The Boyfriend Contract

by Victoria James

  Emily sighed. “Pink, I guess.” There was no denying who she was.

  “So how’d you manage to do this?” he asked as he held her arm and began wrapping white cottony material around it.

  “Long story, but I ended up falling off the porch step and landing on it,” she said.

  “Ouch,” he said, working efficiently and quickly. “Do you have anyone driving you home?”

  She shook her head and suddenly the urge to cry was overwhelming. “Nope. I drove here on my own, and I can make it back okay.”

  She was fine. She could do it all on her own. Who needed men, who needed Cooper?

  She did.

  She really wished he were here, not out of duty, but because he loved her enough to fight for them. She didn’t think she’d ever get over Cooper. She had believed she’d found her soul mate, only to discover he’d found his before and didn’t want another one. A part of her had held out hope that he’d stop her when she gave him her speech, when she told him to leave. A part of her had naively hoped he would say he loved her, too, that there was room for both Catherine’s memory and for Emily. But he hadn’t.

  Chapter Twenty

  Cooper slammed his truck door shut and ran to the emergency room, his heart in his throat, hating himself. He scanned the waiting room, not seeing any sign of Emily, and then ran to the admitting desk, but no one was there. He walked back to the waiting room and went up to a young mother who was staring at him. “Was there a young woman here with brown hair and a hurt arm?”

  She nodded. “The doctor called her in a little while ago. They went that way,” she said, pointing to one of the hallways off the waiting room.

  He mumbled a thank you and ran down the hallway, stopping when he heard Emily’s soft laugh coming from one of the rooms. It almost made him smile, and it also reminded him that he was the biggest ass in the world. He followed the sound and stood in the doorway, watching Will Morrow, his old friend from high school, hold Emily’s arm and regale her with a funny story about his day.

  He cleared his throat and walked in. “I came as soon as I heard,” he said.

  Emily looked up at him, and heaviness settled in his chest, one that he knew wouldn’t leave quickly, couldn’t leave until she was okay. For a second, her face crumpled, the vulnerability and exhaustion so clear and painful for him to see, making him wish he hadn’t failed her, that she’d called him. He hadn’t been there for her, and he’d regret that for the rest of his life.

  “Whoa, careful there, Emily, I don’t want you moving,” Will said, holding onto her upper arm.

  “No worries. I’m in good hands,” she said with a wan smile, without meeting his eyes.

  “She’ll be okay,” Will said with a nod. Clearly he had no idea what their dynamic was, or that Emily was important to him. Very important. Of course he wouldn’t know that, because Cooper hadn’t brought her here. She was by herself. Cooper rubbed that spot in his chest that ached as he watched Will finish Emily’s cast.

  “I’m all done here,” Will said, attaching the final piece of pink webbing to Emily’s cast. How had things gone this wrong? He could barely even stand to see her like this. This never should have happened. It was his fault. He waffled between rage and concern and wanted nothing more than to spend the night explaining to her what an idiot he’d been and then making it up to her.

  Will helped her down from the examination bed, and she winced, and he noticed again how pale she was. “Is Cooper your ride home?” Will said to Emily, not addressing him at all.

  “No,” she said at the same time he said, “Yes.”

  He looked back and forth between them. “Okay, how about I let you two figure that out. I’ve got a full waiting room.”

  “Thanks, doctor,” Emily said, shooting him a beautiful smile. He wanted to tell her he was just Will who was an idiot in high school, but he didn’t think she’d appreciate that.

  Will patted him on the shoulder. “Good to see you, Coop. How’s, uh…Callie?”

  Cooper frowned at him. “Fine. Why?”

  He averted his gaze. “Just being friendly,” he said before leaving.

  The room was empty, and Emily tried to bypass him, but he didn’t move. “Sweetheart, I need to talk to you.”

  “Maybe tomorrow. I’m so wiped. I just want to go home,” she said in a voice devoid of the emotion that usually filled it.

  “I can drive you.”

  “No thanks. Please move away from the door.”

  Before he could even move, a large hand clamped down on his shoulder. He turned around to see a giant beast of a man glaring down at him.

  “I think Emily asked you to move away,” he said in a threatening voice.

  What. The. Hell.

  “I’m okay,” Emily said, shooting the giant man a smile. “He’s just a harmless, confused friend.”

  Cooper shoved his hands in his pockets and forced himself to keep his mouth shut.

  The man narrowed his dark eyes on Cooper. “Are you sure? Is this the guy who put you in that cast?”

  Cooper stood straighter, heat searing through him at the comment. “Of course not,” he snapped.

  Emily tugged on the back of his shirt. “No, it wasn’t him. He’s a friend. Time for us to go.” She patted her new friend on the arm. “Good luck to you.”

  The man’s features softened when he looked down at Emily. Cooper was speechless and intrigued all at the same time. The man moved aside and continued to glare at Cooper as they left the room.

  “Thank you,” he heard the man whisper to Emily.

  “Bye, lady!” a little boy yelled as they made their way through the waiting room.

  “Thank you so much, Emily,” the boy’s mother said.

  “Oh, I need to talk to her,” Emily said, and left his side, crouching next to the woman. He couldn’t hear what she was saying, but the young lady was nodding and wiping tears from her eyes. Emily opened her purse, her movements awkward and jerky with only the one arm in use. He kept his hands in his pockets because he wanted to help and knew she wouldn’t welcome it. She finally pulled out a notepad and pen, and when a bag of Cheetos dropped to the ground, he walked over to pick it up for her. His chest squeezed uncomfortably tight as she remembered the first time he met her, the first time he’d touched her orange, Cheetos-stained hands. He’d fought her appeal for so long, and then he’d fought his own love for her even longer, until he’d shut her down. He took a shallow breath as he waited for Emily to finish, very aware of how this entire waiting room was somehow connected to her. He was the outsider.

  Emily reached out and squeezed the woman’s hand before standing. She smiled up at her as though Emily had just handed her a million dollars. He had no idea what the hell was happening here or how Emily knew an entire waiting room full of people.

  “You got yourself a special lady there, boy. Better treat her right,” an elderly man, who could barely stand, yelled from the other side of the waiting room, poking his cane in the air.

  Cooper gave him an awkward nod.

  “Bye, Edna, bye, Sawyer!” Emily said, waving at them with her good arm.

  He kept his hand on the small of her back and tried to keep them moving toward the exit. Somehow, Emily had endeared herself to a bunch of strangers. He shouldn’t be surprised; she was special. If he managed to convince her to speak to him tonight, he’d tell her about the other crowd she’d managed to win over as well.

  When they reached the parking lot, she stopped walking suddenly and looked up at him. “While it was very thoughtful that you, a friend, or rather, a contracted tradesman, would drive all the way out here to help a customer, it is not needed. I’m more than capable of driving myself home, and if I were really desperate I would have asked one of my newfound friends to drive me.”

  He stared at the pride stamped so clearly on her beautiful features and wanted to call bullshit on all of it but realized he’d lost the right. He’d failed her. He cleared his throat.

  “You mu
st be exhausted and in pain and in no condition to drive. Let me take you,” he said gently, taking a step closer to her.

  She gave him a tight smile. “I don’t need your pity drive. I don’t know how you found out I was here, but I don’t need help. It’s not personal. I just don’t need help from anyone.”

  He clenched his teeth. He knew this was going to be hard. He knew she was going to be mad at him, but he hadn’t counted on how much it would hurt him to be one of the bad guys. He reached for her hand, but she backed up a step, holding her chin high. Even though it was dark, he could see how tired she was. “I don’t pity you. I’m here because I love you, and I screwed up badly, sweetheart.”

  Her chin wobbled, but then she crossed her arms—or tried to cross her arms but gave up because of the cast. “You can’t just come and stalk me and tell me…things.”

  “I love you, that’s why I’m here. I want to make things right. I want to make you understand why I did what I did. But before anything else, you need to know that I walked away because of how much I love you.”

  “Cooper, I’m tired, I’m hungry, and I’m cold. I don’t know what to think anymore, and I don’t even want to think anymore. I’ve had one of the crappiest weeks of my life, and I want to go home.”

  Her voice was small and defeated, and it ripped right through him, making him want to take back everything he’d said to her that day. He wanted to give her the love she deserved to have, the life she deserved to have. “Let me take you home,” he said, reaching her good hand.

  She looked up at him and didn’t remove her hand from his. “Am I an idiot for letting you?”

  “I promise, you won’t regret it,” he said, taking a step closer to her, desperate to hold her but not wanting her to shut down on him completely.

  She closed her eyes. “I’m so tired, Cooper,” she whispered.

  “I know,” he said, wrapping his arms around her and kissing the top of her head. She rested her head against his check but left her arms by her side, and it killed him because a few days ago, she would have called him, a few days ago he would have felt her hands around his waist, a few days ago, she would have smiled up at him. “Come on. Let me take you home. I’ll get your car for you tomorrow.”

  Cooper opened the passenger side of his truck and supported her as she climbed in before he walked around to his side. He started the car and pulled out of the parking lot without saying a word. He glanced at Emily, but she was hunched over as far from him as possible, her head resting on the back of the seat, her face toward her window. “Are you cold?” he asked.

  “Sort of.”

  He turned on the heat and drove in silence, not wanting to talk about everything now because he needed to give her his full attention. He wanted to watch her. He wanted to reach out and hold her hand or put his hand on her thigh, but this wasn’t about what he wanted.

  His gut churned and his mind raced as he tried to piece together what had happened today. “Are you warmer now?” he asked as they approached the outskirts of Maple Hill.

  When she didn’t say anything he turned to look at her, only to find her soundly sleeping. When he looked at Emily, he knew in his gut that it was beyond her beauty, beyond the wild attraction to her, he knew it was her heart that made him want to be by her side forever.

  He took the turnoff to her place and soon he was pulling into her circular driveway. Once he parked, he looked over, hoping Emily had woken, but he could still hear her deep, even breathing, and her eyelids didn’t even flicker.

  He got out of the truck quietly and then opened her side. Without thinking twice, he leaned in and scooped her up. She let out a sad whimper when her injured arm came in contact with his chest, and she opened her eyes. He was halfway up the walkway.

  “What are you doing? Put me down, Cooper. I can walk. I broke my arm, I didn’t break my leg.”

  “You’re exhausted.”

  “You don’t have to be nice to me because you feel guilty. I have friends, you know. I just decided to go to the hospital on my own.”

  He clenched his teeth and put her down once they reached the door. She thought this was all out of guilt. “I don’t feel guilty. Well, actually, I do, but that’s not what this is about.” He unlocked the door and held it open. She passed through, but not before giving him a glare as scary as the beast in the hospital waiting room…which reminded him, if she was still speaking to him later tonight, he would question her about that. He couldn’t question her about anything right now, though, because Morgan and his sister came barrelling down the hallway.

  “He broke your arm!” Morgan raged, running over to Emily, and shocked the hell out of him by throwing her arms around Emily’s neck. Emily stumbled back a step but held onto the girl. He had seen a whole other side to Morgan today, and even if the girl didn’t realize it, even if Emily didn’t realize it, Emily had become an important and trusted person in her life. His sister nudged him with wide eyes, and he knew then that she was just as shocked as he was about Emily’s brother.

  As soon as Morgan let go of Emily, his sister bulldozed her. Callie’s eyes were filled with questions and concern as she held his stare over Emily’s shoulder. He glanced away because he felt helpless and without answers, and more than anything he wanted to make this right for Em. “Are you okay, sweetie?” Callie asked, holding Emily’s good arm when she finally pulled back.

  Emily nodded, and to her credit even managed a smile. “I’m fine, I promise. I just need an Advil and a good night’s sleep.”

  “Okay, done. Morgan, you get the Advil and a glass of water. I’ll help Emily upstairs and get her settled,” Callie said, taking charge.

  He stood there like the odd man out. They were women comforting Emily and supporting her, and he was grateful that she had them. It also made him realize he wasn’t what Emily needed right now. He’d had his chance with her, and he’d blown it. It was going to take more than some one-sided conversation in the car that was too little too late.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Emily walked through the open doors to the council chamber with Morgan and Callie by her side. She held her head up high and plastered the fake smile she’d rehearsed for so many years in Toronto as she walked to the front.

  “There’s tons of people here,” Morgan whispered.

  “It’s all good. I’m getting good vibes,” Callie said as they kept walking.

  “It’ll be fine,” Emily answered, not really sure it was going to be fine at all. She needed to get through this council meeting and then she could go back home and sleep for days. By herself.

  Callie and Morgan sat beside her in the front row. Her stomach was tied so tightly that the snug cast on her arm felt loose by comparison. There were way more people than she’d hoped. Judging by the ever-escalating voices, more people kept pouring in. How big was this small town, anyway? How much of a fight did she have left in her? They were going to get her when she was down.

  “There’s my family,” Callie whispered. “Everyone except Cooper, but I know he’ll be here. He wouldn’t miss this. He was the one who got the mayor to agree to having this meeting tonight because of your…emergency situation.”

  Emily didn’t want to burst Callie’s bubble about her brother. She had already spotted the family—and the fact that Cooper wasn’t with them. That ache in her heart seemed to double and intensify. She hadn’t seen him since he’d dropped her off at home last night. She had hoped that he’d be by in the morning, but there’d been no sign of him. Maybe rushing out to the hospital had just been a heroic display, but ultimately he knew they could never be more. Emily forced herself to glance in the direction of the Merrick family and gave a little wave before returning her attention to the front of the chamber, where the mayor began speaking.

  After about five minutes of trying not to fidget in her seat, her name and property proposal were announced. “Good luck. You got this,” Callie whispered.

  “Whoever doesn’t agree with you is a loser,” Morga
n added.

  Emily almost laughed, except when she saw the size of the line forming at the second microphone, she forgot how to breathe. This town didn’t give up; they didn’t want her here. Lifting her head high, she stood. “You got this, Em,” Callie whispered.

  Emily made her way to the podium, carefully avoiding eye contact with anyone. With her good arm, she awkwardly laid out her notes while inwardly chanting that she could do this. She cleared her throat and adjusted the microphone a little lower and waited for her cue. The noise from the crowd died down as her heart rate increased.

  Within ten minutes she’d made her pitch succinctly and confidently, despite the panic that rose as more and more people lined up at the other stand while she spoke—including Bernice, Catherine’s mother. Emily clutched the side of the wood podium with one hand as dread pooled in her stomach faster than the night she caught Buttons with her first mouse victim.

  She glanced at Callie and Morgan. Callie gave her a thumbs-up, even though Emily could see the panic in her eyes. Morgan was glaring at the people in line.

  Bernice spoke first. “I am wholeheartedly in support of Ms. Birmingham’s shelter. I think her generosity and kindness are a wonderful addition to this town. I would personally love to volunteer at a charity such as this.”

  Emily’s mouth dropped open, and her throat tightened as she continued to listen to Bernice—and then everyone else echoing Bernice’s statement.

  “If we are ready to take a vote on the proposal to amend the zoning?” the mayor asked, pausing as the council members agreed. “All those in favor?”

  “Wait! I have something to add.”

  She knew that voice. Emily sucked in a breath as though she’d been punched.

  Cooper strode down the aisle, holding something in his hand, holding her gaze. He stood in front of the microphone, still staring at her, ignoring Austin’s remark about it being about damn time, and cleared his throat. “I would also like to show the council the additional plans I’ve made,” he said, shooting her a quick glance before unraveling a set of blueprints. She walked forward hesitantly as he spread the rolled-up sheets on the table.