The Cowboy's Healing Ways (Cooper Creek) (8 page)

“I think so.”

He stood back as she climbed in and then slid across to the passenger seat. Inside the building the caseworker had stood but she still held Abigail in her arms.

“Where to now?” Laura’s eyes were still on the building they were backing away from.

“I ran errands while you were visiting Abigail. We can go home, unless you have something you need to do in Tulsa.”

She looked down at her phone as if she had something on her mind, and then she shook her head. “No, I’m good.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

He glanced both ways, waited for a few cars to speed past and then pulled onto the road.

“It won’t be long and you’ll have her home with you.” He offered the assurance that he knew sounded like empty words when her heart had to be breaking.”

“I know.” She let out a deep sigh. “It’s been so long. I know it isn’t her entire childhood, but at this point it feels as if it is.”

“I’m sure it does.”

She let out a shaky breath and smiled at him with tears still hovering in her eyes. “Let’s talk about you.”

He grinned at that. “Sure, why not?”

Before she could ask questions, her phone rang. She glanced at it and shook her head. Jesse shot her a questioning look that she didn’t seem inclined to notice.

And he wasn’t inclined to let it go, not when she looked about ready to jump out of her skin.

“Who is it?”

“No one,” she whispered and looked away.

He had half a notion to pull the truck over but thought it would push her to the point of jumping and running. Instead he gave it a minute, let her settle down, and then he tried again.

“Laura, if it was no one, you wouldn’t have that look on your face. I’m asking because maybe I can help.”

She glanced at the phone again and he thought she might be about to toss it out the window. Instead she shoved it in her purse. He kept his eyes on the road but glanced her way from time to time.

“It’s my stepbrother.”

“Have you talked to him?”

A quick nod. “Yes. He needs money. I told him I don’t have money so he’s on his own.”

“Has he threatened you?”

“Not really. He asked how Abigail is doing in foster care and told me he’d heard that her foster family is real nice.”

Jesse gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. “That isn’t a threat, but it does sound like he’s trying to make you think he knows where she is for some reason.”

“I know. So on top of not having her with me, now I’m worried every second of every day that he’ll do something to her.”

All of his life, Jesse had been pegged as the calm one in the Cooper household. He knew how to let things roll off his back. He could handle pressure in the emergency room of a hospital or in the middle of a Cooper-brother fight. He’d always taken that calm for granted and thought it was as natural as breathing. Until that moment. Looking at Laura, her face awash in fear for her daughter, he lost control.

“We’ll take care of this.” Now he wanted to pull over and do more than talk. He wanted to pull the woman he’d hired as a housekeeper into his arms and make her feel safe.

Messed up, that’s what this situation had become. He’d done a good deed for his grandmother and the ball kept rolling.

“I’m fine, Jesse. I can handle it.”

Because that’s what she did, he thought. She handled her life, her problems, her fears. Alone.

“Laura, you have people who can help. It’s your choice. Hide your fear. Hide what’s going on. Or let the Coopers do what they do best.”

“What’s that?”

“We circle the wagons. And it’s a good feeling, to have the family circle the wagons around you.” He glanced at the clock on the dash of the truck. “As a matter of fact, Mom called earlier and said we should stop by for supper. We’re going to be a little early, but that’s okay. We’ll get this figured out.”

She sniffled and glanced away. He let her have the moment to pull it together because he remembered what this felt like, to suddenly have people he could count on. He’d fought it for a while, thinking he still had to take care of himself. Then he’d given in and let the Coopers be his family.

They’d do the same with Laura because that’s who the Coopers were.

Chapter Seven

S
omehow Laura fell asleep. When she woke up they were driving up a tree-lined drive. Ahead of them she could see a two-story brick home, Georgian-style with a covered front porch flanked by shrubs. Jesse pulled the truck into a parking space in front of the two-story multicar garage.

“Here we are.” He shot her a cautious look. “Good nap?”

She nodded and continued to stare at the house because it was easier than looking at Jesse. Not that he wasn’t easy on the eyes. He was her boss and a decent man who didn’t mind helping out a woman in need. Caring came easy for him. She didn’t want to confuse caring with any other emotion, even attraction.

“Yes, good nap.” She looked at her watch. “We’re a few hours early for supper.”

“I know. I thought I’d show you around. And I know the best way to get your mind off your troubles.”

“What would that be?”

He smiled that megawatt smile that could melt a girl’s toes if she wasn’t strong. Laura liked to think she was strong.

“Do you know how to ride?”

She shook her head. “Sorry, never been on a horse. I grew up in the city. I can ride a bus but not a horse.”

“Then it’s time to learn.”

“I don’t know.”

He opened his door to get out. “Trust me.”

She wanted to, but her heart ached and she was all out of trust. It had been used up, poured out, stepped on and depleted long ago.

She joined him on the walkway that led to the house. As they drew closer to the huge home, her breath tightened in her chest. Jesse glanced down and smiled.

“Breathe.” He reached for her hand.

“I’m breathing.” Barely. His hand on hers didn’t help. She knew he meant it to comfort her, give her strength. Instead it made her feel weak. Mostly in the knees.

When they walked up the front steps of the house the door opened. A man a little older than Jesse stepped out. He nodded first to her, then to Jesse, and he shook his head. “Housekeeper my foot.”

Jesse muttered something in Spanish. The other man laughed and kept walking but he glanced back as he headed down the steps. Laura stumbled over the slight step into the house.

“Ignore Blake. He’s in a good mood and taking it out on everyone around him.” Jesse led her through the living room, barely giving her time to study the family pictures on the walls or the massive fireplace that stretched across the far wall.

“Blake is one of your brothers?”

“Yes.” He led her through a dining room with two long tables set end to end. “He recently found his daughter.”

“Found her?”

“Her mother took off with her years ago. There have been a few phone calls, some pictures. He hired a P.I. who found her living in Africa.”

“Amazing.” She could sympathize because she knew how it felt to lose a daughter. She couldn’t imagine years without Abigail.

And then they were in the kitchen. A woman turned from the sink, her smile bright and welcoming. She wiped wet hands on a towel and then brushed back her short brown hair.

“Mom.” Jesse hugged the woman and she stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “This is Laura White.”

“Laura, I’m so pleased to finally meet you. And I’m so glad you’re feeling better.” She patted Jesse’s arm. “And since we haven’t been officially introduced, I’m Angie Cooper, Jesse’s mother and Myrna’s daughter-in-law.”

Laura held out a hand, which Angie Cooper took in hers and held.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Cooper.”

“Call me Angie—everyone does.”

“Angie.” Laura bit down on her bottom lip and then managed a smile rather than the tears that stung her eyes.

Angie shot Jesse a look. He had moved to the stove and had a dipper in a pan that steamed and smelled wonderful. “Stay out of that soup.”

Jesse lowered the dipper and grinned. Laura looked away, choosing to study the details of the large kitchen with its many windows and shelves lined with planters overflowing with herbs of all types. At one end was a large table, and French doors led to a patio where a swimming pool reflected the blue sky on its shimmering surface.

“I hope you like the soup, Laura. It’s a new recipe. And I have homemade bread rising.”

“I’m sure it will be wonderful.”

Jesse leaned against the counter, casual, relaxed. “Dad home?”

“No, he’s in Grove picking up another silly llama. I don’t know why he has this sudden thing for those animals. They growl.”

“He says he’s giving one to each of his grandkids for Christmas.”

“Craziness.” Angie picked a few basil leaves and rinsed them before crumbling them in the soup. “Did you need to talk to him?”

Jesse looked from his mother to Laura, and Laura had to look away. His eyes were kind, considerate. This was how it felt to have wagons circled.

“Laura’s stepbrother is making her feel a little threatened.” Jesse turned to pour a cup of coffee. He handed it to Laura and she took it, more for the warmth it offered than anything else. “He’s making her feel like her daughter might be in danger.”

“Where is your daughter, Laura?”

“In a foster home in Tulsa.” Laura’s voice felt weak, shaky. “I’m sure Ryan won’t hurt her.”

“Are you?” Angie Cooper stepped close, putting a hand on Laura’s back. “Because you look like a mom who’s scared to death for her child.”

“I’m...”

Angie took the coffee cup from Laura’s hands and set it on the counter before enveloping her in a hug. “Don’t you worry—we’ll help you.”

It was a strange feeling for Laura, being in this house, with these people, a family of strangers. Angie Cooper stood next to her and Jesse leaned his hip against the counter. Laura refocused on Angie.

“I’m not sure what we can do.” Laura looked out the window, mesmerized by the glimmering waters of the pool. “The system isn’t going to change its policy for one person. And I don’t know that she’d be any safer with me. Or even that he’d hurt her.”

“I know a thing or two about how this system works.” Angie smiled and patted her arm. “I’m very good at pulling strings and moving mountains.”

Laura stepped back, wiping her eyes again. She reminded herself that once, a long time ago, her mother had made promises that everything would be better. She wanted to crush the old negativity, the voices telling her not to trust.

Her stepbrother had said he would get a job and help pay the rent on her apartment in Tulsa.

Her stepfather had promised more than once to quit drinking, to quit abusing, to get a job. He’d never done any of those things for more than a week.

As much as she wanted to believe people were really as good as the Coopers, Laura knew she’d have to fight a lifetime of being let down in order to trust.

She looked up to find Jesse watching her. His expression said he understood. She wondered how he could.

He pushed away from the counter, standing tall again, making her feel small in comparison. It wasn’t so much his height as his presence. The doctor she’d met just days ago had morphed into a cowboy, the son of a rancher. His jeans were worn and his boots were scuffed. He had held her and made her feel safer than she’d felt in years.

“I’m going to take Laura out and show her the stable.”

His mom shot him a look, her eyes narrowing as she glanced from Jesse to Laura. And Laura felt heat slide up her cheeks. Because that look implied something that Laura wanted to openly deny. But how desperate would it be to open her mouth and tell Angie Cooper that there was nothing between Jesse and herself?

Angie’s smile returned, easing the worried lines that had creased her brow. “Don’t saddle Willie. He’s had a tendon problem that Jackson is doctoring.”

“Thanks.” He kissed his mom’s cheek, then nodded toward the door. “Let’s go. And, Mom, when Dad gets back, tell him we need to talk about Gran. I’m worried about her.”

“Okay, Jesse.”

Laura smiled back at Angie Cooper, hoping it wasn’t worry that she saw in that woman’s eyes. Because to Laura, worry equaled a woman not wanting her son to get involved with the wrong person.

They walked out a back door into sunshine and the sound of bees buzzing around clover in the grass. Jesse walked with an easy stride, comfortable in his own skin and his place in this world.

“If you stay tense like that, you’ll make yourself sick.” He smiled as he made the comment and Laura managed a deep breath that she let out slowly, hoping to relax.

“I’m not tense.”

“Enough to snap.” He touched her back only briefly and then dropped his hands to his sides.

“Your mom is great.” Laura let her gaze travel over the ranch, the rolling hills, the white fences, cattle grazing in the distance and horses in a nearby field.

Ahead of them lay the stable, a huge building with several paddocks or corrals attached. A truck and a SUV were parked out front.

“Mom is great. She’s the glue that holds this family together.”

“I can imagine.” Laura slowed her pace as they neared the stable. “I don’t have boots. And I’m seriously scared to death.”

“There are boots in the tack room, and the fear will be gone as soon as you settle into the saddle.”

“You think?”

He grinned at her. “I know.”

He opened the stable door and motioned her inside. She walked into a world she’d never experienced but immediately loved. The stable was wide with stalls on either side of the center aisle. There were several doors midway down on the left. She assumed it was the tack room and whatever else could be housed in a building such as this one. To the right was an opening that led to the rest of the building. She slowed to get a look at the arena.

“They’re bucking out a few bulls that Jackson recently bought,” Jesse explained as he led her past the opening to the arena.

“Bucking out?”

He smiled and turned her down the aisle and to the edge of the arena. On the opposite side were risers for spectators to sit on. To the left were chutes, and behind them were a few pens. Bulls bellowed and loud voices could be heard over the sound of the animals.