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As they approached, he stepped over something in the grass. Jo Ellen glanced down to find a rope. Realizing it circled the entire blanket he had laid out, she burrowed her brow. “What’s with the rope?”
She expected—or maybe just hoped—to hear another romantic tale about how she’d roped his heart, but he shrugged. “That’s just to keep the snakes away.”
She stopped dead in her tracks, all thoughts of romance gone. “Snakes?”
Immediately, names of some of Texas’s most deadly serpents tumbled through her brain. Rattlesnake, cottonmouth, moccasin, copperhead, coral—
“It’s just an old wives’ tale,” Cooper explained. “But I’ve heard laying a rope around a campfire will keep them away, so I’ve always done it when camping. And I’ve yet to wake up bedded down with a rattler.”
“Well, let’s make sure to keep this rope undisturbed then.” Jo Ellen carefully stepped over it, making Cooper chuckle.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. I won’t let anything get to you.” He pointed out a flat spot on the sleeping bag for her to sit.
Trying not to imagine any creepy crawlers nearby, she eased down, and relaxed when the cushiony Bermuda grass under the blanket crinkled in greeting. The scent of citronella tickled her nose.
As her heart pounded a little harder, Jo Ellen’s emotions softened to mush. It was official; Cooper Gerhardt thought of everything, even a way to keep the mosquitoes and snakes at bay. Eager to receive his next considerate gesture, she crossed her legs, situating herself, and watched expectantly as he opened the basket’s lid before digging around inside and extracting two plastic baggies.
“It’s not much, mostly just leftovers I could scrounge up at the last minute. But let me tell you, nothing beats a cold meatloaf sandwich in a pecan grove at midnight.”
She shook her head, unable to stop smiling because she felt so undeniably happy. “Only you could make leftovers sound romantic.”
“What? They are romantic.” He sent her a lop-sided grin before handing over a wrapped sandwich.
She laughed again and eagerly accepted her midnight rendezvous snack. As he tore into his, she followed suit.
“Mmm, yum. This is excellent. I’m going to have to beg the recipe off Loren.”
He chewed and swallowed before answering. “Thanks, but I put saltines in the meatloaf instead of bread crumbs like her recipe said to do.”
She paused and covered her full mouth to ask, “Wait, you made this?”
“Sure.” He arched his brows. “You don’t think I simply free load off my mother and make her do all the house work and cooking around there, do you?”
“Free load?” Her eyes grew large. “Cooper, you moved in with her to keep her farm together. I’d say you’re about as far removed from free loading as a man can get.”
A thoughtful moment later, he responded. “I still don’t feel as if I’m doing enough. I’m just not Thaddeus Gerhardt. He was such an amazing man.” With a hiss, he closed his eyes and quickly revised. “I mean is. He is an amazing man.”
She watched him swallow hard on his sandwich then rustle around in his basket before drawing up two bottles of water. Handing her one, he lifted his brows. “Water was your preference as I recall.”
She smiled wistfully and accepted one. But as she watched him crack open his bottle and drain half the contents, she couldn’t help but see the misery on his face. “He’s in bad shape, isn’t he?”
Cooper let out a sigh after he swallowed. He stared at his water, then winced. “Yeah. They think he had a stroke at some point, which paralyzed half his face. So he can’t even talk or communicate with anyone anymore. Whenever I go visit him, he just walks the halls of the nursing home. Doesn’t even pause when he sees me. He has no clue who I am. It’s, uh…it’s been a while since he’s looked at me with any kind of recognition.”
Heart breaking, Jo Ellen reached out and stroked his arm. “I’m so sorry.”
“What’s worse, he’d be utterly horrified if he could see himself now, if he knew what he’d become. He’d ask me to put him down. I know he would. I can still remember what he told me once. If a Holstein ain’t producing milk and doesn’t calve like it should, it’s turning into hamburger, Cooper. No use having it around if it can’t pull its weight. That was his life creed. Everything should have a useful purpose. He would hate being useless.”
When he fell silent, Jo Ellen let him reflect on his thoughts. She didn’t think she could come up with anything brilliant enough to say to take his pain away, so she rubbed his arm and hoped her supportive presence was enough.
After a while, he forced a smile and touched her hand, silently letting her know he appreciated her efforts. “So, you saw Grady today, huh? How’s he getting along?”
Remembering how much she’d wanted to share her thoughts and feelings about her brother, she gasped. “I forgot to tell you. He and Amy are pregnant.”
“Really? Again?” Cooper’s eyebrows perked up in surprise. “I thought after her last run, Doc said she couldn’t have anymore.”
“He said she shouldn’t,” Jo Ellen repeated her brother’s words.
Cooper let out a low whistle of understanding. “Bet that has the soon-to-be-papa in quite the ruckus.”
