CHAPTER TEN

 

 

July Fourth turned out to be surprisingly fun, despite Jackie’s bone-deep terror of the night before. Having Cooper with her made Jackie feel…calmer. More at peace.

Safe.

It was like his promise to protect her—him and the rest of her friends at River’s End Ranch—made her calmer. Despite knowing the extent of Ivan’s evilness, and how dangerous he could really be, Jackie felt as if maybe Cooper could keep her and Kalli safe.

He took them to the café for breakfast, as promised. Jackie’s appetite came back with a vengeance, and she joined Cooper in ordering one of Bob’s breakfast specials, snickering at Cooper’s whispered stories about Bob’s orneriness.

Kalli sat proudly in her highchair and ate scrambled eggs and toast—well, she dropped a piece of toast, butter-side down on the floor, and she ended up wearing most of the eggs, but she was so proud of herself, it was hard to be irritated.

Besides, what baby doesn’t look adorable smeared in grape jelly?

Kelsi, Cooper’s cousin, waddled out of the kitchen to ooh and ahh over Kalli, declaring her almost as cute as her own sixteen-month-old twin girls. She and Cooper got into a good-natured argument over it, and Jackie was surprised when he chose Kalli over his own family for the cutest-baby-on-the-ranch award.

All the laughter really helped Jackie relax, and by the end of the meal, she wasn’t peering over Cooper’s shoulder, looking for strangers. Instead, she was enthralled by his plans for the big firework display that evening, and even helping him sketch out his ideas on a pair of napkins, using the red and blue crayons meant for the kids’ menu.

As they were heading towards the front to pay, Cooper stopped to speak with another couple. Jackie was distracted trying to keep Kalli off the floor—she could walk a little now, but preferred to plop down on her bottom to crawl—but finally looked up and realized he was talking to Charley Easton, the head of security on the ranch. Charley was already in uniform, and introduced Jackie to her husband, Tristan Quarles, who used to work for Pulaski Construction, same as Cooper.

Jackie nodded politely, and breathed a little sigh of relief when she heard Cooper telling Charley about Ivan’s threat, and saw Charley taking it seriously. Then the baby was off again, and Jackie had to lunge to keep her from chewing on a stool at the counter.

An older woman sitting on that stool turned down to smile kindly at the baby, and Jackie blinked when she realized it was Jaclyn, the crazy fairy lady.

“Hello, dear,” said Jaclyn kindly. “I see you took my advice.” She nodded to Cooper and winked exaggeratedly.

Jackie pressed her lips together to hide her smile. Had it really only been a few weeks since Jaclyn had sat in the spa and lectured Jackie on accepting a date from Cooper? Well, she hadn’t said Cooper exactly, but looking at her smirk now, it was obvious she’d known.

Or the fairies had told her.

So Jackie just nodded politely and said, “Hello, Jaclyn. Your hair is looking lovely.”

It obviously hadn’t been what the older woman had expected, and Jackie was rewarded with a perplexed look. As she and Cooper headed outside to his car—the baby dangling over one of his wide shoulders—Jackie saw Jaclyn pat her hair and huff happily.

And that’s why Jackie was smiling by the time Cooper pulled up to the lake.

The water was gorgeous, the little ripples reflecting the morning sun like a multi-faceted, moving crystal. There were already jet-skiers and a few canoers out, and Cooper pointed out the whitewater crews getting ready for their first runs of the day.

“Two years ago, this whole place was in shambles. My cousin Will is in charge, but he’s got ADHD or something, and couldn’t concentrate enough on the management side, so he hired Ellie…and then married her, to keep her around,” he joked. “Their son is Kalli’s age, but Ellie went back to work managing everything, so now the Aquatics Program is a well-oiled machine.”

He introduced her to some of the staff at the boathouse where he was setting up, and no matter how many times she plopped Kalli down on the blanket under the tree and went to help Cooper wire the mortars for that evening, the baby would scoot herself towards the ice-cold water.

Jackie eventually gave up trying to help and, laughing, resigned herself to chasing after her daughter all day. Cooper didn’t mind and kept up a running commentary whenever Kalli stopped near him, praising her attempts at walking.

It was a fun way to spend a morning, and whole chunks of time went by where Jackie wasn’t thinking of Ivan and his threat. Of course, when she remembered, the thick ball of anxiety would bloom again suddenly in her stomach, and she’d glance around frantically, ashamed she’d forgotten the danger to her baby.

But out here in the warm sun, surrounded by laughter and excitement, it was hard to remember to be scared.

Cooper will keep us safe. Even if Ivan does show up, he can’t do anything here.

River’s End Ranch was a safe place.

 

 

Coop did his best to make the holiday enjoyable. He could tell Jackie was still worried, but as the day went on, she seemed to relax more. By lunchtime, he had most of the fireworks ready, so they took a break, and he treated his two ladies to lunch at the café again.

One of these days, I’m going to get a car seat so we can take Kalli into Riston for lunch.

The idea of his truck—built for construction work—with a car seat and baby toys strewn around made him smile. He patted the pocket of his jeans, making sure the little package from the jeweler was separate from the smoke bombs and firecrackers and the launch remote.

Yeah, today was supposed to have been the day he proposed to Jackie. He’d stopped over at that quaint little jeweler’s shop in Quinn Valley on Monday, and the ring in his pocket hadn’t cost him a full two month’s salary, only because he didn’t want to save up that long. It was a simple gold band, the diamond little more than a fleck, but he knew she wouldn’t mind.

If she said yes.

If he even asked her today.

Somehow, Ivan’s threat made the day less perfect for a proposal. Coop decided he’d just wait and see.

After lunch, the baby fell asleep in her little umbrella stroller, so they parked her on the quilt in the shade, and he started Googling on his cell phone until he had a list of hospital numbers. The third try was the place where Jackie said she’d given birth, and sure enough, they had a Father George MacVeigh there. Jackie was able to speak to him and apologized profusely. When she began to repeat herself for the third time, Coop gently took the phone away and introduced himself to the priest, explaining that Jackie and Kalli were safe with him.

It was an emotional experience all around, but Coop could tell Jackie felt better when she hung up.

With Kalli still asleep, Jackie helped him carry the equipment out onto the farthest dock and set up everything on the rubber damper mat. Not only was the boathouse a good distance from where most of the crowd would be gathered that night, but this dock stuck the farthest out into the lake, right below the mouth of the river. The water was deepest here, so when Coop, Wade, and Andrew discussed options for the fireworks launch, they agreed that doing it here—like in years past—was the best.

Besides, the show would look doubly amazing over the water, with the mountains as the backdrop. Coop couldn’t wait to see it.

Later in the afternoon, they wandered over to where the festivities were setting up. Knowing his contribution to the entertainment meant he wasn’t obligated to bring something to the potluck, Coop had a hard time convincing Jackie of that. It wasn’t until an adorably pregnant Sadie from the soda shop scooped up Kalli and pretended to nibble at her belly, declaring “This is the sweetest, yummiest contribution of all!” that Jackie relaxed and laughed and began to fill a plate for herself and the baby.

They circulated through the crowd for the next few hours, laughing and joking with friends new and old. There was a passel of kids hanging around—guests, mostly, but some distant cousins too—and he had a lot of fun showing them how to use smoke bombs and sparklers in the warm evening air.

He had a grand time introducing her to his extended family—all the Westons and quite a few cousins had arrived, but Kenneth was being a big dumb idiot and working instead. Coop didn’t even mind their teasing about how domesticated he looked with Kalli in his arms. If he had his way, soon this would be permanent.

It took all of his concentration not to kiss her repeatedly throughout the day, especially whenever she’d smile or laugh or look so at ease here on the ranch. He wanted her so badly, wanted to taste her again…but held back. He could tell from the way she looked at him that she wanted to be kissed too, but he was determined to prove his point. He wanted to kiss her, yeah, but he wanted to marry her more.

Soon.

As it was getting dark, he steered his hopefully-soon-to-be-family back to where Marybeth and Mack had been hanging out with Belinda and Wyatt. As they neared his family, Coop took Jackie’s elbow and pulled her to a stop, lowering his mouth to her ear.

“Do you mind if we leave Kalli with my sister for a little bit, honey?” he murmured.

She twisted to stare at him, her brows lowered in confusion and her eyes wary in the growing dusk. He realized his mistake and smiled.

“Sorry. I mean, yeah, I want to sneak away with you” —he waggled his eyebrows suggestively, until a reluctant grin flashed across her face— “but I didn’t mean like that. I just meant…you’ve been a big help with tonight’s show, and I’d really like you to be there with me when I cue the launches. I thought it would be a lot of fun to watch it together.”

Besides, there’d been no sign of Ivan all day—clearly his threats were empty—and Coop couldn’t help but think the time was perfect to propose to her.

And then he’d kiss her, by God.

Jackie was chewing on her bottom lip, staring at her daughter, then finally nodded. “Okay,” she said with a little sigh. “I’m nervous, but I trust your family, and I’d love to see all of your hard work come to fruition.”

He snaked one arm around her middle and smiled. “Our hard work.”

Kalli was already close to sleeping when they left her with Marybeth, who promised not to “put this little angel down for even a moment!” The small ear protection went to Mack for safekeeping, although with the way Kalli was snuggled up against Marybeth’s chest, she probably wouldn’t need it.

Coop walked hand-in-hand with Jackie back towards the boathouse and the waiting fireworks. He had the beginnings of a plan in his head, and the closer they got, the harder his heart beat.

“You know I love you, right?” he blurted out as the lake came into view.

She snorted softly. “You have a funny way of showing it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He bristled. Had he really done that poor of a job expressing his feelings?

“I mean that, yeah, you’ve told me, and you’re acting just—just—well, you’re pretty wonderful. But you haven’t seemed interested in…well, in kissing me.”

He bit back a groan as he pulled her around the side of the boathouse towards the dock.

“Seriously?” he muttered. Then, louder, “I’ve wanted to kiss you more than—well, more than almost anything in my life. Do you have any idea how many cold showers I’ve had to take in the last few weeks to keep from pawing at you? Heck, even today I’ve seriously considered dunking in this water a few times, just to get my desire for you under control. And this is snow melt!”

She didn’t say anything as they stepped out onto the floating docks and made their way towards the rubber mat where they’d set everything up earlier. Finally, she took a deep breath.

“I don’t understand,” she said quietly, staring down at the water. “If you want to, why haven’t you?”

The confusion in her voice made his heart clench. What kind of men was she used to, that something as simple as respect could baffle her?

“Honey,” he said gently, squeezing her hand until she looked up at him. “I love you. And I want…” He took a deep breath, not sure how to say what he wanted to say. “I want you to know I love you for you. Not because of the way you kiss. Or the way you do—or let me do—other things.” He loved her for more than just her body. “I love you for your determination and your strength and your sense of humor—well, the way you laugh at my sense of humor, at least—and how pragmatic you are and how you care about your work and believe in the good you do. I love you for your smile and your laughter and the way you love Kalli, and how you feel sitting beside me at church and the way you treat my family like they’re yours too. I—”

He blew out an exasperated breath and ran his free hand through his hair. No, this wasn’t saying what he wanted to say, what he wanted her to hear. He needed to prove it.

Dropping her hand, he wrapped both of his around her waist and lifted her up and over the mortar rack. The fireworks were tall enough they’d be hard to step over, and he’d only left a little clearance along the edge of the dock to walk around them. Placing her down gently, well on the other side, he led her to the edge of the dock. There, with the moon reflecting off the lake, he turned her towards him and took her hands in his again.

“I love you,” he said softly, his lips only inches from hers. “And I want to keep on loving you for as long as you’ll let me.”

She was straining towards him, obviously wanting a kiss as badly as he did. But not yet.

Instead of obliging her—obliging them both—by touching his lips to hers, he sunk down, away from her, until he was kneeling in front.

“C—Cooper?” She shuffled backwards, but couldn’t go far, not with his grip on her hands. “What are you doing?” She sounded a little frantic.

“Jackie Novak, I love you. I want to kiss you, yeah, but I want you to know that you’re worth loving as you are. Without kisses.”

“You don’t want to kiss me?”

She really didn’t get it, did she? He was smiling when he dropped one of her hands and dug into his pocket for the box with the ring.

“I do want to kiss you, but I’m trying to prove a point.”

When he opened the box, and the reflected moonlight caught the teeny diamond, she gasped.

“What point?”

“I want to marry you, Jackie. I want to marry you and become Kalli’s daddy and prove that you’re worth loving for yourself. I want you to tell me that you love me for myself, and…”

She sounded like she was holding her breath when she asked, “And what?”

He grinned wickedly. “And then I’m going to kiss you. Until your toes curl.”

“Oh my,” she whispered.

“So, what do you say? Will you marry me?”

Jackie stared down at the ring, and Coop found himself holding his breath in anticipation. He knew her well enough to know what was going through her head. She was questioning her worth, questioning if he was strong enough to handle everything in her life.

I am, he silently told her, praying she’d make the right decision. And so are you.

Finally—finally!—she took a deep breath. He couldn’t read her expression, but he prayed she understood what he was trying to tell her.

Please, God, let this woman say yes.

“Cooper, I…”

“Marry me, Jackie,” he quietly urged again.

“I think—”

Only God knew what she’d planned to say then, because they were interrupted by a voice from the end of the dock, where it met the lake shore. “Well, isn’t this cozy.”

Both Coop and Jackie’s heads jerked sideways to see the interloper step onto the dock. It was a man, his silhouette broad and stocky, and his voice gravelly and mean. But it was the gleam of the gun in his hand which captured Coop’s attention and made his heart drop somewhere around his stomach.

Ivan.