Cheryl looked toward the back door at the same time a man who looked like an older version of Coop walked through it. The resemblance was uncanny.
“Never mind.” The sweet woman grinned. “There he is, now.”
“I heard a rumor there was food, so I figured I’d better come check it out for myself.” The older man unabashedly leaned down to give his wife a quick kiss on the cheek. “Looks good, baby. I’m starved.”
“Well, it’s ready, so wash your hands and have a seat.”
Coop waited for his dad to dry his hands before introducing her to him. “Dad, this is Mac. Mac, this is my father.”
“Mr. Cooper.” Mac held out her hand.
“Pleasure to finally meet you, Mac. And please, call me Robert.”
“Nice to meet you, Robert.”
“That’s quite a firm handshake for a young lady.” The man smiled. “Of course, from what Sean tells us, you’re quite the operative.”
Feeling herself blush, Mac’s eyes slid from Coop’s father to him and back. “I try.”
“I’m sure you do. Come on. Let’s all sit for a spell and fill our bellies.”
Nearly an hour later, the four had engaged in a lot of small talk while eating a fulfilling lunch of sandwiches and homemade potato salad. When they were finished, everyone pitched in to help Cheryl clean up the mess and put the leftover food away.
Mac was about to ask Coop what they were going to do next when Cheryl said, “So, Mac. I was going to spend this afternoon planting some new flowers out front. Would you like to help?”
Suddenly feeling very inadequate, Mac was embarrassed to admit, “I’d love to, but I’ve never actually planted flowers before.”
Coop’s mother looked appalled. “Never?”
“Nope.”
“She grew up in Manhattan, Mom. Probably not a lot of opportunity to garden there.”
“Oh, that’s right.” The older woman shook her head at herself. “You told me that once.” Removing her adorable apron, she laid it over the edge of the ceramic, farmhouse style sink and looked back at Mac. “Well I’d say it’s high time you learned how to do a bit of gardening.”
Surprisingly, Mac found herself excited by the idea. “I agree.” She looked down at her jeans and white blouse. “Should I change first?”
“I have an extra knee pad you can use, so your jeans should be fine. But that blouse will be ruined if you try planting in it.” To Coop she said, “Sean, why don’t you run upstairs and get her one of your old t-shirts? There should still be plenty in your dresser.”
Coop raised his brows. “You still have that stuff in there?”
“Of course, I do. You never know when you’re gonna need an old shirt to work in.” Cheryl pointed to Mac. “Case in point.”
Remembering Coop’s blunder of the common phrase, Mac bit her lip to keep from laughing.
Not paying them any attention, Cheryl spoke while she made her way to the back door. “I’ll go get everything ready while you change, dear. Sean, get this girl a proper gardening shirt and then you can help your father with whatever it is he’s working on in the barn.”
Grinning at his son, Coop’s dad tipped his head. Turning for the back door he said, “You know where to find me.”
Coop gave Mac a look as he passed by on his way out of the kitchen. “I saw that.”
“What?” Mac rolled her lips inward to keep from laughing out loud.
Throughout lunch, he’d said a few subtle, flirty things. At first, she thought he was doing it to get under her skin since his parents were right there.
After a bit, she realized he was just being Coop. Her fun-loving partner who always joked and flirted with her. Only now, the flirting seemed like more than a friend goofing around. It seemed real.
Because it is real.
