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The man’s eyes widened and Mahina proclaimed, “I’d listen to him and turn tail, buddy.”
The man sputtered as Mahina started counting down. “5... 4...”
“You can’t do this!”
“3... 2...”
The man let out a frustrated shriek, then turned and ran.
We watched until he was out of sight, then the mayor calmly pulled his walkie-talkie from his waistband, pressed the button and said, “Officers, be on the lookout for a short, round man running from the square. Kindly make sure he finds his way out of town.”
Mahina chuckled, but I was in no laughing mood. “Thank you both for the back-up.”
The mayor shook his head. “No need. We take care of our own. Besides, I don’t want Haley going home and telling people she wasn’t safe here.”
Haley going back home.
The thought sat on my chest like a heavy weight. Mahina looked at me oddly. “Cooper? You okay?”
I nodded, swallowing hard around the lump that suddenly formed in my throat. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Just annoyed that guy thought he was going to get away with harassing one of our own.”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure the HPD will let him know that kind of harassment will not be tolerated around here. Now, let's get back to the planning before anyone notices we're gone.”
I was the last one to follow, looking off in the direction the man ran off to, and wondered how much longer Haley would have to put up with this nonsense. It had been several weeks since she’d arrived, long enough for others to find her. I was proud of my fellow residents and how swiftly we handled the intruder. Still, I worried about what Haley was facing—especially once she went home.
There was that thought again, sticking in my chest and making me fidget uncomfortably. “I told you,” Mahina said in a sing-song voice, falling into step next to me.
When I looked at her in question, she responded, “you’re a goner Cooper, she’s in your blood now.”
I laughed because what Mahina didn’t understand was Haley had been in my blood since we were kids.
Misreading my laugh, Mahina doubled down. “A man doesn’t threaten to tear another man apart over a woman he sort of likes,” she pointed out.
I shook my head. “It makes no difference, Mahina. Once she’s done hiding out, she’ll leave us.”Just like she did last time.
Mahina looked at me like she was dealing with a child. “Well then, think Cooper. What didn’t you do last time to get her to stay?” she asked, not waiting for an answer as she left me to contemplate what I could have done differently when Haley and I broke up the first time.
It’s not like I hadn’t contemplated it a million times before—it was a worry that plagued me often over the last ten years, and it always came back to the same ugly truth: I hadn’t fought for her. Sure, I may have protested a little, but mostly I was so dumbstruck by what was happening I’d let her go—way too easily.
I should have fought harder, demanded to know why she was making this mistake. I could have figured out what had her so spooked that she ruined something that was pure magic.
Instead, I listened to my agent and threw myself into my work. I was the first one at the gym and the last one to leave. My teammates and coaches often commented on my intense work ethic, of how football was my life, but there was no room for anything else, by design. Sometimes I wondered what they would think of my rock solid work ethic if they knew it was just my way of pushing what I really wanted out of my head.
These thoughts were rioting in my head as my mini crew and I finished up what we could for the evening, then moved our progress to the back of the community center, covering the booths with tarps for safe keeping.
When I came back to the square, I spied Haley talking to a few of the kids’ parents as they helped clean up their progress. I walked up next to her in time to hear her telling the parents that she would set about getting the mural sight prepped during the day and when the kids were available, they would all work on it together. She was gesturing to several drawings the kids made to show their parents what their respective parts would be.
She was in her happy place and for the second time tonight, I was grateful to Mahina for knowing what was best and pushing Haley to be out here.
Once the parents left, she turned to me with bright eyes and a satisfied smile. “That was so much fun—but we have so much work ahead of us,” she said, falling into step next to me. She listed off on her fingers everything that needed to be happen before she saw the kids again and I watched her, reveling in the lightness around her.
Her to-do list lasted as long as our walk home and she looked startled when we stopped and she realized we were already on her porch.
She smiled at me. “Thank you, Cooper, for inviting me. I forgot how good it feels to be a part of something.”
I tried to smile, but it felt tight as I told her, “Hey, it’s mutually beneficial. The festival really needs someone like you.”
My words seemed to fall on deaf ears because she was tilting her head, looking at me quizzically. “Cooper? What’s bothering you?”
