I Love You

by Shanade White

  They made the mistake of going to the grocery store hungry, so when they got home they not only had a bunch of left over pizza, but a trunk full of groceries. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to make all this fit in the refrigerator.” Paige said as they carried in the bags.

  “I think it’s time I upgraded the cabin. I’ve been waiting because it didn’t seem all that important but now it’s becoming a problem. Paige, I really don’t want you and Justin sleeping out there in that tent all by yourselves.” He said, concern in his voice.

  Paige too had been thinking about how odd it would be sleeping out in the tent, but the alternative which she knew Cooper was suggesting didn’t make her feel comfortable either. Putting down the groceries she’d been holding, she crossed the kitchen and made Cooper set down what he’d been holding. Wrapping her arms around him, she looked up at him and chose her words carefully.

  “I would love nothing more than to move in here with you and Brandon, but don’t you think it’s a bit fast? Brandon already has a lot of ideas in his mind and the last thing I want to do is hurt him. And what kind of message are we sending if we’re suddenly together; I mean we’re not married and we’d be sharing a room. I’m not sure I’m ready for the questions Justin’s going to ask me.” She said, hoping that Cooper would understand.

  “We wouldn’t have to share a room, there are two more bedrooms up there.” He offered.

  She looked at him for a long time, then said, “I’m sure that would work. You in your room and me in mine.”

  He laughed and said, “Yeah, I guess you’re right. We’d only end up sneaking around behind their back, and that’s not right either. When are your parents leaving? I’m sure you could stay in the guest house until we get your house ready.”

  Paige breathed a sigh of relief, “That would work, if you don’t think Marissa would care.”

  “She would have given you the guest house long ago, but you wanted to camp out.” He said, giving her a kiss, feeling better now that the problem had been solved, although he’d have rather had her move in with him.

  Life settled into a rhythm for the next few weeks. Paige spent time every day writing her thesis and cataloging the artifacts. At first, she’d been bombarded with requests for access to them, but it was soon widely understood that until she’d finished the cataloguing everything, the collection was closed to outsiders.

  But then, she’d had a difficult discussion with Professor Morgan who’d also received one of those strange phone calls and taken the time to research Joaquin Murrieta. “You need to consider the possibility that this is more than a legend.” She said, after she’d given Paige the same information Marissa had.

  “It seems pretty unlikely, but I guess we could check into it.” She said, not exactly lying, but not being truthful either.

  “Do it soon, there have been a lot of rumors flying around town about that cave.” Professor Morgan said, sending a chill up Paige’s spine.

  After she got off the phone, she got on the internet to find that there were in fact a lot of rumors going around about not only what they’d found in the cave, but about what else might be in the cave. The rumors of Murrieta’s treasure had resurfaced and were making the rounds of social media. There had even been a story on the news.

  Panicked, she called Donovan Terrell, he’d arranged for the same men to return to move the gold coins, but they’d been called out of the country and he’d advised her to wait for them. “Paige, I know these men and we can trust them. It’s going to take time to transport those coins if they’re as heavy as you say, you need them.”

  But now that rumors were flying it wouldn’t be long before someone got up the nerve to come up here and look for themselves. Once she’d voiced her concerns, he’d agreed with her, but still cautioned moving the coins until they were ready. “Do you know if it’s possible to cut off the park entirely? Because if we can do that, then I’ll just send some of my people out there and they can handle things until we’re ready to move the coins.”

  It had only taken Donovan a few hours to put his plan into action, so now they had an armed guard stationed at the new front gate and the only way to get into the park was with a pass or by appointment. People complained about it at first, but once they understood the danger of having strangers roaming around the park trying to find the cave, they all agreed that it was necessary.

  Cooper and Paige had to steal time together during the day when the boys were at school. They’d complained about starting so early in the year right along with the other kids in the canyon, but in the end they all went happily to their first day of school. With an entire school body of only ten kids, Clarissa and her teaching assistant would be more than able to handle their duties.

  As fall made its approach, the land had begun to respond to the constant water supply and the rain and snow of the winter would only increase the healing that had already begun. Steve spent more of his time in the park than at home and was considering moving there permanently to study the park full time, temped all the more by the generous salary he’d been promised by Scott and Cooper.

  The house that she and Justin would be living in would be ready in only a few more days, the solar panel the only thing they were waiting on. Paige had never cared that much about money, but it was pretty impressive how much could get accomplished when there was plenty available. It was almost as impressive as the ease with which Justin adapted to his new life and Cooper’s presence in it.

  She’d known that he always missed having a father and Cooper had managed to slide into that role with little problem, and having Brandon there helped as well. The boys had begun what they thought was a subtle campaign to see Cooper and Paige married and the two of them sharing a room, but their efforts were anything but subtle. Cooper returned one day from a trip to town to report to Paige that they’d tried to get him to buy a bridal magazine at the checkout.

  They’d laughed, but underneath that laughter they were both thinking that spring weddings were nice. “Do you think we should talk to them?” Cooper had asked, after that trip. “Brandon got on my computer the other night and pulled up a bunch of pictures of wedding rings on the screen so I’d see them when I opened it.”

  “Oh, let them be, unless you think they’re going to be disappointed some day.” She said, giving him a challenging look.

  He crossed the room and had her in his arms so fast, “I don’t think that’s going to happen.” He said, with a mischievous grin before his mouth came down on hers.

  They were interrupted when Brandon and Justin came into the kitchen, “Gross.” Brandon said.

  “Don’t you have to be married to do that?” Justin said, then they both ran out of the room, laughing at the top of their lungs at their cleverness.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to talk to them?” Cooper said, laughing at her shocked expression.

  She looked up at him and shook her head no, “But you can go back to what you were doing before we were so rudely interrupted.” She said, pulling his head back down to hers.

  When they parted breathlessly, Cooper said, “I think it’s about time to see if Aunt Marissa will watch the boys for a night. I love our afternoons together, but I need to sleep with you in my arms tonight.”

  Paige just about melted on the spot. No matter how much she thought she knew Cooper, he always seemed to surprise her when he was suddenly tender with her. It made her feel loved and protected, a feeling she’d never experienced with a man before, one that she was quickly becoming addicted to. “I’m sure we can arrange that.” She said, her voice husky with desire.

  Chapter 12

  Cooper was coming out of the house with a couple of towels when a strange car pulled up and parked in the front yard. They’d all been down at the creek looking at the minnows that had appeared the day before. Besides their dig behind the house, they were also creating a journal about the creek. Steve had set them up the last time he’d been around, giving them journals and instructions on
how to create scientific entries — it had been a very educational experience.

  That is until today when they’d felt to the need to investigate so closely they’d accidently ended up in the creek. Paige had sent him up to the house for towels having decided that since the damage was already done, she’d let them tromp up and down the creek to their hearts content. But it looked like they’d have to wait for those towels; he thought wondering who had made it through the security at the gate.

  He watched shocked at the last person he would have expected got out of the car, his ex-wife. A jumble of emotions raced through him, from shock to exasperation, but never was there any joy at the sight of her. In fact, as he looked at her, he saw her for what she really was, a conniving social climber who’d used him to achieve her goals.

  It struck him then, with a force that took his breath away, just how different she and Paige were. Besides the fact that Amy was gaunt to the point of looking starved, her carefully makeup face looked artificial in the sunlight. She was dressed as if she’d planned to go to the club instead of a drive up in the mountains, her three inch heels looking very out of place.

  He had to suppress a laugh when she took a couple of steps and tripped on a rock, but then she opened her mouth and all his joy evaporated. “Cooper.” She purred. “It’s so wonderful to see you. Do you know how hard it was to find you? If I didn’t know better, I would think that you’re hiding from me.”

  Cooper just looked at her and started across the road, forcing her to follow if she wanted. “Wait.” She called, but to her surprise he kept going.

  She looked at her feet, then at the field he was crossing, then started after him. “Cooper, wait. I need to talk to you.” She said, stumbling across the field, cursing the fact that this wasn’t going as she’d planned.

  He finally stopped when he heard her yelp with pain. Turning around to face her, he said, “What do you want?” Then he crossed his arms over his chest and waited for her to come to him.

  She finally got the message and walked carefully over the rough ground, looking ridiculous with each step she took. Frantically trying to come up with a reason for her visit now that her sex appeal didn’t seem to be working, she finally said, “Can’t a mother want to visit her son? I haven’t seen him in months.”

  “I see you came all the way up here to visit Brandon.” He said, skeptically. “How did you get past the guard?”

  “Oh, that. I just explained to him who I was and he let me in.” She said, licking her lips, unable to hide the secret smile on her face.

  “I can just imagine.” He said, “If you want to see Brandon he’s down by the creek, but I don’t imagine for a minute that you came here to see him. What do you want Amy?”

  Stalling since she couldn’t tell him the real reason she was here, she stepped up close to him and ran her hand up and down his arm and gave him a coy smile. “I’ve missed you Cooper. You look really good; sometimes I wonder if I made a mistake.”

  He stepped back from her with a shutter of disgust, then saw Paige coming across the field. She’d obviously seen the exchange, because she had a fierce look on her face as she approached them. Cooper stepped back a few more feet from Amy, then turned and waited for Paige to get to them. When she did, he put his arm around her waist to make it perfectly clear to Amy what this woman meant to him.

  Amy narrowed her eyes at Paige, then asked sweetly, “Oh, did you hire a nanny?”

  Paige could feel Cooper’s body stiffen at Amy’s words, but he managed to hold his temper in check. “Paige is not my nanny, she’s the lead scientist on something we’ve been working on in the park.” He said through clenched teeth.

  Amy could hardly hide her smile when she realized that she’d made Cooper mad, finally she had the upper hand. Cooper was always most vulnerable when he was mad. But then she saw Paige give Cooper a little squeeze and it seemed like his anger melted away, so much for the upper hand she’d thought she had.

  But she wasn’t here to get Cooper back, in fact she didn’t even want to be here, but thanks to some poor choices, she had no choice but to come dragging back to Cooper. She’d hoped that it would have been a simple matter of seducing him into bed to get the information she needed, but now she’d have to be more inventive.

  “Oh, I heard about some of the things you’re doing here. Isn’t there an Indian burial ground or something around here?” She asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

  Cooper narrowed his eyes at her, knowing her all too well, he was sure she was up to something and although they had kept the news about the gold coins secret he thought it was strange that she of all people had heard of the burial ground. It wouldn’t surprise him if she thought she deserved a share of what they’d found.

  “I thought you were here to see your son?” Cooper asked.

  “I am.” She said, sticking her chin out. “Where is he?”

  “He’s down by the stream.” Cooper said, pointing across the field to the stream, which couldn’t be seen, but could be heard.

  “What’s he doing down there. It can’t be safe. It’s a good thing I got here when I did. This place doesn’t look very safe.” Amy said, trying to inject some concern into her voice.

  “Brandon is perfectly capable of taking care of himself, he’s almost eleven years old.” Cooper said, not falling for her act for one second.

  “Well, a mother has to watch out for her child.” Amy said, trying to maintain her charade.

  “I’d take that for the truth if you hadn’t been happy enough to sell your son to me for 2.5 million dollars less than a year ago.” Cooper said, trying to keep his cool, especially when Paige sucked in a deep breath of shock.

  Amy panicked for a second; she was unprepared to defend herself, especially in front of another woman. “Uhhh, that wasn’t my fault, it was the attorney’s idea.” She said, quickly.

  Cooper opened his mouth to reply, but Brandon and Justin came running up from the creek, soaking wet and muddy. “Dad, I thought you were going to bring us a towel.” He said, then stopped and stared at his mother.

  Justin unaware of what was happening, came all the way up to the threesome and stood by Paige, looking from Cooper to Paige. Brandon took a few more tentative steps toward his dad, then stood next to him, clearly upset to see his mother.

  She held her arms out to him, but he didn’t move. Finally, she said, “Don’t you want to give your mother a hug? I’ve come a long way to see you.”

  Brandon looked up at his dad, then over at his mother, then back up at his dad a questioning look on his face. Cooper only shrugged his shoulders as if to say it’s up to you. Brandon made his decision and instead of hugging his mother he asked, “Where have you been?”

  “Well, I’ve been…traveling.” She finally managed to say.

  Cooper had had enough of Amy, “What are you doing here Amy?” The exasperation clear in his voice.

  “I just wanted to see Brandon.” She said, trying to look sad.

  “Well, you’ve seen him.” Cooper said, not making it any easier on her.

  “I thought maybe I could stay for a few days and visit.” Amy said, her eyes straying to Cooper’s house.

  “There’s no place here for you to stay, besides if I remember right the one time I brought you here, you hated it.” Cooper said, then added, “You’ll have to go back to town and find a place to stay if you insist on staying.”

  “I suppose that’s because she’s living with you, that’s so tacky. Besides it’s not good for Brandon; maybe he should come with me.” She said, self-righteously.

  Cooper looked down at Brandon who was clearly not enjoying the visit from his mother. “Brandon, why don’t you and Justin go in the house and play some video games, but take off those wet clothes and shoes before you go in the house.”

  “Okay dad, come on Justin.” Brandon said, relieved to be given his freedom.

  As the boys started to walk away, Paige said, “I’ll go with them and make sure they get those
muddy clothes off before they go in the house.”

  Cooper held on to her and said, “That’s okay, Amy is going to be leaving soon anyway.” Then stared at Amy until she got the message.

  “Oh, well I guess I better go find someplace to stay. It’s umm getting late.” Amy finally said, shocked that things hadn’t gone the way she’d planned. “I’m coming back tomorrow.”

  Cooper sighed and said, “I won’t stop you even thought I could, but Brandon is doing fine here and I’m not going to let you upset him. Step out of line one inch and I’ll have you removed from the property.

  “He’s my son, too.” Amy said, stomping her foot.

  “He may be your son, but you gave up any chance to be close to him when you traded him for money. Now be on your way; this visit is enough for one day.” Cooper said, taking Paige’s hand and leaving Amy standing in the middle of the field.

  When they got in the house, the boys were playing video games, but it was clear that Brandon was upset. Cooper waited until he heard Amy’s car go down the road, then took Brandon out for a walk. When they returned, Brandon looked better, but it was clear that he was still upset.

  While they’d been gone, Paige had been making Brandon’s favorite dinner, spaghetti. When he walked into the house and smelled it, he crossed the kitchen and gave Paige a hug, a bit shocked she held him for a second, until he pulled away without a word and went back into the living room. Cooper smiled at her from across the kitchen, then crossed the room and pulled her into his arms.

  “Funny how sometimes actions speak louder than words, thanks for thinking of Brandon.” He said, giving her a kiss.

  “I wanted to do something to show him that I care.” She said, shrugging her shoulders. “Is he going to be okay?”

  “Yeah, he’ll be fine. I hope Amy doesn’t come back, but I have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of her. She’s up to something — I can tell.” Cooper said, with a sigh.