The Newcomer (Thunder Point) (11 page)

“Exactly where are we going?” Gina asked Mac. “I really don’t like being away from my phone. Just in case Ashley needs me. She was fine yesterday. In fact, she was better than she’s been in a month, but you know...”

“Don’t worry,” he said, reaching for her hand, giving it a squeeze. “Carrie promises to keep your phone close all night in case anyone calls about Ashley and she has my cell number. I had a break today—I was talking to Joe, telling him how ripped up our families are, how much you and I needed a little break, but neither of us felt like we dared get away. And he said he had this little one room fishing cabin on Lawrence Lake—close by but not too close. When I told him I’d love to borrow it but didn’t want to leave the family with Cee Jay lurking, he offered to spend the night at my house. If Lou needs anything or anyone, he’s right there. He’s savvy—he wouldn’t let Cee Jay get by him.”

“Wow,” she said. “Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“I did just tell you,” he said, smiling at her. His cell phone chirped and he glanced at the caller ID. “It’s Carrie,” he said, passing it to her.

She grabbed it. “Hello?” she answered urgently. Then she visibly relaxed, listening. “Really?” she said. “Oh, God, Mom, that’s such good news.” She thanked Carrie for calling her and ended the call. She looked at Mac. “Ashley called my phone—she had a nice talk with my mom. She’s feeling good, looking forward to coming home in a couple of days and asked my mom to call Eve, tell Eve she’ll talk to her as soon as she gets home. Just that little thing makes me feel so much better. Now maybe I can feel a little less guilty about escaping for a night.”

“I’m going to heat up a casserole and some of your mom’s fresh bread I found in our freezer, we’re going to build a fire and drink a couple of glasses of wine, get naked if you want to or we can talk—unload some of that worry you’ve had the past few weeks....”

“What about your worry?” she asked.

“What I really want to do is just hold you. God, Gina, there have been times I’ve wondered if we’d ever catch a break.”

Gina seemed to sink into the passenger seat of his truck. She leaned her head back and sighed. Then she slowly lifted his hand to her lips, kissing his palm, then each of his fingertips. “How far?” she asked.

He smiled. “I might have to pull over,” he said, his voice husky.

The late-April sun was going down later each day so they had some daylight left by the time the reached the cabin. The afternoon sun was casting long shadows from the pines surrounding the lake. It wasn’t quite four when Mac pulled up to the cabin. There was a long lawn down to a dock, a bass boat lying facedown on the grass. “Here we are,” he said.

He pulled a cooler and a canvas bag out of the truck bed, carrying it to the cabin. He unlocked the door and let Gina step inside. He followed her and they both just stood inside the door, taking it in.

Mac wished he had asked Joe how long he’d had this place because it wasn’t what he expected at all. It was much too nice to be a bachelor’s fishing cabin. On one wall there was an efficiency kitchen with a small stovetop and oven, a few cupboards but a full-size refrigerator/freezer. A small table for four sat in the corner. Along another wall were a sofa and recliner along with a couple of accent tables. On the third wall, a bed and small chest of drawers and on the fourth, a fireplace and set of double French–style doors on one side of the hearth and a single door on the other. The single door stood ajar and inside appeared to be a very upscale and large bathroom. Now that had to be a woman’s touch; bathrooms are very important to women. For men, not so much. He briefly wondered what history Lou had with this place, then put that thought from his mind.

Mac put down the cooler and bag and opened the doors to a small covered porch that looked out onto the lake. There were two chairs facing the lake and a small table—a nice summer retreat, but not exactly for a solitary man. The chairs and table were covered with weather-proof drapes.

While he was checking out the deck and lake, Gina had taken the cooler and canvas bag to the kitchen. He wondered if this place would be available to borrow in summer; he wouldn’t mind getting her out there in that bass boat, rocking with the waves.

“Hey,” she called. “Look what I found.”

“Let me start this fire first,” he said, closing the doors and checking out the fireplace. He should’ve known—there was a switch. It was gas. Up here in the forest, logs and floating ash were a risk. Wildfire wasn’t out of the question. Joe was a practical man. And as the shadows lengthened, the late afternoon grew cool and the night would be wonderfully cold, just right for holding someone close.

When he joined her in the small galley kitchen, she was holding a container of vanilla ice cream, spoon in hand. She scooped some out and held it toward his lips.

“This isn’t old, is it?”

“I’m the daughter of a cook, Mac. I know how to read the expiration date.” She spooned it into his mouth and he took it in.

And his eyes, locked on hers, heated. Bright blue turned to hot, dark blue. He leaned toward her and touched her lips with his. His hand found her waist and he leaned into her, parting her lips with an icy tongue, kissing her, sharing the ice cream, causing her to moan and lick his mouth. The moan turned into a groan and she tipped back her head, letting him take her mouth. His hand was in her soft golden hair, cradling the back of her head, keeping her mouth under his. He pulled her against him and he was instantly hard. It was a long moment before the ice cream matched the temperature of their mouths. Their lips were sticky and she stood on her toes to lick them.

“Cold,” she whispered against his mouth.

“Hot,” he said. “Real hot.”

She put the container on the table and fed him another spoonful, immediately offering her mouth, which he took, letting her lick the ice cream from him.

And he got harder.

“I thought we’d make it till sunset,” he said. “I don’t think we will...”

“Dessert first?” she asked.

“Dessert all night, maybe. Want to play a little ice cream game?”

“I do,” she said. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”

“Me, either. I bet we get the hang of it right away.”

“I’ve never been this alone with you before,” she reminded him. It was always catch as catch can at either her house or his, always the possibility someone might come home unexpectedly, a reality that made them far too quick about their lovemaking. But they were alone in the woods, on a lake, doors locked, a carton of ice cream handy. “Oh, God,” she said, rubbing up against him.

He led her the short distance to the bed. The fire was blazing, the room was dim and pleasant, and he put the carton down. He slowly undressed her, intermittently sharing a bite of ice cream with her. When she was naked, he got rid of his clothes as quickly as possible, joining her on the bed. Her hand went to his raging hard-on and he groaned.

“I better cool you down,” he said hoarsely. He grabbed himself a mouthful of ice cream and kissed her, but before he’d let her scoop it out of his mouth, he covered her erect nipple with the sweet ice cream and she arched against him. Her nipple got harder and he moved to the other one, licking and sucking.

“Oh, my God,” she whispered. He moved back to her mouth, kissing her deeply. She smiled against his lips. “Who knew?”

“Turn you on, baby?”

“See for yourself,” she challenged.

He slid his hand over her flat tummy and with curious fingers, found her ready for him. But he wasn’t done with her.

He trailed another mouthful of ice cream over her belly button, then down to the apex of her legs, pushing them apart, putting his cold mouth on her soft moist folds, licking her hard. She squirmed under him, pushing herself against his mouth, the sweet noises that came from her making him pleasure her even more. He took another mouthful, just enough to make his tongue cold, then went after her again, holding her hips down while he lapped at her. Her fingers threaded through his hair and wouldn’t release him until he lifted his head, only long enough to grab a little more ice cream, torturing her in the best possible way.

He went back to her mouth, whispering against her lips. “I have to get in you,” he said. “I can’t wait another second.”

“Want me to cool
you
down?” she offered.

“No. I want you to come.” And with that he entered, drove deep and hard, one hand on her butt, the other on the back of her head, holding her mouth against his. He growled with the effort it took to hold back long enough for her to make her moment. Thankfully it didn’t take long. He moved a little, deep in her, and she clenched, bit his lip, whimpered, and he felt her wonderful spasms. She held him tight, wrapped her legs around him to hold him and went a little wild with her climax. There was nothing more for him to do but join her and it was shattering. His eyes watered with the intensity and he flew. For a few seconds there he was in another solar system.

And then, panting, they slowly came back to earth. He lifted his head enough to look down into her eyes. “When I’m in you like this, I feel like I could lift the world.”

She smiled sleepily. “We’re all sticky.”

“I’ll shower you,” he promised. “But I might make you sticky all over again. You make me wild.” He kissed her lightly. “I have to admit, I never looked forward to a shower so much. Or to ice cream. In fact, I don’t think I ever liked ice cream this much before.”

She laughed softly.

“What?”

“I don’t think I’ll ever look at a pint of vanilla the same way again.”

“Good.” He stroked the hair back from her brow. “Gina, I want you to know something. Even though I was married, I never had anything like this. You’re brand-new. And I love you more than you can imagine.”

She put a palm against his cheek. “I know, Mac. Somehow I know. And I’ve never spent the night with a man before....”

He pulled back in surprise, holding himself up with his arms. “Seriously?”

“I dated, I had a relationship with one guy that included sex, but I had Ashley. I didn’t stay away from her overnight. Besides, I never felt like this before.”

He was quiet for a minute, just looking down at her. “You know what this means, don’t you?”

“Hmm?”

“We really have to find a way to get married....”

“Mac, our lives are a complete disaster....”

“I know,” he said. “But we’ll get them straightened out somehow. We have to figure out how we’re going to sleep in the same bed every night. There are lots of things to work out—and we’ll work them out somehow.” Then he frowned. “You will say yes, won’t you?”

She laughed at him. “If we ever figure it out and get our families on track, I’ll say yes,” she promised. “But right now I’m hungry....”

“I can warm up that casserole....”

“I think I can make do on ice cream.”

Nine

C
ooper liked the tempo of his life, and this was a first for him. It was almost the end of April, and virtually every other day was sunny. Sometimes they enjoyed the sun all day long. He had something of a schedule going. He liked schedules. He had been in Thunder Point for six months and felt more settled than he had in places he’d lived for much longer. After making sure there was coffee and sweets left for the beachcombers out on the deck, he often went out on the bay on his Jet Ski or paddleboard. Sometimes Sarah came out very early, tying Hamlet up at the dock and going out on the bay with him. He had many chores during the day—fixing things, cleaning things, buying things, taking delivery on things so the bar/deli could run smoothly. Evenings he served drinks and food—deli food—because the sunset was astonishing in its beauty and drew people to the beach and to his deck. And many evenings Sarah was with him, like this evening.

They’d locked up the bar at about nine, gone upstairs to his room, shared a meal prepared by Carrie, made excellent love and cuddled in front of the fire—a second-floor extension of the hearth he’d had built in the bar—and watched TV.

The principal people in his life had their issues—Mac’s ex had been around, disrupting his family life, and Gina’s daughter had suffered some sort of emotional problems. Sarah was still troubled on and off about her future with the Coast Guard, except when he was holding her—then she seemed to have no worries. But his little beach bar made a surprising amount of money and he loved it. All things considered, from Cooper’s stand point, life was pretty stable.

And then the phone rang.

He looked first at the caller ID—his parents were calling. Then he glanced at his watch—it was 11:00 p.m., 1:00 a.m. in New Mexico. Trying to mask worry he felt given the time of night he answered the phone. “Hello?”

“Coop,” his father said. “Sorry about the time, son.”

“I’m up, but it’s the middle of the night there. What’s going on, Dad?”

“I just got a call from a man named Spencer Lawson, Coop. He’s married to Bridget.”

“I know who he is,” Cooper said. At one time Cooper had been engaged to Bridget. They parted over ten years ago. First they broke off their engagement because they just weren’t on the same page with all that meant. Then they ended it completely when Bridget stopped seeing him because she’d met someone else, someone she ultimately married. “What did he want?”

“He left a number, said it was urgent that he get in touch with you. I told him I’d call you, but I wouldn’t give him your number.”

For a moment, Cooper had a sinking feeling in his gut. “Is she okay?”

“No, Cooper. Apparently she’s sick or something. I tried to get the details out of him but he said he’d only discuss it with you. I’m sorry, that’s the best I could do.”

“I’ll take care of it,” he said. “Give me his number.”

After Hank Senior reeled off the digits, he added, “He said to call any time of day, don’t worry if it’s late or early—he’d be there. And, Coop? Let me know what this is all about, will you?”

He let go a dry laugh. “If it’s not too embarrassing,” Cooper said.

He hung up and stared at the number. Then he went to his sofa to sit beside Sarah. “Very strange,” he said.

“What is it?”

“I told you I was engaged twice,” he said. “The first time was to Bridget Cunningham. We dated for about six months, got engaged, couldn’t agree on anything, broke up pretty soon after. I was doing contract flying for a security company that was outsourced by the Army—I was away a lot. Out of the country most of the time. After breaking up, we were on and off for a while. We were young—we knew pretty quick it wasn’t going to work.”

“What went wrong, Cooper?” she asked softly.

“I’m not sure,” he said. “We didn’t seem to want the same things. She expected me to find a more stable job, for one thing, so I’d be around all the time and stability was not exactly my middle name. It wasn’t too long before she told me there was someone else, but you know me—I mean the younger me. I didn’t take her too seriously. I hadn’t talked to her for a long time—months—and called her when I was back in the States. She told me she was married. To this guy,” he said, showing her the phone number.

She ran a finger around his ear. “Did she break your heart?”

“A little bit,” he said. “I got over that pretty quick. I haven’t even thought about her in a long time. Now her husband needs me to call him—says it’s urgent.”

“Call him,” she said.

“It’s late, and I see by the area code, they’re still in Texas. He did tell my dad not to worry about the time. Maybe tomorrow...”

She laughed at him. “Men and women are so different. Aren’t you curious?”

“I can be curious until tomorrow,” he said.

“Listen, if you don’t want to call him while I’m here, I was planning to go home, anyway,” she said.

He grinned at her. “Well, I never thought I’d say this, especially to a woman, but I don’t have any secrets from you.” He punched in the numbers. The call was answered on the first ring.

“Stand by,” Spencer said rather than “hello.” Cooper could hear some moving around; he heard a door close. Then came the hello in a stronger voice.

“Spencer Lawson?” Cooper asked.

“Yes. Cooper?”

“You asked my father to forward a message to me? You wanted me to call?”

Cooper heard him take a deep breath. “There’s no way to ease you into this, Cooper. Bridget wants to see you. She’s dying.”

He sat up straighter. “What?”

“Cancer. She’s been fighting it like a trouper, but the days of the fight are over. We suspended chemo, hospice is here, her time is short. And she really needs to see you.”

“Why?” he asked.

“Trust me, it’s important. You need money for travel? For time away from work? Whatever it takes, I’ll cover it.”

“Spencer, come on—we don’t have any unfinished business. That was all a long time ago. She told me she was happy with you.”

“We had some very good years,” he said. Cooper could hear the emotion in his voice. “This disease has been hell. Cooper, you have to come. She’s hanging on and I don’t think she’ll let go until she sees you. Please. She’s bad.”

“Can’t you tell me why?”

“She has some things to say to you,” he said. “She wants to talk to you before she dies. And she doesn’t have much time.”

“God,” Cooper said. “She’s not even forty! This isn’t about amends or anything, is it? Because we’re square, me and Bridget. It wasn’t meant to be, all right? There’s nothing to work out—I could tell her that on the phone if it would make things easier.”

“Cooper, I want her to have whatever she asks for. We’re staying in her parents’ house in San Antonio. All she wants is to talk to you. It might take a couple of hours, that’s all. Where are you? Are you in a foreign country? Can you come, even if it’s a quick trip? I’ll pay the—”

“I got it,” he said. “I just don’t like mysteries and secrets, that’s all.”

“I feel ya, pal. We’ve been living with cancer for almost three years now. Talk about mysteries and secrets. I’ll text you the address. You have my cell phone number—let me know when you can come. Hurry, please. And, Cooper? Bring a suit.”

Cooper just sat and looked at his phone. He hung his head. He felt Sarah’s hand on his back, gently soothing. He turned to look at her. “She’s dying. Apparently soon. She wants to see me.”

“Oh, Cooper,” Sarah said. “Maybe she wants to clear her conscience about your romantic falling out or something.”

“She doesn’t have to do that.”

“Well, apparently she thinks she does.”

“I have this place to run,” he complained.

“I’ll help. Rawley can open, I’ll come over after work. I have the weekend off. I’ll let Landon hang out and help—he’ll love that. It’ll be okay. But I can’t be here in the morning to explain things to Rawley—I’m flying tomorrow.”

Cooper gave a half smile and went through his phone directory. He hit the call button.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“I bought him a phone. Now let’s see if he’ll answer it.”

“What?” came Rawley’s gruff voice.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Cooper said. “You didn’t throw it in the ocean.”

“It’s late.”

“I can hear your TV,” Cooper said.

“That don’t mean I’m awake.”

“All right, sorry about the time. I just got a call from someone—an old friend is real sick. I have to go pay a visit. I’ll be gone a couple of days and Sarah says she can help out. Can you handle things around here?”

“Don’t I usually?”

“I’d like to think I contribute here and there,” Cooper said.

“Just go do it,” Rawley said.

“Listen, if there are complications or schedule problems, just hang a sign on the door—closed for family emergency. All right?”

“I’ll handle it,” Rawley said.

“Thanks, man. Hey, and you kept the phone!”

“It was inconvenient. But I got games, books and music on this phone. Decent contraption.” And he hung up.

* * *

It was only minutes after Cooper called Rawley that Sarah left, promising to be there to cover for him the next evening. She took the Razor across the beach, going slowly to avoid any people who might be walking or sitting on the sand. When she was leaving him, he was understandably quiet. Melancholy.

Timing was an interesting phenomenon. She had just been thinking that it was time to let Cooper in on her secret, to talk to him about her pending assignment. But she hadn’t, and then the phone call came. It was funny that Cooper had been anxious to clear the air about any lingering ties she might feel toward her ex-husband, Derek, but she had never considered that there might be relationships in his past that hadn’t been fully dealt with. This woman, this dying woman...was this something that haunted him? Had he, like Sarah, harbored a feeling of failure, of grief? And he
had
told her, there had been two engagements....

There were more things to talk about than just her past marriage.

Sarah didn’t fear having a rebound lover in Cooper, but she did fear leaving her career, putting all her eggs in his basket and then learning that despite all he said, he was the one who couldn’t commit, couldn’t make it last. Where would that leave her?

Suddenly her options shrank yet again. She tried to envision Cooper’s reaction to her dilemma. He would tell her not to worry, to stay here with him, to enjoy the town, the beach, the business and Landon’s senior year at Thunder Point High. And what if that didn’t work out the way he expected it to, as his two previous attempts had not? And if she had separated from her Coast Guard career and found herself a year later not only alone, but also unable to support herself? Unable to help Landon with college?

Yes, Cooper had always seemed the transparent one while Sarah thought of herself as complicated. Yet wasn’t it really the other way around? He’d been a loner, a wanderer and had twice tried to settle down with one woman. And had failed both times. Had there been more than two women he’d promised to love forever?

From the first time since she’d met him, since she’d fallen in love with him, she realized she was probably the better relationship risk. The truth of her situation was not exaggerated—the demise of her short marriage was not her failing. Her ex-husband was a serial cheater and she should have known, but turned a blind eye because she wanted a family life so much.

She would never do that again. And she would never close her eyes to reality again, either.

That woman in Texas, that woman who was dying and wanted to see him one last time. There was obviously some unfinished business there, something he had never thought to mention to her.

Sarah had a feeling she wasn’t going to sleep soundly tonight....

* * *

There were a lot of beautiful cities in Texas, and San Antonio was definitely one of them. Cooper flew into San Antonio, which required two plane changes from Eugene. He put the address Spencer had given him into the GPS on the rental car and drove through the lush rolling hills to the suburb where Bridget’s parents lived. He’d been to their house before, but he’d never have been able to find it on his own this many years later. He retired his torn jeans, T-shirt, leather jacket and boots and wore a white dress shirt, khakis and suede shoes. He felt as if he was going for a job interview.

He’d met Bridge when he was about twenty-five. Or was that twenty-six? He was at a lake party and, in typical Cooper fashion, he picked out the prettiest girl in sight. Cooper liked beach or lake parties because the girls didn’t wear much. Bridge was blonde, stacked, green-eyed and sexy as all hell.

He was working for a civilian contractor who supplied helicopters to UN missions and private sectors abroad. They were “wet lease” copters, which meant they came with a crew. He had a high-level security clearance and when he was sent out on a mission, it could be for weeks at a time. At that time he was living near Fort Sam Houston because he liked the San Antonio area. He’d always loved the river walk, the Alamo, in fact the whole city was something special.