Love Me (Coopers Creek #1)

by Bronwen Evans

  Emily had Hayley’s teachers email her make up assignments to her, figuring that they could work a little each day so she didn’t fall too far behind. She and Tyler watched her closely, mindful of the symptoms that Dr. Burnette had told them about.

  When she wasn’t resting, they occupied her by telling her stories and quietly playing dolls sometimes. Brooke came over every day to check her over. Ric and Chase called Hayley to entertain her, too. After the first week, Tyler went back to work, but he called Emily several times a day to check on Hayley. By the time the two weeks were up, Hayley was largely back to normal and eager to go back to school to see all of her friends.

  However, Hayley’s pediatrician, Dr. Chastain, felt that it was better to err on the side of caution and keep her home for another couple of weeks. It was important to make sure that her concussion was fully healed before reintroducing her into an environment that could increase the chances of her accidentally reinjuring herself.

  Tyler and Emily spent every night together after Hayley was asleep and their lovemaking was even more passionate than ever.

  One night at the beginning of October, Tyler said, “Us going back and forth between my room and yours just doesn’t make sense.”

  They lay in her bed after making love. Emily raised up on her elbow and looked down at him. “What do you want to do about it?”

  He sighed. “I can’t keep putting it off. I think it’s time to clean out Mom’s room. We can move in there.”

  The prospect of officially sharing a room with Tyler made Emily’s heart beat with happiness, but she was also concerned. She kissed his chest. “I’d love that, but are you sure that you’re ready?”

  His smile turned wry. “For which? Cleaning out Mom’s room or shacking up?”

  Emily chuckled. “Both.”

  “We’ve already been living together and now that we’re back together, I don’t want to have to sneak around about sharing a room with you. What do we tell Hayley?” Tyler asked.

  “The same thing we told everyone else. That you and I are giving our relationship another try. Some of Hayley’s friends’ parents live with their boyfriends or girlfriends. I think she’ll understand,” Emily said.

  “I’ll defer to your judgment on that,” Tyler said. “I am woefully lacking in this department.”

  “That’s not true. You’re wonderful with Hayley. Parenting can be hard, especially when you’re new to it,” Emily said. “And you’ve been fantastic with helping take care of her since she was hurt.”

  “Thanks. You’re good for my ego,” Tyler said.

  “No, I’m just telling the truth.”

  Tyler’s cellphone rang and he groaned when he picked it up and saw Ric’s face. It was after eleven Colorado time, midnight Eastern. If Ric was calling this late, it meant trouble. Or that he was drunk. Out of the two, he preferred the latter.

  “I’m sorry. I have to take it,” he said and answered. “What’s up?”

  Emily listened to their conversation with only half an ear until Tyler slammed a fist down on his thigh.

  “I’m firing him tomorrow, Ric! Paul’s been dragging his ass about all kinds of stuff. I don’t care how close he is to retirement. He’s gone,” Tyler said. “I have all of the files here at home. I’ll get them over to Carter right away.” He was silent for a moment, then, “I can’t fly to New York tomorrow. Can’t you take care of it as long as I get him all the stuff tonight?” Silence again.

  “Okay, but I’m coming back tomorrow night as soon as I’m done with him. I have plans with Hayley on Friday. She has that Father/Daughter bake sale at the school on Saturday and I’m not going to let her down. Even though she’s not back to school yet, she wanted to make something since it’s raising money for needy kids. We’re making a cake. One day I’ll remind you of that comment, Ric!” He hung up.

  Emily put a hand over her mouth as she shook with silent laughter. His narrow-eyed glare only made her laugh harder.

  “I know you both think that I can’t do this, but I’m going to prove you wrong,” he said.

  “Of course, you will,” Emily said, her voice tinged with mirth. “You’ll simply follow the recipe,” and she giggled harder.

  “Traitor,” he groused. He got out of bed and treated her to a view of his tight ass before he pulled on his boxers and sweatpants. “I’ll show you…”

  He was still mumbling as he left the room, making Emily giggle. She also got up and put on her oversized Minions T-shirt and a pair of Tyler’s boxers that she’d confiscated. They never went to sleep naked in case Hayley needed something.

  Getting back under the covers, she thought that Tyler was right about openly sharing a room. It was also time that Hayley knew that they were together. Back together. If someone had told her two months ago that she and Tyler would be a couple again, she’d have called them stark raving mad.

  Gathering his pillow in her arms, Emily inhaled his scent and smiled. She’d never been happier and wondered if things might be heading for matrimony. Whoa, Emily. Slow down. Just enjoy this time and see where things go.

  When Tyler didn’t come back after a few more minutes, Emily knew that it might be a while until he returned so she snuggled down and it wasn’t long until slumber claimed her.

  *****

  “Uncle Ty. Wake up, Uncle Ty.”

  Tyler smiled even though his mind and body protested being disturbed. He hadn’t gotten back from New York until 3 a.m. that morning and he wasn’t ready to get up.

  “I see you smiling,” Hayley whispered, crawling into the bed. “You ain’t sleeping.”

  “Shh. It’s too early to get up,” he whispered back.

  Without opening his eyes, he reached out and hooked an arm around her little body. She giggled as he slowly pulled her over to him and hugged her.

  “Just lay here with me for a little, okay?” he asked. “Please?”

  “Okay. Did you see Allison in New York?”

  “No. She’s on her cruise, remember?”

  “Oh, yeah. I wanna be Batman for Halloween.”

  “Batman? Wouldn’t you rather be a princess or something like that? Cat Woman or Superwoman?”

  “Nope. Batman. Are you my daddy now?”

  Tyler smiled. “Sort of, but not exactly.”

  “But you’re the man of the house now, right?”

  The way she deepened her cute voice made him laugh. “Yeah, I am. Where did you hear that?”

  “Nana used to say that to one of the boys on the football team. ‘Jason, you’re the man of your house now and you have to act like it’,” she mimicked.

  “That sounds like her, all right.” A memory of his mother telling him the same thing when his father left entered his head. He’d been fifteen and scared shitless. Looking back he wondered if his mother had been a bit selfish in putting all that responsibility on his shoulders but he understood she’d been scared too.

  “So if you’re the man of the house and you take care of me and you sleep with Aunt Emily now, doesn’t that make you my daddy and mommy?” she asked.

  Tyler’s eyes flew open to meet her blue gaze. “What?”

  “Well, doesn’t it?” she asked.

  “What do you mean I sleep with Aunt Emily?”

  “You’re in her bed. You sleep over with her, right?”

  Tyler woke up completely at that point and looked around. Sure as shit, he was laying in Emily’s bed. He’d been sleeping so soundly that he’d forgotten which room he was in. He groaned and ran a hand over his face. Reaching over Hayley, he picked up his cellphone from the nightstand. It read 7:09 a.m.

  A look at the other side of the bed confirmed that Emily wasn’t there. He heard the shower running and wondered why she was up so early. Then he remembered that she and Brooke were going to Denver for the day while he and Hayley worked on their masterpiece for the bake sale.

  Hayley looked at him expectantly. She wasn’t going to give up.

  What the hell do I say? What would Mom s
ay?

  Tyler said, “Aunt Emily and I love each other very much—”

  “Is she your girlfriend?”

  It gave Tyler great pleasure to say, “Yes, she is. And I’m her boyfriend.”

  “So you’re like Nikki’s mommy and her boyfriend. They share a room,” Hayley said.

  “They do?” He hadn’t been aware that Nikki’s mother had a live-in boyfriend.

  “Yeah. Mike is really nice. He plays Old Maid with us and comes to our tea parties.” Hayley giggled.

  Tyler smiled, glad to hear that another grown man did girly things like that. He’d played Barbies with Hayley to help occupy her while she was recovering. Tyler was surprised to find out that Hayley didn’t think it unusual for unmarried people to share a bedroom. Of course, it wasn’t the 1950’s anymore and kids were much more aware of these things than they used to be.

  “Mike sounds like a nice guy.” I really have to learn more about Hayley’s friends and their parents. I better start asking Emily some questions. I have to start becoming more involved. I’ve been leaving too much up to Emily and it’s not fair. Plus, it’s my responsibility to know.

  “He is. He fixes motorbikes and stuff. He let me help him put air in a tire one day,” Hayley said. “So are you and Aunt Emily my mommy and daddy now?”

  They were back to that. “We’re not your mommy and daddy, but we love you just as much as if we were.”

  Hayley hugged him. “I love you, too. I’m hungry. Can I have waffles?”

  “Sure. You go get dressed and I’m going to get a shower, okay?” He kissed her cheek and let her go.

  “Okay!”

  He grinned and thought how adorable she looked in her Frozen nightgown with her messy curls bouncing around as she trotted away. Emily came into the room.

  “Hayley now knows that we share a room. She was just in here,” he informed her as he got up.

  Emily’s eyes rounded. “What did she say?”

  Tyler related his conversation with Hayley to her. “So, I guess we were worried about nothing when it came to how she’d take us sleeping in the same room.” He put his arms around Emily.

  “I guess so,” she said. “So you told her that I’m your girlfriend, huh?”

  “Well, aren’t you?” Her blush amused him. “I hope I’m your boyfriend.”

  Emily looped her arms around his neck. “Yes, I’m your girlfriend and you’re my boyfriend.”

  Her happy smile made his pulse pick up. “Well, my gorgeous girlfriend, I wish we had time to celebrate that announcement, but you have to get ready and I have to go feed a ravenous seven-year-old. Raincheck?”

  “Definitely.” She pulled him down for a sound kiss and then released him. “Now, get out of here so I can get undressed.”

  Her seductive glance made his blood heat. “You’re a wicked woman, Emily Stanford,” he said as he left the room.

  Her laughter followed him until she closed the bedroom door.

  *****

  “I don’t think it’s supposed to look like that.”

  Tyler looked at the cake and agreed with Hayley’s assessment. They were supposed to have made a pretty, three-layer yellow cake with white icing, pink trim, and purple sprinkles. They’d been following a recipe in one of Maggie’s cookbooks, but something had gone very awry.

  Although the cake had three layers, they weren’t even, which made it lean to one side. They hadn’t gotten the sprinkles dispersed evenly and the trim was more red than pink because he’d accidently spilled too much of the food coloring into the icing. It looked like a demented, murdered cake, but he wasn’t going to admit that.

  “It has character. It’s unique. It’s way better than that boring cake in the picture. It stands out in a crowd,” Tyler said, trying to put a positive spin on it.

  Hayley gave him a doubtful look and wrinkled her nose. “It’s ugly. I don’t like it.”

  “Let’s get Uncle Chase on Skype and see what he thinks,” Tyler suggested. He was not going to admit defeat. He’d be damned if he was going to let Hayley down—or lose the bet he’d made with Ric.

  Chase was a great cook. Maybe he could tell them what they were doing wrong so that they could make another attempt.

  “Okay. Can I do it?”

  “Hang on.”

  He pulled out his phone and gave Chase a heads up by text that they were calling him. One never knew if Chase would answer naked or not and he didn’t want Hayley seeing something she shouldn’t. Chase sent back a go ahead.

  “You can call him now,” Tyler said.

  Hayley got down off her stool at the island where they’d been working and went over to the table where Tyler’s tablet laid. She brought it back over, put it on the island, and climbed back up while Tyler held onto her.

  Tyler never tired of watching her expertly maneuver her way around electronics. She brought up Skype and hit the video call button.

  Chase, wearing sunglasses, appeared on the screen and grinned at her. “Well, there’s the prettiest girl I know. How are you, sweetheart?”

  “I’m good, but we got problems,” she announced dramatically.

  Chase’s eyebrows rose. “What kind of problems?”

  “Look.” She hit the button that changed to the back facing camera.

  “Holy sh—crap! That’s the ugliest cake I’ve ever seen. What happened?”

  Tyler groaned and wanted to kill Chase.

  Hayley changed views again. “I think we stink at making cakes.”

  Chase looked in Tyler’s direction. “Well, Ty’s never been a good cook, so that’s not surprising.”

  Tyler’s temper simmered. “It’s not one of my strong suits, no. Can you tell us what we did wrong?”

  “Read me the recipe.”

  Tyler did as he was instructed and waited for Chase to respond.

  “Sounds pretty straight forward. How old are your ingredients?” Chase asked. “If your layers didn’t rise evenly, chances are that your baking soda or baking powder are out of date and they won’t make anything rise. Also, no layer comes out perfect. You sometimes have to shave off the thicker part a little to make it even. Make sure you cool the cake all the way before you do that, or you’ll tear the hell of it.”

  “Language, Chase. You sound like a cooking show,” Tyler said.

  Hayley giggled and Chase laughed.

  “Cooking with Chase,” Chase said. “The ladies certainly do enjoy—”

  “Chase,” Tyler said in warning.

  “They enjoy my cuisine, Ty. That’s all I was going to say,” Chase said with a devilish glint in his eyes. “Check your ingredients and give it another try. If that doesn’t work, go get one from the grocery store.”

  “Okay. Thanks. Where are you?”

  “The beach,” Chase said. “Me and Lola have been playing in the waves.”

  “Lola!” Hayley shouted. “Lemme see!”

  Chase whistled and soon a black brown barrel of fur came into the frame. Lola leaned against Chase’s sand chair and barked as Chase took off his sunglasses and settled them on Lola’s face. She pushed her muzzle into the phone and barked hello at Hayley’s laugh. Chase had taught her all sorts of tricks and Lola enjoyed all of the attention lavished on her by people.

  “Say hello to Hayley, Lola,” Chase said.

  Hayley talked to Lola for a couple of minutes. “I’d love a puppy one day,” and Tyler found it difficult to deny her anything when she turned those little eyes on him but he had enough to cope with.

  “Maybe Santa might bring one if you’re good.”

  “Really?” Hayley asked excitedly.

  “You’ll have to ask him. But first: cake.”

  They ended the call and set to work. By the time they were done, the kitchen looked like a baking war zone. Flour coated everything and globs of icing lay here and there on the counter and island.

  However, their second cake was a big improvement over the first one. They’d figured out that they’d forgotten a couple of ingredi
ents, and although their cake wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t half bad. At least it didn’t look demented or murdered.

  They were just starting to clean up when Emily pulled up to the house.

  “Aunt Emily’s home. Wait’ll she sees our cake,” Hayley enthused.

  “I think she’ll be very impressed,” Tyler said, rinsing out a bowl. I wanted to have everything cleaned up before she got home. Damn it.

  *****

  Emily entered the kitchen door laden down with shopping bags and blinked as she looked around at the culinary carnage. “What happened?” she asked.

  Hayley trotted over to her. “We baked two cakes because the first one is ugly. Uncle Ty says it’s got carnicker, whatever that is, but Uncle Chase said that it looked like shit.”

  Tyler gave her a stern look. “Language, young lady. She means that the first one has character.”

  Emily tried to keep a straight face as she looked at Tyler, whose black sweatshirt and jeans looked like Betty Crocker had thrown up on him. Streaks of flour showed in his hair and his face sported a couple of icing smears.

  “Well, it looks like you’ve had quite the time here,” she said as she put her bags on the table. “Let’s take a look at these cakes.”

  “This is the first one,” Hayley said.

  Emily went over to the island where the cakes sat. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing as she looked at the mangled cake. “Um, yes, that certainly does have some character. Did you follow the directions on the box?”

  Tyler put a cake pan in the drainer. “The box? We made those from scratch.”

  Emily grinned. “From scratch? Didn’t you use the stuff I bought for you last week?”

  Tyler looked at Hayley, then back at Emily. “What are you talking about?”

  Going to a cupboard, Emily pulled out a couple of boxed cake mixes, containers of premade white icing, and a little jar of purple sprinkles. “You didn’t remember, did you?”

  The way Tyler’s face went slack with disbelief was priceless and, despite a tremendous effort, Emily couldn’t contain her laughter.