Page 11 of Cooper’s Promise

“In six weeks, I’ll be gone.”

“It’s because of me, isn’t it?” Suddenly she seemed captivated by his shoulder, not looking him in the eye.

“Brenna, you can’t be leaving everything because of me. Not your family, your country, everything.”

Her head jerked up and her chin jutted out. “Of course not, get over yourself. This is a great opportunity. I’ve been skyping with Thomas for two months. He’s told me all about this. You know how much I love diving. This is perfect for me.”

“Who the hell is Thomas?” Cooper got a picture of some Aussie diver who was going to be all over Brenna the moment she got off the plane.

“He’s the leader of the team. I’m going to learn a lot from him.”

“I just bet you are,” he said sarcastically.

She started to struggle to get up.

“Stop. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it.” He stroked her back until she settled back down into his arms. “I don’t want to test drive our relationship, that’s not what I mean at all.”

“What relationship? Coop, get real. We’re friends through my brother. I thought we might be something more, but I’ve given up.”

“Cooper. My name is Cooper.” She started to shake her head. He threaded his fingers through her hair. “Please, Brenna, I’m begging you. Give us a chance. Give me a chance. I’ve totally fucked this up, I admit it.”

Her eyes turned dark with emotion. “Why? Can you tell me why? Hell, do you even know why?”

He thought about all the things that he had told himself over the last two years since she had moved to Florida. She was too young, too inexperienced. Was that really it? If he was honest with himself, really honest, those things weren’t all that was holding him back. He was scared. Part of him was still that little boy whose mother had just drifted away, and had been carted off to live with his grandparents. The idea of opening himself up to the kind of hurt that loving Brenna could inflict was frightening, but he needed to get over it.

“It’s a long story,” he said slowly.

“But there is a story?” she prompted. “You’re not just being an ass?”

He huffed out a laugh. She always did that to him, challenged him. He hugged her closer.

“Brenna, I’m always being an ass. I have a dick. It goes with the territory.”

She waited, and stroked his chest. It gave him courage.

“Would you believe I’m scared?”

“Maybe.” Her eyes searched his. Finally, her hand reached up and cupped his jaw. “Tell me. I need to understand.”

“My grandparents were great, I’ve told you about them, right?”

“Yeah,” she smiled. “You’ve bragged on them a lot. I take it your parents not so much, huh?”

“You got it in one.” Her thumb drifted back and forth along his jaw, and he swallowed at the gentle caress. “I never knew my dad, and Mom was a junkie.” She nodded for him to continue. “I don’t remember much before I was five. I’m guessing it was a blessing. We were living in a trailer park, and it kept getting so hot. Now I know that Mom was turning tricks and doing drugs. She would lock me in a bedroom and turn on the TV really loud while it was happening. But most of the time, she just drifted off in her own little world and left me to fend for myself.”

“What happened?”

“Somebody must have called Social Services. They came and investigated. I was six, wasn’t going to school, and I was really scrawny and sickly. They were able to find my grandparents, and ship me off.”

“What happened to your mother?”

“Grandma told me how they tried to get Mom to agree to go to a rehab center, but she refused again. Apparently this was normal for her.” He thought about the woman he had visited before he had shipped off to Afghanistan. She’d been in prison. She had killed her pimp. She’d died during his first tour. “She’s dead.”

“I’m so sorry, Cooper.”

“She had parents who loved her. She was sick. Drugs ended up taking her life.” Brenna snuggled closer to him, and he clutched her close. It was funny how he could be so worried about intimacy with this woman, but take such comfort from her at the same time.

“So you’re basically afraid that somehow I’ll leave you like your mom did?”