“Where’s your mom, Riley?”
Riley swallowed as a lump formed in his throat and chose to tell the truth. “I don’t know.”
Cooper’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t know?”
Riley shook his head, unable to speak, and held his stomach, as if that would stop it from pitching and rolling like the deck of a ship in a storm—not that he’d ever been on a ship but he’d seen movies.
“Would you care to elaborate?” Cooper leaned forward, his gaze dark and disapproving.
“Not really.”
“We need to call your mom, let her know you’re here.”
“You can’t call her.”
“Why not?” His uncle sounded exasperated at Riley’s short answers, but Riley learned years ago never to give more information than absolutely necessary.
“I told you. I don’t know where she is.” Riley choked out the last few words and ducked his head in shame. He hated showing weakness, especially to a tough guy like Cooper Black, a guy who’d never cared enough about his sister to check on her. It sucked that desperation drove him to seek out Cooper now, but he’d swallowed his pride like he’d done too many times to count and soldiered onward.
“You don’t know where she is?” Cooper’s voice was low and measured, simmering with disgust.
Riley shook his head, feeling hot tears fill his eyes. The cat, who’d ignored him so far, stood and stretched. He leapt onto Riley’s lap, purring, turned a few circles, and made himself at home. Riley loved animals. Though he’d never had a pet before, he’d often shared his meager meals with stray dogs or cats in the alleys near their many dumpy apartments. He stroked the cat’s soft fur, feeling a little bit better.
“That’s Joker. He owns the place, just lets me live here and pay the bills.”
Riley frowned, not understanding.
Cooper almost laughed. “You’ve never had a cat before, have you?”
Riley shook his head.
“How long has your mom been gone?” Cooper got back to the subject.
“Two weeks.”
“Two weeks?” The alarm in Cooper’s voice caught Riley by surprise. “You’ve been on your own for two weeks?”
“Yes, sir.”
Cooper blew out a breath and ran his hands through his messy hair. “Damn. How did you get to Seattle?”
“We moved here a few months ago from Portland. She thought there’d be better opportunities, a new start, and Mom knew you were here.”
“She never tried to contact me—” Cooper’s face paled, as if something came to him. “Crap,” he whispered under his breath.
“I didn’t know where else to go. I need help finding her. I’m scared something has happened.” His mother might not be the world’s best mother, but she was his mom. His stomach clenched at the thought of losing her.
“How the hell did you find me?” Cooper studied him, and Riley squirmed.
“My mom left your address sitting on the bed.”
“Your mother had my current address? I just moved here a month ago.”
Riley nodded, hating to admit that his mom kept tabs on her family, even though they didn’t give a shit about her. “She stays in touch with her aunt. I guess she got it from her.” He recalled a conversation between the aunt he’d never met and his mother almost three weeks ago.
“Yeah, I know Aunt Nancy keeps my mom up to date,” Cooper admitted.
“I thought maybe Mom put your address there on purpose, knew she wouldn’t be back. There was twenty dollars there, too.”
“No note? Nothing like that?”
He shook his head. “She’s not much for notes.”
Anger laced with irritation flashed across his uncle’s face, but he didn’t say whatever he was thinking and changed the subject. “I’m guessing it wasn’t difficult to get past the gate either?”
“Not really,” Riley shrugged, suddenly tired, and yawned.
“Let me show you the guest room. You can take a shower and get some sleep. We’ll figure out what to do next in the morning. In the meantime, I’ll make some calls, get some balls rolling. Do you have a current picture of your mother?”
Riley pulled out a pay-as-you-go phone and found a selfie of him and his mother. They’d taken it over a month ago from the Space Needle. Cooper glanced at it, his jaw tightening. He nodded tensely, as if he’d swallowed some crappy medicine.
Without another word, he motioned for Riley to follow him up the stairs to a guest room that consisted of a big bed and a couple pieces of old furniture.
“There’s an adjoining bathroom right through that door. Let me know if you need anything else. Good night,” his uncle said and hesitated briefly, as if he wanted to say more but didn’t. Instead he turned and left the room.
After tossing and turning in the big bed for an hour, Riley crept down the stairs for a glass of water. He stopped at the sound of Cooper’s irritated voice coming from the kitchen. Riley stepped back behind the corner and listened. Cooper was talking about him.
Well, what the hell am I supposed to do with a teenage boy? I’m gone all the time. He can’t stay here. A pause. Riley could hear Cooper pacing. I can’t. It’s Mom and Dad’s trip of a lifetime. You were my only option. Yeah, yeah, I understand. More silence and a heavy sigh. I can’t put the kid in a foster home, not when he has relatives. Yeah, crap. I’ll just have to find his mother so I can get him the hell out of here. Our sister is a damn flake.
Cooper cleared his throat. Riley heard the frig open and the top popped off a bottle, probably a beer. His appearance had driven his uncle to drink. More pacing.
It can’t be that hard to find her. The sooner, the better. I start camp in a few days. Besides, I’m not father material, hell, I’m not uncle material.
Riley slipped back upstairs, feeling sick to his stomach. He’d known the truth but hearing it made him even sicker. His mom’s family didn’t want anything to do with him or with her. The sooner he got out of here the better, but tonight he just wanted to sleep one night in a warm, dry place without the sound of rats scurrying through the vents.
The cat followed him to the room. Riley stared at the bed. Instead of getting in it, he sank to the floor between the bed and the wall. Unshed tears filled his eyes, and he swiped angrily at them. He would not cry. Crying was for sissies, and he wasn’t a sissy. Hell, he’d taken care of his mother for years. He could certainly take care of himself.
Cooper didn’t want him. That much was obvious. He’d tried to pawn him off on someone else. If the jerk put him in foster care, Riley would bolt. He’d rather live on the streets. But for now, he just wanted to sleep and weariness took over.
Riley curled into a ball on the floor and hugged the cat to him.
Tomorrow he’d plot his next move.
* * * *
Cooper had had an older sister once, but that was a lifetime ago.
Not that she was dead—except to him. Hell, as far as he knew she might well be dead—now. A chill ran down his spine.
No one in his immediate family had been in contact with her in years with the exception of an aunt, who heard from her once or twice a year. Julie’s choice, not theirs. Though the drama factor in their lives decreased exponentially after she’d walked away and never looked back.
Cooper walked upstairs and opened the bedroom door a crack to check on the boy. The bed hadn’t been slept in. He swung his gaze around the room, zeroing in on a lump on the floor. Curled in a fetal position, Riley lay on the floor between the bed and wall. He clutched a pillow and one arm was wrapped around Joker who purred happily. Frowning and feeling completely out of his comfort zone, Cooper crossed the room. When his nephew didn’t wake up, he pulled a blanket off the bed and covered him.
With one last glance at Riley, Cooper left, closing the door quietly behind him.
He leaned his forehead against the wall in the hallway and closed his eyes, the weight of his world on his shoulders.
He was an uncle. A fucking uncle to a ki
d whose mother hated Cooper and blamed him for everything bad in her life. Even worse, Cooper blamed himself.
His secret shame.
He’d never said a word; even when he could’ve saved his sister, he’d stayed quiet to save himself.
You were only ten years old.
Still, he’d been a coward.
He owed Julie that much. He’d take care of Riley, do right by him, until his parents returned.
Raw emotions swirled inside him, especially guilt. Guilt for a ton of reasons, guilt that he hadn’t even cared enough to find out he had a nephew, guilt that he’d deserted his sister, guilt that he had every intention to pass this kid off to the next available family member.
He was a shitty brother and an even shittier uncle.
And now his sister’s hot mess of a life had come to roost on his doorstep in the form of a pathetic kid with nowhere else to go.
Shaking his head, Cooper pushed himself away from the wall, his mind running one more time through his limited options.
Earlier he’d made a few phone calls, first to Cyrus, the team’s attorney, waking him up and explaining the weird circumstances. After grumbling about the ungodly hour, Cyrus agreed to contact a private investigator he worked with on occasion and start the ball rolling. If anyone could find Cooper’s sister, Cyrus claimed this guy could.
Then he’d woken up his younger brother, Dan, who wasn’t any happier than Cyrus had been. The sooner he found a temporary home for Riley, the better. Training camp and preseason games started in a few days. Cooper couldn’t have a kid living here, not when he was gone fifty percent of the time. Unfortunately, neither could Dan. With a rambunctious five year old, a baby on the way, and both him and his wife working, he declined to take on another person in their tiny New York flat. Of course, he sympathized and worried about their sister, but that was the best Cooper got out of him.
He knew better than to call his parents. They were travelling all over Europe for the next few months, finally retired and able to take their dream vacation, the one they’d saved up for years. Sure, they’d fly back in a heartbeat, but Cooper couldn’t do that to them. Nor could he cause them any more worry over their missing daughter, not until he knew something concrete about what happened to her.
For now Cooper happened to be a substitute single father, something he’d never dreamed of being. He had no idea what to do with a thirteen-year-old boy, especially when he went on road trips.
Maybe Izzy could help. She mother-henned three younger sisters, while Cooper struggled to take care of just himself.
Besides, he was new to town, and she’d lived here all her life. She’d help him if he asked.
He started to call her and stopped. It was really late. Tomorrow would be soon enough.
Tonight he was tired. Bone-dead tired. He stripped off his clothes and crawled between the cool, soft sheets, feeling very alone and out of his element. He liked kids, but he’d never dealt with a kid he couldn’t send home at the end of the day. He’d never been solely responsible for a kid, even temporarily. He swooped in, made kids happy for an hour or so, and swooped back out, like Superman saving the day.
He didn’t think it’d be that easy to save his nephew’s day, and he doubted he was up to the task. He’d let Riley’s mother down all those years ago, and he didn’t trust himself to know what was best for her son.
His life revolved around hockey. He lived, breathed, and slept hockey. He didn’t have time for a kid.
His eyes snapped open and refused to close. Cooper stared at the ceiling. He flipped through all his concerns, looping back to Izzy over and over again.
Riley needed clothes; Izzy could help with that, and Cyrus would need to work on a temporary custody arrangement. Izzy could likely advise him on that. And he needed someone to care for Riley until he worked out other arrangements. Izzy could find someone.
There was one problem with this picture. Izzy didn’t want anything to do with him, and Cooper wanted everything to do with her.
Beautiful Izzy. Sassy Izzy. Classy Izzy.
He wasn’t beyond using a missing sister and a sad teenage boy to help him get Izzy back.
He’d messed up, and now he needed her more than ever, and he wasn’t sure how to approach her other than to tell her the truth.
He missed her.
Chapter 5—Opportunity Knocks
Izzy worked days as a barista, since her business didn’t make enough to pay the bills. It was midmorning, the early crowd long gone, and the place deserted.
She frowned at her phone as it played a ringtone she hadn’t heard in almost a month and one she should’ve deleted—both the ringtone and the phone number. The ringtone was one of To the Max’s hits—her parents’ band—titled “Heart and Soul”, and so not a song she should be tagging as Cooper’s ringtone, or any man’s for that matter.
She silenced the phone and ignored it, laying it on the counter. A second later it pinged, informing her of a voicemail. A few seconds after that, a text message came through.
Izzy rubbed her hands over her face and groaned. Don’t look, she warned herself. Just don’t look. She walked away from the phone and wiped down tables. The damn thing chirped again announcing another text message.
Dammit.
Izzy crossed the room, picked up the phone, and punched the Message button:
Izzy, call me please. It’s important.
Izzy, I need your help. Please call me.
Cooper needed her help? Hard to imagine Cooper needing anyone but himself.
A glutton for punishment, she played the voicemail: Izzy, please call me. I’m in a bind, and you’re the only person I can think of who can help me.
She sincerely doubted that. Money bought a lot of things, and Cooper had plenty of money. Whatever he needed, he could pay for it.
She hesitated.
Money.
Her twin sisters’ tuition was due in a few days, and funds were low. Too low. Dropping out wasn’t an option. She’d made that mistake, she’d be damned if they would. She’d hoped the Party Crashers would be bringing in more income by now, but the summer wedding business had ground to a halt and the fall parties hadn’t quite kicked in yet. Even worse, the big job they’d done last week hadn’t gone as planned, and the client, a big-time asshole attorney refused to pay. She’d put out a lot of money for that job banking on a big payout and gambled wrong.
If Cooper really needed her help, it’d cost him. These days nothing came for free, not when they were barely surviving day to day, and tuition was due.
With an annoyingly shaky hand, she called Cooper’s number. He answered on the first ring, breathing hard and sounding anxious.
“Where are you?” she said.
“On the ice.” Izzy stifled a laugh at the thought of Cooper Black racing around the ice while talking on his cell.
“I can only assume your coach isn’t there.”
“You assume right. Our player agreement doesn’t allow us to use the team facility until training camp starts. I’m at a private rink.”
“I’m at work, too, so let’s dispense with small talk. What’s so important you had to spam me with voicemails and texts?”
“One voicemail and two texts are hardly spamming.”
“Cooper,” she said in that voice which said way too much. Remember? We’re through. You and me. No more. Why are you bothering me?
“Izzy, please, hear me out.”
She blew out an exasperated sigh. “Fine, what is it?”
“Just a minute.”
She heard clattering and doors closing.
“Okay, I had to go somewhere private.” He paused and cleared his throat. “I have a nephew.”
“I’m happy for you, but what does that have to do with me?”
“He’s fourteen, showed up on my doorstep last night. He doesn’t say much other than he’s looking for his mother, my sister, who I haven’t seen since before he was born. I didn’t even know about him. He came to me bec
ause his mother is missing.”
She hardened her heart to Cooper’s sad story. No way would she let him suck her back into his life. Izzy kept her silence, waiting for him to continue.
“I need your help. Training camp starts tomorrow, and suddenly I have a fourteen year old in my house. I’m gone more than I’m here. I can’t leave him alone. None of my family members are able to take him. I will not put family in a foster home. It’s just until I find his mother, or my parents return from Europe, whichever comes first.”
“You’d give him back to a mother who’s left him alone?” Izzy’s anger boiled to the surface. She knew exactly how it felt to be abandoned by unconcerned parents over and over again.
“I’ll give her some money, help her get a better start, put her in rehab, whatever she needs.”
“That’s your solution to everything. Just throw some money at it. What she needs is a family who cares.”
“You really don’t understand.”
“No, you’re right, I don’t. Cooper, I won’t bail you out. That boy is your responsibility, like it or not.”
“I wasn’t asking you to take him in. I was hoping you might have a solution for me.” He sounded so needy, so discombobulated, so helpless. There was something incredibly sexy about a strong man showing his vulnerability. But this wasn’t about him or her, and she wouldn’t cave to his brand of alpha-male charm.
“A solution? I’m a party crasher, not a babysitter.”
“How’s that working for you? The party crashing, that is.”
“Wonderful. Never been better. Making scads of money.” Which was exactly why she didn’t know where she’d come up with the rent money, let alone tuition.
“I just thought you might know of someone trustworthy I could hire when I’m on road trips.”
“Not that I can think of.”
“I’ll pay a finder’s fee.” He sweetened the pot.
Her ears perked up. “How much?”
“A thousand dollars if you guarantee they’ll work out.”
Crashing the Net Page 4
