Chapter 17
Cooper
“Naomi! Hurry up and clean your room! Aunt June and Gracie will be here in ten minutes!” I yell across the house.
“I’m trying!” she snaps back.
I wipe down the counter and grab a piece of leftover lasagna from the fridge for Naomi to eat for dinner.
She comes running into the living room with her arms full of things. She lays out colored pencils, glitter, glue, coloring books, and construction paper on the coffee table. Then disappears back into her room and comes back out with blankets, and I think I spotted a tiara in the mix.
“Uncle Coopy?” Naomi says.
“Yes, princess?”
“Where are you going?” she asks.
I wince because I was hoping she wouldn’t ask. I try to keep my dating life separate from being a dad, but they inevitably collide.
“I have to go out tonight, and I won’t be back before you have to go to bed.”
“Oh,” she says, and pouts her lips.
“What’s wrong?” I ask her.
She looks down at her feet and won’t look at me. “Naomi, sweetheart, I can’t help if you don’t tell me, remember?”
She’s silent for a moment and looks up at me. “I want to have a movie night with you. We haven’t had one in a while.”
I smile and pick her up. She’s small for her age, but she’s grown so much, and I know there will be a day where I can’t hold her in my arms anymore. “How about we have one tomorrow, huh? Popcorn just the way you like it.”
Her eyes get big. “With chocolate drizzle?” she asks.
I shake my head. “But I like cinnamon sugar,” I argue, messing with her.
She purses her lips, considering bother of her options. “Okay, we can have cinnamon sugar. But I get to pick out the movie.”
I chuckle and kiss her cheek. “Deal.”
I set Naomi down, and someone knocks on the door.
“I’ll get it!” she yells, taking off for the door.
The microwave dings again, letting me know the lasagna I heated up is more than done.
“Hey little girl, are you ready for a party or what?” June says.
“There’s my princess!” Gracie yells as she barrels in from behind June.
“Auntie Gracie!” she yells and leaps into Grace’s arms.
They both hug her and set her down.
I grab a fork and napkin and sit at the table with her food. “Naomi, dinner is ready, but it’s hot. Be careful.”
She comes around the counter and plops into her seat, carefully cutting the edge of the lasagna with her fork.
“You excited for tonight?” June asks quietly.
I smile, trying to ignore the nerves that I’ve started feeling since this morning.
I didn’t tell Mae what we were doing, only what to wear. Hopefully, she likes surprises.
“I think you two are going to hit it off, and I barely know her,” Grace says.
“I think there’s something there. But I want to be careful.” I glance at Naomi as she eats her food, humming to herself.
“If y’all need anything, call me. June, you know her bedtime. Food is in the fridge. Help yourself. Don’t forget she loves to sleep with her—”
“Her stuffed donkey, I’m aware, Coop. She’s my niece too. We’ve got this. Go.”
“Please don’t hop her up on sugar like last time,” I mumble.
Gracie grins mischievously. “I promise absolutely nothing except to spoil that little girl.”
I groan. “She’s spoiled enough.”
“Nonsense, you can’t spoil a princess nearly enough, right Naomi?” June yells.
“Right!” she shouts with her mouth full.
“And that’s my cue before I cancel this whole thing and kick you out for trying to fill my kid with lies.”
June follows me out the door and closes it behind her.
“Cooper, have fun. Don’t hurry back,” she says and wiggles her eyebrows.
I snort and shake my head. “Do I look okay?” I ask her.
She looks me up and down. “Fresh shirt tucked into clean jeans. I’d say you’re doing pretty good.”
“What about my buckle? Is it too much?” I ask her.
“No, Coop, chill. You look nice.”
“Thanks, call me if you need anything.” I fish my keys out of my pocket and start for the truck.
“We won’t,” June singsongs back into the house, closing the door behind her.
I feel like I’m getting ahead of myself, but this feels like the beginning of something really good, and I hope Mae sees it that way too.
***
There’s not a lot to do in Paxton, let alone places to take someone for a nice dinner. I considered taking her to the next town over with more options, but I thought Mae might enjoy a classic option — the truck bed date.
I want to learn everything about her, but even more, I want to understand her. She keeps things locked up tight. I figured that out the night she timidly told Jacob to go stick it where the sun don’t shine. If I’m lucky, she’ll open up to me.
Turning onto the gravel driveway, I roll up to her house and flip the truck off, taking a deep breath.
The sun is starting to go down. The evening is supposed to be comfortable, and I’m hoping the weather holds out for us.
Rapping my knuckles against the door, I wait for her to answer, and she doesn’t right away. Maybe she’s still getting ready. I take a step back to sit on the step and wait for her. Then the door swings open.
“Hi,” she says, breathless.
“Hey.” I grin.
“Sorry, I’m still getting ready. Come in,” she says.
“No problem, take your time,” I tell her, stepping over the threshold. I’m immediately hit with Mae’s perfume. It smells sweet with a hint of floral, and I nearly follow her like a dog with chicken in her hand.
I’ve never been to Francesca and Leo’s house.
But there are flowers everywhere, and I hope one of them is the bouquet I got Mae.
It’s a log cabin-style house, but it doesn’t feel like it.
Some of the walls aren’t the classic wood of the cabin, but are drywalled, making the space feel lighter and more open.
The kitchen is a mix of painted walls, log cabin, and tile. The cabinets are natural hickory, and the stone countertops are white with large veining throughout. The living room looks well worn, and comfortable with two large sofas and a chair to the side of the TV.
It smells like her everywhere. I take a deep breath and sit at the dining table to wait for her.
“I’m almost done! I had a big project my boss tossed on me and it took me longer than I thought it would, on top of the internet going in and out,” she yells across the house.
“What do you do? Other than the shop, of course,” I ask her.
“I’m a forensic accountant,” she says, but not as loud as she comes into the kitchen.
“That sounds … fun,” I say.
She snorts. “I like numbers, but let’s be honest, it’s not cool or fun at all.”
“I mean, someone has to be good with numbers, right?”
She lifts a shoulder and grabs her purse off the hook. “I guess. Okay, I’m ready.”
Mae stares at me nervously, and I bite my lip, looking her up and down. She’s got black cowboy boots, the ones from the other night, dark jeans, and a shirt with a denim jacket on.
“Is this okay? You said dress for outside.”
I bob my head, dumbstruck. “You look great.”
The corner of her mouth lifts. “Thanks.”
“Shall we?” I ask her, gesturing toward the door.
She flips off the lights as I open the front door for her, and flip the knob lock.
I hold my arm out to her and wait for her to take it before going down the stairs.
“You can’t be serious,” she says.
“Mae, I’m here to show you a good time and display that I’m a consummate gentleman. This is part of that. Take it,” I tell her.
She rolls her eyes and slips her hand through the crook of my elbow. I open the passenger side for her and help her in before getting in myself.
I turn the truck around in the direction of Tate Creek Ranch, which belongs to my friend, Ricky Tate. I talked to him earlier in the week about it because out here, if someone finds you on their land uninvited, you’ll be met with a barrel in your face.
“I liked the song you sent me,” I tell her.
“Fleetwood Mac is one of my favorites. I take it George Strait is yours?”
I huff. “He is, but I don’t mind the new country either.”
She hums and looks out the window.
“Are you going to tell me what we’re doing yet?” she asks.
“I can, if you’re worried, but I would like to surprise you.”
She sighs. “Okay, fine,” she says.
Ten minutes later, I turn onto a back road of the Tate Property and drive down the dirt road, rutted out from trucks and tractors going back and forth.
“What’s this place?” Mae asks.
“It’s my friend Ricky’s ranch. We were on the football team together. We all used to come out here as kids, throw a kegger and get into trouble because there was nothing else to do.”
“I’ve never been to a field party,” Mae says.
“I definitely wouldn’t want Naomi going to one, but also they feel like a rite of passage for a teenager.”
“Are you about to make up for my lack of passage as a teenager?” she asks.
My mind goes to the nights of loud music, beer pong, and making out in the truck bed.
“Yeah, actually, that’s totally possible,” I tell her and glance at her.
“Well, this should be interesting,” she says.
I chuckle and pull the truck up a hill.
“Alright, stay in the truck and give me five,” I tell her.
She gives me a funny look and settles back into her seat.
“I have to admit this is a weird start to our date.”
I grin widely. “You just gotta trust me.”
“I don’t have a choice now, do I? I have no idea where I am,” she says in a sassy tone I really like.
“Nope, so sit there and behave.”
She huffs. “I don’t appreciate being told what to do, Cooper.”
I reach for her hand and bring it to my mouth. “I know. That’s why it’ll be all the more worth it when you give in and let yourself trust me.” I kiss her knuckles and hop out of the truck.
I brought blankets and pillows, a cooler for our drinks, and one for our food.
Spreading the blankets across the bed, I put the pillows by the wheel wells so there’s something to lean against. I had Fletcher help me take the toolbox off the back, and I set the little bed tray with fold out legs off to the side for us to eat off of.