by Len Webster
“You sure about this?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure. It’s time I left Daylesford.”
Graham pressed his lips together. The disappointment flared in his blue eyes. “All right,” he said as he rounded the desk and held his hand out to Cooper. “I think you’re making a mistake, but all right. If you ever change your mind, just come back, okay?”
Cooper shook his now ex-boss’ hand and gave him a reassuring smile. “Thanks, Graham.”
It was almost 7 p.m. when he took a swig of Sprite and set the can on the kitchen table as he began to pack away some of his plates.
“Are you sure you want to leave tonight?” his little sister asked.
Cooper glanced down at his phone to see Margot’s concerned expression. They had been FaceTiming for almost ten minutes. He had needed someone there to keep him occupied. Choosing Margot was a mistake since all she wanted to talk about was Peyton.
“I’m sure. I already handed in my resignation letter. I’ve vacuumed the entire house. Scrubbed the benches and cleaned the bathroom. This place is ready for the next renters. I just gotta pack my stuff and I can head back.”
Margot groaned. “It’s a long drive, Coop. You’ll get lonely. Phil and I can come down to Daylesford in the morning and drive back to Warren Meadows with you. Your house is still being leased. So you can stay at our place instead of Mum and Dad’s. We just need time to get the guest room ready.”
He knew what she was playing at. She was stalling him in hopes he’d change his mind. But he was ready to leave the small town and Peyton behind.
“You have like three hours, Margot. That’s plenty of time. I’ll probably stop by somewhere and have dinner.”
“Please, Coop?” his sister begged. “Please leave Daylesford in the morning. One night won’t kill you.”
He was tired. And he didn’t really want to make the three-hour trip on his own with only the radio to keep him company. Once again, his sister was right.
“All right, I’ll leave in the morning. You and Phil better be here first thing.”
She smiled at the camera. “That’s what I thought. So stop rushing with your escape plans. Rest up because we have a long drive ahead of us tomorrow!”
“Thanks, Marg—” A knock on his front door had him stopping. Several knocks were then made, but he kept his eyes on the screen filled with his sister’s face.
“Someone’s at your door,” Margot pointed out.
“I’m aware.”
“You should answer it. Isn’t that small town etiquette, to answer the doors and be polite? Don’t be rude, Coop.”
“Pretty sure that’s a stereotype. I’ll see what they want and we’ll talk about Megs’ birthday—”
“Uh, no,” Margot cut him off. “I’m going to go to the pub with my boyfriend because I cannot handle you and Meredith’s problems right now.”
He flinched in surprise. “Meredith’s back?”
She shook her head. “No, but I think she misses home. I’m trying to convince her to come home. So if she does decide to come back, things here in Warren Meadows will get interesting. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Does Sam know …” he began to say, knowing that if those two ever saw each other again, Warren Meadows was in for a shakeup. She shook her head once again. “Good luck.”
“Thanks. Now, go answer the door. Mother never taught you to be rude.”
He laughed. “No, you and Megs did.” Then he hung up her FaceTime call and got out of the chair. The knocks continued, and he sighed in annoyance. God forbid if it were Mrs Peterson and her rabbit problems. If White Rabbit got out at this hour, there was no hope of finding him. Cooper reached the door, flicked on the porch lights, exhaled heavily, and twisted the doorknob open.
He winced.
“Peyton,” he breathed. Just her name alone mended one of the thousand cracks his heart had.
“I’m sorry,” she said through her tears.
What?
Cooper stood there, taking in the trail of moisture each tear had left on her cheeks. His heart ached at the sight before him. The heartbreak in her eyes could bring him to his knees.
She sniffed and swallowed a deep breath. “I’ve been so selfish,” she mumbled. “I should have told you … Graham told me you were leaving …”
“Peyton, I’m busy—”
The shake of her head had him shutting his mouth.
“Please don’t go, Cooper. Please.”
“I can’t—”
She took a step forward. Her body close to his. “Please, listen to me. Please. That’s all I ask. Please listen.”
He sighed, hoping that exhale could extinguish the heat in his chest. “All right,” he agreed.
Peyton swept her light brown hair behind her ear. He saw the flash of fear in her eyes, and he was sure that good news wasn’t about to leave her pretty lips. The same lips he had missed in the last month. She sucked in air through her nose as she brushed her tears away.
Then she looked him in the eye and said, “I love you.”
Shock.
Disbelief.
Both filled his entire body, rendering him speechless. Cooper had no explanation as to how he felt. Sensations overwhelmed. Sensations that started in his chest. And sensations he had never felt before.
Peyton Spencer loved him.
His reply had been slow blinks as he processed her three words.
The fear had doubled in her eyes as tears accompanied them. She was scared that he’d reject her.
Impossible.
He already knew what to say. He had been dying to say it for months.
Without reserve, he said, “I love you, too, Peyton.”
Her sharp inhale was all he needed to know that his confession had caught her off guard. Surely, she had to have known that he loved her. But now, she knew for certain. She began to cry once more as she reached up, cupped his face, and smashed their lips together.
The explosion in his chest from her mouth on his was one he had missed.
The Peyton who loved him was his.
Just as much as he was hers.
He loved her.
Fell in love with her the moment she had laughed on the day they had met.
Her lips had fluttered over his once more before she pulled back and whispered, “Please don’t leave. Please stay, Cooper. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Cooper reached up and held her wrists. “I said things …” He panted. “I said things I wish I could take back.”
“Can we talk? I’d like to tell you everything if you’d let me.”
“Everything?” he breathed.
Peyton’s lips curved into a small smile. “Everything. Do you have time? It’s a long story.”
He nodded as he pulled her hands away from his face and tugged her into his house. Once Peyton was inside, he closed the door and then faced her. The relief that consumed her face had his heart beating fast in his chest. She loved him. She loved him enough to be honest with him.
“Coop,” she said softly, her eyes never leaving his. “If you leave Daylesford …”
Just the thought of leaving her had his stomach churning. He couldn’t leave.
Not now.
Not when she had said that she loved him.
“If you leave, I’ll follow,” she revealed.
“But the hotel—”
She shrugged a shoulder. “I never left and chased after Callum. And sometimes, I regret that. I’m not gonna make the same mistake twice. If you leave Daylesford tonight, I’ll leave with you.” Tears filled her eyes. “After we made love … I woke up and saw his name on my wrist. And it reminded me of the last time I was in his arms in my bed. I love Callum. I’ll always love him. I have my hotel because of him. But being with you exposed parts of me, vulnerable parts, that I didn’t think I could experience.”
Cooper closed their distance and cradled her face. “I should have taken things a lot slower.”
“No, I should have just tol
d you why. Mads said I had a mental and emotional snap. What she doesn’t know is that being with you made me realise how much more I love you than I do Callum. I got the chance to love you more. And it made me feel so guilty. All those promises I made felt like lies. I felt like I was cheating on him, which I shouldn’t feel because he’s gone. But I did. I was processing it all wrong,” she said; tears skimmed her face and landed on his thumbs.
“No, Peyton, you weren’t. I shouldn’t have said what I did. I should have just been patient and waited,” he said.
The makings of a smile tugged at her lips. “I didn’t know how to tell you I loved you after you left. I knew I had screwed things up between us if I made you feel that way. I was ashamed that I couldn’t get past the guilt and be the girlfriend you deserved.”
“I’m the one who should be ashamed. I love you, Peyton, and I promise never to treat you like that ever again. I will never yell at you. I will never doubt your love or affection ever again,” he promised.
“So you’ll stay?” she asked in a small voice.
He nodded. “Of course.”
Peyton’s lips pressed to his. “You have no idea how happy and relieved I am to hear you say that. When Graham told me you were leaving, I felt like my heart was being ripped out slowly. I couldn’t imagine my life without you. I can’t imagine not having tea with you. I can’t imagine not being carried by you when my feet hurt. I can’t imagine the rest of my life with anyone but you, Cooper. I know Callum is the elephant in the room. Tonight, I’ll tell you everything. From when we were seventeen to when he left and then came back. When the hotel burned down … and when he died in my arms. I’ll tell you everything.”
“Are you sure you’re ready?”
“Yes,” she answered. “I’m sure.”
“Okay, I’ll go make you some tea. Sit down and we’ll talk.”
She nodded as Cooper kissed her forehead. Then he dropped his hands from her face and made his way to the kitchen. Just as he made it to the door, he heard her say, “Coop.”
He stopped instantly and spun around. Peyton wore a smile. One that wasn’t too large or small. It was perfect. A smile that was natural and had a sense of freedom in it.
“I love you,” she said. Then she took a deep breath. “For the rest of my life, I will.”
His heart clenched at her confession.
The vulnerability in her voice was stunning.
He felt her love. Saw it in her eyes and heard it in her voice.
It was real.
“I love you, Peyton. All my life, I will love you,” he promised. When she smiled, he made his way to the kitchen. Noticing his phone, he picked it up and began to text Margot.
Cooper: I’m staying in Daylesford.
Margot: I knew you would.
I had never felt like more of an asshole than those weeks of my life.
Margot: We have an issue.
Cooper: We?
Margot: Yeah, as in you and Peyton. Mother is going to be assessing the livestock.
Cooper: My girlfriend isn’t meat, Margot.
Margot: Ah, but to Mum, she is.
Cooper: Don’t you dare say it.
Margot: The woman who gave you life would like to meet the love of your life.
Cooper: SHIT.
Margot: YEP.
Cooper: When?
Margot: Saturday. Megs is coming, too.
Cooper: You, Dad, and Phil?
Margot: Will be mediators. Peyton will sweep them off their feet. I’m sure of it.
Cooper set his phone down on the kitchen table and glanced up to find his girlfriend at the bench, cutting the potatoes. It had been three months since she had told him about her relationship with Callum Reid. They had been best friends until the summer they were seventeen when Callum had kissed her under the cherry blossom tree by her window. Peyton had told Cooper about her pain and devastation when he had left Daylesford days after she had given him her virginity. That was the day she and Graham had become best friends. Her parents had died months later and Callum didn’t return. Little had she known that he was going through chemo after being diagnosed with a brain tumour. Four and a half years later, after Peyton took over the hotel and she had established a friendship with Jay Preston, Callum returned.
Slowly, they had rediscovered their love for each other once again. Jay Preston had been jealous and had cut ties with Peyton. The original hotel, the Spencer-Dayle, had burned to the ground. Jay had instructed the volunteer firefighters to let it burn. That was the night Peyton saw the real Jay. Weeks later, she would find out that the dishwasher he had fixed had been the cause of the fire. His negligence had cost her the hotel her parents had renovated. Callum had designed her new plans and urged her to call the new hotel the Spencer. At June’s album launch, Callum had walked Peyton to the pier where he had told her he loved her for the last time before he had passed away in her arms.
To pay tribute to him, she had named the hotel after him as well.
The Spencer-Reid.
For the entire time Peyton had told her story, Cooper had remained silent. This was her moving on. This was her finding another way to heal from his death. Cooper had held her hand as she spoke. When she had finished, he had carried her to his bed and held her tight until she fell asleep. The morning after, when he had woken to her smile, he knew that she was free from her guilt. That they could be together without her past hindering her. She would always love Callum Reid, and he would never try to take that away from her. But Cooper had learnt that she also loved him and had enough space in her heart to have a future with him in it.
“Peyton,” he said.
She glanced over her shoulder. “Yeah?”
Cooper stood up from his chair and crossed the kitchen to her. Then he wrapped his arms around her and settled his chin on her shoulder. She continued to cut the vegetable as he shifted to kiss the curve of her neck.
“Stop,” she said with a giggle. “Coop, seriously, I’m going to cut myself if you don’t stop.”
He peppered kisses up and down her neck until he pressed his lips against the soft spot under her ear. Then he pulled away and next to her ear, he whispered, “My family wants to meet you.”
Cooper heard her hiss. He glanced down to see her finger bleeding all over the chopping board.
“Holy shit,” he said and quickly let go of her. Cooper went to the oven door handle and removed the tea towel that hung over it. He hurried back to his girlfriend to find her washing her wound at the sink.
“If I believed in signs the way Jenny does, then this is not a good one,” Peyton said, staring at her index finger.
“Is it deep?” he asked as he set the tea towel next to her and picked up the bloody chopping board and knife. The potato that had sat in the middle of the wooden board was quickly disposed of. Cooper carefully set the knife and board in the sink as Peyton turned off the tap and stepped back.
He grabbed the tea towel and was by her side in seconds. Cooper dabbed the material on her index finger several times as blood continued to seep through the slice in her skin. As he wound the length of the towel around her finger, Peyton said in a low voice, “I would love to meet them, Coop. But I’m scared that I won’t make a very good first impression.”
His eyes darted to hers. “They’re going to love you.”
Then she frowned. “I’ve never met anyone’s parents.”
“Darlin’, you have nothing to be worried about,” he reassured and then planted a kiss on her lips. “Trust me. They will love you.”
“Oh, God. Oh, God,” Peyton whispered as they stood at the front of the Spencer-Reid. It had been his idea to have it at the hotel. More room and a public place to force his mother to be nice.
The truth was, Cooper had no idea if his mother would like Peyton. He’d be surprised if she didn’t. His girlfriend was the kind of girl you brought home to meet your parents. She was it. The ultimate package. Smart, beautiful, and successful. There was absolutely nothing he coul
d find that faulted anything about her.
Cooper grasped her left hand in his and squeezed. “It’s okay, Peyton. I’ll be right here with you.”
From the corner of his eye, he could see her tight smile. She had made a nod that he knew was her encouraging herself.
“Oh, God. That’s them, isn’t it?” she asked. The fear in her voice bordered on cute.
He looked out to see his mother, father, sisters, Phil, and Rhys walking up the path towards them. Peyton’s grip on his hand tightened and he let out a chuckle. She had been up since five a.m. making sure she chose the freshest ingredients, prepped their food, and ensured that the hotel was to perfection. He had woken up to her note saying that she had gone down to the Spencer-Reid to set up and that had been at eight a.m. When he had showered and dressed, he arrived to her admitting that she had left the house at almost six in the morning.
“Cooper!” Margot squealed.
She wasn’t a squealer.
It could only mean one thing.
Trouble.
She only used that squealy voice when someone had pissed her off to the point where she was thinking murder.
“That’s Margot,” he said to his girlfriend. “The only person’s opinion who matters to me in my family is hers.”
Peyton let out a nervous groan.
When his family reached them, he smiled and turned his body. “Peyton, this is my family.”
“Hello,” she said sweetly, but he heard the nerves. She was trying really hard for him, and he couldn’t help but fall in love with her all over again. Peyton was out of her comfort zone. He knew that, and she knew that, too.
“Margot, this is Peyton,” he introduced.
Peyton held out her hand and Margot cringed. She hated formality. Instead, she wrapped her arms around Peyton, causing his girlfriend’s hand to part from his.
“It’s so great to meet you,” Margot said with an honest smile. “You are way too beautiful for my brother,” she remarked once she had ended their embrace.
“Thank you,” Peyton said, her cheeks blushing a brilliant pink.
