Chapter Sixteen
“What smells so good?” Cash asked as he wandered into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. “You make pancakes or some shit, Coop?”
Cooper stood at the sink, washing the last of the dirty dishes from his early morning bread baking. “No, dude. Sorry, no pancakes.”
“Damn. I just got my mouth all ready for them too.” Cash slumped into a chair at the table.
“Have a bowl of cereal.”
“What did you make? I can smell it.”
“Banana bread,” Cooper said. “But I already delivered it to its recipient so have some cereal instead.”
“You suck. Couldn’t even save me a slice?”
“Nope. What time did you get home last night?”
Cash got a dreamy sort of look on his face. “Dude, you missed a great dance. Lots of single chicks drinking too much punch, sexual energy coursing through their veins, and nowhere to unleash it with all of these small-town neighbors they’d known forever milling around. Thank God, I was there. I did what I could to help.”
Cooper shook his head. “Didn’t we agree you’d do your man-whoring outside of town? What happened to the legal secretary in South Lake you’ve been dating? I think you even referred to her as the future Mrs. Cash Stone.”
“Business trip. She wouldn’t expect me to sit home while she’s out of town anyway. I can’t be tied down.”
Cash was the tallest of the three brothers and probably the best looking, if Cooper were to be honest. They all got their build from their father and their mother’s Italian complexion and features. But Cash had some kind of sex appeal to him that women didn’t seem able to resist. He wouldn’t say he necessarily had the best personality of the three men, but he was the friendliest and most outgoing. He was almost always in a good mood and drew people to him like bees to honey. He was terminally optimistic. Cade was almost the polar opposite to Cash personality-wise, though Jessie had softened him a lot. And Cooper was only what he’d call realistic. He understood all the trials and tribulations of life and wanted to make sense of the world while Cash wanted to move through it like a frat boy at an all-night rager. A real plus to Cash was his ability to make people around him all feel good, which is why he’d been the one to handle all the sales and marketing for the brothers’ business. He was a total people person.
“Of course not,” Cooper said. “You didn’t leave a string of broken hearts at the dance though, did you?”
“No way. I put in my best effort and stuck around until every available girl had her shot at me.”
“You’re a great guy,” Cooper said, shaking his head. His brother was never going to change. Cooper remembered their dad getting a call from the junior high guidance counselor when Cash was in seventh grade. It was around Christmas time and Cash was on his fourth girlfriend of the school year already. It seemed the girls he had been involved with had gotten into a big fight in the cafeteria over who was presenting Cash with their goodies they had freshly made in home economics. It had been a baking day and by the time teachers got in-between the girls to break up the fight, several had gooey brownies smeared into their clothes and dragged through their hair. The counselor said Cash needed to spend more time on his math and less on his dating life. Boy, was their dad pissed at him after that call.
“What about you? Binge watch a new tv series?”
His brothers luckily didn’t see him at the dance and Cooper didn’t feel the need to tell them he was there or anything about what had happened. They would have heckled him for sure for even showing up, so he just nodded. “Yup.”
“Naturally. Typical wild Cooper night.”
If only he’d known the half of it. Holding Becca in his arms had felt so right. It felt different with her than with any other woman he’d been with. Something had clicked, and he’d realized that she could be the one. If he ever allowed himself to become part of a couple again, that was. Of course, then he flew the scene like a criminal. He was glad he’d gone to see her at the book store that morning and straighten things out. She seemed to forgive him and at least now they could be friends. Friends was probably better for them anyway. There would be no expectations, no getting their hopes up to just be disappointed later, no promises of forever that led straight down a path to a lawyer’s office and divorce papers. Friends just enjoyed their time together without hurting one another. And he really did enjoy the time he’d spent with her.
Cooper turned back to the sink of dishes and picked up the batter bowl. He smiled recalling the shocked look on Becca’s face when he’d handed her the banana bread. He’d wager he was the first man to bring her a banana bread. He wasn’t sure what made him get up and bake it first thing that morning. Maybe he was thinking about his mom. He’d been thinking a lot about her lately. Baking banana bread for someone was the kind of thing she’d have done. He missed her so much lately. It’d been thirteen years since she passed away but it never seemed to get easier. He wished she were still around to talk to and ask for advice. He hoped if there was a heaven and she could see them, that she’d be proud. He certainly tried his hardest every single day.
“I was thinking about getting out of town and hitting the mall this afternoon,” Cash said. “I need some new shorts and shit. You want to go with me?”
Cooper reviewed his day’s plans and realized he really didn’t have any. He was going to do some laundry and clean up around the apartment. Getting out of the place for a while probably wasn’t a bad idea. “Yeah, sure.”
“Cool. You’re buying me lunch though since you didn’t deliver on the pancakes,” Cash said.
Cooper smiled at his brother. “Fine, I’ll buy you lunch. Is Cade around? Want to see if he wants to go?”
“He’s already gone. Proposal plans.”
“This proposal is certainly going to be something,” Cooper said.