Coop

I hear a car pull up in front of the house, see the headlights sweep through the living room, touching each wall as she drives around the circle, and my body tightens. It’s Eden, and I’ve been dreading and anticipating this moment for hours now. She’s been gone a long time. Far longer than it would have taken her to seek out her grandmother’s attorney.

I’ve been patiently waiting for her to come back, and I’m on my second beer as I’ve camped my ass on the living room sofa catching up on news and sports.

Fuck…when I woke up today, the last thing in the world I expected was for Eden Goodnight to come strolling back into town. The minute I laid eyes on her from across the yard, I recognized her. Her beauty was such that I would never mistake her for anyone else. As much of a surprise to me were the nasty feelings that started to well up inside of me when I saw her. I’d gone years hardly thinking about her unless I happened to catch her on the news or someone in town told me something about her or I may have thought about her a little when she was here ten months ago. But I really tried to keep my distance from those thoughts. I hadn’t ever read any articles about her, because I learned the hard way that it was painful looking at her beautiful face and body plastered in fashion magazines and knowing she was gone forever. I’d never make it through a movie where I’d have to watch her move and hear her sweet voice.

The sound of the car door opening and closing catches my attention and I pull my feet off the coffee table to push up from the couch. I down the rest of my beer and set the empty on a side table before treading across the gleaming hardwood floors to the front door. When I open it, I don’t even try to wipe the gloating expression from my face as I find Eden there with a large suitcase in one hand and a small travel suitcase in the other.

“Attorney tell you everything you needed to know?” I ask smugly.

“Yup,” she says with a grimace, and barrels past me. I have to jump back to avoid a large suitcase to my nuts. “Told me all I needed to know and nothing I wanted to hear.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” I mutter as I shut the door.

“Not your fault,” she huffs as she starts toward the sweeping staircase that leads to the second floor. “Not quite sure what my grandmother’s reasoning was, but it was her decision and I’ll respect it.”

“Here, let me help you with that,” I say as I dart forward and try to take the large suitcase from her.

Her head whips around at me and I swear she snarls like a tiger. “I can do it myself.”

I hold my hands up in surrender, then nod toward the staircase. “Then by all means.”

It’s painful to watch her huff and puff while struggling with the two suitcases up the stairs, but Eden’s a strong girl and ultimately manages just fine. I don’t say a word as she turns toward the circular wing that houses the master chamber, but rather follow along behind her quietly.

Eden steps into the spacious room with the large four-poster bed sitting right in the center of the circular floor. She sets the suitcases down with a grateful sigh and lets her eyes wander the room. I see what she sees as she turns to take it all in.

Photos of my family and me on the long dresser.

A pair of my jeans lying on the floor.

The closet door open and filled with my clothes.

A bath towel draped over the edge of the spiral staircase that leads up to the third-floor bedroom library and sitting room.

The master bathroom vanity littered with men’s deodorant, shaving cream, and my razor.

Eden turns on me and says, “Oh hell no. Just no.”

“It’s my room,” I advise her, wondering what is running through that beautiful head of hers. This room used to be her parents’, then it was her grandmother’s, and now it’s mine. “Been in it almost six months now and not moving out for you.”

Her gaze cuts over to the spiral staircase and she gives a heavy sigh of longing. I don’t blame her. That room up there is fabulous, filled with all kinds of books, chaise lounges, and plush Oriental carpets you can sink your feet into. It’s the best place to hang out in the house.

Without looking at me, Eden picks up her suitcases and walks out of my bedroom. I again follow silently and she goes where I expect her to…her old bedroom. It hadn’t changed since she left for college except for new bedding that Valeria must have bought for it. But it’s still the same bed that took our virginity, and I can remember that night as clear as if it happened yesterday. I’ve fucked a lot of women since Eden, can’t remember a lot of those, but I can remember that night we both gave it up to each other.

Eden walks over to the large closet and drops her suitcases again, this time without much care, and they thud, the smaller case tipping over. By the hunch of her shoulders I can tell she’s exhausted and confused, and I wish I felt more empathy for her, but I don’t. She left me and Newberry far behind. Even more, that was so long ago I just can’t be upset about how things have changed.

“I took care of her near the end,” I say quietly, and Eden’s body jerks slightly before she turns to face me. I continue. “She was really unstable. Not able to get around without a wheelchair. Couldn’t drive. I mean, she had hired help that would come in and bathe her and stuff, but I took her to her doctors’ appointments and came most days to keep her company. She had no friends, no one that cared to come visit. I did that for a very long time because I liked her and I felt sorry for her, but I didn’t expect anything in return. Providing me the life estate was as much a shock to me as it was to you.”

“Why?” she asks in a muted voice. “Why would you ever do those things for her?”

“Because Valeria ended up not being the grandmother you remembered,” I say with a shrug. “She mellowed with age. Was kinder. I think she was lonely and she didn’t have anyone.”

“She never said anything to me,” she says defensively.

“You never asked,” I retort.

“She wasn’t a grandmother to me, and you of all people know that, Coop. The day my parents died was the day I lost any type of familial love or support,” Eden snaps at me. “You have no right to judge my relationship or lack thereof with her.”

I narrow my eyes at her and do something I promised I’d never do if I ever saw Eden again. “Do I have the right to judge the ‘lack of relationship’ you had with me?”

For a moment, Eden’s face softens and her eyes glisten. But then she blinks those eyes framed with thick, dark lashes causing the green in her eyes to radiate brightly, and her features harden. “I think the only thing you’re capable of doing is judging, Coop. At least that’s the way I remember it. So by all means…let’s hear what you have to say about our ‘lack of a relationship.’ ”

And yeah, she uses air quotes around those last words.

Taking a deep breath, I try to seek some perspective here. I don’t know why she’s got me riled up so quickly, or how she’s even got me riled up at all. Over the years, I’ve turned into a man who’s bothered by little.

So I need to show her that is who she’s dealing with.

With a nonchalant shrug, I tell her, “Nah…it’s really not worth the time. It was so long ago, and in the grand scheme of things, we didn’t really have anything special going on.”

Eden gasps, and I get a sense of validation for just the briefest of moments. Then I take in the disappointed look on her face and I feel like shit.

Brushing it off—because who wants to dwell on crappy feelings?—I turn toward the door and mutter, “Well…hope you get settled in all right.”

I walk over the threshold, grab the knob, and start to pull the door closed behind me, but her soft voice halts me in my tracks.

“Do you think we’d still be together today if Carlos hadn’t approached me in that mall fourteen years ago?”

My head spins, because that is some question indeed. Carlos Sanchez was a modeling scout and agent, and had a talent for picking superstars. He spotted Eden in a local mall as we were walking along and doing some window shopping one weekend in Atlanta. And he started her down a path that led her away from me for good.

Since then, I’ve changed a fuck of a lot, and I don’t know that I can credit all of it to Eden leaving, but I can sure pinpoint my lack of interest in relationships being due to that.

Not really knowing for sure, and figuring lying to her would be pointless, I tell her the only thing I know. “I have no clue, Eden. None at all.”

I shut the door and leave her behind. As I trot down the staircase to the first floor, I pull my phone out of my pocket. When I reach the foyer, I pull up Ashley’s number, intent on seeing if she’s busy tonight. We’ve got our date Saturday night, but damn Eden and her riling ways, I need to work off some frustration.

I stare at it a long, hard moment, and although the word Ashley is prominent on my screen, all I can see is Eden’s face staring back at me. It’s a face I would have been happy to stare at for the rest of my life once upon a time.

“Fuck,” I mutter, and then exit Ashley’s contact. I pull up Clay’s number instead.

He answers on the second ring. “What’s up, dude?”

“I’ll be at Tilley’s in about fifteen minutes,” I tell him as I turn to the foyer table and nab my keys. “Drinks are on me.”

“No can do, muchacho,” Clay says. “Jeannie’s pissed at me because I forgot to put the garbage out by the curb this morning.”

“Don’t be a pussy,” I taunt him as I walk out the door and pull it shut behind me. I automatically lock it, not only to keep people from stealing, but because Eden’s in there now. “Fifteen minutes.”

“But—”

I disconnect the call and hop into my truck to head to Tilley’s. It’s one of three local bars in Newberry, but it’s my favorite by far. It’s where most of my friends hang out, the food is excellent, and they have pretty good bands. Add that they have the best drink specials in town, and well…it’s why I go there.

And after that exchange with Eden, I really need to get drunk.

I’m still completely off balance having seen her. She’s not the same woman I knew all those years ago, but there’s still a lot of her that’s familiar. Just hearing her voice, or looking into her expressive eyes, makes me remember back when we were young and in love, believing nothing would ever get in our way. It was one of the happiest times of my life, especially when we went off to college together.

Clay actually beats me there, but then again he lives in the town limits and could have walked there in five minutes. I take a seat at the bar next to him and he turns on his stool. “When the judge asks me why Jeannie’s divorcing me, I’m going to have to list you as our irreconcilable difference.”

“Jeannie forgives you for everything,” I point out to him after a massive eye roll. They’ve been together since high school. Clay graduated with Eden and me, but Jeannie was two years younger than us.

They’ve survived some major ups and downs, but twelve years of marriage and two kids later, they’re still going strong, no matter how much Clay bitches otherwise.

“So why the need to drink on a Thursday night?” Clay asks as he holds up two fingers to the bartender and calls out, “Jack.”

The bartender nods and within moments we have shots of whiskey in front of us.

“Eden’s in town,” I mutter as I pick up the shot glass and down it. “Staying at Goodnight House.”

“Christ,” Clay mutters, and drinks his shot too. “I’m going to have to be DD tonight, ain’t I?”

I push my glass toward the edge of the bar and it’s quickly filled again. Clay asks for a Pepsi.

“Is it weird staying in the same house with her?” he asks.

“Yup,” I answer, and then grin wickedly at myself in the mirror behind the bar. I down the second shot and chuckle as I slide it back to the edge of the bar. “Let’s just say she was not happy I’m living in the master bedroom. And she had no clue about the life estate Valeria left me, so she was shocked as shit to find me there.”

“How could she not know?” Clay asked in disbelief.

I shrug. “I’m guessing she didn’t even bother to look at the estate documents.”

“Guess not,” Clay mutters. “But otherwise, how is she doing?”

“No clue,” I tell him. “Didn’t stick around to talk to her.”

Clay’s silent for a moment, but I know he’s thinking about what to say to me. He’s been my best friend since middle school and watched my love affair with Eden develop then fail. While I wasn’t overly sharing with him about what it did to me all those years ago, he knows enough to know it’s complicated with her.

But I asked him out for drinks tonight because I also know he’ll give me perspective on how to handle her. I have no clue if she’ll be here two days or two weeks—hopefully the former—but I know Clay will have good advice on how to handle it. He’s always had my back like that.

“You need to fuck her,” he finally says.

“What?” I bark out as I snap my head toward him in astonishment.

“Okay,” he says calmly, but his eyes hold all kinds of mischief. “I can tell by your reaction that is not an option at all. So I’m going to point out that since it seems you’ve moved on, she’s moved on, you have no interest in her and she probably has no interest in you, plus you’re currently in a relationship with Ashley, you need to be polite with Eden but just go about your life as if she’s not here.”

“I’m not in a relationship with Ashley,” I grumble.

“You fucking her exclusively?”

I am right now only because she’s been great in the sack and hasn’t pushed me for much, and he knows that, so I don’t bother confirming. I turn the conversation back to where it needs to go. “So I do my best to ignore her while we live under the same roof and just go about my life as if she’s not here.”

“Exactly.”

It’s a good plan. It’s the right plan.

The bartender raises the bottle to pour me another shot but I shake my head at him. I don’t feel like getting blitzed.

“You still pissed at her, dude?” Clay asks suspiciously. “Because if so, then I’ll amend my advice to suggesting maybe you come stay with me and Jeannie while she’s in town.”

“Nah, I’m good with it,” I tell him quickly, although that’s not the full truth.

I am angry. At circumstances that drove us apart.

There’s a knock on my dorm room door and I glance at my clock. It’s late…almost midnight. My roommate is out with his girlfriend and I’ve been cramming for a test tomorrow.

I get up and pad to the door wearing nothing but a pair of gym shorts, surprised to see Eden on the other side when I open it.

“Hey, baby,” I say as I take her face in my hands to give her a quick kiss before pulling her into my room. She’s got on a pair of pink pajama pants and a baggy sweatshirt. Her hair is braided into two ponytails that hang over her shoulders. Her room is just one floor above mine and I hate it. It’s not close enough, but as close as I can get with coed dorms. “What are you doing here? Figured you’d be in bed.”

“You’re never going to guess what just happened,” she says as she walks past me and then turns around. Her cheeks are flushed, her eyes are sparkling, and I know it’s not from the kiss I just gave her.

“What?” I ask with a smile.

“Mr. Sanchez just called me, and a really big fashion magazine wants to hire me for a modeling project,” she practically squeals as she jumps up and down. “He said they loved my test shots he sent them, and also he’s got some other people interested in me too.”

I can’t help it. Her enthusiasm is contagious and I pull her in for a hard hug. “That’s awesome, Eden. But how could they not love you? You’re the most beautiful woman in the world.”

Eden gives an embarrassed laugh and pushes me away from her. She’s always been shy like that when I compliment her.

“But that’s not the most amazing part,” she says in a rush, and then gushes so fast I almost can’t understand her. “They’re going to pay me twenty-five thousand dollars for the photo shoot.”

“Holy shit,” I say on an exhale. “That’s a lot of damn money.”

She nods her head. “The shoot can be done on a weekend, they’ll fly me to New York and back, and I will have tuition and expenses covered for this year and most of next.”

This was huge, because Valeria Goodnight refused to pay for Eden’s education when she chose to come to University of Georgia with me. Valeria wanted her to go to Vanderbilt, which was her alma mater, and she thought withholding money would deter Eden.

It only made her more determined, and she’s been working her ass off at an extra job and doing some tutoring to supplement what she didn’t get in grants and scholarships.

“Mr. Sanchez says that I could easily make up to a hundred thousand a year doing just modeling shoots like this,” she continues to gush. “And he said that would probably lead to some offers to walk runways in fashion shows, but I told him I could only do that in the summer when I wasn’t in classes…”

Eden continues on and on about all the things her agent is promising her, but the moment she mentioned the insane amount of money she could make, my heart had plummeted to the bottom of my stomach.

This was no joke.

It was some serious shit.

Eden could have a big-time career modeling and making lots of money, and while that was never something she had ever dreamed about doing as a career, I can see how excited she is right now. This is what people call a life-changing event.

It was the beginning of the end for us. Looking back, I realize it was that very first offer that did it. Eden downplayed it later after she returned from the shoot, but soon Carlos was calling her with offer after offer.

Eden just couldn’t refuse, as the potential for huge success was within her grasp.

And so she left, because you couldn’t be a full-time student and jet all over the world to walk runways.

Of course, I stayed behind.