“Can you lie here with me for a minute?” he asks.
“Sure.”
He props the phone up next to him as if I’m laying beside him.
I wish I was.
“I had a good time tonight, well, before all of this,” he says.
I smile. “I did, too. Thank you for coming over.”
“I’m sorry I ran out on you,” he says.
“There’s nothing to apologize for.”
“I’ll make it up to you,” he says.
I look away, unable to meet his eyes. “You don’t need to make it up to me, Cooper. You did nothing wrong.”
“Mae,” he says, his voice tired and gravely and sending shivers down my spine. I wonder what it would feel like for him to say that in my ear.
“I want to make it up to you, or at least I’ll use it as an excuse to be with you,” he says.
I nibble on my bottom lip, and he gives me a sleepy grin as his eyes drop closed and a small snore bubbles from his lips.
Normally, I would say watching someone sleep via video is weird. But this doesn’t feel that way. It feels like a foregone conclusion, and I have no choice but to face my feelings and confront my future with Cooper in it.
He’s giving me every reason to dream about a future in Paxton despite my commitment to my parents. But if this flower shop fails, what’s the point? I should go back to Colorado and be there for my mom.Right?
I plug my phone in and leave the video call going, and fall asleep to Cooper softly snoring next to me.
Chapter 29
Cooper
I’vetextedandcalledRebekah twenty times, and every single call goes to voicemail or text remains unanswered. I shouldn’t be surprised because I should have expected all of this. Yet, I hoped for more.
Tilting my head back and forth, I try to relieve the knots in my neck. I’m keeping it together for Naomi. She doesn’t need anymore of the unknown or the confusion. She’s seven, and she sees plenty, but that doesn’t mean she fully understands what’s happening.
It’s been one day sincesleepover-gateand she seems okay. We got up this morning, got to work, and she happily ran off with Aunt Dixie to do their thing.
Maybe her seven-year-old mind chalked it up to a rough day and bounced back. We’ve had bad days before, and after a good night’s rest, she was fine. Kids are resilient, so maybe we made it through mostly unscathed.
***
I was wrong.
Naomi wanted to make cookies because she’s still on her baking kick, so I thought it would be a good idea, get her mind off of things and help us spend time together.
Instead, we did the wrong measurements from the recipe I found online. We ran out of chocolate chips, and then Naomi spilled the entire bowl all over the floor, and she promptly burst into tears.
Now she’s standing in the flour all over the floor and sobbing.
I tilt my head back, take a deep breath and lift her out of the flour, and grab the broom and dustpan.
“Naomi, it’s okay. Accidents happen,” I say, sweeping the flour into a pile.
“But,” she stutters. “I — wanted — cookies — and now — we can’t — have them,” she says barely breathing between her sobs and words.
