The Wanderer (14 page)

He pulled on jeans and a white undershirt. He found her sitting in the same chair Landon had last occupied. She sprang to her feet. “Sit down,” he said gently. Then he went to the kitchen, filled the saucepan for Ham, grabbed another towel to put under it because the dog was a sloppy and ferocious drinker, and set him up. “We have our routine,” he said casually.

“How many times have you had this routine?” she wanted to know.

“Once.”

While Ham was lapping, Cooper took the couch. “Now, what has you so angry?” he asked.

“I’m not angry. I just want to know what this relationship with my brother is about. I have questions.”

“All right,” he said, leaning forward on the couch, elbows on his knees, hands clasped together. “I saw Landon get into a little altercation on the beach. Nothing big or scary. Some kid was giving him crap and shoved him. I talked to him after that, found out he was getting bullied. Ostracized by some of his teammates. You know why, right?”

She just shook her head.

“He’s a better ball player than the senior, the team captain. I went to a game a week or so ago, just by accident—I was looking for food but the whole town was at the high school, at the game, so I went. I ran into a few people I knew—the McCains and their friends. It was amazing. Landon’s damn good. When I was leaving, I overheard a scuffle and found that same kid from the beach and some of his friends ganging up on Landon. He didn’t get hurt or anything, but I did have a talk with him and suggested he tell you or the coach or the deputy. That bully thing, that’s just all wrong. You never know where that’s going to stop.”

“In the locker-room shower?” she asked, lifting one brow.

He ran a hand over his head. “Yeah, I should’ve done something. It’s a hard call. Sixteen-year-old boys, they have their pride. It’s not like Landon’s getting knocked around because he’s the little guy or the nerdy guy. He said he could handle it and I thought he probably could. He’s a big guy, Landon. Tough. But I apologize. I should’ve gone over his head.”

She looked around the trailer. “But why are you here?” she asked. “What are you doing here, interceding for my brother? Do you work? What do you
do?
”

He gave her a second to catch her breath. What did she think? That he was some perv trolling for young men out of a trailer? “I’m between jobs.”

“Is that so?” she asked with an accusatory tone.

“It is so,” he said. “Ben and I were friends. We were going to meet in the mountains, go hunting. He died suddenly. Instead of looking for work, I came up here to find out what happened to him.”

“He fell down the stairs, mysterious circumstances,” she informed him. “And the idea of Landon hanging around here after that? I don’t love that idea.”

“I guess I don’t blame you. If it’s any comfort, Deputy McCain and I have a pretty tight watch on the place. But nothing more mysterious than my friend tripping has materialized. I think, Sarah, it was probably just a sad accident.”

“Yet you’re still here. Living in a trailer.”

He laughed at her suddenly. She was ferocious, and amazingly beautiful as she played the lioness. “Listen, Sarah, wanna lighten up? I live in the trailer because I can’t live in Ben’s place. It’s a disaster. I’m trying to clean it up.”

“And then?”

“Leave,” he said. “But you’re a little insulting. I lived in this trailer for two years in Corpus Christi.”

“Doing what?”

He leaned toward her. “Flying helicopter transport to offshore oil rigs in the Gulf for an oil company. Not rescue, transport. I’ve been flying helicopters since the Army. Fifteen years. I’ll probably fly again, but not offshore. Something else.” He loved the shocked look on her face. “After Ben’s death, plans changed. Right now, what I have to do is put this place right and settle Ben’s business. He had no family left. It’s going to take a few months. So I have a legitimate reason for being here. I’m not parked here to sell teenagers drugs or do any other disreputable or unlawful business. I asked Landon for his cell phone number and gave him mine in case...I don’t know, in case he needed someone’s help. He told me you were sitting alert for the Coast Guard and sometimes he was on his own.” He looked at her. “I was just being a good neighbor. Your brother, he’s a decent kid. And he’s proud of you. He cares about you. He said you’ve been through a lot lately.”

She stood. “Hmm. Yes. Well, that’s none of your concern.”

Cooper also stood. “I’m not concerned, Sarah. I’m what used to be called supportive. And you’re a really tough broad.”

“Don’t call me a broad.”

“Give me a reason.”

“Look, Mr....”

“Cooper. Hank Cooper, but hardly anyone calls me Hank. Just Cooper.”

But she was apparently bent on some formality, probably as a way to keep a distance between them. “Mr. Cooper, I’m responsible for Landon. Just me. It can be a challenge, given my job. But I just want to protect him.”

Cooper shook his head. “You’re going to have a problem with that.”

“Oh? And why is that?”

“Because I think he wants to protect you.”

“He’s sixteen!”

Cooper gave a nod. “A very smart, strong and brave sixteen with some real high standards. He must have had a good role model.”

“He’s had
no
role model. Our father died when Landon was five, and my ex-husband is a jackass who abandoned him!”

Cooper put his hands in the back pockets of his jeans and rocked on his heels. He gave her a small smile. “It didn’t have to be a male role model, Sarah.”

Her mouth actually dropped open slightly. It appeared to take her a moment to absorb this. He could almost see the wheels turning. A compliment from the bad man in the trailer?

She closed her mouth. She stood a little taller. “Listen, Mr. Cooper, I’m going to be watching you and if you do anything to hurt my brother, you’re going to pay.”

“Understood,” he said, but he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.

“Ham!” she ordered, going for the door. But the dog was way ahead of her and she almost fell over him. She jumped out of the trailer, stumbled over the dog and headed for the beach.

Cooper watched her go. He whistled. “Whew. Tough broad.”

Ten

C
ooper dusted off his suit. Well, it was his suit
now.
Rochelle’s husband, Dave, wore suits to work every day, but a year or so ago, he’d been bitten by the chips-and-beer fairy, growing out of a few of his expensive suits. Of course Rochelle tried to put him on a diet, which was semi-successful, but the tight suits went away. So did the tight and oh-so-expensive Italian dress shirts. Up to that point, Cooper had one fairly late model sports coat and some nice slacks. He did have occasional dates and a wedding or funeral every couple of years.

He wasn’t big on suits. Yet, he looked in the mirror and couldn’t help but be impressed. He wondered if he’d survive in a desk job.

No. He wouldn’t.

The school gymnasium had been transformed for the dance and was full of kids, at least a couple hundred. It was also pretty flush with adults. Cooper was about the best-dressed one there, thanks to his beefy brother-in-law. Since Mac was tall, he was the first one Cooper picked out of the crowd. He got around to Mac’s side by skirting a wall decorated in crepe paper. Mac was close to the refreshment table and, after shaking Cooper’s hand, he passed a plastic cup toward him. “Punch?”

Cooper looked into the cup. “It’s pink,” he said.

“I know. Wait till you taste it.”

“How much of that crap do you have to drink before you can go home?”

Mac chuckled. “My job is to make sure nothing adult gets poured into the punch bowl.”

“You’re an amateur,” Cooper said. “With all these chaperones around the punch bowl, they’ll pour it right into their cups.”

“Right, but I’ve got Gina and Lou in the crowd. They both have eyes in the back of their heads. How’d you get talked into this?”

Cooper gave a snort and shook his head. He spread his jacket and put his hands in his pockets. “By now you’ve probably figured out, Landon’s the kid I was keeping an eye on. When Gina asked me—no, make that
ordered
me—to join the chaperone crew, I thought maybe it wasn’t a bad idea. It’s not like I have a lot of social commitments around here and I’m getting a little tired of mold.”

“You should’ve told me about Landon,” Mac said.

“You’re right. I guess I should’ve. So, by now there’s probably no real reason for me to be here. Is he here? Landon?”

Mac gave a nod. “Dancing with my daughter. As I watch.”

“Try to go easy, Mac. You were sixteen once.”

“That’s why I’m watching.”

Cooper laughed. “So, I know Landon went to the hospital to be checked out, but he’s okay except for a black eye. What about the other kid?”

“He went to jail.”

“Seriously?” Cooper asked, shocked.

“You act surprised. Landon was jumped from behind, but he saw his assailant and named him. He’s filing charges, thank God. You know, I don’t usually get a big kick out of arresting people. Hooking ’em up and taking them to jail. But that one,” he said. “I kind of enjoyed that. Little bastard. Fighting is bad enough, dirty fighting is just cheap and nasty.”

“Morrison isn’t here tonight, is he?” Cooper asked.

“He’s been suspended from school. There will be some straightening out to do before he shows up again. And it isn’t official, but I think he’s all done playing football. There are only three games left, but if I know the coach, he’s finished, even when he gets back into school.”

“Well, before you write this one off, be sure to ask Landon about Morrison’s friends. He has a posse, don’t ask me why. Right after the Carver game, I just happened upon a little scuffle. Two big boys were holding Landon so Morrison could hit him.”

Mac scrubbed a hand down his face. “Aw, man...”

“I don’t know their names, but I could pick them out. It would be better, though, if Landon just told you. Is there likely to be any trouble from them tonight?”

“Doubtful,” Mac said. “That Eve, she’s her father’s daughter, all right. Once she found out Morrison was giving Landon a hard time, she fixed them up with a double date. Ashley’s boyfriend is an alumnus, very large, very well liked around here. I’ll give Landon a call tomorrow, see if we can wrap this up. Any other little gems you were saving?”

Cooper missed some of the question. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of a woman he recognized. Sarah was here. She seemed to be staying close to the gym doors, half-hidden by a fake pillar with crepe paper and balloons attached to it.

“Huh?” he said to Mac.

“I said, is there anything else I should know?”

“Can’t think of a thing, Mac. Hey, I think I’ve learned my lesson here. If I’d told you what was going on, maybe Landon would be a little pissed, but he probably wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”

“And there you go,” Mac said.

“Um, I see someone I should say hello to,” Cooper said. “Landon’s sister is here. Guard that punch.”

“You know it.”

Cooper swung by the refreshment table, got a little plastic cup of that pink shit, a small napkin and walked toward Sarah. She was peering around the fake pillar and had her back to him as he approached on her other side—and what a back it was. She was wearing a long-sleeved, formfitting black sweater-type dress with some kind of animal skin belt and black, high-heeled boots. Although Cooper would have no way of knowing, he suspected she didn’t buy those boots in Thunder Point.

“Are you hiding?” he asked.

She jumped and whirled around, her hand pressed to her throat. She let her eyes close briefly. “You scared me to death!”

“Sorry,” he said. “You seemed to be peeking out from around the decorations. Are you incognito tonight?”

“I’m a little on the low-profile side.” She took a breath. “It’s been a very long day.”

He offered her the cup. “Punch?”

She looked at it and made a face. “It’s pink.”

“And no little umbrella, either. We have more in common than you’d think.”

“Listen, about this morning...”

“Forget it,” he said. “He’s your brother. He got hurt. You were worried.”

“Well, thanks, but I wasn’t exactly asking for forgiveness.”

His eyebrows shot up. Figured.

“It’s just that, I had no right to be so hostile. That came out of nowhere. It wasn’t worry. When I don’t have control of the situation...ack,” she said, rubbing her temples with her fingers. “Okay, I apologize for being so mean, but not for being suspicious of you. Any mother or older sister or guardian would be. Anyway, let’s start fresh. Look at you—you do not look like an ordinary helicopter pilot who’s fixing up a run-down bait shop. That’s a four-thousand-dollar suit. None of the helicopter pilots I know wear four-thousand-dollar suits. They don’t even
want
to.”

Cooper grinned. “And this is a hundred-and-fifty-dollar shirt. It’s Italian.”

“Clotheshorse, eh? Or drug lord?”

He shook his head and laughed. “My brother-in-law is an executive who got fat. My sister sent me three suits, a bunch of shirts and some bad ties that cost a fortune. Gina told me to dress up.”

A short laugh escaped her and her face was briefly transformed. She was beautiful to start with, her skin flawless, her cheeks flushed pink and those dark-coffee eyes so hot. “Well, you clean up all right.”

“Why, thank you, Sarah. So, Mac tells me Landon is here, dancing with his daughter.”

The smile vanished and she groaned, dropping her chin.

“I take it he’s recovered?” Cooper asked.

“He looks like hell. Black eye, split lip, bruised cheek and a big old lump on his head. He shouldn’t be out tonight. We did not have an amicable day.”

“But does he feel okay?” Cooper asked.

“He feels like the luckiest kid in the world because the ravishing Eve McCain wanted to go to the dance with him even though his face looks like hamburger. But I wouldn’t let him drive. I offered to drive him and he said he’d throw himself in front of a train first.”

“She is ravishing,” Cooper said with humor. “And she’s nice. But most important, her daddy is the law around here. He put the guy who hit Landon in jail.”

That got her attention. “Jail? Does Landon know that?”

“I don’t know. I’m sure the kid’s parents got him out pretty quick, but he did go to jail. That makes me feel better. He’s a snotty little dick.”

Again with the smile, larger this time. Sarah had been hanging out with Coast Guard pilots for probably ten years. Cooper was speaking her language. Salty. But dear God, she was beautiful when she smiled like that.

“Does Landon know you’re here?”

She nodded. “And he’s not very happy about it. I wasn’t going to come tonight, but then... He likes that I go to the games, but this? He wants to be alone with his girl.”

“His girl’s daddy’s watching. And her daddy is—”

“I know, the law.” She laughed again. “Did you know the young girls call him Deputy Yummy Pants?”

Cooper barked out a laugh so loud people turned toward him. She put a hand on his arm to shush him.

“Shh. I hear he doesn’t warm to it,” she said. “And he’s a big boy with a gun.”

“I’ll be careful with that information.” Cooper looked around. “I think these people have things under control. I could buy you something to drink that’s not pink.”

“Oh...I don’t think so....”

“Dinner,” he said. “I’ll throw in dinner. Or if you’ve had dinner, I’ll buy you a drink and dessert.”

“Listen, you’re taking this good-neighbor thing kind of far. It wouldn’t be such a good idea. I mean, you’re Landon’s friend and I’m watching you to see if I have to beat you up for any reason.”

His lips twitched with a smile; getting beat up by her could be erotic. As hell. “Take a chance. We can talk about the town. Or your brother. Or helicopters, if you don’t get enough of that at work. I don’t know about you, but this isn’t what I feel like doing tonight.”

“Yeah, but there’s Landon... I hate to get too far away.”

“Text him. Tell him we’re going to dinner and we’ll be nearby if he needs anything.” He smiled at her. “Let’s get out of here.”

* * *

Cooper suggested they stay in town, for her peace of mind, even though there were some great restaurants within thirty minutes of Thunder Point. She appreciated that. And he wanted to go in one car. “I’d be more than happy to take my truck, but I think given that narrow skirt of yours, we should go in your car. If you don’t mind bringing me back for my truck, that is.”

“We could just go in separate cars,” she said.

“Nah. Come on, let’s ride together. But first, shoot a text to Landon.”

She took out her phone in the high school parking lot and her thumbs got busy on the letters. “I hope he’s not all cranky about me going out after all the arguing we did today about him going out.”

Cooper laughed. “He’s going to think I’m doing him a favor.” Then his voice lowered slightly. “But I’m not.”

“Wow,” she said. “He texted right back. Have fun?”

“Good,” Cooper said. “Let’s go. I’ve only figured out a couple of things in this town, but one is that when the town is occupied with school events like games, Cliffhanger’s is quiet.” He grabbed her elbow and started to walk her around to the passenger side of a compact SUV. “Want me to drive?” he asked.

“My car? I don’t think so.”

“All right then,” he said, backtracking and holding the driver’s door for her. When you spent a lot of your life in a flight suit and combat boots, doors didn’t get opened for you a lot, so she slid in. He got in the passenger seat, moving it back as far as it would go.

When she was behind the wheel and they were under way, he said, “Good old Landon. I went to exactly one high school dance. I mean,
real
high school dance, like with a girl. The nonformal kind I’d hit with a couple of buddies, if I had a couple of buddies, and we’d prowl around the outskirts, ogle the girls so we’d have something to talk about later.”

“And how was the one you actually went to? With a girl?”

“Didn’t work out the way I thought it would,” he said with a laugh. “It took so much courage to ask her that my expectations might’ve been a little high. She had a terrible time. Somehow I couldn’t do anything right. She was miserable. Now I can’t even remember her name, which makes me hope she can’t remember mine.”

“She remembers,” Sarah said. “Do you remember anything about her?”

“Blond hair and boobs,” he answered.

“I give you some credit for being honest, but not a lot. Of credit, that is. Did it ever occur to you that women don’t really like being remembered for their hair color or their boobs?”

“Of course it does, now. And I’m very sorry, Commander Dupre, but even though I don’t read
Psychology Today,
I do know that humans are visual creatures. There has to be an initial visual attraction and then, once you get to know a person better, you can fully appreciate all their other fine qualities. If you never get to know their traits and talents, you remember hair and boobs.”

“Very shallow,” she said. But what sprang instantly to mind was his torso in a towel. The amazing tattoo, his broad shoulders, fantastic biceps, terrific pecs, perfect chest hair—not too much, not too little—and that narrow waist. Her reaction pissed her off. “It’s
Lieutenant
Commander,” she said.