Boomerangers

by Heather M. Orgeron

  He opens his mouth to speak and begins to sob instead.

  “Hey. It’s okay. Tell me what’s going on. Is someone hurt?”

  Landon shakes his head. “I don’t know who else to talk to...my-my mom is gonna k-kill me, but she needs you. We need your help.”

  A lump lodges in my throat, and I attempt to clear it away before speaking. “What happened?”

  After a few deep breaths, he regains some semblance of control. “Umm...I just got back from my dad’s house and went upstairs to tell Mom that I was home, but I heard her...I heard her on the phone with Aunt Gina...”

  “Okay...”

  “I was about to walk in, but it sounded important so I stood there and I-I listened.”

  He gets quiet for a moment. He’s angry. His fists clench in his lap and his jaw ticks from side to side. “She said that Kyle’s dad is taking her to court...He wants custody, Coop. You can’t let that happen. Please. Please don’t let him take Kyle away from us.”

  Landon completely breaks down. I get out of the truck and walk around to his side, opening the door and pulling him to my chest. I rest a hand on the back of his head, smoothing down his unruly, blond curls. “Shhh. It’s okay. It’s gonna be okay, Landon. You did the right thing.” He nods into my chest and I tuck my finger under his chin, lifting his face so he can see the sincerity in my eyes when I tell him, “No one...No. One. Is taking that baby away. Do you hear me?”

  He nods. “Mom’s gonna be so mad. She told Aunt Gina she didn’t want to tell you because she wasn’t talking to you and you would think she was using you...But, I think she’s...she’s wrong. She’s wrong, right?” He stares at me, completely vulnerable with so much trust and hope in his eyes. Son of a bitch. I don’t know when it happened, but it isn’t just Spencer I’ve fallen in love with...I’ve gone and fallen for the whole damned bunch.

  “Yes,” I assure him, feeling a tightening in my chest. “She’s wrong.”

  Spencer

  It’s a quarter to eight, and I’ve been crying for almost an hour, no closer to a solution. My heart hurts. The pain is worse than any I’ve ever experienced. My baby. Not my baby. Heaving sobs wrack my body.

  A cough draws my attention toward the door, which I never even heard open.

  “Cooper?” I call out, squinting my eyes through the dark room at the magnificent figure looming in the doorway. My heart pounds. For a brief moment, I’m filled with hope, allowing myself to believe that he’s here to rescue us. My white knight come to chase the bad guy away. But, only briefly. It takes just a split second for me to remember that my life couldn’t be further from anything even slightly resembling a fairytale. He’s probably horny and tired of waiting. He knows better than anyone how stubborn I can be. “Coop, I can’t do this right now. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for running out on you the other night, but I’m really not feeling well.”

  Cooper doesn’t retreat but instead steps into the room, shutting the door behind him and twisting the lock. Is he seriously doing this right now?

  “Please go.”

  “You are a lot of things, Princess, but I didn’t take you for a liar.” His voice is fire dipped in ice. Both soothing and scathing all at once.

  “Excuse me?” I gulp.

  Cooper kneels at the side of my bed. His face just inches from mine. So close that his warm breath makes my skin tingle when he exhales. “Why are you crying?” Cooper’s hand reaches out, brushing damp hair from my cheeks. He knows. It’s in the tone of his voice, the softness of his touch. He’s both angry and hurt. He wants to lash out but his need to soothe my pain takes precedence.

  “Gina,” I choke out.

  Coop’s brow furrows. “What?”

  “She called you.”

  His head shakes. “I assure you, she did not.”

  “Then who?”

  Cooper clenches his jaw and sighs. “For God’s sake, woman, will you fucking talk to me?”

  Feeling a little too vulnerable in this position, I sit up, and Cooper rises from the floor, perching himself beside me on the edge of my bed. When I remain silent, he releases a frustrated growl, conceding with a deep sigh. “Landon heard you on the phone with Gina and freaked out. He was waiting for me in the driveway when I got home from work and told me everything.”

  My hand cups my mouth and I gasp. “Oh God. Oh my God.” My poor baby.

  “He was scared that you’d be angry at him, but he had enough sense to ask me for help because he knew that you needed it...” Coop shakes his head. “I only wish you trusted me enough to do the same.”

  “I’m sorry, Coop,” I cry, reaching for his hand. I just want to crawl into his arms and hide from the mess unfolding around me. “I know I...I have no right to ask, especially after the other night, but do you think you could just...Would you just hold me for a while? I’m so scared, Cooper,” I sob. “I promise to tell you everything later.”

  Cooper lifts my hand to his mouth, kissing each of my fingers as he toes off his shoes. Then he crawls into the bed, pulling me down to lay beside him. Coop presses kisses along the side of my face while holding me close. He doesn’t pester me for answers, sensing my need for silence...for solace. And just as I’m beginning to drift off to sleep, I feel his soft lips on my cheek as he whispers the four words I’ve longed to hear for fifteen years. “I love you, Princess.”

  The sun hasn’t yet risen when I feel someone staring at me. I must’ve rolled over during the night, because when my eyes flutter open, it is Cooper’s big brown orbs I find gazing into mine. “Hey,” I croak. “What time is it?”

  “A little after two.”

  “Have you been awake this whole time?”

  Coop smiles lazily, rubbing his hand up and down my arm. “I dozed off for a bit, I think. Are you feeling better?”

  “A little. Thanks for staying with me.”

  “My pleasure...Ready to give me some answers now?” he asks, and I nod my head. “Start from the beginning. I need to know everything if we’re gonna find a way to nail this asshole.”

  Cooper

  I’m on the phone with the PI when Spencer comes barreling through the door with a stack of papers in her hand. “I came straight over after I got them, just like you said.”

  I hold the finger of one hand to my lips while tucking the phone under my chin to wave her inside with the other. “That all sounds great. Call me the minute you find anything of use.” I glance at the date on the papers Spence just placed in my hand. “Our court date is set for March 1st. That’s in just two weeks. Work fast.”

  “Who was that?” Spencer asks before I’ve even returned the phone to its cradle.

  “That was the best damned private investigator New Orleans has to offer.”

  “You think we have a shot?” she asks with nervous excitement. It was a huge blow when I told her that without having him sign papers relinquishing his paternal rights she doesn’t have a valid reason to prevent Alex from being in Kyle’s life. The text messages won’t do more than possibly taint the judge’s opinion of him. They may go hard on him, limiting his visitation to supervised, especially at first. But, the courts are always in favor of a child having both parents in their life whenever possible.

  “We always have a shot, Princess. We’ve just got to be smart and maybe a little creative.”

  “Where do we start?” She’s full of fire and ready to fight. In full Momma Bear mode this morning. It’s fucking sexy as hell. I vow to myself that one day soon, when this is all over, I’m going to make love to this beautiful woman right here on this desk.

  “Coop?”

  Shit. “Sorry, I was lost in thought for a minute there. What was the question?”

  “The plan...What’s the plan?”

  Right. “I’m going to type up a response to this petition, refusing immediate visitation due to the fact that he has willingly never been involved in Kyle’s life, and file a counterclaim for full legal and physical custody. That will hold us over ’til we get to court. In th
e meantime, we hire a PI, which I’ve just done. If there is any dirt to be dug up on Alex, he will find it. If he finds it, we use it. If there’s none...”

  “We make it up?”

  “Cute...” I shake my head and smile. “If there’s none, then we have the peace of mind knowing that Kyle is not going to be with anyone dangerous. Due to his lack of involvement in Kyle’s life, we can request and should be granted brief, supervised visitations at first where you will be present. By the time Kyle is left alone with him, he will already have a relationship with Alex and we will have had time to feel him out.”

  Her eyes rim with tears. “We?”

  “I will be with you through every step of this, Spencer. I won’t let you go through it alone.”

  “We have to find something,” she whispers, unable to come to grips with the idea of having to share Kyle with that piece of shit. I can’t pretend to understand what she’s going through, but I get it on some level. The thought of another man coming into Kyle’s life has me sick with jealousy. I’m his man. I don’t care that he doesn’t share my fucking DNA. That kid laid claim to my heart and there’s no getting it back.

  “I promise, Spencer, that I will do everything in my power to make this go away.”

  She nods, sucking her lips between her teeth and widening her eyes to fight back tears. “Thanks, Coop.”

  The next few days are spent with my head buried in various law books and on the phone consulting colleagues. I’ve completely devoted myself to Spencer’s case, letting the rest of our workload fall on Dad’s shoulders. He’s been more than supportive, happily taking on the extra load so I can be there for Spencer.

  All we’ve managed to dig up on Mr. Alex Hernandez are a couple of old drug charges and one recent simple assault charge for a barroom fight. Neither is enough.

  A week has passed, and each day that I have to report that the PI has not found anything that will stick sets Spencer a little more on edge. So, today when she walks in, I’m happy to throw her a little bone.

  “How was work?” I ask when she comes trudging into my office and collapses into the chair in front of my desk. “That good, huh?”

  “Please tell me he found something?”

  “It’s not much...”

  She perks up, sitting a little straighter. “Tell me.”

  “Stephen has been hanging out at the club he frequents, and apparently, Alex is engaged to some rich oilfield princess. The night he ran in to Gina, Alex got stupid drunk and spilled the beans about Kyle to his new fiancée. They got into a huge argument over his keeping it from her. Apparently his future wife is unable to bear children and sees Kyle as her shot at motherhood.”

  Spencer’s eyes narrow. “That bitch.”

  “According to Stephen, she’s good people.”

  Spencer glares at me. “Don’t...She wants my baby. Fuck her.”

  I bite my lip and laugh.

  “What else?” she asks eagerly.

  “That’s it for now.”

  Spencer huffs. “That’s nothing we can use, Cooper. How does this help us?”

  “It gives us motive, Princess. She’s his kryptonite.”

  “Court is in five days and we have shit, Cooper,” Spencer cries when she shows up after work. Her hair is a wreck and she looks like she hasn’t slept in days. “Do we have anything else. Is there any other way to keep him out of Kyle’s life?”

  “It’s a long shot.” She is never going to go for this.

  “Lay it on me.”

  Reaching across the table, I take both of her hands into mine and look her straight in the eyes. “Marry me.” No two words have ever felt better or more right than the two I’ve just spoken. My heart races and bile rises in my throat as the nerves consume me.

  Spencer stares, mouth gaping, like I’ve grown two heads. It’s as if she’s waiting for the punch line. When it finally becomes clear to her that this isn’t a joke, her eyes begin to dart around the room, looking anywhere but at me. Finally, she laughs it off, attempting to pull her hands from mine, but I just hold them tighter. “Cooper, stop messing around.” Her voice shakes.

  “I’m completely serious.”

  Spencer’s cheeks flush crimson and she crosses and uncrosses her legs...twice. “Why?” she sputters. “Why are you doing this?”

  “The fact that you’re engaged to be married will show the judge that you have a stable home for Kyle with two parents who love him. If there is a father figure in the picture, a judge is more likely to terminate rights. We’ll still need something substantial on Alex, but it will strengthen your case drastically.”

  “You would do that for me?” Silent tears drip from endless blue oceans. She’s shaking.

  God, this girl really is clueless. “Spencer, I’ve already told you that I would do whatever it takes to help you. Yes, I would do this for you and for your boys.” And for myself, I add silently. I can’t let her see this as more than a strategic move. The mere thought of a real date had her running for the hills.

  She’s quiet for a long moment. I can see the wheels turning in that gorgeous head of hers. Finally, she pulls her hands away, shaking her head at me. “I can’t ask this of you, Cooper. It’s too much.”

  My heart plummets to my toes and my mouth goes dry. “You didn’t ask, I offered, and the offer stands.”

  “Can I have some time to think about it?”

  “You have four days, Princess.”

  She rises from her chair, backing toward the door. Her head bobs, and she thanks me again as she disappears the way she entered only minutes ago.

  Spencer

  I barely make it back to my car without collapsing. I have spent my entire life dreaming of the day that Cooper would ask me to marry him, and I can honestly say I never imagined it to be like this. I’m a ball of conflicting emotions. But, above all else, shitty fake proposal and all, I love that man with every fiber of my being. More now than ever.

  That he would sacrifice his own future to save mine is the most selfless thing anyone has ever done for me. Coop loves me. His words confirmed what I think I’ve always known deep down when he whispered them into my ear a week and a half ago. I still believe wholeheartedly that Cooper and I are soul mates. The problem, however, has never been a lack of love for each other. Even when Cooper broke up with me, I knew that he loved me.

  But, since that day there has always been something standing in our way. Today that something is my children. They are the reason I can’t just say yes when every cell in my body wants to be his wife. I care about his and my boys’ happiness too much. Cooper may like my kids. But, like and love are two entirely different things. It would not be fair to expect him to take on the role of doting dad to three children he never asked for, and for my boys, I would expect nothing less.

  Where’s a paper bag when you need one? It feels like my throat is closing up and my heart is beating way too fast. This can’t be normal. I think I must be hyperventilating. I lean my head against the headrest, breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth slowly until it no longer feels like I’m drowning.

  While still idling in the parking lot, I text Gina.

  Me: Cooper just proposed.

  Gina: What??? What did you say? You said YES, right?

  Me: Not exactly. I told him I’d think about it.

  My phone starts buzzing in my hand and I answer it.

  “What the hell do you mean you told him you’d think about it? Sometimes I swear I don’t know you at all. This is what you’ve wanted your entire life.” Gina starts in on me before I can even get out the word “Hello.”

  God, my head hurts. “It wasn’t like a romantic proposal, Gi. It was more of a business proposal.”

  “’Splain, Lucy.”

  “If Coop and I are engaged, or if I’m engaged, period, it will strengthen our chances of getting Alex’s rights terminated. Apparently judges like kids to have fathers and step ones will do...”

  “You’re stupid. First of all, I nee
d for you to know that.”

  “Uhhh, thanks?”

  “That is the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard. What could possibly be more romantic than the man of your dreams swooping in like a white knight? This is your fucking fairytale, bitch, and you’re about to let it slip away...” Gina growls in frustration. “Listen, I know your stubborn ass is used to doing everything alone, but for once will you just play the role of damsel in dis-fucking-stress and allow the man to swoop in and save your ass?”

  Wow. “I’m not sure I know how to damsel.”

  The line goes silent for a few seconds. Gina must not know how to damsel, either. When she doesn’t answer, I begin laughing. “Hello, pot.”

  “Shut up. Watch some Disney movies tonight and take notes. I think you have to talk like you’ve just swallowed helium and faint and shit,” she teases.

  “I almost accomplished the fainting part.”

  “See, you’re a natural. You’ve totally got this.”

  “Totally.”

  “Just say yes, Spencer. It’s that simple.”

  It’s that simple...and it’s that fucking hard.

  The next day, as I’m packing up to leave school, a text comes in.

  My Knight: We’ve got him. Get your sexy ass over here, Princess.

  I stare down at the message in disbelief. My hand begins shaking so hard that the phone falls to the table. Oh my God. I don’t know what exactly we’ve got yet, and I don’t care, because Cooper wouldn’t have messaged me if it wasn’t something solid.

  Me: On my way!

  Screw the butterflies, humming birds are zipping around in my stomach by the time I walk through the door to Cooper’s office. I’m floating.