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I stand from the sofa and make my way to the door slowly as another knock sounds throughout the house. Pulling the door open I blink at the sight in front of me.
Wesley is standing there, along with his parents and all three of them are smiling. Christine is holding what looks like a casserole dish and Greg is holding some sort of game.
“Hi,” Wesley says, then steps forward and kisses me. The tightness in my chest unravels every so slightly at the feel of his warm lips on mine. “I hope you don’t mind but we’re gonna hang out with you and your mom tonight.”
I blink again. “Um, yeah, okay.” I don’t know what is going on since I told him not to come, but Mom didn’t raise me to be a jerk so I won’t be turning them away. They make their way inside and I close the door behind them. “Mom will be here soon.”
“Great,” Christine beams and heads to the kitchen. “I’ll just pop this in the oven.”
“How are you, Coop?” Greg says, clapping me on the shoulder. And I’m reminded of Wesley’s words all those years ago. ‘You can share my dad.’ It’s true that Greg has been more of a father to me than mine ever was. He helped me hone my skills at football, taught me to drive when Mom wasn’t available, even helped with my homework sometimes.
“I’m good,” I lie.
“Well, if you’re not, that would be okay,” he tells me. He pulls me into a hug and I almost cry as his big, strong arms encase me. “We love you, kiddo.”
“Thank you,” I manage. He lets me go and smiles at me, before moving to the kitchen to help Christine.
“What’s going on?” I ask Wesley, turning to face him. My tone is hushed so Greg and Christine don’t hear me. “I told you not to come.”
“And you had to know I wasn’t going to listen to that.” A smirk plays on his lips. Then his gaze softens before he says, “We know what a tough day this is for you both, and we didn’t want you to be alone.”
And damn it, now I am crying. I know I don’t deserve him, or his family. Tears slide down my cheeks as he pulls me towards him and kisses me again. Then he wipes away my tears and whispers, “You’ll always have us, Coop.”
CHAPTER 11
WESLEY
After lunch we take a walk along the beach, holding hands, our pant legs rolled up, shoes in our hands, splashing each other with our feet, enjoying the breeze, letting the sun warm our bodies. Cooper leans over and presses his lips to the space between my nose and cheek. I close my eyes and blush profusely, my smile a mile wide.
“Love your face,” Cooper says, grinning at me.
We sit on the beach for a while listening to the waves and the sound of seagulls and children laughing, digging our toes into the sand, using our fingers to draw our initials and a heart. I lean my head on Cooper’s shoulder as he puts his arm around me and kisses my hair.
“Thank you,” he says.
“For what?” I look back up at him.
“For this.” He gestures around him. “For making me come here, even if it was for a different reason initially. This is wonderful. You, of course, but just everything about being here. Your family, and being away, and seeing my mom being happyand laughing and enjoying herself for the first time in a long time, and not focusing on how sick she is. It’s nice, you know? We both needed this.”
I give him a soft smile and kiss his cheek. “Happy to help,” I say, then rest my head back on his shoulder and sift my fingers through the sand.
“You know, you never did tell me what it is you actually do for a job,” I state. Cooper’s grip on me loosens, and then his arm falls away completely. I raise my head again and sit up, the space between us unnerving. Cooper isn’t looking at me. His gaze is locked on the sea, the wind blowing through his dark hair and ruffling his shirt. He looks down, letting out a sigh and running his fingers through his hair.
“I work at the bakery still, Wesley. I mean, I’ve moved up from part time in high school to assistant manager, but it’s not exactly my dream job.” He looks over at me. “I also work at a restaurant downtown, on the side.”
I blink. If Cooper has two jobs just to make ends meet then things must be worse off for him and Natalie than I realized. I’m sure the medical bills aren’t helping. I figured he would at least be doing something with airplanes, though. “But, you got your private license, right? Doesn’t that mean you can do ground instruction or other things related to flying and planes? I mean, I don’t know about all that stuff, but –”
“I didn’t finish,” Cooper cuts me off rather abruptly, and I flinch.
“What?”
“I didn’t finish,” he repeats, looking at me now, his jaw set. “I never got my private license. I can’t do a goddamn thing.”
I feel my face heating and it isn’t from the sun. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I don’t have my license, Wesley, okay?” he snaps. “It never happened.”
“But, I don’t understand,” I say. “You were so close, why –”
