d like to watch you brew beer sometime.”
“Sure, I’m always eager to spread the word,” he said.
“Back inside for now?” she asked.
“Back inside,” he said, and followed her, closing the door behind them.
“Bathroom’s nice and large and clean, that’s always nice,” she said, finishing up her tour, and she finally made her way over to the bed, king-sized and square, made of the same wood as the floors and shelving. It sat low, just a foot off the floor.
“I like your home. It’s beautiful, graceful, and simple,” she said.
“I like it too,” he said.
“You like simple, don’t you?” she said.
“I like uncomplicated,” he said.
“There’s a difference?”
“There is.”
“I like the skylights,” she said, pointing to the one above his bed.
“And you haven’t even seen it in its best light yet. On your back, at night, looking up at the stars,” he said, watching her expression as she glanced around his home again.
“It’s a lovely, nice space—very relaxing too, I bet,” she said.
“It is,” he said, and walked over to stand in front of her. He cupped her face in his hands, examining her, it felt like.
“You ready?”
“I am,” she said, her eyes on his—who is this man?—before he kissed her and she shut out all further thoughts.
#
“This is a white?” she asked, holding it up to the light, peering through the glass. It was yellow in color, more golden really, not white at all. She smelled it, like he’d instructed her to do earlier. It smelled like…well, it smelled like beer, but she hadn’t quite got the smelling thing down yet. She was in his bed, nude, they both were. She was lying on her stomach, resting on her elbows in front of her, a glass of beer in her hand. This was class, and he was the teacher. He lay beside her, elbow bent, hand holding up his head, while his other hand moved up and down her back before it came to rest on her ass. He was really into that part of her anatomy, it seemed. He touched or rubbed it absentmindedly as he watched her drink.
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