Empathy pulsed to life in my spirit, pushing my own hurts aside.
My eyes prickled with warmth at the sight of him—alive. Even though he had arrived last night, Tag, Bea, and Cooper went straight to their respective bedrooms, worn out from the week-long hospital stay. I’d seen Tag at breakfast this morning, but had yet to see Cooper or Bea.
He glanced up as the floorboards whined beneath my feet.
I offered him a smile. “Hi, Cooper.”
He immediately looked away. “Hey.”
“Mind if I join you?”
He hesitated before scooting a little to the right. The breeze brought his scent my way, wrapping me in a clean, spicy smell. His hair, still damp from a shower, was pulled into a low bun with wisp-like curls escaping and drying around his face.
If he didn’t look so miserable all the time, he’d be handsome.
“Did you get caught up on sleep?”
“All I’ve done for the last week is sleep.”
“That sounds nice,” I joked. Inwardly, I cringed. Small talk felt daunting. I didn’t want to ask prying questions, but I did want to be his friend. Finding that balance required caution, not jokes.
Thankfully, he grunted—and italmostsounded like a laugh.
“How are you feeling?”
“Terrible.”
“Will that last a while?”
He shrugged. “Doctors said it might. Told me to just lay low.”
“That’s a good idea. Your body tried to die after all.”
He snorted again, probably surprised at my candidness. Then he gave a bitter chuckle. “Yep, but I got amiracleinstead.” He spat out the wordmiracle, like he resented the idea.
Cooper had given me an open door, left it wide open for me to walk through. I dialed in as much gentleness as I could. “You sound like you don’t believe in miracles.”
He mumbled. “I just didn’t want one.”
His comment stole the wind from my sails. I sucked a deep breath. “I won’t tell you how grateful you should be for another chance. I’m sure you’ve gotten an earful of that already.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
I quieted my voice so the girls wouldn’t hear. “I—wanted to die one time.”
Cooper’s gaze snapped up, the heat of his gaze searing the side of my face. The animosity in his tone had emptied. “Really?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I was upset about something and drove on the mountain roads not too far from where I live. I was going too fast on purpose because”—I shrugged—“I kind of hoped my luck would run out and fate would have its way with me. I ended up hitting a ditch instead. My airbag deployed, and that was it. At first, I was disappointed.”
Cooper didn’t look away. “So…who fucked you up?”
I couldn’t help but laugh a little at his crass question. “My ex-husband.”
“What’d he do?”
“What didn’t he do?”
“You divorced him?”
