At exactly 5 pm, I grab my hat and head out the door, waving goodbye to Michaels as I go. I hop into my police cruiser and head straight for the Beachside Café. I park out front and slip my hat off as I head through the front door. My eyes scan the place looking for my blonde beauty but she’s nowhere to be seen. I assume she’s back in the kitchen and take my usual seat in the booth.
I expect her to walk out any minute and come over to my table but instead, their waitress, Katie, is the one to come take my order.
“Hey, Sheriff.” She says as she pulls out her pad and a pen.
“Hey, Katie. Where’s Harley this evening?” I ask as I look around for her once again.
I come here every night and Harley is always here. Even when she was playing hard to get, she was still here.
“She headed home about an hour ago. I think she had a headache or something.”
I frown, worried over my girl.Maybe I should take her some soup or something?I grab the menu, looking over their soups quickly and finally deciding on the tomato soup. Harley loves everything tomato.
“I’ll take whatever the special for today is and a tomato soup. To go, please.” I say, tucking the menu back against the wall.
Katie nods as she scribbles everything down on her pad.
“That’ll be up in a couple of minutes.” She says before she turns to put the order in.
I tap my fingers impatiently for the entire eleven minutes that it takes before my food is ready. Katie hands me my bag and I pass her some cash before I grab my hat and the food and head out the door.
It only takes me a couple of minutes to make it to Harley’s place. She lives with Peyton in a small, faded yellow house only a couple of blocks over from their café. I pull up outside to see that her bike is leaning against the side of the house and there’s a light on inside. I pull over, parking on the street in front of their house. I can’t help but imagine what it would be like if Harley and I lived together and instead of pulling up outside her house with dinner, I was headed home toourhouse. I could try all of her new recipes and tell her just what a culinary genius she is. Harley is so talented but sometimes I wonder if she realizes it. I would consider it my honor to tell her just how incredible she truly is.
I grab the bag and make my way up the short path to the front stoop. The house might be older but it’s obviously taken care of. The grass and bushes out front are all cut and there’s a cheery wreath hanging on the front door. I brush my feet off of the welcome mat before I ring the doorbell and wait.
I can hear movement inside and a minute later, Harley walks into view. She smiles at me through the window while she unlocks the front door and swings it open.
“Hey, Cooper! This is a surprise. Everything ok?” She asks with a worried look in her eyes.
“Yeah, everything is fine. I just stopped at the café and they said you weren’t feeling good. Just wanted to check on you and make sure you didn’t need anything. I brought you some soup too.” I say, holding up the bag.
“Oh, thanks.” She says with a small smile. “Why don’t you come in? We can eat together.” She offers.
I step past her into the small, cozy house. All of the furniture looks like hand me downs from their parents but somehow it works together. I follow Harley through the small living room and into the kitchen. I set the bag down on the table and she offers me something to drink.
“Milk is fine, thanks.” I say as I take a seat and start taking the food out of the bag.
She brings me over a glass of milk and sets it down before taking the seat across from me. I pass her the container of soup and the crackers that came with it and she smiles as she takes the first bite. We eat together at the small table and she asks me about my day. It was a slow day for me though and I don’t have much to share. Harley tells me about some new recipes they’re thinking about adding to the café menu and their plans for the space next door to become a bakery.
We finish our food and I know that I should get up and leave but suddenly my eyes feel so heavy. I blink a few times, struggling to keep them open. I don’t know why I feel so tired all of a sudden.
“Are you ok, Cooper? You don’t look so good.” She says.
I blink my eyes at Harley and I could swear that she almost looks guilty but my brain is too sluggish to process anything.
“Why don’t you come lay down for a little bit?” She offers.
That’s suddenly the best thing that I’ve ever heard and I nod shakily at her. She helps me to my feet and I lean on her as she leads me down the narrow hallway and into her room. I try to take in the room but I can’t keep my eyes open any longer. The last thing that I remember is Harley tucking me in before I’m dead to the world.
Five
Harley
I siton the edge of the bed as I watch Cooper start to slowly wake up. He’s lying on my queen bed with the quilt my grandma made thrown over him. Most of the lights are off, with just the small lamp on my bedside table for light. His eyes blink open and I can see him trying to take in his surroundings and figure out what is happening.
There isn’t much in my room to take in though. Besides my bed and table, there’s a dresser and a woven rug covering most of the floor. I never got around to decorating here since we moved in right after we bought the restaurant. I know that Peyton’s room is bare like mine too since we focused more on getting the restaurant and bakery set up then our bedrooms.
“Hey.” I say with a small smile when he finally focuses on me.