by Unknown
“Shut up, whore!” Richard screamed at her. “I’ve missed you, Cooper. Nobody has ever made me happier in bed than you have. You certainly know how to please a man, babe.” His use of the endearment turned Cooper’s stomach. She belonged to Ky, not Richard. Even if Ky didn’t want her. As Richard drew back to hit her again, she realized a sad truth. Just because something belongs to you, doesn’t mean you have to want it. The last blow she was aware of caught her in the temple and, blessedly, she knew no more.
* * * *
When Ky came home, the dogs met him at the truck. Samson and Rover were hysterical. Rover would run to him, and then back to the house—run to him, and then back to the house—and the howling noise he made caused Ky’s blood to run cold. Something was wrong. Something was bad wrong. Running to the porch, he began to call Cooper’s name. “Cooper! Cooper!” He should never have left her alone today.
The kitchen door was unlocked. Bad sign. Stepping in, he blanched. Blood was all over the floor! There was a trail of blood, as if something had been dragged from the kitchen and down the hall. “God, no. God, no. God, no.” He prayed. But, when he rounded the corner and walked into the spare room, he sank to his knees in agony. Cooper lay sprawled on the floor. Her face was bloody and battered. “Oh, my sweet love.” He knelt by her, his breath coming in tortured gasps. How much did any one person have to suffer? He jerked his cell from his pocket and called the ambulance. He screamed for them to hurry. Feeling for a pulse, he found one—thready and weak. Taking precious time, he called his brother.
“Hello?”
“Ty, I need you man.”
“What do you need?” Ty was instantly awake and alert.
“It’s Cooper, Ty. Somebody attacked her. She’s bad, Ty.”
“Where are you?”
“My home. I’ve called the ambulance. Would you meet me at the hospital?”
“Try to preserve the crime scene, Ky. Let me come there first and get a forensic team on this and then I’ll come to the hospital. Okay?”
“Whatever you think best.” Ky folded his phone and then lay down next to Cooper. He put his arm around her. “I’m here, Cooper. I’m here.” He held her hand, willing her to realize he was by her side. Cooper never moved a muscle.
The ambulance seemed to take forever to arrive, but when they did, Ky backed up and let them do their job. He held his breath as they lifted her seemingly lifeless body to the stretcher.
He began to follow them out, realizing the animals needed to be fed. They would just have to wait. “You better get a jacket, man. Our first good cold front is supposed to come through tonight.” The EMT guy looked at Ky with sympathy. Ky didn’t want to think, so he grabbed the first jacket he could find. Mindlessly, he slipped it on.
Unfortunately, the hospital was becoming a familiar place for Cooper. Thinking how much time she had spent in one and for what reasons made Ky die a little inside. She was so precious. She was so sweet. And she had suffered so much in her short life. Who could have done such a thing? If he didn’t know better, he would have thought this was the work of her so-called husband. But he knew better. Richard Hawkins was dead. Wasn’t he? Vaguely, he recalled Cooper saying Hawkins body had not been found. That thought made Ky’s blood run cold in his veins.
He stood as close to her as the medic would allow while they placed her in the ambulance. As soon as the doors were shut, he headed to the truck and followed the emergency vehicle as it raced over the country roads.
The sound of the siren made Ky’s heart hurt. He drove the miles to the hospital without seeing anything but Cooper’s battered little face. God, what he wouldn’t give to have one hour with whoever had hurt his precious baby. There was no way he would rest until the bastard was found. He knew there had to be some connection to her dead husband, but what that could be—he couldn’t say.
When they pulled up to the emergency room entrance, Ky whipped into a parking place and made it to the automatic doors before they had Cooper unloaded. Drew met them, having already been notified that they were on their way.
Drew looked almost as bad as Ky. “My God, I can’t believe this.” He directed the EMT’s to bring the stretcher into the first triage area. Forcing Ky to step back, he began to examine Cooper. “Go sit down, friend. Give me room to work. What happened to our sweet girl?”
“I don’t know. I found her like this. In our home.” Ky’s voice broke as he tried to talk.
“I need to run a battery of tests. Why don’t you wait in the lobby?” Drew didn’t wait on a reply, but helped a nurse wheel Cooper down the hall.
Ky sat with his head in his hands. Could this have been Hawkins? If not, then who? If it were Hawkins, it would explain a lot—all of his trouble—as well as Cooper’s attack.
After a few long minutes, Ky became aware tears were flowing down his cheeks. Reaching in his pocket for a handkerchief, his fingers closed over a piece of paper. Bringing it out, he glanced to see what it was.
Cooper’s note.
He had never read it.
It had completely slipped his mind.
Opening it, he read it through tear-streaked eyes and what he read literally broke his heart in two. “Oh, sweet Lord. Oh, God. Cooper, I am so sorry.” Cooper loved him. She had planned a special time for them, just so he could accept that love. He read the note again, and the agony came afresh. He pictured her waiting for him to come, finally giving up, thinking he didn’t love her. Oh dear God, that’s what she thought. Right now, Cooper was lying in a hospital room, unconscious and her last thought had been that he didn’t love her. Torturing himself, he read the note a third time. He thought back to the events of the night before. The food, his preoccupation, her sadness. And God! They hadn’t made love. She probably thought he hadn’t come to bed because he didn’t want her, didn’t love her. Knife-like pains cut through Ky’s entire being. He jumped to his feet, anxious to be at Cooper’s side. He had to tell her. He had to make her understand.
Drew met him as he started toward the examining room. “She’s got a concussion. I can’t tell you how long she’ll be unconscious.” When Ky reached her side, the nurse was cleaning her up and tending to the cuts and abrasions on her face. He stood, stalwart, until they left. An IV drip had been put in one arm, so he held the other.
“Cooper.” He gently kissed her face. “Cooper, can you hear me? Darling, please hear me. I love you. I love you, Cooper.” Ky buried his face in her neck. “I hadn’t told you because, well, stupidly, I wanted to make a big deal of it. I wanted to wait until I got your engagement ring. I have it now, Cooper. Don’t let me be too late, baby. Please.” Ky noticed moisture on Cooper’s face and at first, he thought she was crying. But, it was his tears, not hers. “I’m so sorry I didn’t read your note until tonight. Cooper, I wouldn’t have hurt you for anything. Please believe me. I adore you, Cooper.”
Drew stood at the door and watched one of his best friends in agony. “Pray for her, Ky. Pray for Cooper. She’s got to want to wake up. You can make all the difference in the world to her, Ky.”
“Why wouldn’t she want to wake up, Drew?” He knew Drew did not know about the note or any of their misunderstandings. What could he be talking about?
“This isn’t Cooper’s first trip here today.” At the doctor’s words, Ky’s imagination went crazy. Was she sick? He remembered the scant meals, her small little references to not feeling well.
“Is she sick, Drew?” At Ky’s stricken look, Drew pulled up a chair and sat next to his friend.
“She warned me not to tell you, but I think this trumps her request. She’s pregnant, Ky. Cooper’s carrying your baby.”
The news reverberated through Ky’s soul. His baby? His and Cooper’s baby! Then, it hit him anew. She thought he didn’t love her. If this hadn’t happened, would she have told him? Lord, what a mess! Why hadn’t he held her close last night when he had the chance? “Could you leave us alone for a few minutes, Drew?”
Drew left.
Ky
stood and bent over Cooper. He laid his head against her abdomen. Next, he kissed it tenderly. Returning to her face, Ky pleaded once more. “Sweetheart, I know about the baby. I love you, Cooper. I love our baby. Please come back to me.”
But, she didn’t move.
And all he could do was hold her hand and wait. And pray.
Soon Ky dropped off to sleep. The ringing of his cell phone caused him to jump. Before he answered, he checked Cooper. There was no change. “Hello?”
“Ky. Sorry, I haven’t made it there, bro. How’s Cooper?”
“No change. She hasn’t woken up at all. Not since I found her.”
“Do you think you could pull yourself away? I believe I’ve got him cornered. I thought you might want to be in on this. If I’m not mistaken, I think our culprit is a dead man.”
“Richard Hawkins. He did it all, didn’t he?” Ky gritted his teeth. “Cooper’s demonic husband burned down my trees, ruined my farm equipment, destroyed my fence, and trashed my Saddlery. Trouble; nothing but trouble. Now, look what he’s done to Cooper. The pieces fit, Ty. Damn!” Ky stood up and kissed Cooper. Walking out of the room, he was a man with a purpose.
* * * *
Cooper opened her eyes. She hadn’t been awake long, but she heard what Ky had said about Richard. It was all her fault. Everything. If she had never moved in with Ky, never fallen in love with him, he wouldn’t have suffered so much loss. And to think she could cause him additional loss just turned her stomach. No, that wouldn’t happen. She would see to that. With her mind made up, Cooper tried to move. The first time she tried to sit up a wave of nausea knocked her back down. She lay there for just a moment, taking deep breaths, trying to draw on some hidden source of strength. She had dreamed while lying here. She had dreamed Ky had told her he loved her. He had said it over and over again.
Dreams can be cruel.
Gritting her teeth, she forced herself up. She had to get out of here before Ky came back. Pulling the tape off her arm, she carefully removed the IV. Slipping her dress over the top of her hospital gown, she hunted for her shoes. Moving slowly, she managed to stay on her feet. She had to be careful. She had someone else to think about, now. A baby.
* * * *
The gunshot echoed through the woods. He was returning fire. Ty confirmed Richard was shooting at them with one of Ky’s own guns. “Damn him,” Ty breathed as he hunkered down behind their cover. “Do you see him?”
“No.” Ky peered over the large boulder, scanning the underbrush for some sign of Hawkins. “Yes…I do. There he is. And he’s coming this way.”
Richard Hawkins had lost his mind. Drugs, alcohol, steroids, and a genetic mental illness had eaten away any semblance of sanity he may have possessed. With a crazy scream, he charged the Landon brothers, bullets flying every which a way. Without hesitation, and without a qualm, Ky killed ex-Sheriff Richard Hawkins in self-defense. And he didn’t regret it for a moment. This monster had hurt his Cooper and he deserved to die. Ky hoped he busted hell wide open.
They stayed with the body until the proper local authorities came and took statements. Walking back to the trucks, Ty pushed his hat back and let out a long breath. “Don’t worry; I’ll fill out all the paper work. There won’t be a back-lash. It was a legitimate kill.”
“I’m just glad that I was the one who got to pull the trigger,” Ky confessed, his adrenaline still running high.
They walked back to the truck and Ty propped one booted foot on the bumper. “Well, this is one piece of the puzzle, but I don’t think it’s all of it. There’s a doozy of a drug problem down around Hawkins stomping grounds. I think it’s bigger than anybody ever imagined. I’m heading back in a few days, but before I go…” He hesitated. “Ky, I’ve got to tell you something. And I’ve got to ask you something.”
“What’s that, brother?”
“How do you feel about Cooper? I mean, I know you wanted to protect her from this maniac, but besides that, how do you feel about her?”
Ky looked his brother straight in the face and answered without hesitation. “I love her, Ty. I love her more than I love my own life. She is absolutely everything to me.”
“I might have messed up, Ky.”
“What do you mean?”
“Cooper came to see me today.”
Ky was amazed. Where hadn’t Cooper been today?
“We had a misunderstanding, Ty.” Ky didn’t wait to hear what his brother had to say. He felt so much guilt the words just started pouring out. “I was upset about all of the things that had been going wrong. Now, I know Hawkins was behind it all. Cooper gave me this note, yesterday at lunch. I stuck it in my pocket and forgot about it. I had a meeting and then when I came home, I found my saddle shop demolished. I didn’t want to worry Cooper, so I cleaned it up before I went back to the house. If I had read the note, I would have known Cooper was trying to tell me she loved me. I had this stupid notion that I wanted to wait until just the right time to tell her. I even planned to give her an engagement ring at the same time. She wrote me this note, telling me she loved me and asking me to meet her down by the stock pond. She said she would wait for me til seven and if I didn’t love her, just to ignore the note. She told me it didn’t matter if I didn’t love her; she loved me enough for both of us. That she would never mention it again.”
Ty listened at Ky’s flood of tortured words. He didn’t interrupt. “She’s pregnant, Ty. She’s pregnant with my baby and she thinks I don’t love her. She’s pregnant with my baby, she’s lying there suffering, and she thinks I don’t love her.”
“I’m fixing to make it worse.”
“How in the hell could you possibly make this worse?”
And then he did.
“She came to ask me if the Ky/Ty treaty was real. I don’t know how she found out, but she did. I thought you told her about it, which would mean you were trying to push her away.”
“What did you say to her, Ty?” Ky closed his eyes in abject suffering.
“I told her it was true. That if you married before thirty-three, you would forfeit your inheritance. She held out her hand and thanked me. She thanked me for the fuckin’ information Ky. Then she left.”
“She thought I would marry her because of the baby, thereby losing the trust fund.” Ky almost sank to his knees in agony. The reality of the situation settled on Ky’s shoulders like the weight of the world.
“I’m sorry, Ky.” Ty was sincere.
“I’ll make it right with her. I have too.”
Before Ky could take another breath, his cell phone rang. It was the hospital. Hope flared in Ky’s heart, Cooper was awake. “Hello?”
“What?” Ky couldn’t believe his ears. He turned to look at his brother, his eyes desolate. “She’s gone.”
* * * *
Cooper leaned against the door facing and tried to catch her breath. She had finally relented and moved her things into one of the drawers in Ky’s armoire and now tears streamed down her face as she knelt to put them back into the battered old suitcase. Next were the toiletries, and finally, she was ready to gather the animals. She was about to start trying to get the things down to her car when she thought about the necklace. Touching it, she felt the weight of the beautiful diamond Ky had given her. She couldn’t keep it. It was worth a lot of money; he could sell it and recoup some of the loss she had caused him. Reaching behind her neck, she began to unfasten it, but a noise caused her to turn toward the door.
Ky stood there, his heart in his eyes. “Don’t you even think about taking that necklace off.” Cooper’s hands dropped. She obeyed that tone of voice instantly; it was instinctive.
He moved swiftly, crossing the room, kneeling at her feet. He put his arms around her hips, pressing his face into her softness. “I love you, Cooper.”
“You don’t have to say that, Ky.” Her voice was small and hopeless.
“Oh, but I do.” He pressed her down to sit on the bed, then he laid his head in her lap. “You are my beloved.”
“Drew told you, didn’t he?” A sigh of resignation escaped her lips.
“Yes. And I am happier about the baby than you could ever know, but that has nothing to do with the fact I cherish you above all things in this world.” Despite her misgivings, Cooper began to stroke his soft brown hair. “Marry me, Cooper.”
“I can’t. I’ve taken so much from you already. I can’t take anymore. I know about your trust fund. Holly told me.” She closed her eyes and refused to look at him.
He leaned up and kissed her tenderly on the lips, soothing the bruises and cuts marring her flawless complexion.
“That whole thing was a joke, Cooper. A ploy. A ruse Ty and I cooked up to keep pushy women at bay.” He kissed each finger and then her palm. “Not you, baby. You are more important to me than all of it, more important to me than the trees, the cows, the farm, the shop, and especially that stupid trust fund. The only thing I can’t afford to lose is you.”
Her breathing began to escalate. She wanted to believe him. But there was still the matter of the note. “Why didn’t you come…last night?”
“Everything happened at once. Cooper, I forgot about the note. I didn’t even read it until tonight. I would never have stood you up. I wouldn’t hurt you for anything in the world.” He ran strong fingers down the silken line of her throat. “Marry me, Cooper. Please?”
“Ky, sweetheart, you don’t have to do this.”
She still didn’t believe him.
“To be your husband is what I want more than anything else in the world,” he spoke with his heart in his eyes.
“You’re saying that because of the baby.” Marrying him was what she wanted too, more than anything—but life had taught her to expect the worst and she would never be disappointed.