The Return (The Comeback Series)

by Marcie Shumway

  “Cooper!” Molly screeched.

  And that was literally what she did. Her voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard. Why I had ever dated her was beyond me. Her body was rocking and had all the right curves, but her personality and voice left much to be desired. The other three guys stood, leaning against the wall in various states of undress, and Mikey was guarding the door.

  “Molly,” I greeted, stopping on the next to last step to leave some distance between us. “What can I do for you?”

  “We need to talk,” she replied in a loud whisper. “Alone.”

  “How ’bout not,” I said. “Either you tell me what you have to say here, in front of the guys, or you, me, and Mikey can go in the living room and you can do it there.”

  “Oh, Coop, what are you afraid of?” she asked, moving closer to me and reaching out to stroke a finger down my arm.

  Mikey quickly moved to pull her back a bit, and the guys all shook their heads. There was no way that I was going to allow myself to be alone with this woman. I didn’t need any more bad publicity, and it would just turn into a “he said, she said” story.

  “I’m not afraid of anything,” I told her, moving up a step, “but I don’t appreciate you spinning lies that involve me, in order to better your career.”

  “Who said they were lies?” she asked innocently.

  “You sure as hell aren’t pregnant,” I pointed out, her pants fitting her like a second skin and her crop top showing off her fit stomach. “Nor are we getting married.”

  “You know how the media is,” she admonished, flicking her wrist like she was dismissing it all. “As for us, well, that isn’t over yet.”

  “Oh yes, it is,” I heard Maggie speak up from the hallway. “I believe he told you that a while ago. If you keep insisting, we can file a restraining order or a lawsuit against you. Which would you prefer?”

  I coughed and had to cover my mouth in order to hide the smirk and the laugh that was threatening. I saw the guys all do the same. Molly’s face turned five shades of red as she stomped her foot and clenched her fists, sending her bracelets jangling. I could see her trying to put together a comeback, but when Maggie was in lawyer mode, she was a tough one to go up against.

  “We could help each other’s careers, ya know,” Molly sputtered, as she spun on her heel and tried to open the door.

  “Let me help you with that,” Mikey offered, opening it with ease.

  Once she could leave, she took a deep breath and plastered a smile on her face before stepping out on the porch. It was all for show. We had pissed her off, but she wasn’t going to let the paparazzi see her down and out. It wouldn’t help her cause.

  “Wow,” Evan sighed. “Can that woman put on a show, or what? I swear she is like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”

  “Ain’t that the truth!” I agreed, coming the rest of the way down the stairs.

  “Time for breakfast,” Matt announced as we all turned to head to the kitchen, only to find Lexie standing in the doorway, looking down at her phone.

  “What’s going on, darlin’?” I asked, stepping around Chris.

  “You need to go home. It’s Dale.”

  Today was the day; the final treatment for my father. It was a blessing and a curse, all at the same time. His battle wasn’t over, but it would be nice not to have to go to the hospital every day. Hopefully he would start feeling better too. It had been a roller coaster ride the past six weeks. Some days were good, and some were bad. This week had been the toughest yet.

  Sighing, I rolled over and pulled the extra pillow on my bed to my face. When I inhaled slightly, I could still smell Cooper’s shampoo and cologne clinging to the fabric. It pulled at my heart, but comforted me as well. I knew he didn’t want to be gone, but it didn’t make his absence any easier. The early morning kiss he gave me before he left for Nashville still lingered on my lips. Knowing I couldn’t physically touch him soon caused my eyes to sting.

  Before I could lose myself in self-pity, I reached over to turn off the alarm, and climbed out of bed. It had been a long night last night, with Dad up every couple of hours between the muscle pain and the dry heaves. I yawned and padded my way to the hallway. Poking my head into my father’s room, I found him sleeping comfortably. Feeling slightly better, I made my way to the bathroom and took the hottest shower I could stand. My muscles instantly loosened with the temperature of the water, and it helped to wake me up a bit.

  Knowing it was going to be a muggy day, I slid into jean shorts and a tank top, making sure to grab a button up for the hospital to ward off the chill of the air conditioner. I was just putting my sandals on when I heard the front door open and close, followed by soft voices. Confused, I made my way to the kitchen.

  “Hey,” I greeted my brother and sister-in-law, surprised. “I thought we were meeting for lunch after dad’s radiation?”

  “We were,” Keegan answered, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and kissing my temple, “but we wanted to be here for you and Dad. I can’t tell you how much it has meant to me that you have shouldered a lot of this on your own.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked, wrapping my arm around his back and reaching out to take Abby’s hand in mine. “You’ve been taking care of the business and your wife.”

  “I know,” he responded, his voice soft. “I still feel like I should have done more.”

  I squeezed him and waved them both off. As far as I was concerned, my brother had done plenty. Grind was the most important thing to my father, other than us kids. It was crucial that the business continued to thrive, and he had done a wonderful job at that.

  “You guys sit, and I’ll make breakfast,” I told them, moving to the refrigerator to grab the eggs.

  Never being one to listen or sit still in the kitchen, Abby got up and proceeded to help me. I heard movement from the master bedroom while we were cooking, and Keegan quickly got up to make sure that Dad was all set. Just as we were setting mugs of coffee, tea, and hot chocolate on the table, the two of them came out. My brother plastered a smile on his face, but I could see the weariness behind it. My father looked tired and pale, but dismissed us all when we tried to help him.

  Knowing a fight would be futile, I went back to the counter to grab the plates of bacon and scrambled eggs. We kept the meal light and stuck to things we thought my father would be able to eat. Once I put them down on the table, I grabbed a yogurt from the refrigerator for good measure. I had a feeling he wouldn’t eat much, but anything was worth a shot.

  Breakfast was a quiet affair, everyone lost in their own thoughts; mostly my brother and I fretting over my father eating something substantial. When all was said and done, I think he had taken a total of three bites of egg and had finished his tea and his yogurt. I was happy with the small victory.

  Abby and I shooed the guys off while we cleaned. My father shuffled off to the bathroom to get ready for the day, with Keegan hovering in the hallway to make sure he was all set. Now I knew why I had left him to the business; he would have driven my father crazy the entire time. I fretted inside and kept the cool exterior I knew my dad needed. He was still a man, after all. He didn’t want to depend on anyone.

  “He’s going to drive you nuts in the delivery room,” I informed Abby, as I gestured at my brother.

  “How about now?” she chuckled. “If I let out just the slightest peep, he is on me like flies to poop. He is so attentive, it’s both annoying and sweet.”

  “He was like that when I was growing up,” I reminisced, drying my hands on a towel. “You should have seen him on Thanksgiving, when Rick tackled me a little too hard while we were playing football. Poor kid hid in the kitchen with the adults the rest of the day so that Keeg couldn’t get to him.”

  “Oh my,” she giggled and sighed. “He’s going to be such a good father.”

  “The best,” I assured her, squeezing her arm as I made my way by her.

  Once my father was ready for the day, almost an hour later, we all pil
ed into my car. Despite our protesting and the fact that he felt awful, my father insisted we still stop at the job site. Keegan finally gave in and said it would be a good excuse to check on Rick’s progress without him. Abby and I weren’t thrilled with the idea, but again, I wouldn’t take what little independence he had from him. I just couldn’t do it.

  Pulling into the site, I saw Dad instantly relax. This was his passion. This was where everything else disappeared. Working and being around the guys was what fueled him. These visits, probably more than us, was what was getting him through the bad days. Here, he wasn’t treated like a patient, like a sick father, like a man with cancer. Here, he was just the man who ran the company.

  “You’ve got a half-hour at most, old man; otherwise, we’ll be late,” Keegan told him as we all climbed from the car.

  I giggled at the look on Dad’s face as he waved off Keegan’s comment. The two of them walked toward the building while Abby and I hung back. We were in the next town over and the structure was going to be two stories. From my understanding, it was going to house four separate businesses’ offices. Maybe i should talk to Keegan to see if any were available for Lane.

  “Have you talked to Jen at all?” Abby asked, breaking into my thoughts after a few moments.

  “Nope,” I replied. “Not since I sent her the text message letting her know I didn’t need her dropping off every magazine that trash talked Coop.”

  “She’s just worried about you, ya know,” my sister-in-law defended.

  “I get that,” I told her. “But do you see Dad and Keegan being that harsh? They have more reason to want him out of the picture than she does.”

  “True,” she mused. “Cooper does seem like a decent guy.”

  “He is,” I sighed. “He messed up when we were kids, but we were just that; kids. I know why he did what he did. Does it still hurt? Hell yes, however, he is trying really hard to make it right.”

  “Those magazines can’t make it easy though,” she said.

  “They don’t,” I agreed. “But his arms around me and his support through all of this makes it much easier to stomach them.”

  “Just don’t give up on her,” she remarked. “You two have been friends a long time too.”

  “I won’t,” I replied. “She just needs to support my decisions.”

  Abby nodded and looped her arm through mine. We stood there, watching my father, Keegan, and Rick converse, and all seemed okay with the world. A little color was seeping back into my dad’s cheeks and even the stress from earlier seemed to have melted away from Keegan. Maybe we would actually be able to celebrate the end of his treatments, at least a little bit.

  Eventually, it was time to wrangle the men back into the car and head to the hospital. The last round of radiation was fairly uneventful, the only surprise coming when my father teared up at not seeing the nurses any more. He had become fairly attached to a couple of them, and I’m pretty sure I saw one of the older ladies slip him her number when we were on our way out the door. They had been amazing to him and for that, I would be eternally grateful. Going every day had been tolerable, thanks to them.

  “Stop in at Willie’s,” I told my brother as we started the drive back home.

  He gave me a funny look, but did as I told him when we got there. I had texted Will ahead of time and asked if he could put together a little something for my dad. I knew Dad wouldn’t be up to the normal bar food, but my friend let me know he would take care of it. I was surprised when we pulled in and the parking lot had quite a few cars. He normally was pretty quiet around lunch time on a weekday.

  “What’s going on here?” my father asked as we pulled to a stop.

  “I have no clue,” I told him honestly. “I thought we would stop in a grab a bite to eat before we headed home.”

  He smiled and nodded in appreciation. When we were on our way to the door, he put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to kiss me on the cheek. The display of affection made my eyes fill, and I put my arm around his thin waist and gave him a squeeze. Dale Cyr was not one for PDA, so I was going to bask in what I could get.

  Opening the door, Keegan ushered us in ahead of him. My dad froze, bringing me to a stop since he still had ahold of me. The place was filled with the Hall family, Cooper excluded, and his employees. I found Willie with my eyes, standing near the bar, and he smiled at me. I nodded and rolled my eyes to the ceiling to keep from bawling like a baby. My father seemed just as moved as I was, blinking his eyes repeatedly to keep the tears at bay. I kissed him on the cheek and stepped back to allow others to see him.

  “He looks good, even with everything he has been through,” I heard a familiar voice say from beside me.

  Turning, I found Jen. We hadn’t spoken much since that morning at the shop and I hadn’t seen her face-to-face at all. Her long hair was pulled back in a ponytail and her face was filled with sadness. I had always hated fighting with her, but her strong will had always gotten the best of our relationship. She took my hand in hers and looked down at them as our fingers intertwined.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered, “for everything.”

  I couldn’t respond or hold back the tears any longer. I pulled her into my arms and hugged her with all I was worth. Jen didn’t hesitate and held me just as tightly. It had bothered me more than I had let on that morning, when she stormed in on Cooper and myself. He encouraged me to talk to her since then, I flat out refused. Hopefully, she would learn to accept him in my life.

  “Come on, ladies, no more blubbering,” Will admonished. “We are supposed to be celebrating.”

  I let go of my friend and hastily wiped at my eyes and face, only to find my hands replaced with much larger ones. He took to gently drying my tears, with a soft napkin from his apron before he pulled me into his arms. I took comfort in his warmth and gave him a hard squeeze of thanks for all he had done. When Willie pulled back and seemed satisfied that I looked okay, he led us over to the buffet table.

  We spent the next couple of hours socializing and listening to stories about my dad in his youth and tales from the worksites. Keegan and I contributed every once in a while, but for the most part, we just took it all in. My father was more animated than I had seen him since he had started his treatments. I’m not sure how many times I thanked my friends for their part in it, yet they both waved it off. They loved having my dad around, and being able to repay him for some of what he had done for them growing up was a bonus.

  “I think it’s time to head home,” Keegan said a little while later, pointing to my father.

  For the first time since we had arrived, he was sitting in a chair by himself, watching people. His color had paled again, and I could see the struggle he was having at keeping his eyes open. I nodded, and he headed toward him while I went to the bar to let Willie know we were leaving.

  “Hey, Will,” I greeted when I reached him. “We’re going to head for home. Dad is worn out.”

  “Not a problem,” he assured me. “I’ll pack up this stuff and bring some of it by later. That way, you won’t have to cook.”

  “You’re the best,” I told him. “Thanks again for everything.”

  “It’s nothing, really,” he replied. “We’re practically family. I’ll see you later.”

  I waved to him and turned to follow my family out the door. Jen caught me before I could go, and the two of us agreed to breakfast the following morning. Things finally seemed to be going in the right direction with her. I headed outside behind my sister-in-law, and noticed that my father seemed to be fading fast; Keegan was all but holding him up on the way to the car. I ran ahead and opened the passenger door for them.

  We had barely pulled out of the parking lot when his breathing shallowed and he started dozing. I met Keegan’s worried eyes in the rearview mirror and threw him a reassuring smile. It wasn’t uncommon for him to tire easily after a treatment, though I was concerned he may have overdone it with all the visiting. Pulling into the driveway, I leaned ove
r and shook him gently to wake him.

  He was disoriented at first, looking at my brother in a panic, but realizing we were home seemed to calm him. That was something new, but I guess I had done it a time or two when I was woken up unexpectedly and unsure of where I was. We all helped him in and while Keegan and Abby got him settled in his bedroom, I grabbed a bottle of water for him from the refrigerator.

  It wasn’t long before he was out once again, and the three of us went back to the living room. My body wasn’t far behind my father’s. The minute I sat down, I felt the prior night catch up with me. Abby made sure the Hallmark Channel was quietly playing on the television, while I felt my brother lay a light blanket over me. The kiss he brushed across my temple was the last thing I remembered before dozing off.

  “Does she always sleep this soundly?” I heard Rick ask none too quietly.

  “That’s a question for Cooper,” Willie answered stiffly, “not me.”

  I didn’t want to know why Will’s answer was so brusque, but I quickly remembered the black eyes that Coop had attributed to his brother. Did Will have feelings for me? He had never said anything. Oh geez, so not what I needed right now. One Hall brother was enough.

  “Maybe I should sit on her,” Rick suggested.

  That comment had my eyes flying open, only to find the youngest Hall brother grinning at me from across the living room. I threw a pillow at him, causing him to chuckle, and stretched before getting up. Will was in the kitchen, putting containers in the refrigerator.

  “Sorry, Ave,” he apologized as he put the last one in. “I wouldn’t have brought him if I had known you were sleeping.”

  “It’s okay,” I replied, throwing Rick a mock glare. “I needed to get up, otherwise I wouldn’t sleep tonight.”

  “We’re not staying anyway,” Willie told me as he moved past me to the living room. “Come on, Rick.”

  “You guys can stay for supper if you want,” I told them, fighting back a yawn.