by JoAnn Durgin
“Oh? Who is he then?”
“I appreciate the big brother act, but you’ve got to trust me for some common sense.”
“I do, but humor me for my peace of mind.”
“His name is Cooper Warren, and he was a groomsman in the wedding. The quick rundown is that he went to A&M with Kevin and was the campus newspaper editor. Now he lives in Austin. Electrical engineer . . . or something.”
“And where are you going with him?”
“To Houston via Austin by car.”
“Why?”
She glanced at the ceiling, staring at a sprinkler head, trying to figure out how to shorten this conversation. The sound of her tapping foot reverberated in the small space. “Short answer? He offered.” No way she’d tell him she accepted Cooper’s offer under the assumption he was Landon Warnick. It sounded crazy enough in her head. No way could she say it out loud.
Silence for a few seconds. “How do you think Landon will feel when he hears you traipsed around the dusty Texas countryside with this Cooper guy?”
“It’s December, so it’s not dusty, and I owe Landon nothing. We’ve had one date, Mitch, so it’s not like we’re in a relationship.”
“Really? From what you told me, he’s your dream man. Then you go off to Louisiana for a wedding and now you’re on a road trip with some other guy? Where’s your sense of loyalty? Not to mention propriety.”
She frowned. “First of all, the jury’s still out on the dream man part. Landon’s charming, but he’s also pushy and overconfident at times. Like someone else I know. And let’s not get into the morals clause here.”
“Did Landon scare you off?”
“No, of course not. I’m not saying that.” Why does he sound defensive? “I just get the feeling he’d be pushy and want too much too soon. I don’t know,” she said, frowning. “Can’t a girl enjoy a few casual dates without going through an inquisition? I know you have my best interests at heart, but I need to figure this one out for myself.”
“Nothing with you is ever casual, especially going on a road trip.”
Her hand slid down to her hip, pushing aside Winnie’s similar concerns when they resurfaced in her mind. “Tell me this: is it something about my personality that attracts such strong men? Do I have some kind of ‘Pick me! I’m gullible!’ sticker stuck on my back?”
“In my case, blame it on genetics so you’re stuck with me. In Warnick’s case, I haven’t a clue. Promise you’ll keep your cell phone turned on during your little holiday adventure.”
“Will do. I have to get going now, and thanks for checking in. I’ll talk with you again soon.”
She heard him say “You’d better” before disconnecting.
Lost in thought, Amy walked back into the dining area. She tried not to think about the fact that a man who looked so much like Landon waited for her. Cooper watched as she dropped into the booth beside him. “Oh, sorry, I wasn’t thinking.” She startled when he reached out one hand to stop her from moving and pulled her back down beside him.
“Your first instinct was better. Are you okay? You seem . . . distracted.”
“I’m fine.” She forced a smile even as she questioned her brother’s uncanny ability to make her feel disloyal to Landon. While the man sitting next to her in the booth looked a whole lot like the publisher, he was much freer with his comments and emotions. Both men were attentive, sensitive to her needs, possessed a quick wit and a good sense of humor. Not to mention drop-dead handsome. Since she was on a little holiday, why not go with it and enjoy the male attention for once in her life?
Cooper nudged her shoulder. “If you don’t perk up soon, I may be forced to break that pact just to put a silly grin on your face.”
“When do I ever have a silly grin?” She hesitated. “Do I really?”
“No sillier than mine. And when people say ‘I’m fine,’ it usually means the opposite. If you need to talk, I’m a good listener and not such a bad guy once you get to know me.”
“I don’t think you’re a bad guy, Cooper.” Anything but.
“Did Mitch call?”
Astonished, she opened her mouth to speak but closed it instead.
“That’s what I thought. He’s only doing his job. Don’t be too hard on the guy.”
This was seriously weird. Mitch sounded defensive about Landon and now Cooper was supportive of Mitch? The world’s gone crazy. Or else I am.
The waitress came to take their orders, but they hadn’t taken the time to look over the menu. “I’ll have a grilled cheese on wheat and whatever soup you have,” Amy said pushing the menu to the edge of the table.
“Chicken noodle okay?”
“Great, thanks. With a glass of milk, please. Skim, if you have it.”
“And you, sugar?” The young waitress gave Cooper a flirtatious smile, but he didn’t seem to notice as he studied the menu. She couldn’t be much older than sixteen or seventeen, but it was difficult to tell beneath the layer of heavy makeup and iridescent blue eye shadow.
“Can I still order breakfast?” he asked.
The girl’s pink-glossed lips curved in a seductive smile. If she batted her eyes any faster, she’d take flight. “You can order anything you want, honey.”
Amy’s eyes widened. Cooper’s Adam’s apple moved up and down in his throat but he kept his eyes trained on the menu.
“The breakfast special will be fine, thank you.”
“Scrambled eggs or over easy?”
Because of the provocative way the girl asked the question, Amy gave her a withering look as Cooper finished ordering his breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage links and an English muffin with strawberry jam.
Closing his menu, he picked up Amy’s and handed both to the waitress. “Coffee with cream, too, please.”
“Be right back with your coffee. And your milk,” she added, tossing Amy a retaliatory glare.
“That was interesting,” Amy said, trying to keep the disgust from her tone as the waitress swayed her hips and winked at a thirty-something man several tables away.
“Nothing more than a small town girl trying to liven up her day, I imagine.” Cooper sat back in the booth and crossed his arms. “You’re all I need to keep the day lively, and I mean that as a compliment.” He caught her grin before she could hide it. “At least it brought your enchanting smile back. I’ve missed it.” Surprising her, he planted a light kiss on the tip of her nose.
“Careful. Doesn’t that violate one of your all-important road rules?”
“Nope. I never said anything about a kiss on the nose. And please stop staring at my lips. That should be one of my road rules, too, come to think of it. It’s driving me kinda nuts. Your eyes are entirely too full of longing and need.”
“It’s nothing more than hunger,” she said, feigning offense. “For food.”
“You’re the best ego boost I’ve enjoyed in a long time.” His lips curled in that charming yet maddening way.
“Tell me something,” she said.
“Yes, I like breakfast. I think every meal should have at least one breakfast item, preferably eggs or sausage. Or sausage and eggs.”
She laughed. “Fun fact to know and tell. Question two: do you have women hitting on you like that all the time? Although in the case of our waitress, she’s jail bait.”
Cooper shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. I notice it sometimes, but find it more amusing that anything else.” He wiggled his brows. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous?”
“Don’t flatter yourself.”
“You need me in your life, Amy, and I’m going to prove it to you by the time you get to Houston.”
Her jaw dropped. “You’ve set a timeframe for yourself?” Crossing her arms, she snorted. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”
“I never joke about important things like that. Remember, a trained engineer deals with units of measure and electrical components. We’re precise, logical and some would say obsessively technical.”
“Okay,” she said, mullin
g over his words. “But from all indications, you’re also a spontaneous and atypical engineer. I may regret asking this question, but what unit of measure and electrical component are you talking about? And what do either one have to do with anything?”
Waiting as the waitress set Cooper’s mug of coffee on the table, Amy watched as he stirred in one creamer and one sugar. After putting the spoon on a napkin, he took a sip. “Ah, good and strong, the way I like it.” Lowering his mug, he captured her gaze, holding it steady. “In terms of you and me, the unit of measure would be the amount of emotional attraction and the electrical component would be the amount of physical attraction.”
Amy gulped. “I see.” Gathering her thoughts, she focused on a toddler banging on a stainless steel highchair tray for a few seconds. I know how you feel, kiddo. Returning her gaze to his, she met those piercing blue eyes. “How about I save you some time?”
Cooper almost spit out a mouthful of coffee. Slamming down his mug, coffee sloshed over the edge as he raised his fist to his mouth, coughing. “Thrilled as I am, you’d better explain.”
“I don’t need whatever timeframe you’ve set to recognize the idea of having you in my life is more than tempting. Being completely honest here, no man has ever made me question my stand on . . . certain things . . . before marriage.” Catching his look, she frowned. “Don’t overinflate that statement. I’m talking about coming on this road trip in the first place with a man I don’t even know very well.” Turning her head, she blew out a breath. “I must be crazy.”
He took another sip of his coffee. “I was only referring to kissing, but it’s good to know where you stand on the issue. You’re beautifully transparent.” His eyes sparkled with mischief, and he looked like he fully expected her to slap him silly. “Question for you: why did you come on this road trip with me?” His question sounded more curious than defensive, but it made her squirm.
Good question. Come up with something plausible to answer the man.
“Amy, let me—”
She held up one hand. “You asked a question, so give me a minute.”
Drumming his fingers on the top of the table, he waited. When she frowned, he stopped. “If I may hazard a guess, I think you wanted a little adventure in your life.”
“Are you implying my life is boring?”
“Not at all. I’m saying you play by the rules, and that’s a good thing.”
Her words to Winnie on the church steps the night before about not always wanting to do the safe thing, the right thing, flooded her mind. “I look at it more as following the Lord’s leading in my life.”
“So, you’re saying you think the Lord’s hand is in this”—he waved his hand between them—“relationship between us.”
Amy slumped farther down in the booth. “I’m not sure what to think. Like you said, let’s take it one step at a time.” She shot him a look. “Just be thankful I spared you the whole self-righteous, abstinence speech, which I’ve perfected over the years, by the way.” Taking a small sip of her milk, she avoided his gaze.
“Thanks for that.” He chuckled. “You’re refreshingly candid, Amy. I’m not quite sure what to make of you either except to say I find you enchanting. I could come up with a whole bunch of adjectives to describe you, and that’s after knowing you less than twenty-four hours.”
“Oh, I’m sure you’ll have a whole list of adjectives before our little adventure is over.”
“Don’t wish it over too soon,” he said. Why did he suddenly sound disgruntled?
Once their food was delivered to the table by their thankfully subdued waitress, Amy bowed her head as Cooper asked a blessing.
“Amen,” she said as he ended the prayer.
“That looks like good comfort food.” His tone held amusement as he slathered strawberry jam over his toast.
“It is,” she said, picking up her soup spoon and dipping it in the steaming broth. She inhaled deeply and smiled. “Why do you think I ordered it?”
He stopped chewing and gave her a cockeyed grin. “Needing comfort today, are you?”
She paused with her spoon halfway to her bowl. “Do you think it’s possible for us to have a conversation for one minute without irony, innuendo, teasing or—heaven forbid—flirting?” She formed an “O” with her lips accompanied by raised brows.
He laughed. “What do you say we give it our best try?”
And so, for the next thirty minutes they tried. The conversation flowed easily and she discovered they had much in common. They traded stories about their lives, steering clear of any career talk—much to Amy’s delight—and discussed their fitness routines, favorite foods and pet peeves. Whenever he laughed, a number of ladies in the coffee shop looked his way. An irrational sense of satisfaction rushed through her when he paid them no mind.
His accent was intriguing, a drawl tempered with something else she couldn’t define. He radiated an effortless, natural charm. Beneath the teasing persona, her road companion was a decent guy. Great guy, actually. With each passing minute, she warmed to him even more. The fortress she’d erected around her emotions was crumbling fast. If it existed in the first place.
The conversation turned more serious when he told her he invited Jesus into his heart when he was ten, in the tree house in his backyard, of all places. “I was stinking mad because I was the only kid who didn’t have his father with him at the Little League end-of-the-season banquet.” Cooper scratched his head and gave her a sheepish grin as he fiddled with the handle on his empty coffee mug, refilled for the third time. “He promised he’d be there, but as usual, some work thing came up at the last minute. When I got home, I threw down my glove and stomped outside and used some choice words I’d only heard but never used. Mom heard me, but she let me stew around for a while until I calmed down. Then she climbed up into the tree house and sat down beside me, Bible in hand. I think she was afraid the tree house wouldn’t hold her, but it was sturdy. That’s one thing Dad did right, anyway.”
In his expression, Amy glimpsed the long-ago hurt in the little boy he’d once been. She put her hand in the middle of the table. Their eyes met, and he covered her hand with his, giving it a light squeeze.
“What did your Mom say?” she asked, slowly withdrawing her hand.
“She told me how God doesn’t want us to harbor resentment for wrongs. It helped when she said she knew exactly how I felt.” His sigh was heavy. “I know she did, in ways I probably don’t want to know. As I listened to her read some favorite verses of Scripture, it really impacted me—in a way it never had before—and I wanted what she had: the kind of peace and confidence she radiated from the inside out. When I asked her about it, she said it came from Jesus.” Pausing, the tautness around his eyes relaxed. “So, I started confessing all the anger about my dad and recounted every bad thing I’d thought about or done in my whole life. Mom finally stopped me and she knelt beside me as I prayed to ask Jesus into my heart.”
He rubbed his hand over his jaw and gave her a cockeyed grin that tugged somewhere deep inside.
“Your mother sounds like a wonderful woman,” she said. “Mitch was the one who led me to Jesus when we were barely older than toddlers.” Her smile sobered and a tear escaped. “And now I’m praying my brother finds his way back.” Sweeping her fingers beneath her eyes, she heaved a deep sigh. “He lost his best friend on 9/11, and for a while he blamed God. It changed him, and he became more cynical and suspicious, but he’s slowly coming back around.”
It was Cooper’s turn to take her hand. “Glad to hear it. I’ll pray for him, too.”
She gave him a half-smile through watery eyes. “Thanks.”
They enjoyed the rest of their meal as he told her more about his days as a college newspaper editor. From the way his eyes lit with enthusiasm, his passion was obvious.
“Why didn’t you pursue a journalism career after you graduated?” she asked, finishing her sandwich and stacking the bowl on top of her empty plate.
He cocked
a brow. “Who says I didn’t?”
That question threw her off for a moment. “One of the TeamWork girls thought you were a globe-hopping journalist.” Her eyes widened. “I know. Maybe you’re an undercover reporter and go on secret missions? Was that why you were late to the wedding?”
A fleeting expression of surprise skittered in his eyes. “I’ve been known to write a story or two, but I was late because my flight was delayed.”
Now she was being the silly one. Wiping her mouth with her napkin, she shook her head. “I’m sure you have plenty of stories to tell, but we should probably get moving now.” She grabbed the check from the table and reached for her purse.
“I’ll take that, thanks,” Cooper said, tugging it from her grasp.
“You’re doing all the driving. Surely your male pride will allow a woman to treat you.”
He pulled his wallet from his back pocket and rose to his feet. “It has nothing to do with male pride, but you’re not paying. Case closed.” He put a generous tip on the table for their waitress and waited for her to scoot out of the booth.
Waiting at the front counter as he paid their tab, Amy observed as the bus boy cleared their table. Picking up a small card from the table, he glanced at it before tucking it in the pocket of the smock he wore over his clothes. Hmm . . . Lost in thought as they walked back to the car, she overheard voices nearby, angry but muffled in what sounded like a heated discussion. Picking up speed, she headed in the direction of the commotion, stopping short as she rounded the corner of the building. What on earth?
Chapter 22
Their waitress was backed up against the red brick wall, hands behind her back, facing a couple of mangy, long-haired guys. Only a few inches from her, they appeared to be in their early-to-mid-twenties.
Cooper plowed into her from behind. “Whoa! Sorry.” His hands fell to her waist, steadying her.
“My fault,” Amy said under her breath. With a low growl, she ground her jaw and stomped toward them. “What do you think you’re doing? Leave her alone!”
The two guys backed away a few feet. Visibly shaken, the girl cowered, her brown eyes wide and luminous. In her thin cotton uniform, she clutched her arms across her chest and shivered as she ran her hands up and down her bare arms. Without a second thought, Amy untied the fabric belt on her jacket and shrugged out of it. Moving behind the waitress, she draped it around her slender shoulders. The hurt and sadness in the girl’s eyes, too world-weary for one so young, pierced her heart.
