Stepdad Surprise

by Caroline Lee

  He lit the smoke bomb. The tiny firework began to hiss and spit, and gray smoke poured over his fingers, creating a tiny cloud. Coop kept his attention on it, pretending it was the most fascinating thing in the world, and prayed that Ivan would to.

  Prayed Ivan wouldn’t realize it was a distraction, while all the while Coop’s right hand inched back towards his pocket where the launch remote nestled.

  Everything was silent, still, as the three of them watched the smoke bomb spit smoke—not even enough to completely obscure Coop’s hand. Finally, Ivan laughed.

  “Oooh, the hotshot’s got a little toy!” He waggled the gun like he was having a grand time. “Did you think that was going to do anything?” Another cruel laugh. “That’s a smoke bomb; it doesn’t explode!”

  Coop released the tiniest little sigh of relief when his fingers closed around the remote in his pocket, and he eased it out. He switched his gaze from the now sputtering smoke bomb in his left hand to Ivan, and made sure all his contempt sounded in his voice when he said:

  “No, but those do.”

  By feel, Coop mashed number twelve on the remote, the command to launch every tube at once. During the show, each mortar tube could be triggered separately, or in sequence. Number twelve though…number twelve would bring the fire and fury.

  Coop saw Ivan’s eyes widen as he began to twist towards the mortar rack, but that was all he could allow himself to see. Instead, Coop lowered his shoulder and, in a move which would’ve made his high school football coach proud, barreled into Jackie and flung them both off the dock.

  Hitting the ice-cold water was a shock, and he felt her stiffen against him. As they sunk—he allowed himself to be pulled down, down, into the darkness—she began to struggle against him. He remembered her saying she couldn’t swim, never had the chance to learn, but they couldn’t surface, not with—

  Above them, the night lit up.

  Coop wrapped his arms around her and began kicking away from the bottom, the dock, and the inferno above them. He angled towards where he guessed the shore was, only knowing if he was running out of air—and he’d been able to take a breath before going overboard—then she must be frantic.

  Above and behind them, something blazed orange as the night sky lit up with every color of the rainbow. His carefully planned and organized comets and shells and mines had all burst free in a cacophony of falling leaves, willow breaks, and dragon’s tails.

  Just as their heads broke the surface, and they both sucked in grateful gulps of air the twenty-five-shot cake of the grand finale exploded above them, turning the night sky red, white and blue for a time.

  Coop twisted to swim backwards, one arm under Jackie’s and the other pulling them both towards the shore. She hung limply beside him, but he could hear her breathing as they both kept their attention on the distant dock.

  Now that the after-effects had faded from their vision—those fireworks hadn’t been intended to all go off like that at once—Coop could see the blaze on the dock. Something was burning, but he couldn’t tell if it was his mortar rack…or Ivan.

  When they reached the shore, Coop dragged himself upright, pulling Jackie up under her arms. She stumbled to her feet as well, and then half-crawled, half-walked out of the water. He wanted nothing more than to lie there on the rocky shore and thank God they were both still alive, but if Ivan had made it off that dock, he’d be even more determined to hurt Jackie now. Coop had to get her safe.

  Wrapping his arms around her, he debated the best place to run to.

  “Coop! Cooper!” His name was being called from far away. “Is that you? I hope you’re—” Charley Easton skidded to a stop on the rocks beside them. “Thank God.” She pulled up the radio clipped to her belt. “I’ve got them, they’re both safe, along the south shore.”

  She breathed a huge sigh of relief and pinned Coop with a serious stare once more. “When we saw that show, we knew something was wrong and came running. Half the docks are on fire; your cousin isn’t happy at all.”

  The idea of Will’s anger made Coop laugh, or maybe it was the fear of the last few minutes catching up. Or the joy at being alive and knowing Jackie was safe.

  She was the one who spoke to Charley. “There was a man,” she said quietly. “He’s a killer, and he was armed, threatening us.”

  Charley snapped to attention once more. “Where is he?”

  “He was on the dock when I set off the mortars,” Coop managed. He forced himself to sober. “It was Ivan, and he’s extremely dangerous. There are outstanding warrants for his arrest in Chicago, maybe other places. I’ll testify if you can catch—”

  But Charley was already running away, towards the boathouse, yelling indignantly into her radio about “the dangerous criminal running loose on my ranch”.

  The stillness of the night closed around them once more, and Coop could feel Jackie trembling against him. For lack of anything else to do, he wrapped one arm around her shoulder and began trudging along the shore towards the gathering crowd. Marybeth would be there with Kalli, and judging by how much he needed to see that the baby was safe, Jackie would need that even more.

  Sure enough, soon they were both hurrying along, although that might’ve been because the exercise warmed them up. Coop kept one eye on the distant dock, and saw several figures bringing fire suppression equipment out from the boathouse. It looked like the end of the dock where he’d set up his rack had burned pretty significantly, and was now tilted drunkenly into the water. But at least the flames were out.

  So where was Ivan?

  They got their answer a few minutes later, when an ambulance’s sirens cut through the background noise. The crowd moved aside for the vehicle to pull up to the boathouse, and paramedics with stretchers scrambled out onto the docks.

  Coop pulled Jackie to a stop, and they both watched the paramedics scrambling to lift a man-sized form from the floating rubble of what had been the fireworks display. The form wasn’t moving, but they watched it being loaded into the ambulance, which then sped away as the police began pouring over the docks.

  Jackie and Coop both exhaled at the same time. He had his answer about Ivan. Whatever the outcome was, Ivan was secure now, and couldn’t hurt anyone.

  Which only left one thing…

  He pulled Jackie into a tight embrace, tucking her head under his chin. “I’m sorry,” he whispered against her wet hair.

  “For what?” she asked against his chest.

  For what? “About a million things,” he said, chuckling. “I’m sorry I scared you like that, sorry I didn’t give you warning, sorry I dragged you out here in the first place where he could get us alone, sorry you’re freezing right now, sorry—”

  She wriggled free and placed a finger against his lips. “You saved our lives. Thank you.”

  He took a deep breath and captured her finger, wrapping it in his large hand and pressing it against his chest. “But I’m most sorry—and this is dumb—for losing that ring.”

  “What!”

  He couldn’t tell if the incredulous way she was looking at him was because he’d lost the ring, or because he was sorry he’d lost the ring.

  So he shrugged sheepishly. “Yeah. When we jumped in, I guess I dropped it. It wasn’t really expensive or anything, I just…”

  When her laughter threatened to drown him out, he trailed off. Her hand was still clasped in his, and it seemed like it might’ve been the only thing holding her upright, she was laughing so hard. Was this her way of letting go of all the emotions of the last hour?

  “What’s so funny?” He pretended to be indignant.

  “I’m sorry!” she gasped. “It’s just—just—” She swallowed down her desperate laughter. “We almost died! And you’re still going on about that ring!”

  He raised a brow. “It was a nice ring. Like I said, it wasn’t fancy, but I really wanted to propose tonight.”

  She was still chortling, so she pressed her forehead against his chest. “And you don’t
think you can do that without the ring, I guess?”

  “Well…” He was about to answer her question, when he realized what it implied. “Wait! You mean you wouldn’t mind if I asked you to marry me without a fancy ring?”

  “Cooper Weston, I wouldn’t need a ring, fancy or not.” Her voice was muffled.

  “Oh, okay.” He took a deep breath. “So…will you marry me, Jackie?”

  “No,” she promptly replied.

  He blinked. “No? No?”

  “There are so many issues.” She sighed. “I mean, everything’s so up in the air…”

  He stepped back and tucked his fingers under her chin, lifting it, until she was standing in front of him, staring up at him.

  “I love you, Jackie,” he said distinctly. “I want to marry you. Whatever issues there are, we can work them out.”

  “I don’t know…” She cut her eyes away.

  Inspiration struck. “Okay, list them, sweetheart. List your concerns.”

  “Fine.” She took a deep breath and met his eyes once more. “Ivan.”

  “Ivan can’t bother us. He’s on his way to the hospital, if he’s even still alive.” Coop replied promptly, and tried to tamp down the worry that he might’ve killed a man. He’d do it again if it would keep her safe. “He’s not a concern.”

  She bit her lip and seemed to consider his words. Finally, she nodded slowly.

  “If Ivan isn’t a concern for now…”

  “He’s not,” Coop assured her when she trailed off.

  “And if you’re okay living your life the way I have been, always looking over your shoulder, wondering when Ivan is going to catch up…”

  “I am. I mean,” he hurried to correct himself, “because, between us and the police back in Chicago, we’re going to put him away for a long time.”

  She didn’t seem convinced. “And if you’re okay marrying a woman who lives in a hotel room with her baby and no money…”

  That made him laugh, because there was nothing he could imagine that he wanted more. “I’m never going to be a millionaire, sweetheart, but I work hard and I love my job. I promise to take care of you. And I promise that I already love Kalli like she’s my own.”

  Tears formed in Jackie’s eyes. “She loves you too.”

  “Is that why you’re crying?” he asked in a whisper.

  She shook her head. “He never even asked about her, Cooper.”

  Her voice broke on a sob, and he tucked her head against his chest once more, knowing exactly what she meant.

  “I know, sweetheart,” he whispered. “But that’s because Kalli Jo Novak doesn’t mean a thing to Ivan. She’s all yours.”

  Jackie sniffled once. “And yours,” she said quietly.

  Coops heart soared. He tightened his hold on her and swung her in a circle while she squealed and hiccuped.

  “Ivan wasn’t her father, Jackie, but I’ll be the best dang stepdad this country’s ever seen. I swear.”

  “And how about me, Cooper?” Her tears were still there, but she’d stopped actively crying. “Could you stand to spend the rest of your life with someone like me? Someone without a real name, who’s done…terrible things in her past?”

  “Honey…” He dropped his forehead to hers, his hands still on her upper arms. “Jackie, you have a name. Just because you chose it doesn’t make it less of a name. And yes.” He had to squeeze his eyes tightly to keep from kissing her, he so badly wanted to show her his feelings. “Yes. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Even if it takes that long for you to understand that your past doesn’t mean squat to me, and it’s who you are now that I love.”

  She stood, stiff and still against him, for almost a full minute. He prayed she was weighing her options and would agree.

  Only it came out like please please please please again.

  Finally, she softened, and sighed, then leaned back just enough to smile gently up at him. “Okay then. If you’re sure, and you’re sure you want all that, then yes.”

  “Yes you’ll marry me, even though I lost the ring?”

  She slapped his arm. “The ring is irrelevant. I’ll marry you because you’re the best man I’ve ever met, and I would be blessed to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  He kissed her. He kissed her with all the feelings and desire and longing and fear and joy he’d felt during the last few weeks, ever since their first kiss. He kissed her to show her how special she was, and how much he honored and respected her.

  And she kissed him back.

  EPILOGUE

  The wedding was simple and small, but it still took a few weeks to arrange. Cooper didn’t want to wait, since his Mom’s health was so delicate, and the Westons pulled out all stops to make it happen in as short a time as possible.

  They’d had their first real argument when Cooper wanted to go back to that jeweler in Quinn Valley to buy another ring, and Jackie had insisted he save his money for something more important—like a car seat or their first month’s rent in their new apartment.

  “Besides,” she’d said, “you never know, the ring might show up!”

  Cooper had quit arguing then and started laughing. Then it had turned out to be irrelevant anyhow, because he took Jackie and Kalli to meet his parents and told them all about their Fourth-of-July adventure.

  Wilfred Weston II had teared up when he met the baby, his first grandchild, as he pointed out. And Susan, Cooper’s mom… Well, at the end of their visit, she called him over to her wheelchair. She hadn’t been able to walk or talk in a while, and Jackie noticed the older woman sometimes didn’t seem to know or understand what was going on.

  But with her son kneeling beside her, Susan slipped her own wedding ring off her finger, and placed it in Cooper’s hand. She carefully folded his fingers around the gold band, met his ice-blue eyes, and nodded solemnly.

  Later, Jackie had cried with Cooper at his mom’s way of blessing their marriage.

  Susan was in her wheelchair at the front of the church now, a hunched shell of the woman Jackie had seen pictures of before the illness. But she was holding her husband’s hand, and smiling up at her sons in their lovely tuxedos.

  Jackie had been bowled over by how identical Cooper and Kenneth looked, but as soon as they opened their mouths, it was obvious who was who. Even Kenneth’s smile was tight and controlled, nothing like Cooper’s carefree and joyous one.

  She was obviously marrying the more handsome of the twins.

  Across the aisle from Susan and Wilfred Weston, in the row usually designated for the bride’s family, sat Angela and Sheila and Karen…and Father George. He’d recovered enough to fly out to Idaho, and it meant the world to Jackie to have him here at her wedding.

  Jackie slowly lowered her daughter to the carpet beside her. “You ready, honey? Let’s go get Daddy. Walk to Daddy.”

  She and Cooper had decided that no one needed to give Jackie away, but it was particularly meaningful to have Kalli walking beside her, especially since her first steps had been for Cooper anyhow.

  The little girl toddled proudly down the aisle, clutching Jackie’s hand, in her fluffy white dress with tiny roses all over. She’d even let Cooper put a white bow in her hair! Jackie had protested the extravagant dress, but her soon-to-be husband had insisted.

  “You got yours for free, sweetheart. Let me spoil my daughter,” he’d drawled, and Jackie’s heart had melted.

  With her other hand, she smoothed the front of her borrowed wedding gown. As it turns out, River’s End Ranch has a plethora, like fifty or something of them lying around, and so many women had offered her one.

  She and her soon-to-be husband hadn’t bothered with flowers, but as she approached the altar, Jackie saw Cooper step forward with a bundle of wild daisies.

  He presented them with a flourish, and Jackie blushed when she took them. He reached down to scoop up Kalli. “There’s my big girl!”

  Their daughter giggled happily, and Jackie met his eyes with a smile, trying to sho
w him everything he meant to her.

  Ignoring their audience, he bent down to kiss her. There’d been plenty of kisses since that action-movie-hero-finish to Independence Day, but this one was…special.

  “Jackie,” he whispered as he rested his forehead against her with his eyes closed. “I thought of something important I need to tell you now.”

  A part of her —the part which still thought this was too good to be true, and wondered when it would all come crashing down—stiffened, suddenly afraid he was going to tell her it had all been a big joke. But no, she knew him better than that…

  “Now, Cooper?” she teased.

  “Your name is legally Jackie Novak.” His ice-blue eyes opened and bore into hers. “You chose that name when you changed who you are. I fell in love with Jackie Novak and I don’t want you to have to…to…”

  Even when the gentle shuffles and sighs of the people behind them began, Jackie couldn’t shush him; she needed to understand what he was saying.

  “To what, Cooper?” she whispered softly.

  He took a deep breath. “You’re Jackie Novak. I don’t want to ask you to change your name until you’re ready. You’ve already reinvented yourself once…”

  “Will you still adopt Kalli?”

  He straightened in surprise. “Of course,” he said indignantly, then seemed to remember their audience and lowered his voice once more. “I’ve already got an appointment for us on Monday with the judge.”

  “So it’s just my name you’re worried about.”

  He seemed chagrined. “Look, I’m sorry I mentioned it. I didn’t think it— I mean, I thought you’d agree.” Against his shoulder, the baby was babbling at someone in the church, but both adults ignored her. “Your name is important to who you are, and as much as I want to marry you, I don’t want to change who you are either.”

  He got it.

  With a soft smile, Jackie lifted her makeshift bouquet to his shoulder and pulled him closer. “Thank you for understanding me, Cooper.”