Claiming Cooper (O'Loughlin Brothers Book 1)

by A. F. Crowell

  “Hey, I gotta run, Kins. Call me later,” Anna blurted out and rushed off the phone. I barely had time to say goodbye. I hated when she did that and it was often.

  Slipping my shoes on, I headed to the house to see mom in the hope she had made dinner. I was starving.

  “Hey, Mom,” I called out. Entering through the back, the comforting aroma of roasted garlic, olive oil, fresh basil, and simmering tomatoes filled my nostrils, making my mouth water. Something smelled amazing. Within a few seconds, she appeared out of the pantry.

  “Hey, sweetie. Whatcha doing? You hungry?”

  “I am. What’s for dinner?” I kicked off my shoes at the back door and padded alongside the open dining room to my right. My cell phone buzzed in my pocket. When I pulled it out I saw a text from Nicole.

  Nicole: Hey sweetie. I just wanted to check on you. Do you want me to pack up the rest of your stuff? Mail it?

  Me: I’m okay. Thanks for checking on me. I’m not sure what’s left, but you can give the clothes to Anna, everything else you can trash.

  Nicole: I’m really sorry, Kins. No matter what anyone says, I know you didn’t have a choice. I’ll get your stuff to Anna. Call me when you have time.

  Me: Thanks. I will.

  “Chicken parmesan. Why don’t you sit?” She nodded to the barstools in front of the long island she was now standing behind. “I’ll make you a plate.”

  “Where’s Dad?” Placing a hand on the back, I spun the wrought iron, padded stool around and sat down. Watching her take two white plates from the cabinet, I twisted back under the white quartz countertop and set my phone down.

  “Late night at work. He had some contracts that needed his attention. So, it’s just me and you,” she said, plating pasta followed by sauce then chicken. The cheese stretched from the pan to the plate and my stomach cheered. “Want a glass of tea?”

  “Sure.”

  We sat quietly eating until my mom brought up the topic of work. “Maria mentioned paying you to teach lessons and help Ashton around the barn.”

  “Yeah, she did, but I don’t know about taking money from them while Scott’s sick.” My heart clenched at the thought of them struggling. Scott and Maria had worked together for years on that farm to make it successful. I set my fork down on the side of my plate.

  “She also mentioned that she had to add extra classes because she had so many new students applying to train there. She says that’s because of you. You’re bringing them extra money. All those days of carting you from show to show and early mornings paid off. Lots of people remember how remarkable you were.”

  Pride rose within me. “Yeah, she mentioned that when she and I were talking. I just feel bad taking their money.”

  “Sweetie, it’s a job and according to Maria, it could be a full-time job if that’s what you wanted.”

  Every cell in my body danced at the thought. A huge smile split across my face. Teaching and being in the barn all day was a dream, but to get paid for it, sounded like heaven.

  “You could also start paying rent.”

  My smile fell. Rent?

  “Oh, honey, you should see your face.” She laughed. “That was priceless . . . I tell you what,” she said, waving her fork around as she talked. “You pay us twenty-five percent of your check. In turn, we’ll give you a roof over your head, electric, water, cable, and food. You can’t stay at home forever, so this will be a good way to get used to paying bills. And if you’re good, I might even make your favorite once a week.”

  “I think I can do that,” I said, relaxed and feeling good about the arrangement. Twenty-five percent wasn’t that much. I needed to grow up and start helping my parents. It would be good to get used to paying rent, so I could eventually move out. My parents were well off, but they weren’t rich because they spent money frivolously. I learned from a young age to be responsible with money.

  * * *

  Scott was having an okay week and had even gotten out of the house to watch Ashton and I teaching a lesson together. One evening he and I sat on the picnic table near the ring and watched the sunset.

  “Kinsley,” he said, “I’m counting on you to help Maria and the boys keep this farm in the family.”

  I smiled at his request and replied, “I’ll make sure the boys don’t do anything foolish.”

  “Like marry the wrong girl?” He smirked. “Sometimes men don’t know that the best thing in life is right under their nose. Or right across the road.”

  “Scott, you know I love Ashton, but he’s my best friend,” I started, slouching down, feeling the burn of disappointment rising in my belly.

  “And Ashton will always be your best friend,” Scott patted my leg, “but that’s not what I’m talkin’ about, darlin’.” He smiled at me. “I see the way you watch Cooper when you think nobody’s looking.” My cheeks burned at the truth. “I also see the glances he’s stealin’ when you’re payin’ him no mind.” As my heart swelled, Scott began coughing. Fear gripped my chest. I almost couldn’t breathe thinking that he could be gone at any minute.

  “You okay?” I worried if I should get him inside. I looked around to see if Maria was done in the barn with the vet. My heart hurt seeing him that way. I wished I could do something to take it away. No matter how much or how hard I prayed, he got sicker.

  “I’m fine. You listen to me, Kinsley. Sometimes timing sucks and the stars don’t align when you want them to. That doesn’t mean it’s not meant to be. It just means it’s not meant to be right now. Unanswered prayers are there for a reason. Be patient my girl,” Scott advised just before he was overtaken by another coughing fit.

  “Okay, that’s enough fresh air. Let’s get you inside,” I declared, slipping my arm under his own frail limb and around his thinning torso. Ashton came out of the barn just as I had him standing and ran over to help.

  “Lizzy, are you listening to me?” My dad’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. Suddenly, we were sitting around the dinner table, Dad to my right, Mom across from me.

  “I’m sorry, Dad. I was thinking about something,” I apologized. Lifting my brow, I turned my attention to him as my cell buzzed on the table next to me.

  Anna: Hey babe, what’s happening? Call me if you can.

  I clicked the power button on the side, watching as the screen darkened. I would call her later.

  “That’s okay, sweetie. I said, I heard back from Detective Mullins at CMPD this morning,” Dad said as he set down his fork on his plate, next to his tilapia and reached for the amber bottle of Yuengling.

  My fingers lost all feeling and the fork I was holding clattered to the simple white plate below. Anxiously, I gulped and looked across to my mom whose eyes told me the smile on her face was a lie.

  “How bad is it?” I asked, hearing my own voice crack. The fear sunk its claws further into my chest as I waited for the answer.

  “The boy, Julian, should be fine. He’s still in the hospital, but he’s awake and stable and expected to make a full recovery,” Dad informed me, setting the bottle back down on the linen-covered table.

  “Good.” With the word, my eyes closed, and my shoulders sagged as the weight of the world was lifted. I had been carrying the stress and dread for two weeks. I had been terrified he would be paralyzed or have brain damage. Or worse.

  “But . . .” Dad continued, and my stomach knotted. “Detective Mullins said you’ll have to come back to testify.”

  “No.” I shook my head. There was no way in hell.

  “Baby, you have to.” Mom tipped her head and looked at me sternly.

  “Liv,” Dad warned, leaning back in his chair.

  “Don’t Liv me, Phillip. She’s testifying. She must. She’s the only one that was in that room. It’s his word against hers. Pictures of bruises and medical reports only hold so much weight in court. I would think you more than anyone would get that.”

  I could feel my mother’s words come to life and wrap around my throat; squeezing. Suddenly, I was back in my bed
room in Charlotte and he was coming across the room after me.

  “No!” I jumped up so quickly, trying to get away, the chair flipped over. Bending over to pick it up, I realized my parents were staring, shocked by my reaction. Before either could speak a knock at the door saved the day. “I’ll get that.”

  Rushing to the door, I knew Ash would be on the other side of the thick wood, so I didn’t bother to look before I yanked the door open. I just needed the distance from the conversation. “Hey . . . uhh, Coop.” In front of me stood my walking fantasy. My stomach dropped like I was on a roller-coaster as my heart thumped rapidly but a strange sense of peace washed through me. It felt like I had been through a hurricane and found the eye. All of the panic and anxiety slipped away as I looked up at him.

  “Hey, Kins.” He smiled. “I was wondering if you might, um, help me with Ford.” His hand rubbed the back of his tanned neck. His navy t-shirt had a sweaty v-pattern from the neck to middle of his defined, muscular pecs. A dark brown, aged-leather halter with matching lead hung off his left shoulder.

  “What’s wrong with Ford?” I asked, eyeing him suspiciously. Ford was his chestnut Quarter Horse and he wouldn’t allow anyone to ride. Ever.

  “He’s bein’ an ass. He won’t come in from the big field and every time I get close, he takes off.”

  “Take the feed bucket out,” I told him with a shrug as if it was a no-brainer.

  “Did that and carrots. Nothing,” he replied, tucking a hand inside the back-right pocket of his well-worn, snug jeans. “It’s like he’s fuckin’ with me or something.”

  “Kinsley, who’s at the door?” my mother called from the dining room.

  I turned and hollered back. “It’s Cooper, Mom. He needs help with Ford. I’ll be back.” I welcomed the chance to get the hell out of Dodge. The whole thing gave me hives.

  Leaving the door standing wide open, I turned around to open the hall closet, reaching in and retrieving my dark tan and taupe duck boots off the black rubber mat just inside the door. Mom was a fanatic about no mud or manure on the hardwoods.

  “Let’s go,” I said, stepping around him onto the front porch with my boots in hand. I crossed the porch until I reached the wide, single concrete stair. Sitting down, I quickly slipped my feet in the boots, laced and tied them, then stood. “Ready?”

  Cooper had closed the door and waited behind me while I had put on my duck boots. “Yeah,” he said, following me down the steps to the driveway.

  The walk from my house to his was a quiet one; neither of us willing to break the silence. Like an unopened letter, everything we said, already there in black and white but neither ready to acknowledge the effect of the words. Neither of us wanted to break the seal and expose what was waiting inside.

  Finally, reaching the three-board paddock fence, instinctively my right foot lifted, finding the bottom board while my hands clamped down on the top board. I flipped my left leg over the fence, followed by the other then hopped down on the other side. Cooper followed suit, too thick to squeeze between the boards, like we all had done as kids.

  Standing next to me, Cooper raised his hands, brought his fingers to his lips, and whistled loudly. In the distance, I could see the herd of horses near the pond. Peaches picked her head up first and came galloping our way. Mack, Rosie, Darryl, Doc, Jetta, and Ford followed her but stopped fifty or so yards away. Peaches skidded to a halt in front of me, snorting and winded from her sprint across the paddock.

  “There’s a good girl,” I praised, rubbing my hand gently up and down her gray face. “Ford,” I hollered. “Come here, boy.” I clucked out the side of my mouth and started toward the others.

  “Kins, be careful. I’m telling you he’s acting weird.”

  Ahead, the rest of the horses walked toward me, inspecting me for any treats, but Ford stood his ground, making me go to him. I would get a few feet away and he would turn and walk away, stopping after five or six strides but looking back to see if I was still stalking him.

  “Ford,” I called, all the while ignoring me, he continued toward the pond. Stopping, I turned to see Cooper and the rest of the pack following us but hanging back. Turning back around, I looked at Ford, who had again stopped in the open field along the dirt path they always traveled to the pond. Slowly, I advanced my position and Ford stood still.

  “Hey, buddy. You’re okay,” I whispered softly, coming around him, giving myself distance from his back legs. The last thing I needed was to get kicked. He looked at me with his beautiful dark brown eyes, full of sorrow. Just as I got close enough to reach out and run my fingers along his cheek, he trotted off. Once again, he was headed to the pond, but stopped once more to look back.

  “What are you doing?” I looked ahead and searched the grass-covered land surrounding the murky pond. Dusk had started to settle across the farm, making visibility difficult, but I continued on, walking and searching. When I got closer to the watering hole, I saw why he was acting so strangely.

  “Cooper,” I screamed and took off running toward the pond, passing a startled Ford. Reaching the water quickly, I ran in without a second thought. The warm water splashed all the way up to my cutoff jean shorts and pink tank top. Knee deep, head barely above the water was a brown and white calf that couldn’t have been more than a week old, struggling to live. I bent down, wrapping my arms around the middle of its torso, and tried to lift it out of the water. It had been a long time since I had tried to pick up a new calf. They were much heavier than I had remembered.

  “Shit,” I grunted, almost losing my balance and falling backwards into the pond.

  Kicking up water as he ran into the pond, Cooper stepped around me and further into the water. He cinched his arms, rippled with thick muscles, around the calf’s body, just below my hold and lifted it effortlessly out of the water, into the warm evening air. With a renewed spirit, the limp baby cow came to life and begun to squirm and wriggle around in Cooper’s hold.

  “Hang on,” he told the calf, wading out of the water. Cooper knelt, setting the green-algae-soaked calf down on the bank. With a thankful bellow, the little guy collapsed to its knees on the soft, green grass, then stood, steadying itself and took off toward the neighboring pasture that was lined with mooing cows.

  “Holy shit. That was crazy. How’d he get in here?” I asked, trudging out of the water and flopping down next to Cooper.

  “I don’t know,” he said, watching the calf run off. As it reached the fence, we saw how the little escape artist got into the horse paddock. In one of the sections, the middle board had fallen on one side, allowing him just enough room to squeeze through. On the other side, he was greeted by one of the agitated momma cows. “Hmm. Guess, I’ll be fixing the fence after I get cleaned up.”

  Cooper turned with a smile. “Yeah, you should probably hose yourself down before you go home. Your mom would freak if you walked in the front door covered in green shit.

  Looking down at my green legs, my nose scrunched up. “Gross . . . But I don’t have to go through the house.” I remember that I hadn’t told Cooper I was living above the garage out back. I had spent the better part of three weeks avoiding him. “Dad converted the old space above the garage out back into an apartment for me.”

  “Cool,” he replied.

  Nervously, I wiggled my toes in my boots, realizing they were soaked. “Yuck. My boots are filled with water.”

  Cooper laughed as he looked down at his shoes. “Yeah, mine too. Let’s go hose off.” He nodded toward the barn. “I’m sure you don’t want pond-scum-water dripped all over your new apartment.”

  “Definitely not.” I laughed, shaking my head.

  Pushing himself up, he stood there, donned in green jeans and held out his hand to me. Slipping my hand into his, I allowed him to pull me up. His grip lingered a little longer than needed and I caught myself hoping for more. As soon as he broke contact, I sighed and started across the pasture. Why would you even think that, Kinsley? He’s already rejected you twic
e. Are you just looking for more humiliation?

  The walk back wasn’t as quiet as the walk to the pond but damn close. Until we were almost to the barn the only noise to be heard was the sloshing of the dirty water still in my boots.

  Finally finding my voice, I asked. “How’s your dad today?”

  Coop sighed, refusing to look over at me. “He’s been having more and more coughing fits and isn’t getting any better.” The pain in his voice was almost enough to make me cry. So, I did what I do best. I digressed.

  “I don’t get why Ashton needs to throw a party tonight of all nights,” I told Cooper as we climbed over the wooden fence.

  “It’s Ashton. We stopped asking questions.” Cooper simply shrugged his shoulders, reaching down at the farm hydrant by the fence and pulling the handle up. The green hose at our feet flexed and bowed as water raced through it only to be blocked by the nozzle at the end of the long line. “We should probably take off our shoes first.”

  Turning, I planted my butt on the second board of the fence and bent down to my feet. My fingers unknotted the laces and loosened them from the eyes, allowing me to toe off the stinky boots. God, I stunk. Standing, I looked down at my ruined clothes and algae covered legs.

  A blast of shockingly-cold water to my chest pulled me out of my head. “Ahhhh!”

  Cooper stood there laughing. “Sorry, I should’ve warned you, but that was hilarious.”

  “You’re an ass. Just hurry up and get it over with, would ya,” I told him. “Just my legs though.”

  With a wicked grin, Cooper’s hand wrapped around the nozzle, spraying me with the cold water. The pressure of the water was enough to peel paint off the barn, causing me to jump around and away from the stream. “Gah. Easy, Coop.”