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"There's so much to do," I continued, as Cooper tucked me in like a child.
"And it will get done, Hales, but first sleep," he said, pulling the covers first over me and then him. He snuggled up behindme and wrapped his arms tightly around me. I felt instant comfort and relief that he was back in my life for good this time.
"Coop?"
"Mm?" He hummed into my hair.
"This is not how I pictured getting you back," I admitted.
There was a soft chuckle in my ear as he said, "Oh Haley, I'll take you back any way I can—including weathering a big ass hurricane and a pissed off sister. I love you, and I'm never going to let you go again, you hear me?"
"I love you too, and I'm not going anywhere."
Soon, sleep would steal over both of us, and I was grateful.
I hoped that someday Tess would find a way to forgive us, but I had Cooper, and I was home.
Cooper
Ifell asleep the night before with the warmth and comfort of the woman I had missed for far too long. But I woke up a few hours later to an empty bed. "Haley?" I asked to the early morning air.
I don't know what she could've been doing up that early. It was too early for me and I’m an early riser. But then I remembered—Haley was a worrier, and I feared it had gotten the better of her.
Sure enough, as I padded through the house, I could see her in the moonlight on the back porch, sitting on the loveseat with her knees tucked up under her chin, crying softly. It ripped at my heart.
I went out to the porch as if I was coming up on a scared animal. "Hales? What’s going on? Talk to me," I said, taking the seat next to her.
She was staring at the now calm waters, shaking her head. "It's amazing," she said in a broken voice. "Those waves are so gentle and calming now, but think about how much destruction they caused just a few hours ago."
I nodded in agreement. "That's the thing about Mother Nature. She gives, but she also takes away."
"I hope everybody had someplace safe to sleep tonight. I should've checked before I got into bed," she said.
I reached out, running my hands through her tousled hair. "Haley, there’s only one of you... and you can't help everybody all the time. Besides, you need to rest so you have the energy to help everyone."
"I just keep thinking..."
"That's your problem," I teased, and she glared at me through narrowed eyes, an expression I’d missed.
"Even if we do a fundraiser, it won’t be enough to rebuild the community center, and we need funds—not just for that, but to replenish the slush fund to help the neighbors rebuild too. I’ve heard talk about the city having one, but I'm sure it’s depleted after years of weather like this."
"Well, you're not wrong there," I confirmed. Hanalei did its best to maintain a rainy-day fund, but when you live on an island, storms frequently come through and the funds got used. It was difficult to replenish with so few residents—and even harder when we had a slow tourist season like we were having.
Events like the Aloha Festival were our bread and butter, but that often wasn’t enough without additional tourist revenue.
"We'll figure something out, Haley, but it might not happen in one fell swoop."
She chewed on her lip now. "But what if it could?"
I eyed her curiously. "What’s going on in that head of yours?"
She shook her head, clearly not ready to talk about it. "I'm not sure yet, but I might have an idea. It’s going to be uncomfortable to execute," she said.
"But I figure I've done a lot of uncomfortable things lately... so maybe this is my big test. I thought it was admitting my feelings to you. Then I thought it was telling Tess everything. And those were hard things—but I also got the guy," she smiled, reaching out and brushing her fingers over my cheek. I turned my face into her palm, kissing it, and tickling it with the scruff I had yet to shave off after a couple of days.
Her expression sobered. "Tess hates me. I can't figure a way around that."
"She doesn’t hate you—she just needs some time."
