“And if it’s a girl, you’d name her Eastlyn?”
“I love the name. Do you think it’d work for a boy as well?”
“I don’t see why not.”
“I need a little advice,” Drea announced to the room, getting everyone to turn their eyes on her. “Since I have all of you ladies present, I need to know if you think I’m being too hard on Zach. As you may have heard, I recently broke up with him because he’s so busy at work he forgot our anniversary. At least that’s what he claims. Lately, he’s been very absentminded. He thinks I’m being unreasonable though, that I should understand how slammed he is at work, how much pressure he’s under. I need your input.”
“Cooper was convinced you guys were on the brink of getting engaged,” Eastlyn pointed out.
Drea let out a sad little sigh. “We were definitely on the brink of something. None of it good.”
Everyone in the room seemed to have an opinion and didn’t mind sharing it. They all began talking at once.
Jordan intervened to try and get the clamor under control. “It sounds like forgetfulness isn’t the only issue at play here.”
Bree did her best to defend her brother Zach. “Look, any guy who works as hard as Zach does gets distracted from time to time. It’s a natural thing.”
“Oh really,” Kinsey charged. “So if Troy did that, you’d give him a pass?”
Bree backtracked. “Troy’s always been a sweetheart while Zach is more…prickly about things.”
Kinsey had known Troy a lot longer than Zach. “That’s just it. I don’t see Troy ever forgetting important dates like the day you two got together. The thing is Troy works alongside Zach at literally the same job. Everyone knows Zach’s had his share of trouble around town. Nothing major but still…”
Across the room, Isabella took in Drea’s demeanor. There was something about the pleading look in the woman’s eyes that sent red flags soaring.
After going through an abusive and manipulative relationship of her own, Isabella couldn’t stay quiet. “I, for one, think Drea should hang tough and stick to her guns. Especially if the breakup encompasses other problem areas, which I think it does. If you ever want to talk, call me.”
“Thanks. I really needed a sympathetic ear. This isn’t really about forgetfulness,” Drea admitted.
Jordan exchanged looks with Isabella. “I didn’t think so.”
From that serious theme, the talk switched to ideas for the Memorial Day parade in town.
But Eastlyn’s mind was someplace else. She began mentally making her own plans that had nothing to do with the holiday. She wasn’t absolutely certain what she’d do with the chopper. All she knew was she’d never wanted anything more.
Cooper sat in the middle of his courtyard, smoking a cigar. It was one of the few vices he allowed himself, and then only one a day. There was something about sitting outside under the stars and drinking a beer in solitude that gave a man a sense of peace.
But when he heard a car pull up at the curb and he spotted Drea getting out, he knew the serene moment had all but ended. Just like Ripley opened the hatch of her spacecraft and sucked the alien out into the darkness of space, he could feel his joy headed to the same place.
Drea looked mad as a hornet as she stormed into the courtyard and dropped her bag onto the concrete before slipping into one of the chairs next to him. “You heard about me breaking up with Zach, right?”
Cooper sent his sister an amused look. “You sent everybody on your contact list a detailed email about it the morning after it happened. I’m sure it’s just a spat. All couples have…”
Drea cut him off. “No, it isn’t a spat. I’m done. I broke up with him for a reason.”
He puffed out a sigh. “Because he forgot your anniversary. I know.”
“Would you just listen for a minute? I broke it off, but now I have this problem with Zach wanting to get back together because he won’t leave me alone. I need advice.”
“Do you want to get back together?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Really? A year ago, you said you were sure this was the guy.”
“So I did. I thought we’d get married, you know. But it’s a lot different living with Zach than I thought it’d be.”
“I thought he made you happy. I thought you two were about to plan a wedding.”
“I don’t think Zach’s at a place where that’s ever going to happen. Sometimes he does make me happy. But then there are the other times when he mostly drives me crazy with his surly attitude. All the late work hours don’t help. We spend almost zero time together doing couple stuff other than watching TV. The last thing we truly did as a couple was sex two weeks ago, the first time in almost a month.”
“If you’re about to tell your older brother a comprehensive account of your sex life, I beg you, please don’t.”
“Come on, Coop, don’t be like that. After asking for advice at the luncheon just now, I need my older brother to weigh in on what you think I should do.”
“Is it really over?”
“I’m pretty sure it is.”
“Then tell him you’re done and that he needs to stop bugging you and move on. Breakups happen. Relationships come to an end.” He saw the look in her eye and picked up on the reason for the visit. “You want me to tell him to knock it off? Is that why you’re here?”
“Would you? He showed up at the loft last night and wouldn’t leave. That’s the second night in a row. I had this flashback to when we were kids and the arguments were so loud and…scary.”
Cooper frowned. “Has he ever hit you?” When Drea turned her eyes away and wouldn’t look at him he had his answer. “When? Why didn’t you say something?”
“Last Christmas. We got into an argument and he slapped me. I thought it was my fault for egging him on.”
He reached over and squeezed her hand. “You know better than that. I’ll stop by his house in the morning and talk to him. The last thing you need is a relationship that resembles the one our parents had.”
“Thanks, Cooper. I knew I could count on you.”
Cooper was still sitting in the same chair, drinking his beer that had now turned warm, when Eastlyn drove up and parked in exactly the same spot where Drea’s car had been earlier.
He took one look at Eastlyn and decided fancy afternoon teas took a lot out of women.
“You look like you’ve been through the wringer,” he noted. “I thought this tea business was supposed to be a relaxing afternoon.”
Eastlyn sent him a worried look. “Julianne wants me to speak at her school.”
“Leave it to Julianne to come up with a great idea.”
“What? No. It’s not a good idea at all. I’m totally unprepared. This is too last minute.”
He could see the worry lines already forming on her forehead, the muscles tightening along her neck. “For someone who spent their afternoon lunching with a roomful of women, you seem really tense.”
“Cooper, I’m out of my element here. I’m a terrible speaker. And Julianne wants me to talk about my recovery, some motivational crap about overcoming adversity.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Okay, then you do it. Stand up in front of a roomful of kids and talk about how you feel about your childhood. Dredge up all those awful old memories. Relive all the times you felt like shit because you realized there was no way you would ever get your old life back again.”
“I didn’t want my old life back,” he stated flatly. “My old life never worked as a kid. In fact, it pretty much sucked.”
“There you go. So did mine after I lost my leg.”
He stood up, came around the chair to rub the tension out of her shoulders. “You’re overthinking this. Just get up on stage and tell them one significant fact about your life. Tell them something heartfelt. All Julianne expects is honesty.”
Leaning down, he kissed the top of her hair before moving to her ear then her throat. “I know a sur
e-fire way to relax you.”
He tugged a kiss out of her. Somehow that fusing of lips lit a passion. Restless longing ignited a fire inside.
Her mouth was impatient but so was his. He discovered one taste, one touch would never be enough.
When she drew away, he realized that if he didn’t change the scenery right this minute and get out of there, he’d end up rushing her into the bedroom. He didn’t want that.
On impulse, he snatched her hand and tugged her out of the courtyard to the sidewalk.
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere there’s a spectacular view and a new perspective.”
Hand in hand, they strolled down Pacific Street until it dead-ended in front of the pier. Knowing this place had bad memories for him, Eastlyn focused on getting his mind on something else. “My brother and I used to catch fireflies this time of night. We’d go outside in the evening, sit in my dad’s garden and wait for them to light up the backyard.”
She laughed. “I remember times my dad would send me out there to pick tomatoes for supper and I’d end up sitting in the grass under the trees watching the fireflies. I’d take so long lollygagging that he’d start wondering where his tomatoes were.”
“Do you know your voice changes whenever you talk about him?”
“It does?”
“It changes octaves to a much softer tone.”
“That’s because I have warm memories of him. After my mother died he became our world. Kaeden and I had no idea how much pressure he was under. As far back as I can remember he never even talked about dating anyone or getting remarried or moving past my mom. It never occurred to us back then what he must’ve given up to raise us.”
“Maybe he just wasn’t interested in dating. He’d already found the right woman and that was it for him.” Cooper thought about Drea and Zach. “Who knows why some relationships work for life and others fail miserably before they get off the launching pad?”
“I’m pretty sure it has everything to do with the two people involved.” She looked out over the water, contemplated full disclosure. “Maybe now would be a good time to tell you that I’ve started the process to take my medical flight exam. I contacted an aviation medical examiner.”
“That’s great. What does it entail?”
“The aviation medical examiner sends the results to the Aerospace Certification Division in OKC. Someone there will determine if I need a medical flight test. This is where it gets tricky. With my military flight experience I shouldn’t have to take one. But if I do, they’ll forward the information on to the FAA Flight Standards District Office here in the Central Valley. If they deem it necessary that’s when I’ll need to set up an appointment to take the test and get my SODA, or Statement of Demonstrated Ability. It’s a shame I have to go through that all over again, but it’s my own fault.”
“What are your chances?”
“If you’d asked me that question a week ago, I’d have said not very good. Mainly because I’m battling the nasty fact that I got my license yanked for failing a drug test. But I’ve reached out to several other pilots with disabilities and they were surprisingly very encouraging. Besides, if it doesn’t go my way this round, I’ll just keep trying until I prove I’ve kicked the pills. I won’t give up.”
Cooper put his arms around her. “I’d be shocked if you did. Somehow I get the impression giving up isn’t in your DNA.”
“I love it when you do that.”
“Do what?”
“When you make me feel a whole lot better about everything.”
Fifteen
Cooper woke the next morning with one goal in mind. His brotherly duty was to hunt down Zach and have a talk with him, man-to-man. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if it spiked up into more than a discussion. He’d never been one to turn to his fists to solve a problem. Yet, he knew going in that he needed to get through to the guy to leave his sister the hell alone.
But he was in for a surprise when he went out to get into his car and saw Caleb sitting in the courtyard, waiting for him.
“What are you doing out here? Why didn’t you come in? You want some coffee?”
“No. I’m too upset. Right now I’m trying to keep from getting in my car and going over to Dennison’s house and beating him to a pulp.”
Ah, the difference in brothers, Cooper mused. “I’m on my way there now. Has something happened I should know about first?”
“You’re not going without me. Drea didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what? She was here last night.”
“That bastard sat outside her door again causing a scene for hours and refused to leave.”
“Did she call Brent?”
“I asked her that very thing and her response was so typical. She didn’t want to get Zach in trouble with the cops. And she didn’t want to call either one of us because she knew what we’d do to him.”
“That’s nuts. What’s wrong with this guy anyway? I don’t really know him all that well. Do you?”
“He’s had some anger issues before but I can’t figure the guy out. When a person breaks off a relationship and you refuse to take the message, it borders on stalking.”
“We’re on the same page there. Let me handle it, okay? If we both show up it won’t be one-on-one anymore but two against one.”
“Who cares about having him outnumbered? Not me. I’m going with you and that’s final. I want to beat him into the next county.”
“Nice, Caleb, real grownup. Is he still at Drea’s?”
“No, he left to go get ready for work and that’s when she called me. She said she called you first but there was no answer. At least she thinks Zach went home. Who the hell knows?”
“I must’ve been in the shower when she called. We’ll start at his house. If he’s not there then we’ll work our way to the boatyard.”
But when they pulled up in front of the house where Zach had grown up, his truck was still parked in the driveway. After they had knocked on the door for almost five minutes, Zach finally appeared wearing a bathrobe. He looked disheveled and confused. His eyes seemed glassy from staying up all night.
To Cooper, it looked as though the man had gone off the deep end some time ago and they were about six months too late.
Instead of the confrontational speech Cooper had been prepared to deliver, he took one look at Zach and decided another strategy might be the way to go. “Is there something you’re keeping from Drea, some medical reason you’re behaving the way you are?”
“What? No. Why? No. I don’t think so. Drea just doesn’t understand that I’m under a lot of pressure at work.”
Cooper went into his condensed pitch. “If there isn’t some medical reason, then why not let her move past the time you two had together. It’s not working for her anymore. Things like this happen sometimes. Two people come together. It works for a while, but then one person wants to go another way. You have to let Drea go another way and let her move on.”
“I don’t want her to move on. I love her. We talked about getting married. That’s why I spent the night sitting on the stairs. I want her back.”
Coop shook his head. “But most people would leave when they’re asked to leave. Don’t you see how crazy it is that you wouldn’t go away? It’s almost like you’re stalking her. She’s made it clear she doesn’t want things to remain the same between you two. Change is hard for some people. But breakups happen all the time. You have to move on, Zach.”
It was Caleb’s turn to emphasize that. “You’re scaring her the way you’ve been behaving.”
“Drea’s afraid of me?”
Cooper struggled to maintain his composure. “Why wouldn’t she be? You beat down her door the other night then you refused to leave last night. If it happens again, I’m instructing her to call Brent. Is that what you want?”
“I thought I could talk to her, talk her into coming back.”
Losing patience with him, Caleb’s voice rose. “It’s over, Zach, a
s in done. Leave her alone. We’ve all experienced relationships that went south. This is no different.”
“Do you want us to call Bree? Do you need to talk to your sister about this?” Cooper offered.
Zach bristled. “Everyone in town knows Drea dumped me.”
Cooper began to suspect this dialogue would get them nowhere. Were they dealing with something other than ego here? “So she dumped you? Everyone’s been in your shoes a time or two. It’s no big deal. But the way you’ve been behaving lately there are people worried about you. When was the last time you had a physical?”
“I don’t know. Five years maybe.”
“How long have you been having anger issues?”
Caleb’s patience evaporated. He turned to stare at his brother. “Who cares? Our job is to get him to stay away from Drea.”
Cooper sent Caleb a lethal stare. “Zach, will you stop bothering Drea?”
“Hey, if she doesn’t want to be with me, that’s fine. Tell her I got the message.” With that, Zach slammed the door shut.
“What the hell was that about?” Caleb complained when they started for the car. “Get him to see a doctor? What were you thinking?”
“That man is suffering from major depression. I have no idea for how long but he’s exhibiting all the signs.”
“That’s not our problem.”
“Sure it is. I don’t want him around Drea any more than you do. But neither do I want another domestic issue leading to a violent end on my hands because of mental issues. If Zach’s spiraling downward, and all the signs say he is, I’m getting him some help.”
As soon as they’d settled inside the Mustang, Cooper began the quest to find Bree’s contact info. The perks of a small town didn’t take too many tries before he landed the right person. Jordan not only had the number he needed, the innkeeper said Bree was there at Promise Cove about to take out a boatload of tourists on a sightseeing trip. Jordan simply handed the phone to Bree.
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