As the youngest brother of the three Coopers I didn’t need to say much, but razzing Alice was a requirement. She was like family and exempt from my silence.
I turned my ears to the chatter surrounding me. Growing up, I enjoyed listening to other people. In most circumstances someone would always say what I’d been thinking, saving me from voicing my opinion. What was the point of repeating what everyone already knew?
Several people in the diner were discussing my brother Owen and Carla. Their wedding was fast approaching and was the talk of the town. Nothing quite as exciting had happened in Frazier Falls since the avalanche in ninety-seven—eighteen ninety-seven.
The knitting club was crammed into the corner booth betting on the type of flowers they’d have and whether Carl would wear white.
“She’s no virgin,” Isabel Walker shouted a bit too loud, which drew the stares of many. She dropped her knitting needles and shook her head.
“Hell, these days, kids are born with experience.” Scarlet Lewellen pulled out another ball of yarn and continued her work on what looked like a pair of baby booties. “Miriam’s granddaughter is a baby having a baby and she marched to the altar eight months along and dressed in white.”
Wanda Kraft looked over her shoulder at me. “There’s one left. Who do you think Paxton will end up with?”
My mouth dropped open. They were talking about me.
“Maybe he’ll meet his match at the ceremony.”
The entire group turned toward me and one by one they raised their hands and waved.
“Maybe he’ll catch the garter which would mean he’d be next.”
I shook my head and made a mental note to avoid the garter at all costs.
“Here you go.” Alice slid a plate of pie and a coffee on the table. I swear she always gave me a double portion.
“It’s too bad you’re taken, Alice. A woman who can make pie like you might be able to enter my heart.”
Down came the order pad on my head again. “She’s out there waiting for you, Pax. Never say never.”
“Never,” I said before I shoved my mouth full of pie.
“Someone, someday, will earn their place in your warm, smooshy soul. You’re a Teddy bear destined to be hugged and cherished. If you weren’t so busy catering to all the widows in town, you might have time to find a woman for yourself.”
“I love those cougars.” There was nothing going on between me and the senior residents of Frazier Falls. I liked to be helpful and found my niche assisting the older folks of my little town.
“Between work and Lucy Rogers, you may never find a mate. Although there’s a table of interesting women giving you a look over now.” We both glanced at the knitters in the corner.
“Not looking for one.” I loved the term she used, because while I liked the mating part, I wasn’t that good at all the rest.
Alice trotted off in her red high-top sneakers while I reflected on my existence. I enjoyed working with my brothers. Cooper Construction was a successful business, and with Owen’s Green House project taking off, we were beginning to garner a good reputation across the globe. It was rewarding to do good work and be recognized as an industry leader in green living. Though Owen was the one who designed his eco-friendly houses, I was the one responsible for much of the building of them and the running of the company.
It had always worked well. Owen was the architect. Eli was the numbers guy. When we got on-site, the responsibility fell to me to ensure the actual construction work got done.
It was the way I liked it. Good, honest, physically hard work left my mind free to wander. It also meant that I never had to take work home like my brothers. My free time was filled by helping others with tasks they couldn’t always do themselves. I didn’t know when or why I’d started doing this, but it filled me with a deep sense of satisfaction that I didn’t get from anything else.
Alice’s comment about helping others taking up too much of my time was dead wrong. It was actually a time saver. Because I wouldn’t accept compensation, everyone showed their appreciation with homemade food. I might starve if not for Lucy Rogers, Judy Flanagan, and a half dozen others who cooked me casseroles and roasts and baked goods in large quantities.
I finished my pie and laid down a ten to pay before I walked out and headed to the bar to meet my brothers for a beer.
I no sooner walked inside when John Reilly handed me a Tupperware container. “Thank you again for all your help over winter with the restocking,” He nodded toward my brothers and Emily, who sat at the end of the bar. “They’re only a half a pint ahead of you.”
“I’m a coffee and a piece of pie ahead of them.”
“Smart man. Eat before you drink.”
I looked down at the gift of food from John. “Irish stew?”
“Yes, with extra carrots just the way you like it.”
“You’re the best.” I tucked the container under my arm and moved toward the group. Carla and her brother Rich hadn’t arrived yet.
I glanced at Eli. “I’ve got Irish stew if you want to join me after our beer.”
My brother shook his head and wrapped his arm around his girlfriend’s shoulder. “Emily and I already have plans.”
“I know what that means,” Owen laughed. “They’re going to indulge in a different appetite.”
“I’m not discussing my sex life with you,” Eli muttered. He turned to me before adding, “I’m happy to take that off your hands though. I’m sure you’ve got plenty of similar dishes filling your refrigerator and freezer.” Eli looked at Emily. “We’ll have to come up for air and forage for food at some point.”
She gave him a solid slug in the arm. “You said you weren’t talking about our sex life.”
A smile curled my lips. “Nope, I’ll have no problem eating it all on my own. Reilly’s Irish stew is amazing.”
“You pig,” Eli called out.
I shrugged my shoulders, indifferent to the insult.
Owen looked at me. “Mind if I steal some for Carla and me?”
“I’ll bring it over to your place and we can share the meal,” I said.
Eli pouted. “Why share with him?”
“Because he didn’t call me a pig.”
“Nope, not out loud anyway,” Owen chimed in as Carla and her brother Rich walked into the bar. “That wasn’t an invite to join us, it was a request for food.”
I slapped a hand over my heart. “I’m wounded.”
Carla kissed Owen’s cheek as he handed her a beer.
“Pax offered to bring us his dinner. Irish stew compliments of John.”
She looked at the container and me. “Can I take the stew and pass on the visit? I love you brother-to-be, but I’ve got plans for Owen and they don’t call for a chaperone.”
“Geez, I swear you’re going to wear yourselves out before the honeymoon.” I looked from Owen and Carla to Eli and Emily trying to make a point. “See what happens when you set a date? It’s like a race to the finish and once you’re married—”
Emily broke in. “That’s why Eli and I have no intention of getting married any time soon. We need lots of practice.”
Eli looked at her. “Now who’s talking?” He gave me a tap. “I’d say get a girlfriend so you’re not so lonely, but I fear that would be an impossible task.”
“Rude.” It was true, though. I had dated women in the past, but I’d never had a serious girlfriend before. I didn’t want one. Women were … complicated. Often chatty and I wasn’t good with expressing my emotions. I didn’t say any of this to my present company because I knew that both Emily and Carla would pull my ear for hours explaining the benefits of a girlfriend.
“Pax, get your head back in the conversation,” Owen said.
“I was never out of it,” I replied smoothly. I pointed to the group. “Don’t forget your roles. You’re the talkers, I’m the listener. Want to quiz me? I can repeat anything you’ve ever told me. Can’t answer to the things you haven’t.”
> By their expressions, they knew I was referring to Owen’s panic attacks. Particularly the one he had at the architectural exhibit where I discovered that Eli had known about Owen’s anxiety problems for years, and I’d been kept in the dark.
Before that, I’d assumed we never spoke about such things because there was nothing to talk about. Now I knew we were all idiots who probably needed to open up to each other more often. “You want a word-by-word retelling?” They knew I could do it. Eli scowled while the rest of the group laughed.
“Did you have a look at the plans I sent you for the wedding venue?” Owen abruptly changed the topic of conversation.
I suppressed a scowl. “Yes.”
“And …?”
“And that’s a hell of a lot of work you want me to do.”
“Come on,” Owen protested. “You’re the only person I know who could build what we need as quickly as we need it.”
“No, I’m the only one you know of who will do it for free.”
“May as well keep it in the family, right?”
I sighed with resignation.
“You already knew I’d do it, so don’t act as if you were giving me a choice.”
Carla squealed with delight as she hugged me. “Thanks, Pax. You’re a lifesaver.”
“Building it on top of the creek will be complicated,” I warned. “The design is more elaborate than it needs to be. Simple and sturdy will keep you all dry.”
Owen laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
The rest of the evening passed by in an easy conversation that I was happy to listen to. Aside from a sarcastic comment here or there, I had no need to speak up, which sat perfectly in my lane.
As I leaned back and watched my brothers, I thought about how complicated their lives had become. What used to be a Friday night beer with siblings was a coordinating of schedules nightmare. We used to talk about chicks and now the only topic of conversation was flower choices, types of cake, and tuxedo fittings.
I would happily live my life without those problems.
I left the bar alone knowing that single was spectacular—or at least that was my story and I was sticking to it.
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International bestselling author of more than thirty novels, Kelly Collins writes with the intention of keeping the love alive. Always a romantic, she blends real-life events with her vivid imagination to create characters and stories that lovers of contemporary romance, new adult, and romantic suspense will return to again and again.
Kelly lives in Colorado at the base of the Rocky Mountains with her husband of twenty-nine years, their dog Sophie, a cat name Ginger, and a green cheeked conure named Rosco. She has three amazing children, whom she loves to pieces.
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Shelter Me: A Frazier Falls Novel Page 17