Page 121 of This Time Around
Thirty-Eight
Rebecca
I stood in my driveway, dust and gravel kicking into the air as Cooper’s car pulled away.It took all my strength not to chase after him, not to beg him to stay, to listen to me and talk more.
We’d said all there was to say, and he made so much sense in those final moments, I knew he was right.
He needed me whole and certain.
I needed him the same.
So, with my heart cracking, I watched the man I loved drive away from me, hoping like hell it wasn’t the last time I saw him.
Then, as difficult as it was, I went back to work and I started taking steps to do exactly what I promised Cooper I would do.
Heal enough so I could come to him whole.
Turned out, I had an incredible support system of friends and family behind me who I’d neglected for far too long.Also, my neighbors were more incredible than I ever knew, and on top of that, my stepping foot back into Carlton Christian Church meant everyone who attended, who had also known me since birth, took my re-arrival as their opening to welcome me back into the fold.
I suspected Gloria for that last one, but I no longer cursed her pesky meddling beneath my breath.
I was busier since Cooper left than I could ever remember being.On the weekends, Brooke brought her boys to run around and play with the animals while we did everything from homemade facials and manicures to overindulging on vodka lemonades.We took them horseback riding, and out to swim in the natural spring.
At nights and on the weekends, Kelly and I, or even me by myself, became regulars at the golf resort, either at the restaurant or getting massages and pedicures.
I walked through town with my head held high, only occasionally glancing for a look of Jenni Akers.Once, I spied her at The Tavern when Jordan and I met up with Ryan and Kelly for a few drinks and a couple games of pool while we watched the Kansas City Royals battle it out with the St.Louis Cardinals.
She glared at me and then smirked as she grabbed Gavin’s hand and pulled him out of the restaurant.Both of them looked like baseball or beers were the last things on the mind.I pushed the look on her face and their presence out of my mind.Good riddance.Nothing else had happened to my cattle or my fences, so I assumed Samuel had been telling the truth, and it was his nephews that had fired those guns.Still didn’t mean I trusted either Gavin or Jenni, and I never would.But I had smiled that night, watching them walk out together.Both of them were rotten people who probably deserved whatever misery they’d bring each other.
And best of all, Gloria and Peter sent me Tomas.Tomas had been the Whitman’s hired hand since his parents immigrated from Venezuela before he was born.He’d practically grown up on Whitman’s land, and he knew both their land and mine, like the back of his hand.He came every morning, showed up well before five-thirty when I woke up and was already in the fields.He took over the cattle, watched them closely with calving season upon us again.Daily he was with the cattle, ensuring I didn’t lose anymore and when it came time to work the cows like we did every summer, running them through the equipment to ensure they were all vaccinated and tagged properly, I barely had to lift a hand.It was hard work, and it took us days to get done with the two of us.He repaired large stretches of fencing, moved mineral buckets and feed, and took over the hay.
I essentially did nothing except the goats and the chickens.
Plus, he was old enough to be my own father, which meant Cooper didn’t lose his mind when I told him.
That didn’t mean I hadn’t taken stalking to Brooke’s levels and put Google Alerts on my phone.I was notified several times a day whenever his name popped up, but even those alerts were slowing down.
His return to Los Angeles, camping out in a penthouse during the filming of his movie sent waves through paparazzo and gossip columns.Everyone wanted to know about his summer fling and his divorce being finalized.
Then, an up and coming pop star got caught with her pants down, literally, and worse she was with a B-List actor and a Reality TV star on film during the moment, and everyone forgot about Cooper Hawke.
Fortunately for me, we spoke daily, many days multiple times.And while I still despised the phrase ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder,’ there was something to be said for taking the physical element off the table and only being able to use our words to connect.
We talked every morning and night.As the days went by, I almost became concerned he missed Pepper as much, if not more, than he missed me.I also teased him relentlessly for it, often taking his calls in the goat’s penned area with Pepper on my lap.
He confessed he told his parents about me, and once he managed for us to Skype.Meeting parents via a video call was a first, yet during what ended up being an hour-long call, I gave them a quick walking tour of the ranch and afterward, his mom, Annie, insisted they come out for Thanksgiving.
I’d flubbed my way through accepting.Cooper stepped in and took over.
And later, when it was just the two of us on another video conference call, we used our words to do everything we couldn’t do physically.
It’d been a month without him and in less than a week, he started filming.As it approached, he became more animated, more focused on his role, sharing with me all the parts of what went into making a movie.He sent me photos of his stunt double, a man who was commonly hired to work in place of Cooper during some of the most dangerous scenes.
I was busy prepping the animals I was set to show at the fair the following week.Two chickens, Pepper, and his mom, and Hope, a cow I’d shown almost ten years in a row, who had already won several ribbons.
This year, I was secretly hoping to bring home a ribbon for Pepper.
Cooper would probably celebrate the victory by framing that ribbon and hanging it by his own awards, he’d be so proud.
