Chapter 15 #2
The corner of Copeland’s mouth tips into a grin. “All of it. The work, the pain, the heartache, the smiles, the laughter, the love. She’s worth all of it,” he says, his voice growing quiet.
“Right, well, you kids have fun.” Courtlynn waves, and with that, Copeland gives my hand a gentle tug and leads me out of the house and to his truck. He opens the door for me and waits for me to be buckled in before closing the door and rushing to his side to slide behind the wheel.
“Where are we going?” I ask once the truck is in motion.
“Not far,” he says evasively.
“How’s your mom today?” I ask, turning to glance at him.
He nods. “She’s doing well today. Feeling stronger than the last few days. The quilting ladies are there with her.”
“I’m glad everyone has rallied around her to help her through this.”
“Yeah,” he agrees as he parks his truck in the lot of the Wooden Spoon.
Tears instantly well in my eyes, because this is where we had our first date. We went for milkshakes after school. “Cope.”
Cautiously, he reaches over the console and laces his fingers with mine.
“Ells, not a single memory of our time together has faded. I thought about you every day, and so many times I wished, more than anything, that we could be back in this diner, sharing an order of fries as we sip our shakes, with so many possibilities in front of us.”
“I remember, too,” I whisper.
“We can go somewhere else if you want to. It’s not that I want to recreate the old memories.
I want to be us again, Ells. I want to be Copeland and Ellison, and more than anything, I want to be yours.
” He turns away from me, staring out the front window of the truck.
“I don’t care where we do that, but something inside of me said that this was a good place to start. ”
“People will see us together,” I tell him.
“Good.” He squeezes my hand. “I’m back, Ellison, and I’m yours if you’ll have me.”
“I want to say yes so badly.” My voice cracks.
“And you will when you’re ready. However, I’m not going to stop telling you.
I’m going to try my best to not only tell you but show you every day.
” He turns his gaze back to mine. “We can go in. We can go somewhere else. I can go order us some food, and we can take it to go. Whatever you want, Ells. My only stipulation is that we do it together. Whatever it is, this is my time, my night with you, and I don’t want to give that up. ”
“A bacon cheeseburger and a peanut butter shake sound excellent right now,” I answer.
His blinding smile lights up the cab of the truck.
Leaning over the console, he presses his lips to my cheek.
“Stay put,” he says, before grabbing his keys and sliding out of the truck, racing around the front to open my door.
He offers me his hand and helps me down, before lacing our fingers together and leading us inside.
“Look what the cat dragged in!” a male voice calls out, and when I turn my head, I smile when I see Bowen, Macklin, and Dixon in the back corner booth. All heads turn our way, and my face heats with the attention.
Copeland leans in close, his lips next to my ear. “We can go,” he offers.
“No. They miss you just as much as I do.” The words fall freely from my lips before I can think about them. His chocolate eyes flare with an emotion I can’t name. I open my mouth to backpedal, but there’s no use.
I do miss him.
However, he’s here now, and doing and saying all the right things, and I need to take each moment as it comes and hope they lead to a future we planned all those years ago.
“It’s our night,” Copeland grumbles.
“They’re our friends.”
“Come join us,” Macklin says, nodding to the chair he just pulled up to their booth.
Copeland squeezes my hand as we make our way to the booth. “No one is sitting by my girl but me,” he tells our friends.
“Your girl, huh?” Bowen smirks.
Copeland stares all three of them down, his hand still entwined with mine.
“Some things never change.” Dixon laughs as he slides his plate to the end of the booth and takes the single chair, allowing Copeland and me to take one side of the booth.
“So”—Macklin waggles his eyebrows—“date night?”
“Was supposed to be,” Copeland says, his tone flat.
All three of them crack up laughing. “We’re almost done here.” Bowen points to their mostly empty plates. “We just wanted to say hi, and we’ll be out of your hair.”
I give Copeland’s hand a squeeze, and he turns to look at me. I nod and smile, letting him know I’m not upset, and his shoulders relax. His lips find their way to my temple.
“This took longer than I thought it would,” Dixon says, popping his last fry into his mouth.
Copeland tenses, so I answer this time. Not that there’s a question. “We’ve been getting to know one another again.”
“How’s that going?” Bowen asks me.
“Good.” I smile, assuring him that things are well.