That didn’t exactly ease Cooper. He didn’t like the idea of the town talking about him and his reason for being here, and hoped the music he was suddenly hearing in his head wasn’t the theme song from Deliverance. “So,” he said, trying to muscle his thoughts back to familiar ground, “you know Emma?”
“I wouldn’t say I know her,” Jackson said. “But we are acquainted.”
Cooper imagined that everyone who came into contact with Emma could say the same thing: met her, didn’t know her. “She’s from here?” he asked curiously.
“Here? No, she’s from Southern California. Her dad lived here. That’s how I know her—I worked for Grant Tyler for a few months. Right after I came on board he got sick and wasn’t given much time. Talk about a mess,” he said with a shake of his head.
“Oh yeah?”
“His finances, his love life, his kids, all of it,” Jackson said. “He wasn’t much of a dad. He had these daughters scattered here and there, and they didn’t know about each other, and he sure as hell didn’t have much contact with any of them. Emma’s sister Libby tried to be a daughter to him, she really tried, but Grant wasn’t interested in being a dad. However . . . he did want to try and do right by them once he knew he didn’t have long. I mean, as much as Grant was able to do right.” Jackson chuckled at that. “Let’s just say virtue wasn’t Grant’s strong suit.”
“So he left them the ranch,” Cooper said, filling in the rest of the story.
“It was all he had left,” Jackson said. “Once his ex-wives and the government and his creditors got their cut, Homecoming Ranch was it. And he was upside down on the mortgage to boot.”
“In other words, not much of a legacy.”
“Not much of a legacy, in need of repair, and really complicated overall,” Jackson said. “I was the lucky one who got to deliver the news to the girls. I flew out to Los Angeles to talk to Emma. That’s where I met her.”
Jackson looked away, out the driver’s window. There was something about his demeanor that made Cooper think that meeting hadn’t gone well. “Did she know he was sick?” he asked.
“No,” Jackson said, and suddenly downshifted, pulling off the main road onto a bumpy dirt trail. “They hadn’t had contact in years, and honestly? She didn’t seem that affected by the news, you know? Like she didn’t care. I don’t know what happened between her and her father, but there was definitely some bad blood there.”
Cooper held on to the dash as they began to bounce up an old pitted logging road. “So is that why she’s here?” he asked. “She came to claim her share of the ranch?”
“No, no, they did that last spring,” Jackson said loudly over the bump and grind of the Jeep. “After Grant died, they all came out to meet each other and have a look around. The ranch had been set up for some destination events—Grant’s idea to make some money, right? Family reunions, weddings, that sort of thing. And the girls decided they were going to make it work. That is, Madeline and Libby decided. Emma didn’t want anything to do with it. The next day, she took off back to LA with some guy she called her boyfriend. No one had heard anything from her until she showed up here again, out of the blue, sometime before Thanksgiving.”
So Emma was fond of taking off, Cooper thought.
“Not sure what her deal is,” Jackson said, “but she’s kind of interesting. I’ve got a buddy who works over at the body shop across from the city park. He says when the weather is good, she goes there in the afternoons and sits there watching the Wilson kids. They live on the other side of the park. He said she doesn’t do anything but sit there and watch them. Sometimes she laughs, but once those kids go in, she leaves.” Jackson shook his head and gunned it to get over some rocks. “I don’t know why anyone would watch the Wilson kids—little terrors, all three of them. Dani says they’re troublemakers at school. The dad works just shy of the law, and the mom, I hear, drinks her breakfast every morning. I don’t know what Emma’s fascination is with them.” He suddenly looked at Cooper. “Oh hey, man, I’m sorry, I’m just talking out my ass—are you and she involved?”
“What? No,” Cooper said quickly, thinking of her earlier today, suggesting she had somehow rejected him. “Nothing like that. She’s got something that belongs to a friend of mine. I told him I’d get it back while I was out this way.”
“Ah,” Jackson said, throttling down to take a treacherous turn in the old logging road. “So you and she aren’t . . . ?”
Cooper looked at him. Jackson shrugged. “Sleeping together?” Cooper drawled.
Jackson smiled faintly.
“No,” Cooper said, eyeing Jackson curiously. “Are you?”
Jackson laughed. “Nope. I think that shop is closed up tight. Every man in Pine River has tried and gotten the cold shoulder.”
That was interesting. From what Cooper had heard, that shop was anything but closed.
“So you’re out this way for recreation?” Jackson asked, thankfully changing the subject.
“You could say that,” Cooper said, and explained to Jackson what he did for a living.
Like most men, Jackson was enthralled by the idea of TA; it was every man’s daydream. “I know some people who would be totally into that,” he said. “Myself included. We should talk. I could hook you up with some potential clients.”
“In Pine River?” Cooper asked.
“No,” Jackson scoffed. “Back east. Guys with real money.”
Cooper found it interesting that this loafer-wearing, Jeep-driving lawyer in Pine River would know “real money” back east, but he didn’t have a chance to ask him about it, because they came to an abrupt halt. An iron gate closed off the road before them, a yellow triangle with a warning against trespassing hanging slightly crooked. Jackson hopped out, walked up to the gate, jiggled the lock, then swung it open and pushed it out of the way.
He climbed back into the Jeep and put it into gear.
“I thought you said the road was open,” Cooper said, noticing the sign on the gate that clearly marked the road as prohibited by the Forest Service.
“One man’s ‘closed’ is another man’s ‘maybe.’” He grinned at Cooper as he drove the Jeep through the gate and up the road until it became impassable. At that point, Jackson stopped, retrieved some hiking boots from behind his seat, and donned them. “Come on,” he said.
Cooper followed him up the road until they ran into snowpack. But from there, they could glimpse Cheyenne Canyon below them.
The view was breathtaking. A rush of adrenaline swept through Cooper; he could think of any number of things he would do in that canyon. It was narrow, with some interesting rock formations and, according to Jackson, a fast-running stream that poured into Pine River. Cooper had always been a lover of the great outdoors, and when he saw a vista like that, he felt he was standing as close to God’s perfection as possible. Yes, he would definitely look forward to late spring when he could come back here to check it out.
They poked around the logging roads a bit more, but finding their way blocked more than once, they eventually drove back down to town. Jackson dropped Cooper at Tag’s. “Thanks, man,” Cooper said. “I appreciate it.”
“Any time. Before you leave town, come around to my office and let’s talk business. In the meantime, if you need anything, let me know.”
Cooper said goodbye, watched Jackson drive away, and was digging in his pocket for car keys when his phone rang.
“Jesus, I’ve been trying to get you all day,” Carl Freeman said testily when Cooper answered. “Where the hell have you been?”
“Cell service is pretty spotty up here,” Cooper said.
“Well? Did you find her?”
“I found her.”
“So did you get the box?” Carl asked, his voice rising with his eagerness.
Cooper steeled himself for the barrage that was coming. “Not yet.”
/> “Not yet?” Carl shouted into the phone.
“Calm down, Carl. She says she doesn’t have it. But I will get it.”
“Alicia is busting my balls—you have no idea!” Carl ranted. “Her lawyer says that me losing this fucking family heirloom and her mother’s fucking wedding ring is indicative of how I had no respect for her in our marriage! It’s her dead mother’s wedding ring, Cooper! I can’t go to court and say that some one-night stand took off with that shit, do you get that? Do you understand how important this is? Do the thousands of dollars I’m paying you not indicate how important this is? I have about two weeks to get it back or it’s court, Cooper. Two weeks!”
“Take a breath, Carl,” Cooper snapped. “She’s here. Give me a couple of days and I’ll get it. I can’t very well walk into her house and go through her things.”
“Maybe you could find a way in—”
“No, Carl. I’ll call you in a couple of days.”
“You better,” Carl said. “Because if you don’t, I will smear Thrillseekers up and down Wilshire Boulevard. You’ll be lucky to get a kid’s birthday party.” He clicked off before Cooper could speak.
Cooper fumed. This was the very thing he hated about TA—having to kowtow to a jerk like Carl Freeman. What he wanted was the extreme sports. What he couldn’t abide was the kiss-ass end of the business.
Where he was going with it at this stage of his life, Cooper couldn’t say, but it was clearly something that he needed to think about. And he would, just as soon as he could shake a certain blonde from his head.
SEVEN
Leo was not going to let it lie. Emma figured if she were sitting in a chair every day waiting for something interesting to happen, she would be relentless, too. But the difference between her and Leo was that she could take no for answer. Leo could not.
“I mean, it’s like this,” Leo said, his voice rattling along with the chair as Emma pushed him down the street, hoping that the fresh air and bright afternoon sun would divert his attention. So far, no luck. “We’ve all had those relationships that were never going to work out, you know? It’s okay, Emma. You can tell me. I won’t think any less of you, and in fact, I’ll think more of you.”
Emma stopped. She leaned over, braced her hands against her knees; the long tail of her hair slid over her shoulder and swung below her.
“Hey, why are you stopping?” Leo asked. “I’m kind of helpless, you know. If you pass out, I’m like, stuck.”
Emma slowly lifted up. She shifted around the side of the chair, tucking in the blanket around Leo. Bob had insisted on the blanket. He didn’t like her to take Leo out. Too painful for him, he’d say curtly. Too cold.
Dad, it’s not that bad, Leo would argue.
Emma didn’t know how bad the pain truly was for Leo, but today, she thought she could see it around his eyes. And yet, he’d begged her, more than once. Take me with you. Anything to get outside of that little house. Anything to soak up a few rays, to breathe real air.
It occurred to her that maybe his incessant talking was his way of trying not to think about the pain.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
Leo peered up at her. Most of his muscles didn’t work anymore, but his eyes were laser sharp and full of expression. “I’m great. The question is, how are you, Em? You don’t look so good. Is it the heavy pushing? Or is it the interrogation?”
“Both. I haven’t eaten.” She pressed a fist to her abdomen, only now realizing she hadn’t eaten since this morning. That was something else that had cropped up in the last few weeks—she couldn’t seem to remember to eat until her body was on the verge of revolt. It was as if her mind was too filled with other thoughts to worry about it.
“Let’s go back then, because that makes me nervous,” Leo said. “I know you’re acting weird because Cooper showed up, and I would totally help you if you’d just tell me what the deal is between you two.”
“God,” she sighed. “You’re relentless! I really hate to disappoint you, Leo. I know how much you thrive on juicy gossip. But I really, honestly, hardly know the guy.” She tried very hard to look sincere. But Emma could only look sincere when she was telling the truth.
“Really?” Leo asked, his voice full of deserved skepticism. “Because it’s, like, super strange that a guy would come all this way if you hardly know him.”
He’s not a guy, he’s a man. A shiver ran down Emma’s spine. If he’d wanted you, he would have had you. Okay, keep moving. She wasn’t going to let Cooper’s words play with her head.
“You do know him,” Leo said.
“Seriously, will you shut up?”
“That’s no way to talk to the true man of your dreams, but, because you’re ultrasensitive, I will bow to your wishes.”
“I’m not ultrasensitive, Leo.” Emma had a sudden flashback to her mother, ten years ago. Don’t be so sensitive, Emma. It’s not about you. She shivered again. “I’m not even sensitive, doofus. I don’t know Cooper. That’s all there is to it.”
Leo gave her a half-crooked smile. “You look like you’re lying and like you totally want to kiss me right now. Well, don’t. I don’t want that big bruiser trying to fight me for you.”
“Oh my God,” she muttered, and walked around behind the wheelchair. She tipped it back and wheeled it around and began to push. “Sometimes I think you are the greatest guy in the world, you know? And then you’ll be totally obnoxious like you’re being right now, and I think, no, you’re really the biggest jerk in the world.”
“Thank you!” Leo said happily. “I know you may say that now, but you’ll miss my sage advice when I’m gone. But don’t cry for me, Argentina, the truth is I’ll never leave you. You’ll still be thinking about me when you’re gimping around on a cane.”
Emma gasped and gave the chair a hard jerk. “Why do you do that?” she demanded. “Do you think it’s funny? Do you think it’s shocking?”
“Isn’t that our thing?” Leo asked, sounding surprised. “Aren’t we totally honest with each other? I say it because it’s true, and I don’t shy away from the truth. Neither do you, Emma! So don’t get teary-eyed on me. Are you getting teary-eyed?” he demanded.
“No,” she lied.
“That’s what I like about you, Em! You don’t get teary-eyed for anyone or anything.”
“Nope. I’m hard and flinty,” she said, but the tears were burning the backs of her eyes.
“Come on,” Leo said. “If I hurt your feelings, I’m sorry. I only meant to point out an obvious fact.”
“You didn’t hurt my damn feelings.” She slowed her pace a little so that she could wipe away a tear. “It’s impossible to hurt my feelings. But you don’t always have to state the obvious, Leo. It’s obvious already—get it?”
“Okay, well, that’s even more obvious,” Leo said. “But I get it. I won’t state things that are obvious because they are totally obvious already, even though sometimes it seems things are not so obvious to the genius-challenged among us.”
“Jesus, do you ever stop talking?” she cried to the perfect blue sky with breathless irritability.
“I think I have answered this question many times before. No, I never stop talking. You are, like, irrationally irritable, which says to me, there is more to this Cooper thing than you’re willing to tell me,” Leo blithely continued as she moved down the street toward Elm, as if she hadn’t denied it more than once, hadn’t asked him to stop talking one hundred times. “I just want you to get your stuff worked out beforehand so I don’t have to worry about you.”
“What are you talking about now?”
“Your stuff, your stuff!” Leo said impatiently, and paused to catch his breath. “Such as why you showed up in Pine River out of the blue, and why you don’t want to talk about Cooper. That stuff.”
“You know what?” Emma said, slowing her pace as they m
oved over the Pine River Bridge. “You’re really lucky I don’t push you into the river. Because the thought has crossed my mind about ten times in the last ten minutes.”
“Threatening the totally handicapped. Nice. I knew I liked you.”
On the other end of the bridge, Emma maneuvered Leo over a rough patch of pavement. But there was no access ramp onto the sidewalk, and when Emma tried to tilt Leo’s chair back, she couldn’t get more than one wheel onto the curb.
“What’s happening?” Leo shouted at her.
“It’s okay—” His chair tilted to the right. Emma struggled to keep it from tipping completely over and somehow managed to level it before Leo went spilling out of his chair.
“Go back. Go back across the bridge!” Leo said frantically.
“I can do it,” Emma insisted, and studied the high curb for a way on. She was only vaguely aware of a car slowing. But when she heard the door shut, she whirled around.
Cooper.
“Need some help?”
“Yes!” Leo shouted with his back to the street.
Cooper walked around the front of his car, looking concerned, eyeing her as if he’d caught her stealing Leo. “What’s going on?”
“Who is it?” Leo asked. “Who’s there?”
“It’s me, Cooper Jessup,” Cooper said, and put his hand on Leo’s arm. “The guy from this morning?”
“Thank God,” Leo said. “We’re having some trouble here.”
“No we’re not,” Emma said quickly. “It’s just that the curb is higher than normal.”
“You have to save me, Cooper,” Leo said. “She just threatened to dump me in the river.”
Emma gasped and gaped wide-eyed with mortification at Cooper. “I was kidding!” she cried, but Cooper looked dubious. “I was kidding,” she said again. “Leo knows that.”
The Perfect Homecoming (Pine River) Page 9
