Chapter Twenty-Two
Emma
I pulled the car up to the house and shut off the engine, looking at the overgrown yard once again. Usually, I got one of the neighborhood boys to cut the yard but money had been tight and I just couldn’t afford to pay him to do it. I had vowed that this would be the year I was going to get the yard spruced up and at least make it look like someone was living here again. I couldn’t do anything about the fading, peeling paint on the house itself just yet, but eventually I would. One thing was for certain, the money from Cooper wasn’t going to help with Dad’s yard. That money was going back to Cooper just as soon as I could pull it out of the bank and I didn’t care what he said about that.
With a sigh, I opened the car door and grabbed the medications from the passenger seat, my heart twisting at the thought of what those medications had cost me. Much more than money. “Another round of lies for Emma. Yay,” I muttered to myself. When was I going to learn that happily ever after didn’t exist anymore? Life pretty much just sucked most of the time.
Shutting the car door, I walked up onto the porch and knocked on the door before I turned the knob, trying to control my anger. I didn’t need to drag my dad into my mess of a life. He had enough to worry about without having to worry about me.
“Knock, knock,” I called through the screen door as I stepped in. I smiled when I saw Dad walking toward me. Seconds later, I was wrapped in one of his life-changing hugs. “Hey Dad, how are you?”
“Emmabug.” He smiled, his nickname for me bringing a wider smile to my face. “What brings you here?”
“I brought your medications,” I announced, holding up the bags. “And some food.”
Dad eyed the bags, his smile fading a little. “That’s a big bag of medication. How were you able to get that much, Em?”
I walked over to the table and sat the bags on it, gathering enough strength to lie to my dad. I hated the thought of not being truthful with him, but this one had all good intentions. “I was able to save up my tip money and purchase a month in advance. That way you won’t have to worry about running out.” I immediately felt like the biggest hypocrite alive.
“Tips must be pretty good these days,” he replied slowly. As I turned around, I saw the skepticism on his face and knew he didn't really believe me. But it was the story I was sticking to. “I got lucky and took care of a rather large party a few nights in a row. They tipped me really well.”
“I hope you put some of that money aside for you, too, Emmabug,” he said, his brow furrowing. “I don’t like the idea of all of your hard-earned money going to my medications. I can take care of myself.”
“Of course, Dad,” I said, throwing an arm around his frail shoulders. “I’m taking care of myself and of you. You did it for nearly all of my life, so it’s my turn now.”
He sighed and shook his head. “Don’t try to pull that crap over on me, Emma. I know you aren’t doing anything for yourself.”
“I surf,” I said defensively, removing my arm and crossing them over my chest. I did things for myself but my dad was my top priority. I couldn’t afford to lose him. He was all I had left.
“Surfing isn’t enough, Emma,” he crooned, walking over to his favorite chair. The house hadn’t changed much over the years other than a few signs of wear and tear, the age starting to become a factor. It needed a major facelift, but that wasn’t on the immediate concern list. I would have to add another job to my schedule. I thought about the money sitting in my bank account and felt the guilt well up inside. I really needed to give it back for the reason I had gotten it in the first place — tainted money, tainted with deceit. Even though I felt like Cooper’s intentions were probably good, it was still wrong. And while I would make sure he got the money back, I couldn’t face him just yet, the hurt was still too raw. That’s why I had called Chris and done something that was very unlike me, I’d taken a day off to sort out my feelings and try to figure out what to do going forward. I loved working at Keefer’s but I couldn’t work side by side with Cooper. Maybe he would go back home, and I wouldn’t have to see him again.
“You sure are in some deep thought over there. Care to talk about it?”
I hadn’t intended to talk to Dad, hadn’t intended to put any of my problems on his plate, but Dad always knew how to help. He somehow always had just the right advice to help me figure things out for myself. I sighed heavily. “Oh, Dad. I have a situation and I don’t know what to do,” I said, chewing on my lower lip. “What would you do if someone gave you money, a lot of money, and you didn’t ask for it and you didn’t want it?”
“Does this have anything to do with this mysterious tip money for the meds?” he asked.
I nodded and rubbed a hand over my face wearily. Coupled between Tim showing up at the pharmacy yesterday and Cooper’s deception, I hadn’t gotten much sleep last night and it was starting to take its toll. “This guy I had been seeing gave it to me anonymously.”
“Had been seeing?” my dad asked, raising a brow.
“He lied to me, Dad,” I offered defensively, picking at the lint on my shirt. “I thought he was a good guy, a truthful guy, but it turns out he’s no different than the rest of them.”
My dad rubbed his chin thoughtfully, his keen eyes watching me. “Why do you think he’s no different? I mean, does he have all the same qualities as the other guys who haven’t lived up to your standards? Let me ask you this, Emmabug . . . what attracted you to this guy in the first place?”
I thought about Cooper’s crooked smile, his fantastic laugh, the way he had come to my rescue and stood up to Tim before he even knew me. I thought about how he’d made me feel safe and cared for, how he’d had me thinking of a future with him. But all of that was before I knew he was a billionaire, before I knew he was capable of keeping something so significant from me. It made it hard to believe that the Cooper I had fallen for was still going to be that Cooper now that I knew his secret. How could he be? Knowing that fact made me see that we were so different and I really had no idea who the real Cooper was.
“He was kind and thoughtful,” I finally said, my heart aching at the thought of never seeing him again. “He always put me first and made me laugh. I really enjoyed spending time with him.
“So, did you try to look at this from his point of view? Do that, Em, and then decide if his lie was really all that bad,” my dad suggested, picking out the one thing I was wrestling with. No, he wasn’t honest with me, but had there been a good reason behind it? I tried to put myself in Cooper’s position for a moment. Why would I keep something like that from someone I cared about? Was he just a private person? I could relate to that. Was he worried I might only like him for his money if he told me about it the first day we met? If that’s the kind of person I was, I’d have just stayed with Tim. I pushed out a hard breath.
“Okay, fine. Maybe not when you put it like that,” I replied softly, thinking of all the good things I liked about Cooper. Could I trust him? Could I potentially be about to ruin something good? I needed to know why he did it. I needed to hear him tell me that it was because he was trying to protect himself and not because he just felt the need to keep things from me. I also had to find out if everything else he had told me was the truth. Then I could decide if Cooper was a man I could trust.
I looked at my dad and gave him a smile. “You always know what to say.”
“Well,” my dad replied, giving me a wink. “It’s in the job description. Besides, I heard you had a little pow wow with William, and I couldn’t let him one up me on my own daughter, now could I?”
I laughed at how competitive the two were. Leave it up to them to try to outdo each other on advice. I started to say something but was interrupted by a knock at the door. “Are you expecting company?” I asked, looking at him.
He shrugged and shook his head. I got up, wiping my hands on my jeans as I approached the door.