Chapter 49
COOPER
Despite the fact that I’ve been paying attention to Stephanie for the last eighteen months, I learn something new about her: she’s terrible at deciding what to order off a menu.
She wants everything on the menu, and it takes her ten minutes to pick the lobster nachos—but she immediately second-guesses her choice.
I excuse myself from the table and go talk to Marco. “Hey, buddy. Can I add a bunch of stuff to our order?”
Marco laughs. “Let me guess: she immediately second-guessed herself?”
“So this is normal for her?”
“So normal that I usually send out four or five of her favorites.”
I nod. “Good information to have. Thanks.” I turn to walk away.
“Not so fast there, Coop.” He calls over his head to one of his employees. “Kyle, watch the grill for me?” Then he gestures to the back room. “Let’s go, princess.” He follows me to the back room, then closes the door.
The back room is where Marco does all his clerical work.
He has a nice desk with a computer and printer.
There’s a file cabinet in one corner, and the rest of the room holds everything else you’d expect to see in this kind of space.
What most people wouldn’t expect to see is a child’s art table—complete with crayons, markers, and watercolor paints.
The walls are covered in art projects. All of them have a similar theme: suns, butterflies, and flowers.
Near the top of each one, in a child’s handwriting, is scrawled “To Marko” or “Mrco” or another spelling of his name; at the bottom, they all say “Lou.”
“I’m so jealous you get to spend so much time with her.” I reach up and touch one of the paintings.
“Yeah.” His face beams with pride as he surveys the art on his walls.
“I love that little girl. I watch her whenever I can, but Cheryl’s usually the one who swoops in and takes her shopping or has her over for the night.
But that’s as it should be. Cheryl was made to be a mom.
I’ve never seen anyone who would be better at it.
” He taps his finger against the side of his leg a few times, then sits on the edge of his desk and shifts his focus to me.
“I’ve seen a lot of happy men in my lifetime, but none happier than you were earlier today. How’s the beard burn?”
“Truthfully? A little worse than the last time you saw it.” All I can do is smile.
“Wanna tell me what’s going on?”
“Not much. I just told an incredible woman that I’m crazy for her and she kissed me back like she was on life support and I was her oxygen source.”
“So, a normal day then?” We both laugh.
Talking about it kicks my heart rate up a notch. “Marco, have you ever been in love?”
“What’s your point?” Typical Marco, evading the question.
“I’ve never been in love, so I have nothing to compare it to.
But this is exactly what I’ve always imagined it to feel like.
But that’s stupid, right?” I lean against the wall and run my hands through my hair.
“I’ve done nothing but pine for this woman for a year and a half, and within days of her finally believing that I’m not a creep, all I can see in my future is her in my arms and dozens of baby girls surrounding us. ”
When I glance up, something in Marco’s face has shifted. It’s subtle, but the smile sitting there isn’t as comfortable as it was a moment ago.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.” His body moves ever so slightly, and he shakes it off. “I’m happy for you. I hope it all works out how you want it to.” Something’s off, but he reaches over, slaps my back, and opens the door. He returns to the bar, and I head back to Stephanie.
“You were gone for a while.”
I sit back down across from Stephanie. “I went back to tell Marco to bring out the other dishes you talked about, but he said he was going to do it anyway.”
“It’s true. He always does.” She unapologetically shrugs.
“Then why stress about what you order?”
“Because I’m trying to get better at being more decisive when ordering food. I’m really bad at it.”
“It’s nice to be aware you actually have a flaw.” I sit back in my seat and wink at her. I think back on the strange reaction from Marco. “Steph, how well do you know Marco? Anything about his past relationships?”
“Marco is an open book to the point of oversharing,” she sits forward and rests her forearms on the table, “except where women are concerned. He’s always evading the question or changing the topic when relationships get brought up. Why?”
“Nothing. His reaction to something I said back there made me wonder.”
“I thought you were talking about my food?”
“He asked how the beard burn was,” I wait for her to blush—which she does—“and it made me wonder.”
We eat a little bit of everything they bring us and have them package up the rest for later, as we don’t have any food in the fridge.
“Hey, you two cuties.” Cheryl appears. “Can I join you for a minute?” Stephanie slides over, and Cheryl joins her. I appreciate that she doesn’t acknowledge the beard burn this time.
“Where’s Lou?” I glance around but can’t find her.
“Heidi is watching her on the playground while I wait for my order.” Cheryl jerks her head in the direction of the playground outside.
Sam’s Bar & Grill is right on the beach and the exterior walls are only three feet high—so there’s a view no matter where you sit. Out front has a view to the playground, and sure enough, we see Lou on the swings with Hazel and her mom, Heidi, nearby.
Marco approaches with to-go bags and hands them to Cheryl. “Did you need anything else?”
Cheryl looks inside the bags. “Nope, looks good.”
“Okay.” Marco turns to leave, but Cheryl stops him.
“Do you want me to come by later and pick up your laundry?”
“No.” Marco slips his hands into his pockets. “I’m good.”
“I made a big pot of soup for dinner. It could feed a small army, and I’ll never eat it all. Do you want to come over and eat with us?”
Marco shifts on his feet, and a light sheen of sweat appears on his brow.
“I think . . . I’m good.” He reaches up and lightly touches his forehead before quickly lowering his hand.
“I mean, I’m not going to have dinner. Or, I’m going to have dinner, but it will be here.
Because there is food here. And I’m going to eat it here.
” He turns and walks back into the kitchen.
We watch him go.
“Well,” Cheryl stands up and brushes non-existent wrinkles from her patterned skirt, “he’s lying about something. But I’ve got to get Lou and eat this while it’s hot.” She pats the bags with the food. “See you sweeties later.”
We don’t say anything for a minute. We watch Cheryl as she makes small talk with Heidi and then gets in the car with Lou and drives off.
“What. Was. That?” Stephanie is obviously as confused as I am.
“I don’t know, but Cheryl’s right. He’s the worst liar I’ve ever met.”
Stephanie leans in and lowers her voice. “What did he say to you back there?”
I think back over our short conversation.
He didn’t really say much, other than the fact that Cheryl would make a good mom.
Then he shifted a little and evaded when I asked about being in love.
I chew on this for a second more. “Let’s just say I’m more convinced than ever that they’ve dated at some point. ”
Stephanie’s phone vibrates, and Sam’s face appears on her screen. She grabs it. “SAMMY SAM SAM! How are you today? How is baby Emma Stephanie?” She starts out smiling, but her face quickly shifts to surprise. “Are you serious?”
“What? Is everything okay?” I can’t hear what’s being said on the other end.
She gives me a reassuring nod but keeps listening. “Already?” She checks her watch. “Okay, see you then.” She hangs up, her face beaming. “They’re leaving the hospital. They’ll be home soon.”