Chapter 5
5
Cooper
“Dad, where you at?” I call into the house. Every week we do breakfast with our dad, the days changing depending on my shifts. A tray of coffees and a bag of breakfast goodies from our favorite bakery is my contribution this time. Today is my last day off in my forty-eight off, and after breakfast I plan to do absolutely nothing. Yesterday I spent all day working in my yard and finishing up staining my back deck, and I need a day of nothing.
“We’re in my room, son!” Setting the tray and food down in the kitchen, I head upstairs to where Dad’s room is. I find him and both my brothers standing in front of his bed, little squares of colors all over his bed.
“What are you guys doing?” I ask. Stepping inside the familiar space, I hug my dad before smacking each of my brothers on the back.
“I asked their opinion on paint colors for in here. I’m redoing the whole room.”
My eyebrows shoot up in surprise, and when I look at Axel and Joey, I can see they’re both feeling the same way I am. This bedroom hasn’t changed since Mom decorated it when they bought the place. He’s redone other rooms over the years, but this one has always been the only one untouched. We figured that wouldn’t change.
“Really?” I ask, reaching for a couple swatches in shades of blue.
“It’s time,” he states, so simply that I know something is up. So, the three of us go through paint swatches together until he decides on a slate blue shade and then we all head downstairs to share breakfast.
Sitting around the table, we dig in and bring Dad up to date on everything going on in our lives. And while I didn’t plan to say anything, I decide to anyway. Because I get the feeling that’s the real reason behind Dad’s bedroom remodel.
“So, I met someone,” I begin, and three heads all whip in my direction.
“What? I’ve seen you almost every day this week. When did you have time to meet a girl?” Axel demands, throwing a napkin at my head. Chuckling, I brush it aside and take a sip of my coffee.
“Actually, I met her weeks ago. We’re just friends, but I’m struggling with how much I like her. And her little boy.”
Joey’s jaw drops. “Little boy?”
Nodding, I lean back in my chair and get comfy. “Yeah. She was in the grocery store like three weeks ago, and her son was having a tough time. He’s cutting molars. So, I showed her the trick that we learned from one of the paramedics years ago. Frozen waffles. I got her number, but she told me she wasn’t into having a relationship. I’ve respected the hell outta that.”
“But you caught feelings,” Axel supplies, and I nod.
“Big time. We text all the time, every single day. She’s working at a daycare over near the station, and she’s only been in Nashville a few months now. Clearly something brought her here, but I don’t want to push her for something she doesn’t want and ruin everything. It’s just…” I break off and reach for my coffee, emptying the paper cup before setting it down.
“Have y’all hung out or anything? Spent any time together in person?” Dad asks.
“No. I just... I feel like I’m over my head here. I turned a corner in a grocery store, and I swear to God, it was almost like finding my purpose there. Her son is the sweetest thing in the world, and despite her holding back the couple times she was physically in my presence, Rome connected with me without trying.”
I pull out my phone and click in the photos until I find the one she sent me from the visit to the station, then I turn my phone to show them. My dad’s face lights up, and that feeling settles in my gut again.
“He looks good up there, buddy,” Axel says quietly, and I smile before setting my phone down on the table. “What’s her name?”
“Haley. She has auburn hair and huge blue eyes, and she’s the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life. Her smile could take me to my knees in a heartbeat.”
“How old is she?”
“Twenty-three. Roman is almost two.” My face feels like it could split from the grin on my face, but it seems ever present if I’m talking to or about her.
“Sounds to me like you’ve been bitten by the same bug that got me when I met you boys’ momma,” Dad tells me, and I just shrug.
“What are you gonna do?” Joey questions, and I blow out a breath.
“I have no idea.”
“Sounds like we need to get to brainstorming, men,” Dad announces, and we all start laughing. “Hey, I’m the head of this family. It’s dictated in law that you must follow my advice and listen to me.”
“Dictated in law? Sir, you are so not funny,” Axel laughs, and Dad reaches out to put him in a headlock. Joey gets in on the action, and I sit back in my chair and watch my family behave like a bunch of howler monkeys.
“How about we don’t break the dining table, huh?” I chide. I stand and collect all the trash from the table before carrying it to the kitchen so I can dispose of it. I’m stuffing it all inside when Dad comes walking into the kitchen, his coffee still in his hand.
“Got a minute for your old man?” he asks, and I raise my eyebrow.
“Always.”
We cross through the open back door and step onto the back deck, where he leans against the railing and trains his eyes on me. “I’m seeing someone,” he states, and my eyes widen in shock. I take a moment to process the news, and then I do what I know my brothers will do. I engulf him in a tight hug and kiss the side of his head.
“I’m proud of you, Pops.”
“Not sure what there is to be proud of, but thanks, Coop.”
“Does that have anything to do with the bedroom remodel?” I ask, and he just sheepishly nods.
“It’s been a long time, and I realized that it was the only place that still had your mother all over it. I mean, I still have her damn perfume on the bureau.”
“I get that,” I agree, and I watch his eyes fill with tears and it guts me. “But you have to know Mom wouldn’t be angry if you find someone else to share your life with. She’d want you to be happy.”
“I do. It’s just... hard to switch off feelings for someone who was your whole world for over twenty years. I was supposed to be old when I buried my wife, not in my late thirties. And I had you three boys to provide for, so it’s not like I had all the time in the world to replace your mother.”
“Dad—”
“And I don’t mean that as anything against you boys or the memory of your mom. I’ve been alone since Joey moved in with Ax six years ago. Yeah, you guys are always here, and your Uncle Marc is always coming over for the games during baseball season, but it’s not the same, you know?”
“I do,” I tell him truthfully, and I hate that my eyes well up. The idea of my father going to bed alone in a cold bed, wishing for someone to share his life with, and the unbelievable sadness that he’s been so worried about replacing Mom, hurts. Finding someone new to love doesn’t replace her. It doesn’t erase their decades of love and memories or our family.
Now Dad is the one hugging me tight, and I thump him on the back with my fist. “We love you, and we would never be upset with you for doing what is best for you. You’re our father. We just want to see you happy, no matter what that means.”
Pulling away, I use the bottom of my shirt to wipe my face, and he chuckles before doing the same thing. “Well, this is not how I saw this morning going,” he jokes, and I let out a wet laugh.
“You’re telling me. Next time I’ll grab a bottle of whiskey for our coffee.”
“You know where the liquor cabinet is, Coop,” Dad points out, and I shake my head with a chuckle.
“Touché.” I move to head back into the house when he grabs my arm and spins me around to face him. Dad lays his hands on my shoulders and gives me a determined stare before gently squeezing me.
“If you like this girl, don’t keep it bottled up. She may not be ready for a relationship yet, but that doesn’t mean you just sit back and wait for someone else to stake their claim. Prove to her what a good man you are, and how lucky both she and her boy would be to have you as theirs.”
I nod my head, unable to speak around the lump in my throat. With another squeeze and a final pat on my left shoulder, we head back inside, no more words spoken between us. Without a doubt, my father has given me more to think about than I expected for our weekly breakfast.
“I’m telling you, Hollywood. I don’t mind hanging with you when your brain refuses to let you sleep, but for the love of God, can you find something better for us to watch than this reality TV bullshit? Please and thank you,” I grumble. Kicking my feet up on the coffee table, I glare over at my best friend as he zones out on the latest chick who was given a rose or something cheesy like that. Our house dog, Oscar, is slobbering over Rhett’s legs, and since he’s a Swiss Mountain dog, he’s practically taking up more of the couch than my best friend.
“Dude, just watch it. I’m telling you, it’s not that bad.”
“It is that bad,” I complain, slouching down onto the couch to get more comfortable. “Nobody falls in love while a bunch of cameras are on them, especially after the person they’re claiming to love just made out with ten other chicks on camera, too. This isn’t romantic at all.”
“Who said anything about romantic, my man. I said it was entertaining AF.”
“AF? Please don’t use that stupid ass phrase.”
“It got you to shut up about Patrick picking the next girl.”
“Oh, for the love of—” I’m cut off when I’m hit in the head with a pillow, and I just laugh before tucking it behind my back. “Snooze you lose, fucker. Besides, don’t you want to find someone to give a rose?”
“Nah, I’m good.”
I chuckle because we’ve had this conversation at least thirty times since we were rookies at this same station. We’ve all seen the horrors of this job and what it can take from you. Not just the people whose calls we respond to, but the brothers we have lost, from the job and permanently. Still, that won’t stop me from finding my forever girl, and having a big ass family with her.
“Rhett, one day you’re gonna get knocked on your ass so hard that you’ll have no choice but to give into the love bug, and I can’t wait to have front row seats to it.”
He goes to say something but is cut off by the sound of our alarm going off, alerting us to a structure fire. Both of us give Oscar head pats before we go racing out to the bay, soon joined by our fellow crew.
Atticus Matson notices we’re already out there as he starts gearing up. He raises his eyebrow at Rhett, knowing why we were both more than likely already here. “You good, Hollywood?”
“I’m good, Atta. Now pull up your big boy pants and let's go.”
Matson just rolls his eyes and climbs in next to us, slamming the door as he does. In seconds we’re all on our way to the scene, an apparent apartment fire that is quickly blazing to a three-alarm fire. We’re about three miles out, and with the late evening hours, barely any traffic helps ease our path and it takes us only a few minutes to arrive on scene.
Our captain was right behind us in his buggy, and as soon as we climb down from the vehicles, he starts hollering orders.
“Ferguson, Matson, March! You three on crowd control. We’re still waiting on extra ambos to arrive; help get the victims to where we have triage set up.”
He continues yelling orders, but the three of us make our way over to help where we’re needed. I don’t recall ever coming to this building on any calls, but after ten years, calls can sometimes begin to blur into others. But as we come around the triage tent where tenants are running from the fire escape, I can’t help my eyes catching notice of a car in the lot, only a dozen feet or so away.
Older model Ford Focus.
No. Fuck, it can’t be.
Turning around, I begin helping Rhett and Atticus get people moved over, walking them from the fire escape and I scan the lot looking for a certain redhead but I don’t see her anywhere. For a second, I’m frozen in place, seeing nothing but her trapped in a burning building.
“What’s up, Marchy?” Rhett asks, and I turn to him, shaking my thoughts from my head.
“Nothing, I thought that was Haley’s car for a second.”
His eyes widen before he schools his features. “Well, if it is, they’ll find her. But we need you to keep your head straight, man. Focus on helping these people, and then you can call her.”
Nodding, I swallow thickly before getting back to the job at hand. But I can’t erase the thought that it was definitely her car I just saw, and if that’s the case, where the hell is she? I’m helping an older couple take the last few steps off the fire escape, the last two people to come down, when I hear a startling shrill cry from behind me.
Fuck. I know that scream.
Spinning around, I grab Rhett by the shoulder and motion to the couple.
“That was her son, I’m sure of it. Help them, please?” He nods once, telling me that he’s got my back, and I go in search of the source. Stepping around the triage tent, I find Hayes helping a soot covered Haley to the tent, with Roman screaming in her arms.
“Haley!” I yell, running over to them as fast as I can. Her eyes lift to mine, but it’s like she’s looking right through me, not realizing who I even am. “Are you okay?”
“Cooper?” she asks weakly, and I gently reach out to cup her cheek, Roman crying so hard he’s shaking her body.
“Yeah, it’s me. Are you guys okay?”
She’s blinking rapidly, and begins coughing harshly. Telling Hayes I have them, I walk them into the tent and help one of the paramedics hook them up to oxygen masks. Roman cries the whole time. His cries tell me that he’s mostly okay, but it’s the beautiful woman sitting in front of me that has me worried.
What the hell happened?