Cooper barked out a laugh. “Not more than me.”
An hour later, we were seated at a booth in the local pizzeria. Mehki was happily munching on a huge piece of pizza with three different types of meat.
Leaning forward, I murmured, “How did you get him to eat that?”
“It’s man food. He’s a lil man.” Cooper took a big bite of his slice.
After a few minutes, Mehki asked if he could play the arcade game in the corner. Cooper dug into his jeans and pulled out several quarters before I could say anything. Excited, Mehki raced to the game. One of the waitresses saw him, and set a stool in front of it so he could reach the controls.
I smiled at the glee in his eyes as he glanced back at me before he pushed a coin into the slot and started playing.
“He’s a remarkable kid.”
Turning my attention to Coop, I said, “He is. I’m so proud of him.” I dipped my breadstick into the marinara sauce. “You have a way with kids. Do you spend a lot of time with your niece or nephew?”
“Not as much as my sister wants,” he replied. “Before my grandfather died, I didn’t make it back to Rosewood Heights often.”
“Why?”
He hunched his shoulder. “I didn’t want to be here.”
“Is that because of your mother and father?” He’d shared a few things about his brothers and his sister, Ava, but very little about his parents.
He leaned back in his seat, assessing me quietly for a moment before he said, “You don’t miss much, do you?”
“You don’t either.”
Cooper stared at me. “For the longest time, I couldn’t stand to be in the same room with my father—which often affected my relationship with my mother.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, feeling bad that I’d brought it up. “We don’t have to talk about this.”
“No, it’s fine. Since I’ve been here, me and my father have had several conversations that didn’t involve arguments and accusations. We even had lunch.”
“What changed?”
He shifted in his seat. “I guess I have my grandfather to thank for that. His will… The requests he made, flipped everything on its head.” He took a sip of his beer. “I think we’ve come to an understanding of sorts.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
“Maybe. Yes. I don’t know.”
I giggled. “Well, time is a bipolar bitch. Sometimes it helps, other times it hurts.”
Cooper paused. “You sound like you’re speaking from experience.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” I murmured.
Mehki ran back to the table. “Mommie, I won! I got a high score.” He gave Cooper a fist bump. “I saw your name on the scoreboard. You were number one.”
“That’s because I’m undefeated.” Cooper grabbed another slice of pizza. “I defend my title every time I come to town.”
“I’m going to beat you, Mr. Cooper.” Mehki slid next to me. “It’s my personal mission now.”
“You’re smart, Lil Man. But I’ve been kicking butt on that game since I was a kid. I’m not sure you have what it takes to beat me,” Cooper teased.
Mehki narrowed his eyes. “I smell a challenge.”
I giggled. “Uh oh. You’re in trouble, Cooper.”
