I agree with him, but I don’t know what I’m confirming.
“I hope you sleep well,” he says, kissing my cheek, spinning on his heel, and walking back out the open door.
“Night,” I rasp.
Cooper looks at me over his shoulder. “You should really lock your door at night. You never know who might walk through,” he says with a grin, and winks before closing it behind him.
Frozen in place and not feeling strong enough to stand, I take a deep breath.
Whoa.
Cooper’s truck crunches over the gravel, and I hop up to peek through the window blinds, watching his taillights disappear down the road.
All the emotions of the night settle onto my chest, and none of them are bad. In fact, I can’t wipe the smile off my face, and I can’t recall a single date I’ve ever been on that has ended like that, first kiss or not. It might be too good to be true, but I want more.
Chapter 19
Cooper
I’vebeensmilinglikea psycho since I drove away from Mae. When I get back onto the ranch, I park next to my house and have to sit there for a minute. Reaching for my water bottle, I unscrew the cap and take a swig, and my phone buzzes.
Mae.
Mae: Thank you for making this evening more than memorable.
Cooper: It was an honor
Mae: Maybe we can do it again soon…
I chuckle because I thought it was obvious that we would.
Cooper: We will absolutely do it again soon, and I’m glad to know you feel the same.
I stare at my phone, waiting for her to respond, and she doesn’t. It was a bit of a long shot, assuming she feels the way I do. But if I’ve learned anything from tonight, it’s that Mae keeps things close to the chest, and it takes her a minute to open up. I like to think of myself as a pretty upbeat, hope for the best kind of guy. So I’m going to lean on the edge of her being nervous to let herself feel anything with me because the clock is ticking. Which is fair, and I have to remember to pace myself, but I think that’s going to get harder to do the more we see each other.
At the risk of overstepping, I send her the link toLooking Back on Thisby Riley Green because it popped into my head after I kissed her. It’s not country from the 80s, but it still counts. But I’m a man on a mission with limited time. I told her how I feel, and I need to do everything I can to back it up.
Naomi should be asleep by now since it’s 10:30 at night. Hopefully, I can fall right into bed because I have to be up in a few hours. We have later starts on Saturdays, but there’s still work to do.
Careful not to make any noise, I climb the stairs and open the door as quietly as I can. Naomi sleeps like the dead but there have been a few times she’s heard me come in, and then she gets a second wind.
But when I open the door, nothing is the way I hoped it would be, and I know I won’t be getting to bed anytime soon.
Naomi, Gracie, and June are decked out in Naomi’s dress-up clothes and tiaras singing … wait, is that Shania Twain?
Oh boy.Why couldn’t it be Alan Jackson or anyone else?
Man, I feel Like a Woman!Is playing so loud my ears are ringing, but I can’t help but smile because the girls haven’t noticed I’m home and Naomi’s smile is brighter than the sun as she and Gracie sing to each other while June plays the air guitar.
The counter is littered with popcorn and candy June and Gracie must have smuggled in, and a board game that clearly wasn’t played, along with drawings, glitter, and Naomi’s crayons all over the table and floor. I can’t find it in myself to be mad about it because I’m grateful Naomi has women like them in her life. Rebekah can’t be replaced, but there is a gap they can fill for a little girl.
I lean against the door and watch them have fun with each other, ignoring the giant mess of my house.
The song finally winds down. June looks up and pauses the music. Before I can say a word, she whispers something to Naomi, and she takes off like a rocket to her room while Gracie runs around the house picking things up, and June smiles.
“Hey, we uh, thought you might be later,” she says, pushing me back out the door.
I chuckle and plop down in the rocking chair on the porch.
