by Terri Osburn
“What do you mean, what do I want?” she asked. “I want to explain about last night.”
“There’s no need,” he said. “I got the message loud and clear.”
“Please don’t shut me out, Cooper. I know I screwed up, but if you’ll just hear me out—”
“I’m not interested, Haleigh Rae.”
“But—”
For clarity’s sake, he asked, “Does or doesn’t your mother know that we were together?”
Shaking her head, Haleigh pleaded, “Don’t say it in the past tense like that. We are together.”
“Does or doesn’t she?” he asked again.
“Not yet. I need a little more time to bring her around.”
“Around to what?” Cooper focused on the anger to drown out the hurt. Neither of which hindered his need to touch her.
So pathetic.
Haleigh ran a hand through her hair. “Working together on this shelter project has built some sort of bridge between us, but it’s still fragile. She believes in something I’m doing and we have a shared goal. I don’t want to mess that up.”
The implication cut like a knife. Still, he forced her to elaborate. Might as well take the full blow.
“And how would us being involved mess things up?”
“She’s just . . .” As Haleigh struggled to find the words, Cooper braced himself. “You know my mother. She has these ridiculous standards and ideas about who I should be with.”
“And an uneducated mechanic with grease under his nails doesn’t meet those standards,” Cooper clarified for her. His father’s taunts echoed through his brain.
You’ll never amount to anything. You’re worthless. You’ll never be good enough.
“I’ll make her come around,” Haleigh promised again, as if her willingness to make her mother accept her less-than boyfriend would solve everything.
“Don’t bother,” he said, letting his anger boil over. “All your life you’ve fought for that woman to approve of you. To accept you for who you are. And it’s never happened. But you know who has always accepted you? Who was ready to love you unconditionally no matter what? Me, Haleigh Rae,” he said, pounding his chest. “The man standing right here, with grease-stained hands who drives a dirty tow truck. I believed that you were more than your past. I believed that what I was didn’t matter to you. I was wrong. Don’t give me that bullshit about your mother not approving. You’re the one who doesn’t approve. You’re the coward who can’t see that what’s inside matters more than what a person does or how much money he has. Because if you did, you wouldn’t have made a fool of me last night, and you sure as hell wouldn’t be asking me to be patient while you work up the nerve to tell Mommy that you’ve sunk below her standards.”
Faintly aware that they’d drawn an audience, Cooper lowered his voice. “Consider yourself off the hook, because I’m done playing the hapless, lovesick idiot. You were right when you said I needed to protect myself. That kicks in now.” Before walking away, he growled, “Thank you for opening my eyes to the real you before it was too late.”
Desperate to plant his fist into something solid, something that would shift the pain ripping through his gut into a dull throb in his knuckles, Cooper charged through the crowd without looking back. Haleigh may have turned him into a pitiful sap, but she was not going to ruin the rest of his life. He had a rally to run, and by damn, he would see this through.
Chapter 29
Haleigh ignored the onlookers who’d just borne witness to her humiliation and heartbreak. Every word Cooper uttered rang true. Why did she do it? Why had she fought her entire life for something she would never have? And most of all, didn’t need? If Meredith Mitchner didn’t want a real relationship with her daughter, then that was her loss, not Haleigh’s.
After all this time, it had taken falling for Cooper to make her years of therapy finally sink in. The gurus were right. She couldn’t love someone else until she loved herself. And that would require forgiving herself. Something she’d never been able to do.
But by not holding the past against her, Cooper had proven how easy forgiveness could be. Her mistakes did not define her. Her addiction did not make her a bad person. And her worth did not depend on a bitter woman’s approval.
Against all odds, Cooper had given her peace and love and genuine acceptance. And she’d thrown them all back in his face.
For nothing.
In stunned disbelief, she made her way to the edge of the crowd and dropped onto a curb at the back of the parking lot. What was she supposed to do now? Her heart demanded she not give up, but Haleigh didn’t know how to repair the damage she’d done. Marcus had humiliated Cooper, yet she’d stood silent, asking the man she loved to be patient. To take the abuse, pretend that what they had didn’t exist.
She’d poured her disease and self-loathing in his lap and he’d embraced it all. Loved her no matter what, and would have fought beside her to the end. Now he could barely stand the sight of her, and Haleigh didn’t blame him one bit.
With her face in her hands, she rocked back and forth, swallowing the tears she had no right to shed. Cooper was the victim in this twisted web she’d spun. Like the tornado he never saw coming, Haleigh had ripped through yet another life. Collected another casualty.
“That was pretty tough back there,” Lorelei said. Haleigh felt her drop to the curb beside her. “The last I heard, you’d gone missing last night. I’m going to guess Cooper found you?”
Keeping her head down, Haleigh nodded.
“Did you cheat on him?”
Haleigh’s head shot up. “No! I would never do that to Cooper.”
Lorelei didn’t flinch at the outburst. “I had to ask,” she said, as if they were talking about the weather. “Do you remember that painting I sold you for your bedroom?”
Wrapping her arms around her knees, Haleigh replied, “I’m not in the mood to talk home decor right now.”
Ignoring the rebuttal, Lorelei pressed on. “You said that the woman in the painting looked as if she wanted the man to get up off his knees.” Bumping Haleigh with her shoulder, Lorelei said, “He’s up. Now what are you going to do?”
“I don’t deserve him, Lorelei.”
“Maybe not right now,” she agreed. “But that doesn’t mean you give up. I’ve never deserved Spencer a day in my life, but I wake up every morning determined to get there. To earn his love.” Lorelei stared into the distance. “I know what it’s like to be a work in progress. Finding a man willing to see past your faults and take you as you are is a gift, Haleigh Rae. A gift that’s worth fighting for.”
Listening to her instincts, Haleigh said, “I want to fight.”
“Good.” Lorelei shared a genuine smile as she rose to her feet. “I’ll be rooting for you. For both of you.”
With a silent salute, her old classmate dissolved into the mass of car enthusiasts, leaving Haleigh to formulate a plan of attack on her own. Somehow she needed to get Cooper’s attention. To make him hear everything in her heart. As country music filled the air, an idea took hold.
“I’m so proud of you,” Linda Ridgeway said, likely resisting the urge to pinch her son’s cheeks. “You’ve done an amazing job on this rally. I bet this one event will bring in more money than the festival did last fall. If not by itself, then all the rallies combined by the end of the summer.”
Determined to be a part of her son’s success, Cooper’s mom had volunteered to help with the fundraiser and was currently running the sign table. When vehicles in the For Sale section found a buyer, she provided the owners with a Sold sign for the car window. She’d also printed up description signs for all attending vehicles and distributed them as the cars had arrived so that guests could read the details of each without having to inquire with the owners.
“I didn’t do it alone, Mama. Caleb made sure the word got out far and wide, and as you know, we have a ton of volunteers making sure things go off without a hitch.”
With hands planted o
n her substantial hips, his mother said, “Cooper Daniel, you are the leader on this project and you carried the bulk of the responsibility. You had the connections and many of these car owners are only here because you’re involved. Now stop acting like none of that matters and take the dang credit already.”
He should have known better than to argue with his mom. “Fine,” he said. “It’s all me. I’m awesome. Now have there been any inquiries on my cars?”
“Not yet, but we have hours to go.”
Until the events of the previous evening, Cooper had every intention of giving Haleigh the proceeds should either or both his vehicles sell. At some point during the night, he’d changed his mind and decided to donate the money to the women’s shelter project. Anonymously, of course.
“Linda, hon,” Bruce Clemens said as he joined them, “the ladies over at the main entry table asked that I send you their way. They need your opinion on something.”
Ignoring the term of endearment that tested his already strained patience, Cooper wondered why the entry table would need his mother instead of him, but assumed the question likely had more to do with the town knitters than the car rally.
“Someone will need to watch my table,” she said, sliding around the side.
“We’ll take care of it,” Bruce assured her. Once his mother drifted into the crowd, the bookstore owner attempted a conversation with Cooper. “How’s your day going so far?”
In no mood to play friendly with his mother’s new beau, Cooper said, “Busy. So if you’ll excuse me . . .”
“Do you not like me as a person, or simply disapprove of me dating your mother?”
“I don’t know you as a person,” he said, making the latter the obvious answer. “Mama isn’t sitting on a mound of cash, if that’s what you’re after.”
With a half-smile, Bruce changed the subject. “I saw the scene with Haleigh Rae earlier.”
Refusing to discuss his private life, Cooper said, “That’s none of your business.”
“I got the impression that a member of Haleigh’s family doesn’t approve of your relationship.”
Cooper’s jaw ticked as he kept his eyes on the activity in front of them. “There is no relationship. Not anymore.”
“As we just established, you don’t approve of me either, but I don’t blame your mother for that.”
“Leave it alone, Clemens.”
“And I know she didn’t tell you right away that we were spending time together. Which was her choice, and I respected that.”
Heat danced up Cooper’s neck as his hands balled into fists. “Not the same thing. You don’t know shit about my situation.”
Bruce shrugged. “Maybe not the details, but I know you love the young lady. Or so your mother tells me.” Toying with a Sharpie, he added, “After that speech you gave, I have my doubts.”
“I’ve loved Haleigh Rae for more than half my life and I’ll love her until the day I die.”
The older man nodded with a knowing grin. “Then it would be a shame to live without her, wouldn’t it?”
“You’re not my father, old man,” Cooper said, too angry to admit that Clemens had a point.
Bruce smiled. “No, I’m not. And if I was anything like him, your mom wouldn’t be giving me the time of day. Linda is a smart woman, Cooper. And she raised a couple of smart, capable kids. She wants nothing more than to see you happy. If you being happy makes her happy, then that’s what I want to give her. So I’m telling you, as a man who’s made the same mistake, don’t let pride stand in the way of what you want.”
Deflecting, Cooper said, “Is this where you tell me your sob story about the one that got away?”
“She only got away for a few decades.” With the face of a happy man, Bruce said, “I have her back now, and I don’t intend to make the same mistake twice.”
Speaking of the woman he had now, Cooper’s mom returned to the table saying, “Bruce, who asked you to send me over? No one at the entry table knew why I was there.”
Bruce shared a conspiratorial grin with Cooper. “I’m not sure who it was now. Maybe they changed their mind.” Dropping a kiss on her cheek, he added, “I’d better get back to work. Wouldn’t want the man in charge to see me slacking off.”
Mama watched Bruce shuffle between two Buicks. “I hope you were nice to him while I was gone. He really likes you, you know. If you’d give him a chance, I think you’d like him, too.”
Coming to the same conclusion, Cooper said, “You’re right, Mama. Maybe it’s time I gave Bruce Clemens a chance.”
“Really?” she asked, eyes wide.
“Yes, ma’am.” Cooper placed a kiss on the top of his mother’s head. “Exactly how long have you two known each other?”
Her round face softened. “Bruce and I went to school together. He took me to prom and we dated the whole summer before he went off to college. When I refused to move with him, he broke it off. I never thought I’d see him again, so you can imagine my surprise when he moved back to town a couple years ago.” With a tilt of her head, she asked, “Did you know that he never married? In all that time.” She shook her head. “Hard to believe.”
Recognizing the pattern, Cooper said, “Not so hard. A smart man waits for the right woman.”
“Are you a smart man, Cooper Daniel? Is that why you’re still waiting?”
He chuckled. “I’m not feeling very smart today, Mama, but it’s time I wised up. If you’ll excuse me, there’s someone I need to find.”
Desperate times called for desperate measures, and Haleigh had passed desperate an hour ago. She’d been lingering near the tent she needed, biding her time until Cooper showed up in the area at the same time as the perfect opening presented itself.
“What are you doing skulking around the edge of the grass like this?” her mother asked, putting her ninja skills to work once again.
“I’m waiting for the right opportunity,” Haleigh answered, keeping her eyes on the passersby. “I have to time this just right.”
“Time what? You’re dancing around like some wild animal. Have you been drinking?”
Ever the faithful and supportive parent. “I haven’t had a drink, and I don’t plan to have one ever again.”
Her mother dropped her voice. “You’ve been saying that for years. And yet . . .”
And yet she’d slipped a time or two. But now she had a better reason to stay sober. The best reason.
Running the words over and over again in her mind, Haleigh spared her mother a brief glance. “I’m glad you’re here, actually. You need to hear this.”
“Did you make a request with the DJ?” Meredith asked. “You know country music is not my favorite.”
She’d spoken to Zac Harwick but not about a song. Thank heaven the DJ proved to be a romantic at heart.
“There he is,” Haleigh said, stepping onto the asphalt and signaling to the woman with the microphone, who held up a hand with all five fingers spread out. Five seconds to go. Haleigh’s heart hovered somewhere around her knees as her palms slicked with sweat. She’d once embraced the concept of go big or go home. Today would be the epitome of that philosophy.
“What in the world are you doing?” her mother asked as Zac welcomed his listeners back to the live broadcast from the Ruby Restoration Committee’s Rally for the Ruby.
“Just shut up and listen, Mother. I’m about to either make a fool of myself, or pull off the greatest save ever. Let’s hope it’s the latter.”
“Now we have a special surprise for you folks,” Zac was saying. “We need the man responsible for pulling this event together to step up to the booth. Cooper Ridgeway, would you join us over here?”
Haleigh couldn’t feel her feet, and hyperactive butterflies filled her stomach. She was really going to do this. Good Lord, was she really going to do this?
As Cooper approached, Haleigh stayed hidden around the side of the radio tent. He looked perplexed, but less angry than the last time she’d seen him. When he’d basi
cally told her to go to hell and that he was done with her.
The butterflies doubled and her lungs burned. Whatever happened, Cooper was worth the humiliation. If this didn’t constitute fighting for her man, Haleigh didn’t know what did.
“Mr. Ridgeway,” Zac said. “I have someone who’d like to say something to you.”
On cue, Haleigh stepped off the curb and accepted the microphone the DJ thrust into her hand. It was heavier than she’d expected, and Haleigh nearly dropped it.
“What’s going on?” Cooper asked under his breath.
Diving ahead, she spoke into the microphone. “My name is Haleigh Rae Mitchner, and I’m in love with Cooper Ridgeway.”
A collective gasp echoed from the crowd while her mother said, “You’re what?!”
Ignoring her parent, Haleigh charged on. “Cooper, I know that I screwed things up. And I know that I don’t deserve you. But I want to. I want to be the woman that you see when you look at me. Because you make me want to be a better person. You’re the most generous, caring, beautiful man that I’ve ever met, and you gave me your heart without hesitation, knowing that I was damaged goods.”
“Haleigh—” he started, but she kept going.
“Of all the stupid things I’ve done, hurting you is the worst. And while I can’t undo what I did, I vow to wake up every morning for the rest of my life determined to make it up to you. If you’ll just give me a second chance, I swear that you won’t regret it. Not for a moment.”
A hush fell over the crowd as Haleigh finished pouring her heart out. Even her mother held silent. A miracle if there ever was one. But when Cooper too stayed quiet, Haleigh began to shake. This was it. She’d given it her all and it didn’t work.
Cooper wasn’t going to forgive her.
When the silence had carried for what felt like minutes, Haleigh’s knees threatened to buckle. Fight-or-flight kicked in, and she was about to drop the microphone and take off running when Cooper finally said something.
“Haleigh Rae, I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember.” He closed the distance between them, passing the microphone back to Zac without breaking eye contact. “And there is nothing you could ever do that would change that. Not now. Not ever.” Cupping her face, he leaned close. “You’re mine, Haleigh Rae. My one and only. And I’m never letting you go again.”
