Mae
Avoicecroonsoutsidemy window, and I slowly crack my salt-dried eyes open.Am I hallucinating?
The sun is bright and shining, but I’m full of rain clouds.I lay there listening and recognize the distinct voice.Peter Gabriel is playing outside my window. Yep, I’m hallucinating. It’s probably because I’m delirious from low blood sugar and dehydration.
The music gets louder, and I finally peel myself out of bed to peek out the window.
In Your Eyesblares from the boom box as Cooper holds it above his head, staring at me through my window, and my heart leaps as if it’s relieved that he’s here. As if he’s the only one who can make this all better.
I can’t help the smile that builds on my face. He’s good at that.
Then he turns the volume down. “Will you hear me out?” he yells his cowboy hat shading his eyes.
I look like hell. I smell terrible, and I’m pretty sure my hair is a rat’s nest now, and a few have made their home on my head.
“Please?” he offers.
I nod and close the window.
When I make it to the front door, I take a second. I know what my choice is, where I messed up, but that doesn’t mean Cooper wants me anymore. I’m the one who walked away. Maybe this is his way of a kind goodbye. It’s so kind. I don’t deserve it. He should spit in my face and walk away.
I open the door, and he stands on the porch with the 80s boombox in perfect condition in his hand. I freeze taking him in, in his Wrangler-clad thighs, t-shirtthat hangs loosely on his body, and that cowboy hat and perfect mustache, and five o’clock shadow.
“How’d I do?” he asks.
“What?”
“Was it what you always dreamed it would be?” he asks.
I blink too shocked to speak, but also mildly confused.
He sets the boombox down and takes a step toward me. I retreat, mostly out of self-preservation, so the last time he’s near me isn’t plagued by the way I smell.
“Okay, I guess I’ll start,” he says.
I blink.
“Stubborn, you’ve had me in shambles. I was so confused andangry. I played that night over and over again in my head, trying to understand what I did to make you run from me, and then it hit me.”
My stomach twists.
“You saw me with another woman, after those others said hi.”
My eyes brim with tears and I swallow thickly.
“I …” I rasp.
“You thought the same thing was happening when it was Jacob or any other asshole standing in my place.”
I nod because I can’t speak.
Cooper shakes his head and puffs out a breath. “Okay, I can work with that,” he says.
“What?” I ask focused on my feet.
“Mae Morgan, my stubborn, stubborn woman. Look at me,” he commands.
I look him in the eye, ignoring my tears.
