Chapter 12
Cooper was coming out of the house with a couple of towels when a strange car pulled up and parked in the front yard. They’d all been down at the creek looking at the minnows that had appeared the day before. Besides their dig behind the house, they were also creating a journal about the creek. Steve had set them up the last time he’d been around, giving them journals and instructions on how to create scientific entries — it had been a very educational experience.
That is until today when they’d felt to the need to investigate so closely they’d accidently ended up in the creek. Paige had sent him up to the house for towels having decided that since the damage was already done, she’d let them tromp up and down the creek to their hearts content. But it looked like they’d have to wait for those towels; he thought wondering who had made it through the security at the gate.
He watched shocked at the last person he would have expected got out of the car, his ex-wife. A jumble of emotions raced through him, from shock to exasperation, but never was there any joy at the sight of her. In fact, as he looked at her, he saw her for what she really was, a conniving social climber who’d used him to achieve her goals.
It struck him then, with a force that took his breath away, just how different she and Paige were. Besides the fact that Amy was gaunt to the point of looking starved, her carefully makeup face looked artificial in the sunlight. She was dressed as if she’d planned to go to the club instead of a drive up in the mountains, her three inch heels looking very out of place.
He had to suppress a laugh when she took a couple of steps and tripped on a rock, but then she opened her mouth and all his joy evaporated. “Cooper.” She purred. “It’s so wonderful to see you. Do you know how hard it was to find you? If I didn’t know better, I would think that you’re hiding from me.”
Cooper just looked at her and started across the road, forcing her to follow if she wanted. “Wait.” She called, but to her surprise he kept going.
She looked at her feet, then at the field he was crossing, then started after him. “Cooper, wait. I need to talk to you.” She said, stumbling across the field, cursing the fact that this wasn’t going as she’d planned.
He finally stopped when he heard her yelp with pain. Turning around to face her, he said, “What do you want?” Then he crossed his arms over his chest and waited for her to come to him.
She finally got the message and walked carefully over the rough ground, looking ridiculous with each step she took. Frantically trying to come up with a reason for her visit now that her sex appeal didn’t seem to be working, she finally said, “Can’t a mother want to visit her son? I haven’t seen him in months.”
“I see you came all the way up here to visit Brandon.” He said, skeptically. “How did you get past the guard?”
“Oh, that. I just explained to him who I was and he let me in.” She said, licking her lips, unable to hide the secret smile on her face.
“I can just imagine.” He said, “If you want to see Brandon he’s down by the creek, but I don’t imagine for a minute that you came here to see him. What do you want Amy?”
Stalling since she couldn’t tell him the real reason she was here, she stepped up close to him and ran her hand up and down his arm and gave him a coy smile. “I’ve missed you Cooper. You look really good; sometimes I wonder if I made a mistake.”
He stepped back from her with a shutter of disgust, then saw Paige coming across the field. She’d obviously seen the exchange, because she had a fierce look on her face as she approached them. Cooper stepped back a few more feet from Amy, then turned and waited for Paige to get to them. When she did, he put his arm around her waist to make it perfectly clear to Amy what this woman meant to him.
Amy narrowed her eyes at Paige, then asked sweetly, “Oh, did you hire a nanny?”
Paige could feel Cooper’s body stiffen at Amy’s words, but he managed to hold his temper in check. “Paige is not my nanny, she’s the lead scientist on something we’ve been working on in the park.” He said through clenched teeth.
Amy could hardly hide her smile when she realized that she’d made Cooper mad, finally she had the upper hand. Cooper was always most vulnerable when he was mad. But then she saw Paige give Cooper a little squeeze and it seemed like his anger melted away, so much for the upper hand she’d thought she had.
But she wasn’t here to get Cooper back, in fact she didn’t even want to be here, but thanks to some poor choices, she had no choice but to come dragging back to Cooper. She’d hoped that it would have been a simple matter of seducing him into bed to get the information she needed, but now she’d have to be more inventive.
“Oh, I heard about some of the things you’re doing here. Isn’t there an Indian burial ground or something around here?” She asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
Cooper narrowed his eyes at her, knowing her all too well, he was sure she was up to something and although they had kept the news about the gold coins secret he thought it was strange that she of all people had heard of the burial ground. It wouldn’t surprise him if she thought she deserved a share of what they’d found.
“I thought you were here to see your son?” Cooper asked.
“I am.” She said, sticking her chin out. “Where is he?”
“He’s down by the stream.” Cooper said, pointing across the field to the stream, which couldn’t be seen, but could be heard.
“What’s he doing down there. It can’t be safe. It’s a good thing I got here when I did. This place doesn’t look very safe.” Amy said, trying to inject some concern into her voice.
“Brandon is perfectly capable of taking care of himself, he’s almost eleven years old.” Cooper said, not falling for her act for one second.
“Well, a mother has to watch out for her child.” Amy said, trying to maintain her charade.
“I’d take that for the truth if you hadn’t been happy enough to sell your son to me for 2.5 million dollars less than a year ago.” Cooper said, trying to keep his cool, especially when Paige sucked in a deep breath of shock.
Amy panicked for a second; she was unprepared to defend herself, especially in front of another woman. “Uhhh, that wasn’t my fault, it was the attorney’s idea.” She said, quickly.
Cooper opened his mouth to reply, but Brandon and Justin came running up from the creek, soaking wet and muddy. “Dad, I thought you were going to bring us a towel.” He said, then stopped and stared at his mother.
Justin unaware of what was happening, came all the way up to the threesome and stood by Paige, looking from Cooper to Paige. Brandon took a few more tentative steps toward his dad, then stood next to him, clearly upset to see his mother.
She held her arms out to him, but he didn’t move. Finally, she said, “Don’t you want to give your mother a hug? I’ve come a long way to see you.”
Brandon looked up at his dad, then over at his mother, then back up at his dad a questioning look on his face. Cooper only shrugged his shoulders as if to say it’s up to you. Brandon made his decision and instead of hugging his mother he asked, “Where have you been?”
“Well, I’ve been…traveling.” She finally managed to say.
Cooper had had enough of Amy, “What are you doing here Amy?” The exasperation clear in his voice.
“I just wanted to see Brandon.” She said, trying to look sad.
“Well, you’ve seen him.” Cooper said, not making it any easier on her.
“I thought maybe I could stay for a few days and visit.” Amy said, her eyes straying to Cooper’s house.
“There’s no place here for you to stay, besides if I remember right the one time I brought you here, you hated it.” Cooper said, then added, “You’ll have to go back to town and find a place to stay if you insist on staying.”
“I suppose that’s because she’s living with you, that’s so tacky. Besides it’s not good for Brandon; maybe he should come with me.” She said, self-righteously.
Cooper looked down at Brandon who was clearly not enjoying the visit from his mother. “Brandon, why don’t you and Justin go in the house and play some video games, but take off those wet clothes and shoes before you go in the house.”
“Okay dad, come on Justin.” Brandon said, relieved to be given his freedom.
As the boys started to walk away, Paige said, “I’ll go with them and make sure they get those muddy clothes off before they go in the house.”
Cooper held on to her and said, “That’s okay, Amy is going to be leaving soon anyway.” Then stared at Amy until she got the message.
“Oh, well I guess I better go find someplace to stay. It’s umm getting late.” Amy finally said, shocked that things hadn’t gone the way she’d planned. “I’m coming back tomorrow.”
Cooper sighed and said, “I won’t stop you even thought I could, but Brandon is doing fine here and I’m not going to let you upset him. Step out of line one inch and I’ll have you removed from the property.
“He’s my son, too.” Amy said, stomping her foot.
“He may be your son, but you gave up any chance to be close to him when you traded him for money. Now be on your way; this visit is enough for one day.” Cooper said, taking Paige’s hand and leaving Amy standing in the middle of the field.
When they got in the house, the boys were playing video games, but it was clear that Brandon was upset. Cooper waited until he heard Amy’s car go down the road, then took Brandon out for a walk. When they returned, Brandon looked better, but it was clear that he was still upset.
While they’d been gone, Paige had been making Brandon’s favorite dinner, spaghetti. When he walked into the house and smelled it, he crossed the kitchen and gave Paige a hug, a bit shocked she held him for a second, until he pulled away without a word and went back into the living room. Cooper smiled at her from across the kitchen, then crossed the room and pulled her into his arms.
“Funny how sometimes actions speak louder than words, thanks for thinking of Brandon.” He said, giving her a kiss.
“I wanted to do something to show him that I care.” She said, shrugging her shoulders. “Is he going to be okay?”
“Yeah, he’ll be fine. I hope Amy doesn’t come back, but I have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of her. She’s up to something — I can tell.” Cooper said, with a sigh.
Paige rested her head on his chest, “We’ll deal with it together.” she said, looking up at him.
Cooper looked at Paige, then took a deep breath of relief. “It’s not going to be pleasant for any of us, but knowing you’re here makes it so much easier.” He said, burying his face in her hair.
Amy got in her car in a panic; she’d expected her reunion with Cooper and Brandon to go much differently than it had. She’d never for a million years expected him to be involved with someone, and someone clearly so much younger than she was. Looking in the mirror, she wondered if she needed to try and find somewhere to get a little work done before she came back tomorrow, then abandoned the thought realizing that what she needed was some different clothes.
She’d felt as ridiculous as she’d looked stumbling across that field, tomorrow she’d dress differently, fit in better. Paige or whatever her name was, didn’t stand a chance. By tomorrow night, she’d have Cooper eating out of her hands; it was just a matter of approaching him differently. Already planning out her seduction in her mind, she drove back to town and the man who was waiting for her there.
After dinner that night, they helped the boys with their homework, then let them have some television time. “Let’s go sit on the porch, I want to talk to you.” Cooper said, handing her a jacket to wear since the night’s had grown chilly.
Once they were settled on their favorite bench, Cooper’s arm around Paige, he said, “I want you to think about spending the night tonight.”
“Oh, Cooper I don’t know.” She said, more tempted than he could imagine to take him up on his request. “What will the boys think?”
“That we’re committed to each other.” He said, looking in her eyes. “I know how you feel about us spending the night together, but Paige I think this might be the time to make an exception. Brandon needs you.”
She studied him for a minute, Brandon had been particularly clingy tonight, which was completely unlike him. But she knew that there was more to Cooper’s request than just Brandon’s happiness — she could see the vulnerability in his eyes. Amy had hurt him, and although she didn’t doubt his feelings for her, she knew that right now he was dealing with some heavy emotions.
She was just about to agree, when he said, “I need you, too.”
“Of course we’ll stay. I’ll always be here for you when you need me.” She said, stroking his face.
He leaned into her hand, then said, “Thank you. I need you here with me tonight.” Then he kissed the center of her palm, and added, “But you’re going to have be much quieter than you usually are, these walls aren’t very thick.”
She laughed and said, “Who said anything about sex, I didn’t hear that part of the bargain.”
“Well, if you think you can sleep in the same bed with me and not have sex then that’s fine with me, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try.” He said, bringing his mouth down on hers in a passionate kiss.
When he finally released her, there was no question in her mind about what would happen later, “When you put it that way, how can I resist?”
Paige was in the kitchen washing up the last of the dishes, and Cooper had offered to put the boys to bed while she put the house to bed. “They’re both asleep.” He reported, coming into the kitchen and wrapping his arms around her from behind.
“Good, it was a long day.” She said, leaning back into his chest.
“Then let’s go to bed.” He said, “Then added, it’s nice that you’re mine for a whole night.”
When they climbed into bed, Cooper pulled her to him and got comfortable. She could tell that he had something on his mind, and she was sure that it was Amy. They’d talked about his marriage very briefly, and although she didn’t want to hear more of the story, she knew that there was more to be told.
Cooper took a deep breath and said, “I really thought that I loved her, and honestly it wasn’t until I moved up here that I began to understand that I was in love with the idea of Amy. She was more than willing to adapt herself to what I wanted, then once we were married she changed, but I still had my dreams so I adapted my thinking to hers.” He’d explained.
“That happens a lot in relationships.” Paige had said, just to keep him talking.
“I was such an idiot. I still don’t know how I didn’t see through her charade.” He said, feeling the rush of both embarrassment and anger that he’d let her manipulate her.
“Cooper, I think the first thing you need to do is forgive yourself.” Paige said, sitting up so she could look into his eyes. “Don’t you see? Amy used the very best part of you to get what she wanted.”
When he looked at her in confusion, she went on, “Cooper you have an amazing capacity to care about people, but with that comes the risk they’ll use that against you. Amy saw that in you and took advantage of it; you didn’t do anything wrong besides trusting someone you loved.” Cooper sat silently for a long time thinking about his years married to Amy, then it occurred to him that Paige was right.
“The question you have to ask yourself is if you’ve learned from the experience. And don’t forget that whether she’s a horrible mother or not, you have a wonderful son sleeping in the other room. No matter what else she may have done to you, she did give you Brandon.” Paige said, then took his hand in hers, lifted it to her mouth and kissed his palm.
Her point made, Paige laid back down next to him and curled herself around him, content to let him think about what she’d said. Cooper was turning Paige’s words over and over in his mind letting them sink in, his embarrassment and anger at himself draining away. While the mistake he’d made had been huge, he had grown from the experience and Brandon was certainly something he’d never be sorry for.
“How did you get so smart?” He finally asked, his voice telling her that the crisis had passed.
“Well, it’s easier when you’re standing on the outside.” She said, relieved to hear her Cooper back.
He sat up so suddenly, she practically fell out of bed. “But you’re not on the outside. Don’t you see this affects you too?” He said, jumping up out of bed and grabbing his robe off the hook on the back of the door and handing it to her?
She was confused but followed him down the stairs and out onto the porch. “Cooper, what are we doing? It’s freezing out here.” She said, grimacing when her bare feet came in contact with the cold boards on the porch.
Cooper sat down on their bench and pulled her onto his lap, then pulled her feet up and covered them with the robe. “Better?”
“Yes, but what are we doing out here, it’s the middle of the night.” She said, genuinely confused.
When she looked into his eyes, there was so much intensity in them, that her heart started beating a staccato rhythm in her chest. Cooper reached up and cupped her face in one hand, then said, “I just thought it was appropriate for me to tell you how much I love you here.” He said, stroking her cheek with his thumb.
“Oh Cooper, I love you too.” She said, the tears running down her face.
“It occurred to me that no matter what happened in the past, we have each other now and I’ve never told you that I love you. I think I’ve loved you since the first time we sat on this bench.” He said, smiling at the memory.
Paige was speechless for a long time, her eyes shining with tears of happiness, “I know it sounds stupid, but I never thought I’d find that perfect person, yet here you are. At first, I was afraid to believe that something so wonderful could happen to me, and finding you and Brandon was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“We fit together perfectly.” He said, standing up and carrying her into the house. When he set her on her feet, he took her hand and led her upstairs, his thumb rubbing across the middle of her palm, sending shivers of anticipation rushing though her.