Cooper’s mouth tightened into a line, his jaw clenched. He looked furious and about to fight, like a cornered feral cat. ‘What have you told her?’ Cooper demanded of Alfie.
‘Not much of anything since I don’t know much of anything. But, mate, I think it’s time you told us the truth. It’s been almost two weeks. You need to come clean about what the doctor said. I need to get some plans in place, Coop. What’s the real story about that knee?’
Maggie felt herself begin to shake and put her coffee cup on the table, fearing she would spill it. She got that subtext now. Cooper was hanging on to a secret so big that he hadn’t even told Alfie. She clasped her hands together and pressed hard. What had Cooper been hiding from Alfie? What had Cooper been hiding from her?
‘Fuck,’ Cooper said under his breath.
‘Cooper?’ Maggie’s eyes pricked and tears welled. He glanced at her, and she saw a flash of shock and something else cross his eyes, then he turned, as if he was going to walk away. But instead, he dropped his chin, looked down at his knee for a long moment and turned his face back to them. The look there floored her. He looked lost. He hobbled over to the table, pulled out a chair and sat down, wincing as he lowered himself.
His voice was low, deliberate, pained. ‘You want to know the real story about my knee, Alfie?’
‘You bloody well bet I do,’ Alfie answered seriously. All the Cockney charm had drained from his tone. Maggie held her breath. The room became very quiet and her heart was pounding so loud in her chest she thought the whole world would be able to hear it.
‘It’s fucked, that’s what it is. The Doc told me I need to stay out of the water for at least twelve months of rehab.’ His voice was shredded and raw. When Maggie looked at him, she could feel hot tears rolling down her cheeks. ‘Oh, Cooper.’
‘Bloody hell,’ Alfie exclaimed and stared at his friend.
‘My language was a little more creative than that when she told me. And, Alfie, you don’t need me to explain what that really means, do you?’
Alfie shook his head ruefully. ‘No, I don’t.’
The two men exchanged glances and both looked down at the table. Alfie into his cup of tea, Cooper at nothing.
‘But I do,’ Maggie blurted out, her voice hitching on a sob. ‘Tell me, Cooper. What does it mean?’
He reached for her and covered her hands with one of his. ‘It means my career is over, Maggie.’
Maggie’s head swam, churned, and she felt sick. She didn’t care one bit about his career at that moment. What she realised was that Cooper had been holding on to this secret, this painful truth, for nearly two weeks and hadn’t told her. Had she been nothing but a distraction for him all this time? Had she imagined how he was feeling about her? Whatever the reason: the man she loved didn’t trust her enough to tell her the truth.
She’d thought that sleeping together had brought them closer together, but it had only driven them further apart.
The realisation was gutting. She’d been nothing but a way for him to avoid his pain. She felt shattered. Empty.
Alfie pushed back his chair and stood. He quickly glanced in Maggie’s direction. ‘Thanks for the tea, Maggie. I’ll get going. I’ve suddenly got a lot of work to do.’ As he passed her, he kissed the top of her head and squeezed her shoulder.
‘See you, Alfie,’ she managed.
‘Cooper why don’t you see me out?’
*
‘You think this is easy for me?’ Cooper demanded at the front gate. He couldn’t have it out with Alfie in front of Maggie. He’d managed to hold it together until they reached the street.
‘For fuck’s sake, Coop. I was your friend a long time before I was your manager. And I thought I was still your mate. Why have you kept this to yourself? News like this has implications. Far-reaching implications.’
‘Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you get what’s owed to you.’
Alfie fumed, his red cheeks bright against his pale English skin, still white no matter how many summers he’d spent in the sun by Cooper’s side, hustling and hassling for him, minding and mediating.
‘Now you are really being a dick. As if I give a flying toss about that. You aren’t just a surfer anymore, Coop. You’re a brand and a business. If you want that to keep going, to keep employing people, then we’ve got to plan this announcement. If you really mean it that you’re retiring.’
‘I’m retiring.’ The words were bitter in Cooper’s mouth. It was a truth he’d been trying to come to terms with since he’d got the news: he was thirty-four years old and he was done.
He thought of his brothers. Callum had his successful career as CEO of Malone Enterprises and their older brother, Chris, was running the Malone Foundation, a charitable organisation that helped children in need all over the world. Cal had bounced back from a divorce and found love with Ava, and Chris had married Ellie and found a career he was passionate about.
Maybe it was the year that all the Malone men had to make life-changing decisions. He had options out of the water. He had his inheritance and his earnings from surfing, and he and Alfie had built a business that was growing and successful. And maybe, just maybe, he would have Maggie and Evan. Not to fill in the gap in his life that surfing had left behind, but to fill the hole in his heart he’d been nursing since Bali.
Alfie reached out his hand and Cooper shook it. ‘Okay, then. You’re retiring. Bloody hell, I’m finding it hard to say those words out loud. But I already have a plan.’
Cooper dragged a hand through his hair. ‘Damn it, Alfie, I’m still actually coming to terms with this myself and now you want me to announce it to the whole world?’
‘Hear me out. I think you should do it back in Sydney when you’re there for your brother’s wedding. That’ll give me enough time to flesh this out, talk to the PR people, our investors, set up the news conference, stage a few strategic leaks with the sporting press, you know the drill.’
Cooper flinched. He couldn’t help it. It had been real in his head for nearly two weeks. Now, with Alfie outlining a strategy, it was concrete. ‘Let me think about it. I need some time.’
‘Okay. You get some time. But not much. Wheels are in motion, mate.’ Alfie nudged him with an elbow as he slipped on his sunglasses. ‘And for what it’s worth, I reckon that announcing it to the whole world’s gonna be a piece of cake compared with explaining it to your woman.’
‘She’s not my …’ Cooper stopped. His woman. He was well aware of what he’d done to Maggie. How the hell was he going to explain that?
Alfie held out a hand and Cooper shook it. ‘It’s been a hell of a ride, Coop. You know that?’
‘Wait a minute. What we’ve built? It’s not over. Ever thought about moving to Sydney … or San Clemente?’
‘What, and leave sunny old England?’ Alfie smiled.
‘I want you on board for what comes next, Alfie.’
‘Let’s announce your retirement, first. I’ll start the ball rolling.’ Alfie threw him a wave before getting in his rental car and driving off with another wave out the window.
Cooper turned at the sound of footsteps behind him. Maggie had her keys and her purse. Her big sunglasses hid her eyes so he couldn’t read what was in them.
‘What are you doing?’ he asked.
‘I’m getting out of here,’ she said and when he heard the wobble in her voice, he wanted to hold her. He wanted to apologise and just make it all go away. And most importantly, he wanted to tell her how he felt.
‘Please stay, Maggie. There are things I need to explain to you.’
She lifted her chin. ‘There most definitely are but I can’t do this right now.’ She brushed past him and tried to leave through the open gate but Cooper reached for her. Maggie’s soft, warm hand, which he’d held as both a friend and a lover, was tense and stiff in his grasp.
‘C’mon, Maggie. Where are you going?’
She pulled her fingers from his. ‘That’s none of your business.’
And as Cooper stood on the sidewalk, Maggie slammed her car door and then drove away with a screech.
His two best friends had just driven off and left him alone.
What had he done to their trust by hiding this news from them?
Chapter Fourteen
‡
‘Oh, Maggie,’ Serena murmured as she held her daughter close, patting her reassuringly on the back.
‘I know, Mom,’ Maggie pulled herself back from her mother’s warm embrace. ‘Half of me wants to sob for him. The other half wants to kill him. How could he have kept this a secret from me?’
‘Would you like another piece of chocolate cake while you think about it?’
Maggie nodded and pushed her crumb-filled plate across her mother’s kitchen table. Serena loaded it with another generous piece. Maggie ate it wordlessly. She loved this room. This was the house she’d grown up in and the kitchen in particular held so many memories of cooking with her mom. She couldn’t begin to count how many times they’d made this chocolate cake together. In the years when she was away at college Maggie had missed the smell of baking it, the butter-and-melted-chocolate scent that used to seep into her clothes. She’d always thought that someone could make a fortune if they could manage to bottle that scent and sell it as a perfume. It would be a man magnet for sure.
Which made her think of men in general and one in particular.
‘Is that helping, honey?’ Serena sat opposite Maggie, her chin in her hands, a wry smile on her face.
Maggie stared down at her plate, empty for the second time. ‘I think I feel sick,’ she murmured as she pressed a hand to her forehead and squeezed her eyes closed.
‘That’s probably not about the cake.’
‘I still can’t believe it, Mom. Cooper’s going through this life-changing thing, and he can’t even talk to me? The thing that kills me most is that I thought we were friends.’
Serena patted Maggie’s hand. ‘Are you sure that’s all you are to each other, darling?’
Maggie’s eyes filled with fresh tears. ‘I don’t know anymore, Mom. We’ve been … well, we’ve been sleeping together.’
‘I see.’
‘Please don’t judge. I couldn’t bear it if you thought less of me or of Cooper. We’re adults. I’m a grown woman and he’s … well, you know who he is. We thought we knew what we were doing, or at least I thought we did. And then it got all confused. Evan asked Cooper if he was his father and Cooper had to tell him that he wasn’t and …’ Maggie dropped her head on to her crossed arms and sobbed. It had been a long time since she’d cried like this. There was a lot she’d been holding in during the past six years.
Her mom let her cry, kept up a supply of fresh tissues and waited. Finally, she spoke. ‘Maggie, there’s something I need to say to you.’
Maggie sniffed and blew her nose. ‘I know, I know. Here comes the big I told you so, right? Well, I deserve it. I’ve screwed up everything. I’ve been irresponsible. I haven’t been a good mother.’
Serena held up a hand to silence her daughter. ‘Hear me out, darling.’
‘Okay.’
Serena straightened her back and looked directly at her daughter. ‘Honey, I know it’s been tough on your own. And you’ve done a beautiful job raising your son, you really have. Evan is the light of my life. And,’ Serena rested a hand on her daughter’s, ‘so are you.’
‘Thanks, Mom.’
‘If things had been different between your father and me, well, let’s just say I always wished we’d managed to give you a brother or sister.’
‘I didn’t mind being an only child, really. Once Dad walked out, I never had to share you with anyone.’
Maggie was surprised to see tears in her mother’s eyes and a wobble in her lips. ‘What is it, Mom?’
‘I lost a baby. When you were two, I lost a baby, a little boy. I was six months pregnant and one day I couldn’t feel him kicking anymore. He’d died in utero. Back then, the doctors couldn’t tell me why. He just … stopped living one day.’
‘Oh no.’ Maggie couldn’t breathe. She’d never been told this story and had clearly been too young to remember. ‘Your baby died?’
‘We never recovered after that, your father and me. Grief does such terrible things to people.’
‘Oh, Mom …’ Maggie felt a shiver.
‘Your father was a good man, but we were just too sad. We couldn’t find a way to get over that pain. When you had Evan, well … it was as if I got a second chance, too. He was such a beautiful little boy. I can still see him in your arms when he was born. And I was so worried for you that you would be all on your own. That broke my heart.’
‘I’ve been okay, Mom. I’ve done my best for him.’
Serena nodded. ‘Of course you have. And you know who else has? Cooper. Sweetheart, I understand you think he’s been keeping secrets from you, but I think he has his reasons. He wants to be strong for you and Evan, can’t you see that? He probably doesn’t know who he’ll be if he’s not the man on the cover of the magazines or the one standing up on a podium holding a trophy.’
‘I didn’t think …’ Maggie trailed off.
Serena waited for Maggie to think over what she’d just said. ‘Tell me something, darling. Do you love him?’
How could she explain to her mom that Cooper—her stubborn, infuriating, gorgeous, tender-hearted, wonderful, sexy friend—was the love of her life? Maggie wiped fresh tears from her eyes. ‘I love him, Mom. The big dope.’ And saying it out loud suddenly made her laugh instead of sob, and her heart ached with joy not pain.
Serena chuckled at her daughter. ‘I didn’t think it would take this long, but I hoped you and Cooper would come to your senses sooner or later.’
‘You think he loves me, too?’
‘Of course he does, darling. And he’s worth fighting for. Take that step. Reach out for him, Maggie.’
Maggie sniffed. ‘I thought you were going to tell me that loving Cooper was a bad idea.’
‘It’s never a bad idea to fall in love. I want you to be happy. Happiness is so fragile and precious. Knowing him, it’s yours if you want it.’
Serena pushed back her chair, fetched some plastic wrap from a drawer and wrapped it around two huge slices of chocolate cake. She handed them to Maggie.
‘For Cooper and Evan.’
Maggie threw her arms around her mother. ‘Thanks, Mom. I haven’t forgotten how you were there for me when Evan was born. You got me through when I couldn’t see the light.’
‘Let me know what happens,’ Serena said wiping her eyes.
‘I love you,’ Maggie called as she raced to the door.
*
‘Hey.’
‘Hey,’ Cooper’s brother Callum answered from Sydney. It was good to hear his voice. He needed to talk to someone who would be on his side because, as far as he could judge, he was in one team and Maggie and Alfie were firmly in the other. ‘What’s up?’
‘I thought I’d call and let you know that I’ll be back for the wedding.’ Cooper shifted on the sofa in Maggie’s living room. His knee was aching like a bastard this morning, a constant reminder of what he needed to explain to Maggie, as if he could forget. She’d been gone an hour and he’d paced the hallway for half of that time, until the ache had set in and he needed to rest it. And that was as good a time as any to ring Cal and tell him what was going on.
‘That’s great, Coop. It’ll be great to have us all together. You and Chris as my best men. The Malone brothers all together for the second wedding in a year. Who would have thought, huh?’
‘I’m happy for you, mate. I really am.’
‘Whoa, whoa. I know that tone. Tell me.’
And Cooper talked until his cell phone was hot against his ear. It was true what people said about twins, especially for him and Callum.
‘So what now? What’s your plan?’
‘Spoken like a true CEO.’
‘You are about to start phase two of your life, mate
. And there will be a successful life for you after all the groundwork you’ve done with your brand and your investments. This is not the end of everything. You got that?’
Cooper struggled to say the words out loud. ‘But I’ll never surf again.’
‘Yeah, I know.’ Callum didn’t have to say anything else to be a comfort to his brother. ‘And that’ll hurt for the rest of your life. I know it. But your job now is to fill the rest of your life with stuff you love. Stuff that gets you up in the morning.’
What was that, Cooper asked himself? What else did he love as much as the waves?
He looked around Maggie’s small living room. Alongside the TV were the pile of cartoon DVDs he’d been watching with Evan. The pillows on the sofa were those he’d given to Maggie as a birthday gift last year, woven with Australian Aboriginal designs, as part of his continuing joke poking fun at her obsession with throw pillows. On the mantle, framed photos of the people in Maggie’s life. Her mom. Evan. And him. Right there, by his photo, was where they were standing when he’d suggested they have sex.
Which turned out to the best stupid mistake of his whole life.
Five years of friendship and they’d finally dived into sex. For a while there, he was thinking it was about the best thing he’d ever done. He thought he knew Maggie, until they’d started making love. Now he knew what she liked in bed. That her breath hitched in short little bursts when she came. That she liked to keep her eyes open when he was inside her. That she liked his cock. And, oh, how he loved her body. It’s warmth, it’s softness. She felt like home to him.
This room was filled with Maggie and Evan and cartoons and take-out pizza and her damn throw pillows and wine and love.
That’s why it felt like home. Because the people he loved lived here. He loved the kid like he was his own, and he loved Maggie like he’d wanted to all along. Fierce, out of control, real. Forever.
Callum’s question echoed down the phone line. ‘Cooper? You there?’
Cooper shook his head, tried to get his head back into the conversation. ‘Yeah, I’m here. I’ve just been thinking about what you said, about what comes next.’
The Rebel (The Millionaire Malones Book 3) Page 13
