by L. P. Dover
“What are you going to do?” she asked quickly.
Peering at Joel, I took in a deep, frustrated breath and let it out angrily. “It looks like I’m making a trip out to California.”
And it definitely wasn’t going to be a pleasurable one.
Sometimes it felt like half of my life had been spent in airports because I was always at one. Even as a child, my family was constantly travelling the world or doing something. One day it would be nice to have roots and just stay there with the occasional travelling here and there.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” Kate asked. “I don’t like the idea of you going alone.” She rushed me home after practice so I could pack and get to the airport. The sooner I could get to California, the sooner I could get home. I was glad she drove me because I was too pissed off to even think straight, not to mention, I still hadn’t had a chance to get my car fixed.
“I’m sorry, Kate. Trust me, I want you with me, but you don’t need to be there. I plan on saying what I have to say and then leaving. I’ll be back by tomorrow afternoon.”
“Why can’t you tell me who you’re going to see?” she asked.
I could hear the hurt in her voice, and even in my mind I wanted to believe that everything had been just one huge mistake. I didn’t want to say a word to anyone until I knew for a fact that what Shelby said was true. I had to hear it with my own ears.
“I want to tell you, Kate, and when I know for certain that I have the truth I’ll call you.”
Overhead, the announcement to board my flight echoed over the speakers. Kate’s eyes went wide and she jumped in my arms. “Be safe out there, Cooper. I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I murmured in her ear, wrapping my arms around her waist. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”
I held onto her tight and breathed her in as deep as I could before the second and final announcement to board the plane sounded from above. Nodding, she stepped back with wary eyes and smiled. When I bent down to grab my bag, I looked at her hand where I had just put Scott’s ring on the night before.
“Why did you take it off?” I asked. “I thought you might want to wear his ring.”
Kate looked down at her hand and let out a heavy sigh. “It’s a beautiful ring, Cooper, but it doesn’t belong on my finger. It might have years ago, but now it doesn’t. I’m sure I’ll have one there someday. Until then, I’m content with it being bare.”
I knew it was too soon to think about marriage with her, but there was no doubt in my mind that if we were still together in the next year that I’d ask her in a heartbeat. Kate wasn’t a rush into anything type of girl, and the last thing I wanted to do was scare her off. I’d wait for when the time was right.
“I understand,” I told her. Tilting her chin up with my finger, I kissed her gently on the lips before turning around and walking away. I was ready to get this shit over.
Through the window, I watched as Cooper’s plane took off down the runway before lifting off into the air. I respected that he didn’t want to tell me who the other person involved was, but I figured he had his reasons. As soon as I got out to my car, I planned to stop by The Carolina Tavern and get something to eat, but that was put on hold when Detective Sam Lennox decided to call me.
“Hello,” I answered.
“Ms. Townsend, it’s Sam Lennox. Okay, I’m going to just cut to the chase and let you know. Emily Easton called me today and said that her mother never showed back up in Ohio. I don’t know if there’s any cause for concern, but until she shows up back home I want you to be cautious. I’m sure you’ll tell Cooper for me, right?”
“You can’t be serious?” I hissed. That’s not the news I want to hear right now. “And yes, I’ll tell Cooper, but he just left for California.”
“I see,” he remarked cautiously. “I’ll have Officer Stilwell drive by your house every now and again to check it out.”
“Thank you, Sam. I appreciate it.”
Once I got off the phone with him, I headed over to The Carolina Tavern. When I walked in, my brother and Luke—along with some of the other guys on the team—were sitting at the bar, drinking and eating.
“Can I join you?” I asked, dropping into the seat beside Luke.
From the look on his face I could already tell he’d had one too many beers. “Well, of course, sweetheart. Where’s the boyfriend?” he asked, glancing behind me.
“He just left for California. According to the police, I shouldn’t be alone, so I figured I’d crash the party.”
My brother furrowed his brows in concern. “Why didn’t they want you to be alone?”
Behind the bar, Grayson smiled and placed a glass of wine down in front of me. “Thank you,” I told him, taking a huge sip. To my brother, I said, “Scott’s mother hasn’t shown up in Ohio since they let her go. They don’t know where she’s at again.”
His eyes went wide. “Are you shitting me? So she could still be in town?”
I took another sip. “Yep.”
“Well, then if that’s the case you’re staying with me tonight until Cooper gets back. I don’t want you alone.”
“Evan, that’s not necessary,” I insisted incredulously.
Smiling, he leaned over the bar on his elbows. “Well, if you don’t stay with me then I’ll just send Luke over to stay with you. Make the choice, Kate. I’m sure Cooper wouldn’t like it if Luke was there all night.”
Groaning, I downed the rest of my wine and rolled my eyes. “Fine, I’ll stay at your house.”
Luke laughed and put his arm around me. “You know, sweetheart, with you not wanting me to stay with you, I’m starting to think you’re afraid you won’t be able to control yourself around me. Is that it?”
“I can control myself, Luke,” I told him, taking his arm and sliding it off my shoulders. “I just don’t want to piss Cooper off. I wouldn’t like it if he was staying the night with another female.”
“Who says he’s not?” he asked. “Did he tell you where he’s staying? Who he’s going to go see?”
I could feel everyone’s eyes on me and I choked. In all honesty, Cooper never did tell me who he was going to go see or where he was staying. There weren’t too many people who knew of his past, and only one of them came to mind … the doctor he slept with. She was his lover and she lived out in California. What if he went to see her? What if something happened between them?
“You honestly don’t know, do you?” Luke asked curiously. “You must really trust him.”
I huffed. “Fine, he never told me, but I know that why he went out there is important.” I didn’t have to look at Luke to know he could sense the shadow of doubt creeping in over my words.
Luke moved closer to me and lightly touched my chin, turning me so I’d look at him. He was dressed in a Red Bull T-shirt and jeans with his hair in perfectly gelled spikes. His eyes, however, weren’t lit with mischief like they were two minutes ago, but now full of concern.
He looked around the room at everyone’s prying eyes and leaned down to my ear. “Come with me,” he commanded, taking my hand.
I followed him through the front door until he stopped in front of his bike. Taking my other hand, he pulled me in closer and gazed down at me with his emerald green eyes. “Kate, I’m so sorry for putting you on the spot like that. I was just messing with you, thinking you would pick back, but you didn’t. I could see it in your eyes that something’s wrong. Where did Cooper go?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, but I know it has to do with the The Star Report article.”
Luke nodded. “Yeah, I heard about that. I didn’t want to bring it up unless you did. Who else could be in on it other than Scott’s mother?”
“I’m not sure, but I know there are some people that Cooper suspects. One happens to be a woman he used to mess around with.”
“As in fucking with?” Luke asked.
Cringing, I closed my eyes and didn’t reply. My silence was the answer he needed. “Fuck, K
ate, really? And you let him go without you?”
“He didn’t want me going,” I exclaimed. “What was I supposed to do?”
Luke sighed and pulled me into his arms. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt, Kate. Evan keeps telling me to stay away from you, but I feel so protective of you … I always have.”
“I know,” I whispered, laying my head on his chest. If Cooper had never shown up, I was pretty sure my heart would’ve eventually belonged to Luke, but it was something I was never going to find out.
Luke held me tighter. “And it kills me that you’re going through all of this shit and I’m not the one helping you this time. I honestly thought Cooper would’ve screwed up by now and you’d be mine.” Gently, he kissed me on the forehead before pulling away. “Okay, let’s get back in there before they suspect something. I didn’t want to talk to you in front of everyone. The last thing they need is seeing me go soft on a girl. I have a reputation to uphold.”
Locking my arms with his, I shook my head and smiled. “And that reputation, Luke Collins, is what’s holding you back. If you want a girl like me, you aren’t going to get it like that.”
“Well that’s the problem,” he said, holding open the door for me. “I haven’t met anyone else like you.”
“You will, Luke. I promise, when the time is right she’ll be there.”
“Do you honestly believe that?” he asked, furrowing his brows.
Lifting my hand to his face, I smiled up at him. “With all of my heart,” I declared.
After my layover in Dallas, Texas, I had arrived in California around nine o’clock in the morning with no sleep and the worst headache imaginable. The first thing that came to mind was taking a pain pill, but I didn’t have any … I didn’t want them. I was ready to get this shit over and get back home to Kate, where I belonged.
No one knew I was going to California and I planned it that way. Once I retrieved my bag—even though I knew I wasn’t going to need any clothes in the first place—I went outside and procured one of the cabs that waited along the sidewalk.
“Where to?” the driver asked.
I gave him the address and we were off. My heart pounded and my adrenaline was through the roof the entire car ride to my destination. I only prayed that she was at her house so I could get everything off of my chest and get the fuck out. After this, I was probably never going to go back to California again.
When the cab driver stopped at the edge of the driveway, I handed him a wad of bills and said, “If you stay right here and wait on me, I’ll give you double that amount when I get back.”
The driver’s eyes went wide and his mouth shot open. “Are … are you serious?” he asked incredulously. “I’ll wait for five hours for that. Trust me, I’ll be right here. Take your time.”
Yeah, I knew he would want to stay. “Thank you,” I replied, getting out of the car.
Making sure to grab my bag, I bolted straight to the door. As soon as I got close enough, I banged on it. I’d been to that house many times before and had plenty of memories in it … most of them involving the cold-hearted woman who answered the door, her eyes wide with surprise. She was dressed in her usual attire of expensive dress pants and blouse, her face covered in two inches of makeup. She may have been in her late fifties, but the woman could easily pass for someone in her thirties.
“Cooper, what are you doing here?” she gasped. “Shouldn’t you be in North Carolina?”
“Yeah, well, I came all this way to talk to you … Mother.”
Not waiting for her to invite me in, I pushed the door open and thundered past her into the house. “Why on earth would you come all this way just to talk to me?” she asked, chuckling nervously.
As I glared at the woman who tried to ruin my life, I couldn’t believe it took this long to figure out what her problem was. She never loved me, she only loved herself, her money, and the power she held over everyone around her. When I was a child, all I did was strive for her approval, but in reality, she didn’t approve of anything. No wonder I was fucked up.
Turning on my heel, I stalked off to the kitchen while my mother followed. “You want to know why I’m here? Take a look at this,” I growled, grabbing the magazine from my bag and slamming it down in front of her. “Do you want to tell me why in the hell you gave these fucking leeches the information for this article? For someone who’s so concerned about my career, you definitely didn’t give a shit when you gave this up.”
Nonchalantly, my mother rolled her eyes and fetched a glass out of one of the kitchen cabinets. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Anyone could have given that information to the press.” She turned her back on me and filled her glass with water.
“Oh, that’s not what I heard. From what Kevin Layton says you were pretty enthusiastic about giving out all of my dirty little secrets. The same thing goes for that psychotic bitch you teamed up with, Marianne Easton.”
Dropping her glass in the sink, my mother jerked her body around to face me, muscles tense and eyes on fire. “Yeah, that’s right,” I stormed angrily, “I know all about it. Did you also know that Marianne had been following me and Kate around, and left warning messages on my car? Not to mention, she happened to slash my tires as well. Now tell me, does that sound like a sane individual to you?”
“She’s hurting for her son,” my mother spat. “Right now, I know how she feels because you’re heading down the wrong path fast.”
“What? You’re not making any sense. How am I heading down the wrong path? I’m on a wonderful team that’s won every single game this season, I’ve stopped doing drugs thanks to Kate, and I’ve finally settled down. What more do you want from me?” I shouted.
“I want you to stay away from that girl,” she exclaimed. “Marianne told me that her son killed himself, but she thinks Kate had something to do with it. I’m only looking out for you.”
I scoffed, “Really? Her son was dying of cancer, Mother. I watched a video of him saying good-bye to Kate and how he was in too much pain to keep living. Kate actually made him happy and gave him several more months of living. Marianne should be thanking her. She used you to get what she wanted, and you happily threw me under the bus.”
“I told you I was looking out for you. It was the only way for you to see Kate for who she was.”
“Since when do you care about my well being, huh? And did you not hear what I said just a few seconds ago. Kate is the reason why I don’t take pills anymore. She’s the one who never left my side when I went through withdrawals.”
My mother shook her head with a smug expression on her face. “You want to talk about someone who never leaves your side? Let me get my phone and show you exactly how Kate stays by your side.”
What the hell is she talking about?
My mother came back her phone and held up a picture of Kate … in the arms of Luke Collins. “Look what Marianne sent me last night. Last night, Cooper. That looks an awful lot like Kate with another man. Are you telling me that she’s worth it now when she’s let another man grope all over her?”
Seeing Kate in Luke’s arms pissed me the fuck off, but it nowhere near concerned me as much as the fact that Marianne was still in Charlotte and I was in California where I couldn’t protect Kate if anything were to happen. I bet Kate didn’t know Marianne was still in town.
Unfortunately, my mother wasn’t done. “Whatever your reasons are for wanting to date someone beneath you is beyond me. Why can’t you find someone like Claire who’s beautiful, refined, and from a wealthy family? You have a duty to your family to uphold the name and you’re throwing it away. It’s an embarrassment.”
Eyes wide, I snarled and grabbed her phone, throwing it as hard as I could against the wall, making her shriek and jump back. “An embarrassment? You exposed my personal problems to the world. If anything, you fucked up my career even more!”
Nonchalantly, she blew out a frustrated breath and shrugged her shoulders before looking down at her long, m
anicured fingernails. “Well, it’s not like you’re going to be the star you were when you played for Oakland. Joel is a good man, but his team sucks. Why you ever agreed to be on it is beyond me.”
You would think hearing those words coming from your mother’s mouth would hurt, but I was so far past caring that saying what I did next didn’t bother me one fucking bit.
Chuckling, I let my smile disappear into a cold mask, one of complete and utter disdain. “I agreed to be on his team because no one else wanted me, Mother. Since I’m such a huge disappointment to you, I figured I’d tell you the truth. You see, I don’t give a fuck if you approve of me or not because everyone back home does. I’m not going to fight for your approval anymore because no matter what I do it’s never good enough. I will admit defeat and give up on you.”
Holding my hands in the air I said, “I’m done,” before walking out of the kitchen straight to the front door.
My mother shouted out behind me, “Where are you going? I thought I taught you better than this, Cooper Holden Davis!”
Shaking my head, I turned around to face her one last time. She would always be my mother, but just because she had that title didn’t mean she had worth.
“That’s the thing, Mother. You didn’t teach me anything. I’ll call Dad and tell him good-bye, but I don’t ever want to see you again. This is the last time I’m coming here.” The look of surprise and horror on her face after that statement would forever stay ingrained in my mind.
“You don’t mean that,” she chuckled worriedly.
Opening the door wide, I took a deep breath and turned around. “Oh yes, I do. From this day forward I am no longer your son. I don’t want to be. You must be one miserable woman to only think of yourself and turn your back on your own family. I hope money makes you happy because in my world it only led to bitterness and pain. I am lucky, though … I’m loved by the most amazing woman I know. You need to ask yourself who in this world actually loves you. I can guarantee you there won’t be a single person on that list. Good-bye, Mother.”