Claiming Cooper

by A. F. Crowell

  “No, Maggie, you guys got divorced. You’re with Freddy now.” I did my best to keep my voice calm when what I really wanted to do was scream at her crazy ass.

  “He will always be mine. Freddy was a mistake. Cooper and I will get back together, you’ll see. He’s always loved me. He’s always forgiven me when I messed up.” She stepped forward, her nostrils flaring and knelt down in front of me, holding the knife out. “That is until you came back.” A sinister look shone in her beady eyes. “I wonder how much he’ll love you after your pretty, long, blonde hair is gone.”

  Reaching out, she grabbed a handful of hair and brought the knife toward my face and around to the side of my head. Out the corner of my eye, I could see my long straight hair in her hands. So stunned by the events unfolding in front of me, I was frozen. Inside my head, I screamed at her to get the hell away from me, but the knife was too close. I couldn’t chance it.

  “He hates short hair.” She pulled tight, brought the knife to my hair, and began cutting. It wasn’t fast. No, she had to saw the knife back and forth, shredding small chunks at a time as my scalp stung with pain. “Did you know that? He always hates when I cut my hair short. He told me to leave it long because he loves wrapping it around his hand when he fucks me from behind.”

  Throwing the trimmings in my lap, she laughed like a loon. Tears fell down my cheeks, but I told myself it would grow back, that it was only hair. Her words were from the past, he loved me, no matter what. Like a record skipping, I replayed those words in my head, he loves me, no matter what.

  Suddenly, she stopped, leaned back on her heels, and looked at me. Her eyes widened as her breath hitched. For a second, I thought she might have come to her senses. She stood and started pacing the stall again, crunching in the straw.

  “What was I thinking?” she muttered. “Your hair will grow back.”

  “I’ll leave,” I whispered, lying through my teeth. I had to make her feel like she was in control. I had no intention of walking the hell away.

  “What? What did you say?” she asked, stopping to look at me, the knife at her side.

  “I’ll leave. I swear it. If you let me go, I’ll go back to Charlotte. I have friends there.”

  “Do you think I’m stupid, you little cunt? You’ll just come back. You always do.” She shook her head and started waving the knife around. “I’ll have to get rid of you. I know him, that’s the only way. He’ll always love your pretty . . .” her words drifted off as she tilted her head and narrowed her eyes to mine, “face.”

  My chest burned as the air rapidly filled and escaped my lungs. “Please, Maggie,” I begged, shaking my head as she stalked toward me.

  “Maybe I don’t have to get rid of you.” Her eyes darkened as she crouched in front of me in the straw. “If your face wasn’t so pretty anymore, he’d leave you faster than he’d get over you if you were dead.”

  “Please,” I cried, my throat tightened as I shook my head. The sound of my heartbeat hammered in my ears.

  “Don’t worry,” she mocked. “I’m not going to kill you.” She said it like I had just won a prize.

  Her empty hand reached out and gripped my chin hard, holding my face still. “If you don’t wanna lose an eye, stop fucking moving,” she screamed into my face, only inches away.

  It happened so fast, but the searing pain felt like it went on forever as she brought the sharp knife to my face. Starting just under my left eye, she dragged the tip down to my jaw, slicing into my flesh as I screamed. I felt the blood and tears immediately start trickling down my face to my neck.

  “Aren’t so pretty now, are ya?” Maggie stood and laughed, holding the knife up to smile at the blood. I fought with every fiber of my being not to break down and start bawling.

  Bending my neck, I brought my shoulder up to meet the wound, trying to staunch the bleeding. It burned like hell. The pressure did little to calm the frayed nerve endings, but I had to try. The pulsating pain in my abdomen, momentarily gone, returned with a vengeance.

  “What are you gonna do with me now?” I was terrified as I watched her face twist and her shoulders raised. In the back of my mind, I knew Coop would be home any time now.

  “Fuck.” She returned to pacing back and forth in a straight-line muttering to herself then stopped and her head shot up. “I know, I’ll leave you on the porch. Yeah and then I’ll go. He’ll find you and get you help,” her hateful eyes snapped to me, “but you won’t say a fucking word because if you do, I’ll find you and fucking gut you like the weak little bitch you are.” She walked out of the doorway and came back with a wheelbarrow.

  “I promise, I won’t say anything. I’ll tell him I was unconscious and woke up like this. I swear.” I kept Coop on my mind, focusing on how we finally found our way together. I had to believe the universe wouldn’t be so cruel.

  “Get up,” she demanded. Her hand reached for the end of the lead rope that was latched to the wall, but she stopped before she could release me.

  Her eyes widened, and neck stretched, listening for something. Someone. Beams of bright lights bounced around the barn. In the distance, I could hear the tires crunching on the gravel. Holding my breath, I listened and prayed for it to be Cooper. I tried to remain calm.

  Maggie’s lips curled on one end, her eyes tightened to slits. “If you make a fucking sound, I’ll gut you and make him watch.” She held out the ten-inch hunting blade for me to get a good look.

  “I won’t. I promise,” I shook my head. A tear rolled down my cheek as I tried to sit up. My stomach hurt too much, so I laid back down. I wasn’t sure what she was capable of at that point, but I did not want to find out.

  Maggie’s head whipped around, searching for something, then crunched through the straw over to the feed bucket, hanging from the opposite corner of the stall. Looking over to assess me, she smiled and set the knife down in the bucket. “Remember what I said,” she snarled as she stepped around the wheelbarrow and exited the box stall. Sliding the door shut, she headed down the aisle in the direction of the barn doors.

  As soon as she was out of sight, I rolled my body to the right. Squirming and wiggling, fighting past the pain, I rolled my body to where the rope hooked into the wall. Giving myself a short break once I was in position, I huffed and puffed, trying to catch my breath. Just as I sat up, I heard him.

  “What the hell are you doin’ here, Maggie?”

  Cooper.

  My heart pounded in my chest. I knew he would save me.

  “Is that anyway to talk to your wife?” Her voice was laced with honey and arsenic.

  “We’ve been divorced for over a year. What do you want? Why’re you here?” He sounded bored, annoyed he had to deal with her. It was almost comforting. Hating someone was an emotional response, but his indifference told me he didn’t have any feelings left for her.

  “You know what I want, Coop. I’ve told you over and over what I want,” she said sweetly.

  “You’re fuckin’ crazy, Maggie. I’ve told you, over and over, that I’m with Kinsley. What in God’s green Earth makes you think that I’d ever take you back even if I wasn’t?” I could hear the rage shaking in his voice. “All the shit you’ve pulled.”

  Wrapping the braided, red rope around my hand, I used the length to help pull myself up on one leg. Every muscle in my chest screamed in agony. Using the wall to balance myself, I dropped the rope and unhooked the lead. I had to get to that bucket. Holding onto the bars on the front of the stall, I hopped slowly to the corner and reached into the bucket. Wrapping my left hand around the black, rubbery handle, I lifted the bloody knife out of the bucket. The heaviness of the weapon surprised me.

  At the other end of the barn, I could hear Maggie whining to Cooper about why she and him should be together. When I got back to the sliding door, Maggie’s angry words halted my forward progress.

  “He could’ve been your baby.”

  Baby?

  “Yeah, but it could’ve been three other guys’ baby to
o. You fucked up, Maggie. Own that shit. Stop blaming everyone else for your fuckin’ mistakes. That baby was lucky enough to not be born and have your ass as a mother.” I winced at his words.

  “I. Hate. You,” she wailed.

  I was almost out of adrenaline, I had to get to him. Please, God, don’t let me pass the hell out. I prayed silently, as I pulled back the wooden door and hopped out, the serrated knife in my right hand now. I would be ready for that bitch the next time she got near me. With each small hop, I got closer to Cooper seeing me. It was the only thing giving me the strength I needed to keep going.

  My leg hurt worse than it had in weeks but that wasn’t the worst of it. With each breath, it got a little harder to breath. Odds were something had ripped open inside my abdomen when she kicked me. The cut on my face paled in comparison to the rest of my body.

  Losing the battle, I held onto the bars of the next box stall and slid down the wood to the floor. “Coop,” I managed to yell.

  Maggie was standing in the doorway of the barn, the doors barely open. When she heard me, she whipped her head around to look over her shoulder. Cooper appeared in the doorway, his hands met Maggie’s shoulders, knocking her backwards and out of his way. She hit the dirt floor with a yelp.

  “Kins!” Cooper ran to me, sliding to his knees in the loose straw I had collapsed in. “What the fuck? Baby, talk to me. Are you okay?” His hands cradled my face, turning it to get a better look at the gash.

  “Coop!” I tried to warn him, but I didn’t need to. He jumped up and blocked the shovel Maggie wielded at his head. He grabbed the metal head and ripped it out of her hand.

  “What the fuck, Maggie?”

  “You’re mine,” she raved like a psychopath, slamming her fists into his chest. “She can’t have you.” She screamed all kinds of nonsense, but it stopped suddenly when Cooper reached out and snatched her to him. He wrapped his arms around her neck in some sort of choke hold. Her arms flailed, and her legs kicked until she slowly passed out.

  Each shallow breath hurt more than the last, I laid there on the dirt-covered concrete. The blood had stopped dripping from my face, or at least I didn’t feel it anymore.

  “Baby,” he called to me as he dropped her to the ground. Pulling a lead rope from the box stall door, he tied her up. “Talk to me, Kins. What hurts? What’d she do?”

  “My stomach,” I wheezed, my arms were wrapped around my middle, my back leaning on the wall.

  “Hang on, babe,” he said, scooping me up and running with me down the aisle, out of the barn. Carrying me to his Jeep through the downpour, he opened the door and set me on the front seat, the dome light shining brightly. “Stay right here, I’ll be right back.”

  He closed the door and the light slowly dimmed. He pulled his phone from his pocket, tapped the screen a few times then held it to his ear. He only talked for a few minutes, then slipped it back into his pocket and looked back at me from the front of the Jeep. Holding up his index finger, he indicated he’d be back in one minute.

  I wasn’t sure how long someone would stay passed out from whatever he did, but he jogged back toward the barn as the rain started to let up.

  My wet clothes clung to my body, making me chilly, but keeping me awake. With each passing minute, my eyes burned with exhaustion, but it got easier for me to breathe. I raised my hand and lightly dabbed my fingertips to my cheek where Maggie had cut me. Pulling them back, I looked at the scant amount of blood on my fingers. She must not have gone as deep as it felt she did. For the first time since I woke up, I allowed myself to believe I was going to be okay.

  The seconds felt like minutes and minutes like hours as I waited for him to come back out of the barn. I prayed and pleaded for him to be okay.

  Finally, after what seemed like an eon, Coop came back out of the barn and jogged over to my side of the Jeep, opening the door. “How ya doin’, baby? Still hangin’ in there?”

  “Yeah . . . Not as bad. Where is she?”

  “Don’t worry about her. Ash is on his way and I’ve called the police and an ambulance.”

  “Your mom. Go check on her . . .” I said slowly, trying to stay calm. “Make sure she’s okay.”

  “Ash is pulling up now,” Cooper said. Looking ahead, I could see light bouncing on the house and field ahead as the vehicle flew up the driveway. “I’m not leavin’ you.”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you, too, babe. You’re gonna be okay.” He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on my brow.

  “I’m gonna rest my eyes now, Coop.” My eyes rolled back in my head, but his hands gripped the top of my arms and shook me.

  “No, baby, wake up . . . Ash!” Cooper screamed. “Maggie’s in the barn, tied up. Go check on Mom. Anna, go get me a blanket or a towel, she’s cold.”

  “I’m okay, Coop. It doesn’t even hurt much anymore.” I swallowed and blinked my eyes open to look at his handsome face. “I’m just a little sleepy.”

  “No, goddamn it. You stay awake,” he demanded. “Tell me what happened.”

  “I heard something . . . went out to the porch.” When I stopped talking I could hear sirens in the distance.

  “Keep going,” he urged, tucking my hair behind my right ear. “Then what happened?”

  “I got hit from behind and woke up in the barn,” I finished, and my eyelids drooped.

  “No, Kinsley. Wake up. You need to tell me what she did. How did she hurt you? Did she hit you?”

  “She hit me from behind. She kicked me. In the stomach. When I woke up, she had a knife.” That’s when I realized I didn’t have the knife anymore. “The knife-” My eyes sprung all the way open. My hands grabbed desperately at Cooper, sitting up. “You have to-”

  “Relax, baby. I got it.” He pushed my shoulders gently, so I reclined back in the seat.

  “I found a towel in the pool shed,” Anna hollered, her voice getting closer with each word. A second later, Anna ran around the front of the Jeep, tossing the towel to Cooper. Cooper unfolded it and draped it over my chest, tucking it behind my arms. “Is she okay?”

  “I’m fine,” I said, reassuringly. Red lights swirled around the farm as the siren was silenced. I could hear the diesel engine of the rig as it pulled up the driveway.

  “Kinsley,” Ashton hollered, running down the driveway from the house, Maria behind him. “Is she okay? What in the fuck happened, Coop?”

  The paramedics rushed to the Jeep and asked a thousand and one questions, not one of which did I have a chance to answer. Coop took the lead and explained everything as he scooped me up and carried me to the back of the ambulance.

  Anna and Ash promised to stay with Maggie until the police got there. Once in the back of the ambulance, I looked at Cooper and whispered, “Don’t let them take my clothes off.”

  Cooper’s brow furrowed as he looked from me to the paramedic. “What?”

  My left hand gathered the hem of my shirt and pulled it up a little. Cooper’s eyes widened when he saw the red satin fabric. “Was that for me?”

  “It was.” My skin pinched at my hand as the paramedic guy stabbed me with an IV catheter. “Ouch.” I looked from him back to Cooper. “I’m gonna sleep now.”

  My eyes fluttered a few times then I passed out.

  IT HAD BEEN THREE WEEKS since Maggie attacked me on the front porch of the farmhouse. She had been charged with second-degree kidnapping, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and eventually felony hit and run. Maggie’s father’s truck’s tires were a perfect match for the skid marks left in the roadway by my house. The forensic technician also found traces of blood on the passenger side of the front bumper. DNA had yet to confirm it was my blood, but when faced with the mounting evidence, Maggie confessed.

  A few nights after I was released from the hospital, I finally worked up the nerve to ask about the conversation I overheard in the barn. Cooper told me about two months after he returned from deployment they found out Maggie was pregnant. Elated, they went to the first
appointment where the doctor told them she was eleven weeks along. He got up and walked out, never looking back. Sometime later in her pregnancy, she miscarried.

  While I knew she cheated on him, it hurt my heart to hear about his discovery of her betrayal. Cooper had been completely honest with me about how it hurt him, but he told me how he now felt grateful it happened when it did. He told me it was part of the reason we were finally together. If Maggie hadn’t been unfaithful, then he could have still been married to her, because the O’Loughlin men were nothing if not loyal.

  Things around the farm were finally starting to get back to normal. Maria and Ash were teaching lessons while I worked on a business plan, website, and ideas for ways to expand the schooling program. I promised Scott I’d help take care of the farm and I had every intention of fulfilling that promise.

  Ashton and Anna had been stuck to each other’s side until last week, when she returned to Charlotte. Her father called her every other day, insisting she had to come home before classes resumed. She finally relented last week.

  Ash moved back into his room the same day she left, since I had been sleeping in Cooper’s room for a month. He had been moping around like a love-sick teenager. They agreed to make the drive to each other once a month and on holidays. Ashton offered to drive back with her, but Anna refused, insisting he stay at the farm.

  Anna had always tried to keep her family and friends separate. I didn’t understand it and she refused to explain. The admission in the kitchen to Maria was more than I could ever pull out of her. I wasn’t naïve. I knew that most parents did not behave like mine or Maria and Scott did.

  I had a thin scar on my cheek that was still pretty red and tender, but the plastic surgeon insisted when healed completely I wouldn’t notice it. I will always notice it. The bruises from my ribs had finally faded and the other injuries from Maggie’s ambush had left no lasting effects.