The One Real Thing

Unlike all the other couples they knew, he and Dana didn’t have a partnership. He didn’t have a wife to lean on when shit got hard. She had expected him to deal with it alone and shield her from anything bad, like she was a child.

For instance, when his mom died. His mom. She wasn’t even close to his mother. But Dana couldn’t cope with the sad reality of death. It made her question her own mortality and she didn’t like that one bit. So she wouldn’t talk about his mom’s death. She wouldn’t let him talk about it, and he’d needed to talk about it.

In the end it was Jack who had been there for him.

Huh. What a joke that was. He’d always considered himself a really good judge of character until Jack’s betrayal.

Cooper sighed again and shook off the ugly memories.

Jessica struck him as a different sort of woman than Dana. Not only did she probably take care of herself, she took care of other people. The idea of dating an independent woman appealed to him now. Then again, he’d always thought Dana was sweet, until she’d showed him how bitter she could taste.

But that shouldn’t be enough to put him off at least getting to know the doc. She was in Hartwell for three weeks. That was plenty of time to explore the chemistry between them if he was willing to give it a chance.

“Those look like some heavy thoughts,” Old Archie said.

Cooper looked at him. “What do you know about heavy thoughts?”

Old Archie grinned and opened his mouth to say something, when his old lady, Anita, slid onto the stool next to him. Old Archie immediately frowned at her. “Woman, what are you doing here?”

She grinned and shrugged. “Thought I’d join you tonight.” Anita turned that lopsided grin of hers on Cooper. “I’ll have what he’s having. He’s paying.”

Cooper grinned and started to pull her a draft while he watched Old Archie’s reaction to Anita showing up.

It was fair to say that Old Archie was an alcoholic. He liked his drink and he made no apologies for it. He’d been married and she left him, taking their kids with her when she drove out of Hartwell for good. Things had gotten bad for Archie for a while, but then he’d met Anita. Anita didn’t care that Archie liked his drink. All she cared about was that he was loyal to her and he loved her.

Cooper knew Old Archie loved Anita.

But there were days, like today, when Old Archie loved the drink more.

As Anita talked about some television show she’d been watching, Cooper saw Archie surreptitiously lean to his other side where Anita couldn’t see, clearly counting the money in his pocket. He frowned and snapped up straight, shooting his old lady a glower. “Woman,” he said, interrupting her, “what have you done to your hair?”

Anita frowned back at him, her hand hovering over her head. “I cut it. Last week,” she snapped.

“Well, I don’t like it.”

“What do you mean you don’t like it? You didn’t even notice it until now.”

“And I don’t like it.”

“What’s wrong with it?” she practically yelled, and a few of Cooper’s other regulars turned to watch the older couple.

Cooper crossed his arms over his chest, suspecting he knew exactly what Old Archie was up to.

“It’s too short. You look like a boy.”

“I do not look like a boy, Archibald Brown.” She hopped up off the stool. “If you’re in a bad mood, I’m going home. Sleep on the couch tonight.” She stormed away.

“I like your hair, Anita!” Hug, a painter and decorator who had gone to school with Coop’s mom, shouted out as she passed.

“Thank you, Hug.” Anita preened, touching her hair. She threw a smug glower back at Old Archie, but he was too busy grinning into his beer to notice.

As soon as the bar door slammed shut behind Anita, Cooper shook his head at him.

Old Archie’s grin got bigger. “What? If she’d stuck around I could only afford two more beers. Not I got four more to look forward to.”

“And a cold couch.” Cooper turned away, laughing at the way Old Archie’s face fell boyishly at the realization.

“That was mean,” Riley, his bar staff, said from the other end of the bar.

Lily, one of his waitstaff, dumped a tray with empties on the bar and glowered at Old Archie. “It was beyond mean. Anita looked real upset, Archie.”

“Ah, she’ll be fine.” He waved them off, but Coop saw the flicker of guilt in his eyes before he lowered his gaze to his beer.

“Quiet tonight,” Riley said, strolling up the bar to him and Lily. “Can’t wait for the season to kick in.”

Cooper had four bar staff working for him—Riley, Kit, Jace, and Ollie. Riley and Ollie worked nights, Kit and Jace worked days. There was Crosby, his cook, and four waitstaff—Lily, Isla, Bryn, and Ashley. During high season, everyone, including Cooper, worked more hours.

It was a lot of responsibility, but he didn’t mind. He was good at that shit.

But it could get tiring.

Which made the thought of dating a woman who didn’t need him to be responsible for anything more than making their time together enjoyable very appealing.

As if he’d conjured her, the door to Cooper’s opened and in stepped Jessica Huntington. He drank in the sight of her.

Her long blond hair was now dry. There really was a lot of it. It spilled down her back in thick waves. Those big gorgeous eyes of hers moved around the bar, drinking in the sight of the locals, who stared at her curiously. She smiled at them and then looked over at the bar, and that pretty smile widened when she caught sight of Cooper.