Chapter 22
22
Cooper
“MORNING.” COOPER WATCHED Isla as she padded into the kitchen, her dark hair messy, pillow creases lining one flushed cheek. “Looks like you slept well.”
She gave him a shy smile. “You didn’t give me much choice. My body was completely out of energy.”
“You brought it on yourself.” He flipped the line of pancakes cooking along the griddle. “You went to great lengths to end up in my bed, Princess.”
“I might have done things differently if I knew you weren’t going to let me out of it for a week.” She came to his side, leaning against him as he cooked. “Then again, you do make me breakfast every morning, so maybe not.”
“Maybe not sounds more accurate.” He slid a few of the disks onto a plate then added a couple slices of bacon before passing it off. “If it makes you feel any better, you’re getting a break tonight. I have to work the night shift with Grady.”
Isla wrinkled her nose. “That sucks.”
He grinned. “The night shift part or the Grady part?”
She rolled her eyes. “The night shift part.” After carrying her plate to the table, she went to the coffee maker and poured out a mug. “I love Grady.”
“He loves you.” Cooper made up a plate of his own and went to join her. “That’s why he threatens me every time I see him now.”
Isla’s dark eyes narrowed. “I told him to leave you alone or I’d ruin all his socks.”
“I don’t think that’s as big of a threat as you hoped it would be.”
Cooper poured a puddle of syrup onto his pancakes before cutting off a big bite and shoving it into his mouth. He’d worked up an appetite the night before and needed to replenish some calories.
“And I don’t mind. He can give me all the shit he wants.” Deep down he kind of liked it. Liked that Grady had this to give him shit about. He’d take all the threats his friend wanted to dish out. None of them mattered anyway. He wasn’t going to hurt Isla. He’d die before that happened.
“ I mind.” Isla pointed a strip of bacon at him. “Maybe I can find some way to use Griselda to scare him into stopping.”
“I’m starting to think you and Gram-Gram are becoming best friends.” He sipped his coffee. “It’s making me a little jealous.”
Isla and Griselda were a hell of an unlikely pair, but on some level they did sort of make sense. Gram-Gram was fiercely protective of the people she considered hers—and she considered Isla her granddaughter. Isla was great at seeing the best in people and overlooking their rough edges, sometimes to her own detriment. Which circled back to Gram-Gram and her protective ways.
“I think she’s misunderstood.” Isla’s claim was unsurprising. “And she loves my grandpa, so I might as well like her.” She wrinkled her nose. “Even if she sometimes has terrible ideas.”
Cooper chuckled, unable to make himself mad at Gram-Gram and Isla’s scheming. “Are they terrible if they work?”
Isla had explained how the whole ‘luring him to The Creekery’ thing had unfolded, and he had to admit, it wasn’t the worst plan she could have come up with. He’d been dragging his feet, and probably would have continued doing it, out of fear.
“Yes.” Isla sounded confident in her answer. “Even if they work.” She sighed. “I’m going to feel bad about that forever.”
“Only if you stick with me forever.”
He hadn’t meant to say it, but now that it was out there, no way was he taking it back. He’d pushed the brakes long enough with her as it was. Now that she’d forced his foot to the gas, there was no stopping him. He was going to break land-speed records with how fast he locked the woman across from him down.
Isla’s dark eyes met his over the same table where they’d shared meals for the past week. A small smile curved her lips. “Only if.”
There was nothing but sweetness in her words, but he still read into them. Still wondered what might happen if he laid everything out the way he wanted to.
Would Isla—the princess of plans—have one for him the same way he had one for her? If she did, would they align?
With a heavy sigh, she rocked her head from side to side. “I should probably start getting ready. It’s going to be a busy day. Now that Hudson’s starting to eat, there’s so much more laundry to do.”
“Sounds about as exciting as my day.” He laid out his agreement to help Leland make a few repairs on his house since he was getting ready to list it, and his own laundry needs. “Then I go into work right as you get off work.”
These were the days he liked the least. The ones when their schedules didn’t align and he’d be forced to spend most of it without her.
“Friday must be for laundry.” Isla stood, picking up her empty plate and his, carrying them to the dishwasher. “Why’s Leland going to sell his house? He’s not moving away, is he?”
Cooper chuckled. There was no way in hell Leland would leave Moss Creek. Not when everything he’d ever wanted was there. “No. He’s just finally getting around to following through on some plans he made years ago.” For a long time, he hadn’t understood his friend. Wondered why in the hell he did what he did and didn’t do what he didn’t do.
Now he knew.
It wasn’t indecision or uncertainty that held Leland back. It was fear. It was because something was better than nothing. It was because the threat of losing everything was more than enough to stop a man in his tracks.
“That’s good.” Isla smiled. “We both know how much I love a good plan.”
In the week that he’d managed to keep Isla coming home to him every night, he’d finally found out just how badly the guy before him—Eric the asshole—had fucked up. If he ever saw that prick he’d…
Probably buy the idiot a beer, because he owed the dumbass everything.
She’d planned out a whole life with the twerp and the dude walked away from the promise of a beautiful wife and kids because he thought he was missing out on something. Thought he deserved more. Better.
It was only a matter of time before Eric the Awful discovered there was no more, and there sure as hell wasn’t better.
“Make all the plans you want, Princess.” He met her eyes, hoping Isla heard what he was really saying. “You won’t hear me complaining.”
She could draw up a whole fucking white board of what she wanted. A schematic of kids and animals. A timeline of events and a spreadsheet to check them off. Hell. He’d love it if she did.
“You say that now.” She winced, face scrunching up. “But I told the Bridge Bitches I’d take them out tomorrow night.”
“That’s perfect.” He pulled out one of the travel mugs from the cabinet and went to work fixing Isla a coffee to go. “What time are we picking them up?”
Isla’s brows lifted. “We?”
“You want to tackle that group on your own?”
A smile bloomed across her face. “I do not.”
There were still moments—like this one—where Isla seemed uncertain about where he stood. Didn’t seem to notice he was as all-in as it got. That was something he’d have to rectify. Maybe he could add it to the list of things he wanted to tackle today.
Pretty soon he was gonna need a schematic of his own.
After pestering her while she showered, offering assistance that would make them both late for their planned activities, he left her to finish getting ready while he checked on the chicks and horses, coming back inside just as she was packing up to go.
“What time do you think you’ll get home tonight?” he asked.
There was no more discussion about where he meant when he said home. They both knew exactly which place he was talking about.
“I’ll probably stop by my apartment after work and pick up a few more things.” That flash of uncertainty flickered across her face again. “Unless I’m taking up too much space.”
“No such thing.” He wanted her presence in every square inch of his house. Wanted proof of her existence staring back at him everywhere he looked. “I’ll pack your whole apartment up tomorrow when I get off work if you want me to.”
It wasn’t an idle threat. All she had to do was say the word and he’d make it happen.
“I think you should probably sleep after working all night.” Isla collected her bag and the cup of coffee he’d made earlier. “Especially since you so kindly offered to help wrangle the Bridge Bitches tomorrow evening.”
That wasn’t what he wanted to hear. “Fine.”
She smiled that sweet smile that roped him in from the very beginning, pushing up on her toes to kiss his lips. “But maybe we can come up with a plan for one of your days off.”
He grabbed her as she started to move away, pulling her body back against his, lips hovering over hers. “I’ve got lots of favors to call in, Princess. I can have all the days off it takes to make that happen.”
“I think?—”
His phone started to ring where it sat on the counter just beside them, cutting her off.
Fucking Leland. He was going to get his ass handed to him over this.
“I’ll let you get that.” Isla pressed another kiss to his lips. “Call me when you get time.”
“You know I will.” He called her even when he didn’t have time.
Grabbing his phone, he connected Leland’s call, frowning as Isla quietly went out to where her car was parked in the garage. “You have terrible fucking timing.”
“If that’s a dig at?—”
“Calm the fuck down. It’s not a dig at you taking literal decades to tell Paige you love her.” He smirked at the sound of outrage that carried through the line. “I was working my way up to convincing Isla to move in with me and you fucking interrupted it.”
“You think she’s ready for that?” Leland asked.
“I think so.” Cooper grinned, feeling fucking fantastic about the next thing he was about to say. “Especially if I bribe her with a giant diamond ring.”
Leland snorted. “You really think that one would be swayed by jewelry?”
“Maybe not. But I don’t have time to get her a herd of goats, so she’ll have to settle for an engagement ring.”
* * *
“How in the hell do you know what size her finger is?” Leland squinted through the glass, eying a pretty ring with a square center stone and smaller diamonds all along the band.
“I’m straight up guessing.” He’d studied Isla’s finger plenty. Compared it to his own and—based on nothing scientific—was pretty sure if a ring came down to the second knuckle of his pinky, it would fit her tiny hand. “And willing to pay if I’m wrong.”
“You don’t think she’d want to pick her own out?” Leland was all fucking questions, and it made him wonder if maybe his friend was considering adopting his full speed ahead approach.
“Not Isla.” He was almost positive of that. The woman planned out every other aspect of her life. Him planning something this big on his own would hopefully keep her from worrying she was headed down the same path she’d taken once before, but was too caught up to see it. He understood why what happened with her ex still affected so much of Isla’s thoughts, but he couldn’t wait for the day that asshat was fully in the past.
“Hmm.” Leland straightened, turning to him as the woman helping them shop passed over the bag carrying the ring he’d just bought. “Let me know how it goes.”
Cooper laughed. “Man, I’m not gonna shut up about it.”
All the waiting—all the times he’d been passed over—was worth every second to get to where he was now. Hell, he’d do it all again twice to have Isla.
He’d bitch about it, but he’d do it.
Checking his phone, a little of the wind left his sails. “I gotta go and get ready for my shift.”
He and Leland piled into his truck and headed back to Leland’s place. It hadn’t taken much convincing to get his friend to come along—a fact he was for sure reading into—but the extra drive ate up minutes he didn’t have to spare.
By the time he got home, it was a rush to get changed and geared up. He spent the last few frantic seconds trying to figure out where in the hell to hide the ring. He’d cleared out part of his closet, some of his drawers, a nightstand, and more than half the bathroom cabinets, telling Isla the space was all hers.
And it was. It just made it difficult to come up with a spot she wouldn’t find.
Out of time, he decided to take the ring with him, hiding the gift bag in the console and stuffing the ring and the velvet pouch it was in into one of the buttoned pockets on his shirt. The tight strap of his protective vest over it meant there was no way for the thing to fall out. Plus, he liked having it with him. Liked knowing the next time he saw her it would go from his pocket to Isla’s finger.
As he strolled into the station, whistling like the smug bastard he was, Cooper ran straight into Grady as his friend was rushing back toward the door.
“Clock your ass in. We’ve got a call.” Grady hit the door running.
So much for his good fucking mood.
Moving as fast as he could, Cooper clocked in and raced for his cruiser, gathering details as he went. The rancher from the week before called to report another break-in, but before dispatch could get all the information, the line went dead. They’d tried calling back but didn’t get an answer, which usually wasn’t a good sign.
Cooper pulled onto the road running up one side of the ranch and found Grady and Peters parked on the shoulder, standing outside their cars. Taking the spot just behind Grady’s car, he climbed out and joined the duo. “What’s going on?”
“Jennings was the first to arrive on scene,” Grady explained. He checked the house but didn’t find any evidence of the reported break-in or the owner. He waited for backup to arrive before canvassing the rest of the residential portion of the property. When he and Murphy got close to the main barn, the perp started yelling, claiming he had the owner held hostage and would set him free if they left.”
“I love when they think it’s that easy.” Cooper blew out a breath. “Do we have anyone still on the property?”
“Jennings and Murphy are still there, but they pulled back, hoping giving him some space might calm him down.” Grady shook his head. “Doesn’t seem like it’s working.”
“It never does.” Peters scrubbed one hand over his face. “Didn’t have hostage situation on my bingo card for the night.”
“Do we know if it’s the same guy we found here last week?” He wasn’t necessarily in the mood for another cross-cow patty race. “Because if he runs again, Peters gets to chase him this time.”
“You just know I’ll judge you for how long it’ll take you to catch him.” Peters turned to Grady. “So what’s the plan? Are we coming in from the backside to keep it secure until the crisis team gets here?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Do we know if he has a weapon?” Peters asked.
Grady shook his head. “Haven’t seen one, but we should operate on the assumption he’s armed. As far as I know, he didn’t make any sort of specific threats, but you’ve gotta have some sort of motivation to keep a hostage contained.”
After calling in their location, the three of them set out across the field. It was dark as hell and cold as fuck, making for a long, treacherous walk, but eventually, the barn in question came into sight. Grady motioned one direction then pointed to Peters, sending him up the left side. He gestured for Cooper to take the right, as he stayed at the center. They all went their respective ways and got into position.
Finding a low spot that would offer him a little cover, Cooper crouched down, going to one knee as he scanned the area, straining for any sound he could pick up. He’d barely been down two minutes before all hell broke loose. Someone started yelling inside the barn, followed by a few heavy thuds—possibly the swinging of a hammer or something similarly weighted. He’d just gotten to his feet when the door on his side of the structure flew open and a man ran out.
Reaching for the mic at his shoulder, he called out, “ He’s coming out the south side .” Cooper got to his feet and took off after him, running through the same damn field he’d chased what was likely the same damn criminal the week before. “ I’m in pursuit, headed southwest toward the treeline .”
It was the same path as before, making him even more sure it was also the same guy as before. A man had to be some kind of stupid to hit the same place after getting caught and arrested the first time.
Or some kind of determined to get his hands on whatever was there.
He didn’t have the opportunity to question what it could be that had this guy coming back a second time, because at that moment, the man stopped, turned, and lifted both arms. Not in surrender.
But to aim.
There wasn’t time to brace or even think about taking cover before two shots split the night. The first hit him square in the chest, knocking every bit of air out of his lungs as it connected with his vest.
Stumbling back, Cooper reached for his weapon, managing to get it unholstered just as the second shot connected. Pain radiated down his arm and across his shoulder as warmth spread over his skin. He started to go down, getting only a single shot of his own off before hitting the dirt.
As the stars above him started to blur, he could only think of one thing.
He should have fucking told Isla he loved her.