The One Real Thing (Hart's Boardwalk) (27 page)

Cat grunted beside me. “One guess.”

Confused, I shrugged at Cooper and waited for him to fill me in. He sighed. “Dana. She hated dogs.”

“And kids,” Joey said, piping up.

Cooper and his sister tensed on either side of me and I wondered what that was about. I wasn’t going to ask, however, with Joey around.

“So”—I hurried to change the subject—“I hear that you are something of a musical genius.”

He shook his head, very serious and grown-up. “I am very good, though.”

I bit back my laughter, nudging Cooper with my shoulder. He grinned at me, pride practically bursting from him. “Well, I would love to hear you play. You know, Bailey has a piano at the inn.”

“I know.” He nodded, his eyes lighting up. “She lets me play on it.”

“Well?” I looked to Cat and Cooper. “Would you mind?”

It turned out they didn’t mind at all and were, like any proud family, excited for me to hear how good Joey was.

“Well, this is a surprise,” Bailey said as we strode into the inn. She moved from behind the reception desk and immediately hunched down to hug Joey, who patted her on the back like a forty-year-old man.

When he pulled back he grinned at her. “Jessica would like to hear me play.”

Bailey smiled. “You know I love listening to you, kid. The
piano”—she gestured to the Steinway upright she had in the front room of the inn—“is all yours.”

“You’re in for a treat,” Cooper said, taking my hand as we followed Joey around the corner.

“What would you like to hear?” Joey said to me.

“You pick.”

When the first strain of Tchaikovsky hit my ears I couldn’t believe it. And when I recognized it as the music from the dying swan scene in
Swan Lake
, every muscle in my body locked.

There was a part of me dealing with the awe of watching an eight-year-old play Tchaikovsky.

But a much bigger part of me was thinking of my little sister and the fact that the anniversary of her death was only a mere thirty-one days from now.

I’d been trying to push it aside, hoping that my new routines here, the excitement of settling into a new place, would help me forget. However, it was like someone didn’t want me to. Someone didn’t want me to finally have peace after all these years.

Tears welled in my eyes as the memory of my sister dancing the dying swan rushed me. Julia had loved dancing since she was a kid, and she’d been a talented ballerina. She’d danced until the end. She’d finally gotten an audition for the School of American Ballet. She didn’t get in.

It was the one thing that had kept her focused. Kept her going.

Everything fell apart after that moment.

Bailey wrapped her arm around my shoulder and gave me a hug, pulling me back into the present. “I know, he’s that good.”

I could feel Cooper staring at me, but I refused to look at him. I didn’t want him to know my emotion wasn’t over Joey. “He’s amazing,” I whispered.

Because, despite what his music choice had done to me, the kid
was
amazing.

A warm, strong hand curled around mine. At Cooper’s touch I couldn’t help but look up at him. He stared back at me, concerned.

He saw far too much.

I squeezed his hand and smiled to cover up what I didn’t want seen. “You must be so proud,” I whispered.

His answering nod was slow because he was still scrutinizing me.

Thankfully, Joey finished and I was able to avoid Cooper by whooping and clapping along with Bailey and Cat.

“So?” Joey turned around on the seat to grin at me. “Did you like it?”

I returned his grin. “Like it? I loved it! You, Mr. Lawson, have the hands of a world-class surgeon.”

Joey’s whole face lit up at the thought before it quickly turned crestfallen. “I find insides yucky, remember.”

Cat laughed and moved over to her son to hug him against her waist. “I guess you’ll just have to stick to being a piano prodigy.”

He grinned at his mom and then jumped off the stool to hurry over to me. He tilted his head back to look up at me. “What next?”

My melancholy began to slip away. Joey was adorable and it was heartwarming that he seemed to like me. “Hmm.” I tapped my chin, thinking about someone I hadn’t seen in a few days. “Do you like books?” I had a suspicion he did.

I was right.

His blue eyes grew round. “I love books!”

“Yeah? What’s your favorite?”

“I can’t choose just one, silly,” he scoffed.

I laughed. Oh yes. He definitely had to meet Emery. “I know someplace where there are lots of books.” I looked up at Cooper and Cat. “And coffee for us.”

Cooper shook his head, but he was smiling. “You can’t be serious, Doc. She’ll have a heart attack if we all walk in together.”

“I don’t think so.” I looked down at Joey. “Trust me.”

Not too long later we found ourselves at Emery’s. The place was much busier than I was used to, with tourists looking for a coffee and a good book to read on the beach. There was a girl behind the coffee counter I’d never seen before, while Emery was helping a
customer in the bookstore. The reading area itself was empty—I guessed because it was so nice outside.

Emery shot me a smile as soon as she saw me and, finishing up with her customer, came toward me. Her footsteps faltered as she realized Cooper was with me.

“Hey.” I grinned at her. “Guess who decided to stick around?”

“I heard,” she said, her smile shy now. “Iris told me.”

“You talk to Iris?” Cat said, not hiding her surprise.

Emery immediately blushed.

“I brought someone who loves books,” I said as a distraction, nudging Joey toward Emery.

As for Joey, he was staring up at Emery with his lips parted in wonder.

As for Emery, when she looked down at Joey all her timidity seemed to disappear. “Hey there.”

Joey just blinked at her.

I covered a chuckle and placed my hands on his shoulders. “Why don’t you go with Emery and she can help you pick out a book? My treat.”

He nodded, still staring at her, that wonder only increasing when Emery held out her hand to him. “So what kinds of stories do you like?” she said as they walked away together.

“Your treat?” Cat said. “If the plan is to buy my kid’s affection with books and a woman who looks like a character from
Frozen
, then well done.” She grinned at me and strode toward the coffee counter.

Confused, I turned to Cooper. “
Frozen
?”

“The Disney movie.”

“I don’t watch a lot of movies.”

He wrapped his arm around my waist and shook his head in disbelief. “Jesus Christ, Doc, I’m a thirty-six-year-old bar owner and even I’ve heard of
Frozen
.”

“That’s just depressing.” I sighed. “Is it good?”

“Not after the fifty-sixth time, no.”

I threw my head back in laughter. “Clearly Joey thinks it’s good.”

“Yup.” He looked over at his nephew, who was laughing at whatever a surprisingly animated Emery was saying. “She likes kids.”

“I thought she might.” I studied her. “So, she looks like a character from
Frozen
, huh?”

Cooper smirked. “Actually, yeah. I didn’t see it until now.”

I chuckled and burrowed closer to him. “I like your nephew, Cooper.”

“He’s easy to like.”

After a moment of silence, he said, amused, “What about Cat?”

Hmm.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like her. “She doesn’t trust me. But it’s only because she loves you.”

“She’ll come around.” He kissed the side of my head. “Just give it time.”

The scary part was that for him . . . I was ready to give it all the time in the world.

Jess laughed at something Dahlia said and Cooper watched the two women together, transfixed. She laughed with her whole body. Pure joy.

It made standing in the middle of Main Street, holding shopping bags, surrounded by a ton of tourists, a lot easier to handle.

Two weeks had passed, and he and Jess had spent every spare moment together. Same as he’d done when he was married to Dana, he’d given Jace and Riley more management responsibilities so he could have time off to spend with Jess. It was music festival day in Hartwell, and Main Street was filled with stalls—people were selling music memorabilia, food, and arts and crafts, while band after band each did a set up on the bandstand.

Cat and Joey were with Jess at Dahlia’s jewelry stall, Joey standing in between his mother and the doc, holding their hands. Cooper couldn’t even put into words how much it meant to him that Joey had taken such a shine to Jess. And it meant a lot to him that Cat was at least trying, despite her reservations over the good doctor.

Not that Jess was a doctor anymore.

And that still didn’t sit right with him.

For the past two weeks she’d been working closely with Bailey at the inn, but Cooper could feel her floundering. Jess loved the inn, but he didn’t believe it was her calling in life. He was just waiting for her to wake up and realize it.

As for her new boss, Bailey loved music festival day, but she’d given Jess the day off so she could enjoy it with him and his family.

And Jess was more than enjoying it.

She was coming alive here. In his town. With him and his people.

A rush of possessiveness moved through him.

Cat broke away from Joey and Jess and sauntered over to him, smiling. “Thought I’d come and relieve you of those.” She took her shopping bags back, leaving him with Jess’s.

They both watched in silence for a moment and he shot his sister a look out of the corner of his eye. She was wearing a soft smile as she watched Jess hug a laughing Joey into her side.

He grinned.

Then she shot him a look out of the corner of her eye when she caught his expression. “What?”

He shrugged.

She turned to him, wearing an exasperated look. “What?”

He gave her a grin that said,
You know what.

Cat huffed, rolling her eyes, but he caught the smile quirking the corners of her mouth. “Okay, okay. I like her.”

“I know you like her.”

“I’m still cautious, though,” she warned. “I don’t want you and Joey getting attached to someone who might pick up and leave.”

Feeling affectionate, he hooked an arm around Cat’s neck to draw her close. He kissed the side of her head. “Okay, Mom.”

She pushed him away playfully, huffing the whole time. “Whatever. You know, Aydan’s pretty annoyed at you. Apparently you told her you weren’t interested in dating her because you weren’t interested in dating anyone. She was surprised to hear about Jessica.”

“Jessica was a surprise to me, too.” He searched her eyes. “Aydan’s not really pissed, is she?”

“Nah.” She shrugged. “You know Aydan. And anyway, I told you before that you were the last on her . . .”

But Cooper didn’t hear the rest of what she had to say because
he felt an odd sensation on the back of his neck and turned around to look for whoever was staring at him.

Through the crowd of tourists and locals his gaze collided with Dana’s. She was standing with her sister. Watching him.

Fuck.

He whipped back around, his whole body tensed. Since the night he’d thrown her out of his bar, he hadn’t seen or heard from his ex-wife. Cooper thought that meant he’d finally gotten it through to her that they were over.

Now she was watching him with those goddamn puppy dog eyes again.

“Shit.”

“Jesus Christ,” Cat snapped, glowering over his shoulder. “Has she been bugging you again? Because if she’s bothering you again, screw it. I’m throat punching her.”

Cooper grunted, knowing his sister was only half joking. “You cannot afford to get arrested. You have responsibilities.” He pointed to Joey, who was now standing at the next stall from Dahlia’s, laughing hysterically up at Jessica, who was currently sporting a long, curly wig for his amusement and making devil horns with her hands.

“God, she’s a goof.” Cat smirked.

He grinned, his annoyance with Dana far outweighed by the tenderness he felt for Jess. “Yeah, and she’s all mine.”

“Ugh, when did you become such a sucker for romance?” She nudged him, feigning disgust.

He shrugged. “I have no qualms admitting I like the woman who shares my bed.”

“No talk of beds.” This time she shoved him.

“What? Are you five?” He laughed because as hard as she shoved him he hadn’t budged.

She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest as she scrutinized Jess and Joey again. “She’s really good with him. Does she know?”

“Know what?”

“The rest of the story? Yours and Dana’s?”

“No.”

“Huh. I’m surprised this lot have managed to keep their mouths shut about it.”

“Sometimes they know when to be discreet.”

“Apparently.”

They both chuckled as the stall owner demanded the wig back from Jess, gesticulating at her, presumably asking her to pay for the thing if she was going to insist on wearing it. Cat sobered quickly as she turned back to him. “Are you going to tell her?”

“I’m sure it’ll come up.” He didn’t see the point in laying out all the problems he’d had with Dana. Not yet. Not until it was time for that conversation.

Jess and Joey were moving back toward them, having to push through the small crowd around Dahlia’s stall, when Jess, who was too busy yapping to Joey, was suddenly knocked back by a man who hadn’t been looking where he was going, either.

The guy gripped her arms, steadying her, and as they turned to apologize to each other, Cooper’s blood immediately overheated.

Jack Devlin.

And he was smiling down at Jessica.

Cooper was moving before he could stop himself, ignoring Cat saying his name urgently behind him. As soon as he reached them, he shoved in between them, gently pushing Jess and Joey behind him.

“Cooper,” Jess said, surprised. And annoyed.

He ignored her annoyance and stared at Jack.

Don’t you even fucking think about it
.

Something flashed in Jack’s eyes. If he were the old Jack, Cooper would have recognized that “something” as regret. But he didn’t know this Jack. This Jack lifted his hands in surrender and stepped back. “I was just apologizing for bumping into her.”

Cooper kept a tight lid on the desire to punch the guy, unable to speak for fear he’d say more than the current situation warranted.

Jack’s gaze moved over Cooper’s shoulder. “I heard you’d moved on. I’m glad for you.”

Choked with anger, Cooper stayed silent.

His old friend gave him a taut nod of his head and just walked away.

What the hell?

He stared after Jack, wondering if he’d make sense of that particular Devlin ever again, and as his gaze moved past Jack, Cooper caught sight of Dana.

She was too busy watching Jack to notice Cooper watching her.

“What was that?” Jessica was suddenly in his face, scowling at him.

He glanced to his side to see Cat had Joey in hand. His sister was visibly concerned. “I’m fine,” he told her.

“Cooper?”

Jessica stepped into him, touching his chest to get his attention. He curled his hand around her wrist and brought her knuckles to his lips for a kiss. “It was nothing.”

“It was Jack Devlin,” Cat said.

Jess’s mouth formed an O shape and sympathy he couldn’t bear to see lit her eyes. “Coop,” she whispered.

He pulled away, not wanting sympathy from anyone. In that moment he regretted admitting to her how much it had stung to lose Jack. He handed Jess her shopping bags and turned to his nephew for distraction. “How about some ice cream from Antonio’s?”

“Yeah!”

He swung Joey up onto his back and the boy wrapped his arms around Cooper’s neck and held on.

Relief moved through him as they walked through the crowds, his nephew’s chatter filling his ears, and helping him forget the fury that had scored through him at the mere sight of Jack talking to Jessica.