“I know. But it’s not your fault.”
“I bet Karen doesn’t think so.”
I shrugged. “I haven’t spoken to her.” For a reason. She wouldn’t accept my calls.
He narrowed his eyes at me, seeming to hear the words I wasn’t saying, but he just sighed and murmured, “I want to say all will be well.”
“Yeah, but it won’t. I didn’t realize how bad she was getting.” I felt like this was particularly poignant considering his dad’s battles with mental health issues. Although, in a way, I’d always believed his father had killed himself because of those issues, not as a result of his scam being discovered.
It was a wonder none of us on campus had ever figured out who he was. Good fortune, I guessed. Cooper truly had been punished enough for his dad’s perfidies.
Talk about the sins of the father being reaped on the son. Jesus.
I guess another woman might have judged him too, but I just saw him as the innocent party he truly was in all this. He’d been a child. Guiltless, and having to deal with the repercussions of adults who should have protected him from the world. Instead, his father had abandoned both his wife and child and had left them to deal with the aftermath of his atrocious crimes. His mother, totally inept and incapable of looking after herself never mind a child by the sounds of it, had placed too much responsibility onto two young shoulders.
I was glad I knew the truth. Glad, because it was another facet to Cooper’s nature that until this moment, had been hidden from me. A part of me would never be able to forgive him for what he had done. For abandoning me, for abandoning us. But understanding helped lessen the resentment. I felt I wasn’t perfect after all. But the truth set us both free in ways I knew he wouldn’t really understand.
All I knew, was that someday soon I’d be able to trust him again. Knowing the reason for his actions, understanding that side of him, and realizing we would never be in that position ever again... It helped me look to the future, and I was far too honest with myself to lie about the fact that a future with Cooper was exactly what I wanted. More than that, it was exactly what I needed.
“I have a surprise for you,” he murmured, reaching up to run a finger down my cheek.
“You do?” I perked up. “What kind of surprise?”
He grinned. “We’re going on a date.”
My smile was slow, soft. Touched. “We are?”
He nodded.
“Where?”
“Now, that part’s a secret.”
I reached up to kiss him. “You know I hate secrets.”
“More than you hate surprises?” he joked.
I laughed, because he remembered so much about me. I’d never been one for surprises or shocks. It just wasn’t in me to be that spontaneous.
“Maybe.” I eyed him sternly, but I knew my twitching lips spoiled the effect.
He just grabbed my hand and dragged me around to the passenger door. “Milady,” he said, dramatically sweeping his hand out.
Laughing, I bobbed my knees in a pathetic attempt at a curtsey and tucked my knees together as I climbed in. His sports car was low and swank, probably nothing I would ever have imagined him in. But I guess the boy inside the man needed the boy toy.
The ultimate status symbol, I thought with an eye roll as he rounded the car and climbed in. But by the sound of it, he deserved the unnecessary luxury. The picture he painted of his life didn’t exactly make me feel warm and cozy inside. Working all the hours God sent couldn’t be good for him. Not just physically, but emotionally too.
When he was at my side, he reached for my hand and pressed a kiss to my knuckles. I smiled again—jeez, I probably looked like the Cheshire Cat! “You’re being mighty chivalrous today.”
“Just doing what my lady deserves.”
“Did you watch too much ‘Downton Abbey’ when you were in hospital or something?” I teased.
“It was one episode,” he complained, making me chuckle.
“Two. I saw you sneaking peeks at your neighbor’s tablet,” I mocked, knowing full well he’d been watching even though he’d argued every time I pointed out his interest in the Crawley family.
He just snorted, started the engine, and took off.