After all the drama of that first day, the first two weeks in Washington seemed pretty anticlimactic. Exhausting, but anticlimactic. We spent our waking hours unpacking, stocking the pantry, moving furniture around, and participating in planning sessions.
Every night, as I fell into my bed—which, in spite of what Mom had promised, still included Mellie—I’d vow to collect the promised pay and return to Sacramento. But every morning, not only did I find the energy to keep helping, but my excitement about the day’s projects grew.
I found seeing Coop around the place both good and bad. The more time I spent with him, the more time I wanted to spend with him—which irritated my mom. I’d quit paying attention to her scowls.
She seemed to do that over anything relating to the Montgomerys. I thought it was totally unfair because Coop’s parents were the sweetest things ever. Mellielovedthem. Mrs. Montgomery brought over homemade cookies every day, so she had lifelong friends in the boys. And everyone else liked Coop. I mean, what wasn’t to like?
Coop. My thoughts about him had gotten all mixed up. The week before something had passed between us when we had gone to the garden center together. It had been so intense it’d nearly taken my breath away. Kind of freaked me out, to be honest. Ireallyliked him. But I’d only be here for the summer. Fortunately, Coop seemed satisfied with only friendship, so I didn’t have to worry about getting in over my head.
“Morning.” I stepped beside him and picked up a hoe. Rising an hour early meant spending the extra time with him.
“Gonna be ahotone today.” He shot me a sidelong smirk. When he joked like that it reminded me of Ezra. No wonder they’d become such good friends right away last year.
“Yeah, I think I’m going to fry out here with a high today of sixty-eight.” I noticed some flats of flowers, all various shades of pink. “When did you get those? Please tell me these are for the heart garden.”
Among other things, we had spent the last two days prepping a large heart-shaped planting bed that made up the centerpiece of the garden. All paths led to it and the quaint, wooden bench that sat at its head. Mom had talked about what a great place the castle would be for weddings and receptions. Coop had been charged with making his garden into a photographer’s go-to place for wedding shoots.
“They are.” He straightened from his digging. “Tom Lee brought them out for me. I don’t think you’ve met him yet; he heads Wildwood’s volunteer fire department. Do you like the colors?”
“Ilovethem.” How sweet that he’d noticed which flowers had caught my attention when we’d gone to the garden center last week. “Are you going to plant them today?”
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Oh, yay!” I grabbed his arm and squeezed it before doing a little dance. “Can we finish it in an hour? That’s a pretty big bed.”
“Sure, we can. Let’s get the plants out of their trays. Then you lay them out while I do the holes.”
“Me?” I loved the way his little flowerbeds looked, the combination of colors and heights—I didn’t have that knack. Besides, his attention to detail both impressed and intimidated me. “What if it looks ugly?”
“This’ll beyourgarden. How can it look ugly?” Coop asked.
“Fine,” I said. “But you’ll tell me if something doesn’t look right, okay?”
“Okay, but I have every confidence in you. Remember, I’ve watched you whip out those incredible little delicacies.” He rubbed his stomach and made a smacking noise with his mouth.
I grinned, basking in his praise and remembering my grandmother’s favorite quote about the way to a man’s heart being through his stomach.
“Let’s get to work,” he said.
By the time the hour ended my back ached from the bending, but we had set all the plants in the ground. Coop had only made a couple of suggestions. While the plants didn’t fill the bed yet, we’d mixed plenty of his homemade compost into the soil the day before. I knew the plants would grow well and fill it all in.
“It looks great.” Coop straightened and wiped his brow, a smudge of dirt spreading across it. “Goal accomplished.”
Laughing, I reached up to wipe it off. Our gazes met, and something flashed in his eyes. Without thinking, my hand lingered as I slid it down. I paused as that weird thing I’d experienced last week, now almost tangible, seemed to flow between us. Coop pressed his hand over mine where it cupped his cheek.
“Lia,” he whispered, his soft voice almost a caress. “About last summer ….”
“Yes?” I managed to ask, barely able to get the breath in to speak. Maybe last summer hadn’t all been wishful thinking on my part.
Coop laced his fingers with mine and brought down our hands.
“I didn’t say anything to you because I knew I’d be coming back here.”
“Say anything about what?” My pulse sped up even faster.
“About us.” Coop brushed his thumb over the top of my hand and sent a shiver up my arm. “My future was here, and you and Taylor only talked about opening a dessert boutique in Old Sac.” He brushed my cheek with the knuckles of his other hand. “It didn’t seem like there’d be any point in seeing if ….” Softening, his gaze dropped to my mouth and back to my eyes.
I swallowed and licked my dry lips. “If?” It came out as a whisper. Coop leaned in.Finally. I lifted my chin and closed my eyes.
