Chapter 3 #2
Suddenly, the steel and stubbornness that had kept her going for the last seven years flared up. She wouldn’t run. Not tonight. Not while she was alone, her daughter—their daughter—safely out of sight.
In the alcove, her friends surrounded her with joyful abandon, a reprieve she feared wouldn’t last much longer.
“You were amazing!” Charity declared. Willow pulled her into a hug and Hazel gave her a high five.
“Seb’s getting drinks for everyone,” Holly declared. “You deserve champagne.”
Scarlett glanced that way and Seb waved from his place at the bar. “Not the best idea when I need to get home,” Scarlett muttered. Behind her friends, Cooper was closing in. Suddenly a drink sounded like the best idea.
“We’ll drive you home,” Holly explained. “Cut loose for at least one drink. Levi is our designated driver tonight.”
“Pardon me.”
And the reckoning arrives. Scarlett closed her guitar case, hiding the cringey reaction as his voice cut through all the others.
Hazel elbowed her. “Your first fan club moment.”
If only. Bracing herself, she turned and realized the futility of the effort. He was still as intriguing as the first time she’d laid eyes on him. Back when she was infatuated by his command of a lecture hall and his ability to distill complex mathematics into accessible concepts.
The past flooded her, one memory after another, rendering her speechless as she waded through the thrilling moments they’d shared. Seven years ago, she’d fallen in love with his mind first, though the rest of him had been equally tempting. A forbidden first kiss in a place not unlike this one.
“You’re the barista.” Cooper gave Willow an easygoing smile. “Thanks for the recommendation.”
“You’re welcome,” Willow replied. Levi slipped an arm around her shoulders, staking his claim. Not that Willow had eyes for anyone other than her fiancé. “Scarlett’s a good friend. I’m sure you enjoyed her performance?”
She felt it like a touch when his gaze landed on her again. “I did. You have a remarkable talent. You play as if you’ve spent a lifetime in a Nashville studio.”
He’d said that last bit a long time ago, the first time he’d heard her play.
She’d been goofing off with a few friends on a sultry summer evening and he’d wandered over to join them.
“Thank you.” Where had her bravado gone?
All the courage and determination that had carried her from the moment he’d left for the perfect job seemed to be unreachable.
She hefted her guitar. “If you’ll excuse me—”
“One second,” Cooper shifted just enough to present a challenge.
“Here we go!” Seb muscled his way in with a tray of drinks. “A Floradora for our favorite musician and refills for the rest of us.”
She took the pink beverage topped with mint from his tray and her friends grabbed their drinks in turn.
“To Scarlett!” Seb lifted his pilsner.
With another cheer, everyone toasted her performance. “Y’all are too silly.” Scarlett shooed them out of the alcove. “We need to sit down for the next act.” There had to be a polite way to separate Cooper from the group.
“Oh, look!” Holly said. “Cora replied to the video I sent.”
Scarlett considered knocking the cell phone to the floor, but it was actually her phone in Holly’s hand.
As her friends gathered around the device, Cora’s sweet face filled the screen.
“Way to go, Mom!” Wearing her purple jammies with fluffy white sheep, she gave Scarlett a standing ovation and a big cheer.
Why wasn’t she in bed?
“I promise I’m going to bed now. I’ll be asleep in a minute. But kiss me when you get home anyway.”
While her friends commented on Cora’s enthusiasm, Scarlett was watching Cooper. Taller than nearly everyone else she knew, he’d easily seen the video from where he stood.
His green eyes, full of questions and wonder, locked with hers. Did he suspect the truth?
Hollow, she handed her drink to Hazel. “I’ll meet you at the table.” She smiled as if her life wasn’t about to collapse at her feet. “Just let me stow my guitar.”
Her friends went toward the table and Scarlett headed for the back door, hoping for a minute to gather her thoughts. Maybe even a few extra seconds to drive away before Cooper caught up to her. Outside, she all but ran for her car.
“Scarlett.”
Of course he was right behind her, his long stride easily negating any head start she might’ve had. She popped the trunk, set her guitar carefully inside, and closed it again. And with no escape, she turned around and faced her daughter’s father.
“Cooper. What are you doing here?”
“I’m on vacation,” he said, joining her in the pool of light from the parking lamp high overhead.
He was wearing a polo shirt and dark jeans with leather sneakers.
She supposed it was a fair vacay look for him.
Seven years ago, it had taken a couple of weeks for him to shed the elite professional attire he favored, despite the notorious humidity of a Lowcountry summer.
Still, something about him struck her as entirely too distinguished for the Pelican. Maybe it was the striking gray at his temples.
“Have a lovely visit.”
“I booked a house for a month.”
“Why?” she demanded before she caught herself. He must be doing well. Charleston rentals weren’t cheap in the height of the season. “I mean, enjoy your visit.”
“You look different.”
She gripped her keys. For a sexy crush-worthy professor, he wasn’t always the smooth talker. She shrugged. “It’s been seven years.”
“You’re married?”
“No.”
“But a mother?”
“Yes.” She took a step toward the pub, but it only brought her too close to him. The familiar scent of his cedarwood cologne wound around her, tugging on her heart and all the ridiculous dreams she’d locked away long ago. “If you’ll excuse me.”
“The beaches here are different too.” His voice low, loaded with an emotion she couldn’t pinpoint, held her captive. “I thought it wouldn’t matter.” His mouth twitched. “I did learn to surf.”
She imagined it all too easily. Cooper in a wetsuit looking irresistible out on the water. “Around here, most folks prefer to surf at Folly Beach.”
“Good to know. But I’ll give the beach here a try first.”
“Here?” she echoed. He couldn’t seriously be staying in Brookwell.
But he was nodding. “The rental isn’t far. I walked over.”
“Of course you did.” Because life was so fair like that. “Have a nice evening.”
“I didn’t expect to see you. Find you.” His brow furrowed over those gorgeous eyes. “Whatever the right word is. I’m glad to see you again.”
“Good. I’m glad you’re doing well.” Maybe she’d get out of this unscathed after all.
“How old is your daughter?” Cooper asked, his voice dropping to that scholarly, intimate tone that used to make her feel like the most important person in the world.
“Six.”
He rocked back on his heels. She knew he was calculating. The curiosity in his eyes went sharp before softening with a flash of something that looked dangerously like longing.
“And she’s expecting me home soon.”
“You live here.”
She nodded, easing her grip on her keys as they bit into her hand. Would he scoff at the home she’d made with all its eclectic touches?
He cleared his throat. “I made a habit of searching academic journals for your name. Thought for sure you’d wind up at MIT or Stanford. Why here?”
“Because I like it here,” she snapped, the fear of what he might find out turning into a sharp, prickly anger clawing at her gut. “My life is here. It’s a quiet, stable community.” With zero chance of sexy professors showing up out of the blue. Or so she’d thought. “I’m glad you’re doing well.”
She backed up, intent on escaping what now felt like an interrogation.
“I moved for my dream job.”
A chill slid over the back of her neck. “I remember.”
“When I left, I thought…” He tipped his head back as if the dark sky overhead could help him. “I thought you might come see me. I missed you.”
Something inside her softened. A rare occurrence, but she couldn’t reel it in.
“Our summer was marvelous.” What an understatement.
She’d been head over heels for him. She’d been carrying his baby.
“But the timing just wasn’t right.” Without her permission, her hand brushed his arm.
The heat and familiar sizzle nearly toppled her.
“It was good to see you, Cooper. I need to get home.”
“Right.” He tucked his hands in his pockets. “Could we have coffee? To catch up? Y’know, to balance the equation from then to now,” he teased. He pulled out that half smile that used to melt her defenses.
“No, thank you.” Scarlett opened the car door.
The math was simple, but the results could be catastrophic if she let him in.
Every second he stood there, every minute he was in town, he was closer to seeing the truth in her eyes, or worse, discovering the little girl who looked exactly like him.
“There’s no need to catch up, Cooper. We’ve both moved on.
And that’s a good thing,” she added through a sudden wave of doubt.
She ducked into her car and drove away without a backward glance. But all the way home and even into bed, she could still see him standing in the shadows of the Pelican Pub, the man who was both her greatest memory and her most dangerous secret.