Page 5 of Cooper’s Promise

“I can handle him, but I just need to get away.” She drank down the last bit of her sweet tea.

“Goddammit, if you feel the need to fly halfway around the world, I would say he’s a problem! Why the hell didn’t you say something? How long has this been going on?” Hudson pushed up from the table and started pacing in the small living room in front of the sofa. Brenna kept a wary eye on her brother.

“Keep it down, we don’t want to wake Cooper.”

“I don’t give a fuck about Coop. Tell me about this asshole. Where does he live?”

“Dial it down. I told you, he’s not a big deal. I’ve got it handled.” She took her plate into the kitchen, and rinsed it off in the sink. She left his, knowing he would eventually come back to it.

“Brenna, this can’t be the reason you’re leaving town. All you had to do was call me or Coop, and we would have squashed this guy like a bug.” Hudson ran his hand through his hair. “Why didn’t you call Coop?”

Fuck, why hadn’t she anticipated that question?

“Because I told you, it wasn’t that big of a deal. I shouldn’t have said he was the reason I was leaving. I totally misspoke. Yeah, I kind of wanted to get away from him, but he was a nit on a gnat. The reason is the opportunity, and I wanted a change of scenery.” She threw up her hands, then stormed over to her brother, and pointed her finger into his chest. “You need to drop this. I’m a big girl. My decision is made. Don’t make this harder for me than it already is.”

“If it is so damn hard, then don’t do it!” Hudson pleaded. Hudson grabbed her hands and looked in her eyes. “I can’t stand the idea of you being gone so long. Neither can Mom or Dad. What about Paula? She’s pregnant. You’re going to miss seeing your first niece or nephew, maybe even your second. Is that what you want?”

“No, that’s not what I want. But it’s what I need. I have to do this, and I need you to support me.” Her gaze flicked over to Cooper, and she saw him staring at her. She teared up, and pulled away from Hudson.

“I need you to go. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Take Coop with you.”

“Coop? I thought you called him Cooper.”

Her brother was just too damned observant.

“Do I smell food?” Cooper asked from the couch. She looked over at him, his dark hair a temptation in the lamplight. God, he looked good as he sat up and stretched, his muscles bulging.

“We’re just getting ready to leave,” Hudson said.

“Damn. I always love it when you cook, Brenna.” He looked at her with a sharp expression. Too sharp. Had he even been asleep? He seemed too damned alert. But he had been softly snoring...

“I’ll give you a to-go container.” Brenna went to the kitchen and got out a Tupperware container, and scooped out the rest of the lasagna. She knew how the man liked her food, and, despite everything, it always made her feel good to feed him. “Here you go.” She thrust the plastic box towards him.

Hudson watched the exchange. She knew her brother noticed that she didn’t hug his friend like she normally did, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. It would be too painful.

“Thanks, Brenna,” Cooper said softly.

“Come on, let’s pour you into your bed.”

“Good-bye. I’ll see you tomorrow, Hudson.” She did hug her brother.

“Count on it. Don’t forget to lock up,” Hudson said, as he kissed her forehead.

“I always do,” she assured him.

* * *

As soon as he got home, he put the lasagna in the fridge, and began to think over everything he had overheard. He didn’t feel bad in the least that he’d poured those shots into the potted plants back at the bar and pretended to be drunker than he was. At least this way he had found out the truth about what had been going on while he had pretended to be asleep.

He planted himself in front of his computer and started a web search on all the Josiah’s in Tampa. He came up with two hundred and forty-seven.

“Dammit.”

He was going to have to narrow that down. He started a web-crawler with certain parameters. Entering the age range that he thought would be appropriate and the probable median income, he narrowed his search to a neighborhood closer to Brenna’s. He could live in St. Pete, but right now he focused on Tampa.

He knew that he probably didn’t need to do this, since Hudson would be on the hunt tomorrow, but it made him feel better. Then he went into the third bedroom that he had turned into a workout room. He needed to blow off steam. There was no way he could go to sleep at this point.

As he worked out his aggression on the punching bag, he pretended he was kicking his own ass.