Chapter 5
At her desk, Scarlett tried to put it all out of her head. Impossible. Her life was over. Well, not literally, but her secret was definitely out and parading about town. That scene at the bakery wouldn’t go unnoticed.
Her personal phone chimed with a text. She would need to set some hard limits with Cooper. Instead of looking at her phone right away, she kept on working. But when she finished with her work email and checked her phone, she saw it wasn’t him, it was Lila from the bakery:
head’s up Gram cornered the guy you were speaking with. Says she has a good feeling about him
Great. Connie was a lovely woman and a wonderful local grandmother figure for Cora, but she had no fear of meddling.
did she read it wrong?
fill you in later
Scarlett sighed. Lila deserved a better answer.
and no, Cooper is one of the good guys.
Especially when he wasn’t furious with her. She didn’t take a full lunch break, having come in an hour late, but she took a few minutes to call Trina Ellington.
“I need a favor,” Scarlett said when her book club friend answered. As the manager of the historic Inn on Brookwell, Trina was usually busy, but she also had a devoted staff.
“Anything,” Trina responded immediately.
Scarlett swallowed. This was one of those moments when she appreciated the family she’d built for herself here on Brookwell. She and Cora had been so lucky to find a soft landing here. Work, home, and a full life with amazing support.
“Is everything okay?” Trina prompted.
“Yes.” Scarlett cleared her throat. “It will be. I have an extra, um, meeting right after school and Cora doesn’t need to sit around waiting for me. Can you pick her up?”
“Sure,” Trina agreed immediately. “She can have dinner with us and we’ll watch a movie. She loves the live-action Beauty and the Beast.”
Scarlett smiled to herself. “True.” Cora loved the movie almost as much as she loved Trina, her husband Rhett, and their baby Marcus. “Thank you. I’ll owe you one.”
“Hey,” Trina’s voice dropped to a murmur. “Do you need her to sleep over?”
“No, of course not.” Scarlett’s cheeks went hot once more.
“Mm-hm.” Way too much emphasis in those two syllables. “If that changes, let me know.”
Scarlett was so glad this wasn’t a video call. Her face was flaming. “You heard about the bakery.”
“Sort of. No real details. Willow spotted Connie talking with the guy who spoke to you last night. Heard you slayed that open mic, by the way. Congrats.”
The notorious small-town grapevine strikes again.
Admittedly, she gleefully enjoyed it, when it wasn’t aimed at her.
“Thanks. As for the guy,” she took a breath, “his name is Cooper.” Cora would likely mention it over dinner anyway.
She loved making new friends. “I’ll tell you the whole story later,” Scarlett promised.
“Can’t wait.”
Scarlett could wait. Would’ve preferred if none of this had ever come to pass. At all. She’d said goodbye to Cooper years ago. Had worked through her grief over a love lost and found some closure even before their daughter came into the world.
If being pregnant had changed her outlook and career plan, becoming a mother shifted things exponentially. How was she going to explain all that logic and reasoning sufficiently? After all this time, her decision to exclude him didn’t feel as cut and dried.
Because things had worked out for all three of them.
He had the dream job he’d been after. She had a beautiful little girl to raise. So what if her career took a turn? She loved her job, the home she’d built, and the grit and dedication to keep it all going on her own.
When the dismissal bell rang, Scarlett walked out to meet Cora in front of the school office as if it was any other school day. She crouched down to be heard over the swell of voices swirling around them. “I have a surprise for you.”
Cora bounded on her toes. “Tell me!”
“You’re going to hang out with Ms. Trina tonight.”
“And the baby?”
Scarlett grinned. “And the baby. So you don’t mind?” Guilt was creeping in around the edges of her mind for the back-to-back babysitting.
“Will I sleep over?”
“Not tonight.”
Cora pouted. “Mr. Rhett says I’m good with him.”
“I know it,” Scarlett assured her. “It sounds like a movie and pizza night to me.”
That perked up her daughter. “Okay.”
“Here comes the car now,” Scarlett pointed to the familiar courtesy car working its way through the pickup line. “I’ll take your backpack, okay?”
“Don’t look inside,” Cora ordered.
“Why not?” Was she inadvertently rewarding her daughter after a day of misbehaving?
“It’s a surprise!” Cora giggled. “You have to wait for me to give it to you.”
“Oh. All right.”
Cora checked on the car’s progress. “You promise?”
Scarlett wrapped her in a hug. “Promise.” She kissed her daughter’s silky hair and then walked her to the waiting car. “See you later.”
“Love you, Momma!”
“Love you,” she replied as Cora buckled her seatbelt. Closing the door, she stepped back and waved as the car pulled away.
At least that was one detail handled. If only handling Cooper would be so easy.
She’d barely returned to her desk with Cora’s backpack before Cooper loomed in the doorway. His gaze scanned the small space, brow furrowed. “They sent me back.”
“That’s fine.”
“Is she, um, here?”
“No. I sent her home with a friend so we could speak freely.” Scarlett shut down her computer and grabbed her purse.
“You’re unbelievable,” he groused. “She’s—”
Scarlett cut him off with a sharp look. “It’s my job to protect her. From any and all curve balls.” She came around her desk, nearly stepping on his toes. “That includes you.”
He opened his mouth and she dared him to speak. “Shall we go?”
His shrug was answer enough as he stepped back to let her lead the way.
Outside, she donned her sunglasses and walked straight out to her car. “I’ll tell you everything, but I’d prefer some privacy.”
Looking miserable, he shoved his hands into his pockets. “Your place or mine?”
What a loaded question. “Mine.” If those were the only options, she wanted the home court advantage. “As long as you understand I’ll drop a restraining order on you if you abuse that knowledge.”
“I wouldn’t have to stalk my daughter if you’d told me about her,” he shot back.
He might as well have sliced her open. Thank goodness her sunglasses hid her reaction. Swallowing a scathing retort, she gave him her address. “Would you like me to wait here so you can follow me?”
“Sure.” He loped off, and she embraced the momentary reprieve.
It wasn’t enough time to find a smooth path forward. This was bound to be messy, but what else was there? The only way is through. She was really starting to detest that phrase.
Once he returned, she pulled out of the parking lot and drove the short distance to her house.
Tucked into a wooded lot that backed onto the marsh, her cottage would give them plenty of privacy.
With luck, she’d be able to keep him outside on the porch until they came to some sort of terms about how to move forward.
It was irrational, but she didn’t want him crossing the threshold before he gave her some assurances.
She didn’t need him to be involved, but she couldn’t legally keep him away. Her only goal was to protect Cora from a broken heart. If Cooper chose not to stick around, there was no reason to turn their daughter’s world inside out.
She turned into the gravel drive and cut the engine. By the time Cooper parked behind her, she was leaning against the car door.
“How old is she?” he demanded in a gravelly voice. The emotions were storm clouds in his eyes.
Scarlett eased her white-knuckled grip on the loop of Cora’s backpack. “She’s six.”
“She’s mine.”
Although it clearly wasn’t a question, Scarlett had to bite back a sharp retort. “Yes.”
“Six years,” he repeated. “How the hell am I supposed to get any of that back? Why did you do this?”
The pain in his voice, in his eyes struck her like a physical blow.
“I’m sorry, Cooper. I didn’t make the decision to hurt you.”
“I loved you. I thought…” His jaw clenched and he spun away.
Her pulse thundered in her ears, blocking any other sound. She’d been so sure this was the right move.
He whirled around. “You loved me too.” He aimed the words at her like some kind of accusation.
She nodded. “Yes,” she croaked. His temper cracked like a whip. She’d never seen him so angry. Seven years ago, it had all been light and fun, the future nothing more than sweet potential. No hardships or challenges to their feelings or their plans.
Until she learned she was pregnant and chose to handle it on her own.
“No,” he countered. “You were too young. I see it now. Real love wouldn’t have done anything like this.”
That ignited her own temper. “Stop. You know better.” She wouldn’t let him twist the narrative on her life.
“I loved you, truly. My whole heart.” She plowed right over his immediate objection.
“I loved you enough to let you go. Your dream job, Cooper. The offer came through and you couldn’t think of anything else. ”
“You were on board.”
“Of course I was.” It had been so easy to dream with him. “I intended to follow through.” Those uncertain days flooded back, the mood swings and internal debates.
“Until?” he prompted.
She sighed, moving to sit on the porch steps.
“I wanted to tell you, but you were so excited. Finding a place to live, getting acclimated to the area, moving into your office on campus. I didn’t want morning sickness and obligations raining on your parade.
You were so happy.” She smiled, remembering.
“I had a right to know.”
“That’s true. And I had a right to have the baby my way. I adjusted my own career plans to provide for her. I wrote a dozen letters to you.” She laughed bitterly. That was the foolish project of her youthful heart. “I couldn’t bring myself to send them.”
“You could’ve been with me.” He seemed to collapse, all that temper gone in favor of sorrow. “We would’ve been a family. Together.”