The Wanderer (15 page)

“If it’s any comfort, I’ve come a long way since high school.”

“So you no longer think about hair and boobs?”

She pulled into Cliffhanger’s parking lot, which was not full. As she found a space and parked he said, “I didn’t say that.” He went around to the driver’s side to open her door, but she was already getting out, treating him to a beautiful shot of thigh as she did so.

Holding her elbow, he steered her into the restaurant. Right inside the door was the bar, where he’d eaten last time he was there. Beyond the bar was a fancier dining room, tablecloths and everything. He lifted a hand to the bartender. “Hey, Cliff.”

“Hey, Cooper. Funeral?”

Cooper just laughed and kept steering her.

“Let’s get a corner table like that one over there, near the fireplace. Damn, it’s cold,” he said. “I’ve been in the Gulf too long, I think. What’s winter like around here?”

“Colder,” she said with a laugh. “We just moved here this summer from North Bend, right up the road. But I did three years in Kodiak, three in Michigan. This is nothing. You have no fireplace in that trailer of yours.”

He maneuvered her toward a table in the corner, not far from the restaurant’s hearth. Only a few tables in the whole place were occupied, all of them far enough away so that no conversations would be overheard. He helped her out of her long, black coat and folded it over a vacant chair. “No fireplace
and
it rocks in the wind. Even though there’s been sun almost every day, the wind off the bay can get chilly. I’ve been cold since the day I got here. I’m going to have to buy some sealskin or something.”

The second she sat down, the bartender was standing beside their table with menus. Cooper was shrugging out of his jacket, draping it over the back of the chair. “Bring me a beer, Cliff. This is Miss Dupre—Sarah.” Cliff gave a nod. “Sarah, what would you like to drink?”

“A Chardonnay will do the trick.”

“Draft and Chardonnay,” Cooper said. Then he sat down, his back to the room, and loosened his tie. He removed his cuff links, slid them into his shirt pocket and rolled up his sleeves to just under his elbows. He leaned those elbows on the table, looked at her with a half smile and said, “I’m sorry that it was some difficult business for your brother that introduced me to him, but I’m glad it led to meeting you.”

It was that comment—combined with the fact that the small tuft of hair peeking out of his opened collar and his muscled forearms were achingly sexy—that caused her to say, “I’ve been divorced for nine months.”

He lifted one brow. “Wanna talk about it?”

“Not particularly.”

“And you brought it up because...?”

“If you have an idea that this chance meeting is going to lead to something, you’d be mistaken.”

He shook his head. “Sarah, we’re both over thirty. Hopefully, we’ve overcome the idea that dinner means sex. Unless it’s an exceptional dinner.”

“We’ll split the check,” she said.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You pay for dinner. Believe me, you’ll feel more in control that way.”

“You know, I can tell you think you’re funny, not taking me seriously.”

“Oh, you’re wrong!” he said. “I think it would be a catastrophe to not take you too seriously. A disaster of unparalleled proportion.”

“Hilarious,” she said.

Cliff put her wine in front of her first, then put the draft down.

“Ah,” Cooper said. “Liquor. Thank God.”

“Have you decided yet?” Cliff asked.

“We’ll have the grouper,” Cooper said. “Salad starters, please. Ranch for me.”

“Oil and vinegar, on the side,” she said.

“And make sure Lieutenant Commander Dupre gets the check.” He winked at her, and Cliff ran for his life.

She took a sip of her wine. “How do you know I won’t expect sex if I pay.”

“Well, cheers,” he said, lifting his draft. “Although I’d feel cheap and dirty the whole time, I can live with that.”

Much as it galled her, she laughed at him. “Ever married?” she asked. “Children?”

“No and no. I think I probably saved some poor woman a world of misery,” he said.

“No doubt. So, how much did Landon tell you about me? About us?”

“Not a lot. He said he’s moved around with you and the Coast Guard. And I know about Aunt Frances.”

She looked down. Then met his eyes and saw warmth and sympathy there. “Our darkest year,” she admitted. “Our parents died, I had to take a compassionate leave to settle things, which put me back to the next class. I put Landon with the bitch who has no name, then had to take leave a second time to get him out of there. That poor kid. He should be so screwed up, all he’s been through, and he’s incredible.”

“And Aunt Frances?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Our parting was ugly. We don’t keep in touch. Well, we were in touch through lawyers briefly—she was my father’s only sibling and she actually fought Landon and I for some of the insurance money left, since she had been named in the will to take Landon. That will was written when Landon was a baby and I was barely eighteen, not ready to take on a child. But that she would abuse him and then expect a payoff...! We settled, but we will not stay in touch.”

He sat back and let out a breath. “I was right. That woman is going to have a hard time staying out of hell. Maybe she’s dead?”

“I think she’s too mean to die. You said you were the new kid a lot? Military roots?”

He shook his head. “Very boring roots, really. Corporate moves. My dad is an accountant. He rose to CFO of a big company based in Tampa, and the company folded when I was thirteen. I have three sisters—they were nine, fifteen and seventeen at the time. While he was looking for something permanent, something with growth potential, he worked as a consultant on some long-term contract jobs. We moved three times and landed in Albuquerque right at the start of my junior year. The folks rented a house and bought one in a different school district a year later. That gave me four schools in as many years.”

“And it was hard,” she said.

“It was terrible. I can look back and say I learned a few things, but here I am, almost forty, and I haven’t stayed in one place for long since. Because it’s just me, I pull up stakes the second I don’t like the way the wind is blowing.”

“And how’s the wind blowing in this place?” she asked.

“It’s a very strange wind,” he said. “Not because of Thunder Point—it’s not a bad place at all. For mysterious reasons known only to my deceased friend, Ben, I am responsible for his property. It’s a disaster. It’s been kind of hard to decide how to handle it. While the cleanup is getting done, the contractor’s architect is measuring, drawing up final plans, and there you have it. A few months from now, it’ll be a new bait shop, without the bait.”

She made a confused face.

“That place really needs to be a bar and deli—drinks and prepackaged food that doesn’t have to be made on site. Low-maintenance, so it can be managed by one person. We’ll reinforce, finish off the cellar, remodel and rebuild the dock. Hopefully someone will be able to see the potential....”

He talked about lumber and studs and beams, but Sarah didn’t hear.

Across the room a couple and their teenage son stood from a table, grabbed their coats and were about to leave. It was Mr. and Mrs. Morrison, with Jag. When they saw her, they stopped midway across the dining room. Sarah hadn’t noticed them before, but she knew them from the games. Mrs. Morrison was a beautiful, painfully thin woman of about forty-five or so, with hair so blond it was almost white. Mr. Morrison was shorter and older than his wife and he wore a most miserable rug.

There was a staring contest going on. Sarah slowly stood and was vaguely aware of Cooper looking over his shoulder. Then he, too, fell silent.

Sarah and the Morrisons’ gazes were locked on one another. Then Mrs. Morrison lifted her nose and began to walk away.

“Have you nothing to say to me?” Sarah said because she couldn’t help herself. “Nothing at all?”

Mrs. Morrison’s head snapped around and she wore a sneer so angry that Sarah actually flinched.

“And what would you have me say? That I’m very unhappy about the way you contrived this entire event with the sole purpose of some kind of revenge on my son?”

“Huh?” she said, completely confused. “Revenge?”

“Landon fell in a slippery shower but saw a perfect opportunity to make Jag seem responsible. Obviously a jealous move, one that’s caused a world of trouble!”

Jag, who stood a few feet behind his parents, actually smiled.

“Effie, just let it go. Our lawyer can handle this.”

“Lawyer?” Cooper asked. Then a huff of unamused laughter escaped him. “I don’t think you want to slide down this slope any further. A couple of weeks ago I found Jag and his friends holding Landon against his will while Jag punched him.”

“Mom, that’s the guy who broke my finger.”

Cooper put one hand in his pants pocket and glared. “Is that so? Where’s the cast?”

“He wore a splint,” Mr. Morrison said. “The sore finger, that’s what held him back in the game.”

“Right,” Cooper said. “And by the way, that would be the second time I witnessed your son bullying and intimidating Landon. The first time was on the beach, from the deck of the bait shop.”

Sarah noticed Cliff standing in the doorway to the dining room, nervously twisting his hands in a dish towel. There were three other tables of patrons looking at this confrontation in what appeared to be fascination. They were all sitting behind Jag and his parents and couldn’t see the Morrisons’ faces. There was not a clink of a fork or murmur.

Jag’s mother looked Sarah up and down coldly, meanly. Then she spoke to Cooper. “Well, I see your incentive in making up these stories now....”

“Mrs. Morrison, it isn’t a good idea to insult Commander Dupre. It only suggests where Jag learned his bad manners.”

“Effie, we’ll go now,” Mr. Morrison said. “We’re not going to participate in some cheap public display. This will be handled legally.” Mr. Morrison moved to his wife’s side, slipped his arm through hers and led the way out of the dining room.

And Jag, unbelievably, stood still. He silently laughed, tipping his head back. Then he stared at Sarah and made little kissing motions with his lips. And then he closed his eyes into mere slits and ran his tongue around his lips, all the while his hands in his pockets, his expression aggressive and sexual.

Sarah lost it. She suddenly took a couple of steps as if she’d charge him. Cooper grabbed her around the waist and held on to her, lifting her off the floor. She was reaching toward Jag, kicking her feet.

Jag jumped back into a table, crashing into it and sending glassware tumbling. He yelled, “Hey!” as if he were under attack, though Sarah hadn’t gotten near him. His parents turned back toward the dining room, ready to rescue their poor, victimized son.

Cliff ran forward, grabbed the boy by the arm to right him, then murmured something like, “We’ll take care of this,” and hustled him out of the dining room.

Cooper slowly put Sarah on her feet. He turned her around. He looked calm. She looked furious. “Sit down,” he said softly.

Sarah went back to her chair, but she was seething. Trembling. She could feel eyes on her; she could feel the hot flush on her cheeks. She took a sip of her wine. Then she whispered, “Did you see?”

“I saw,” Cooper said with a black frown. “He set you up. He’s a punk.”

She shook her head, still stunned. “Listen, Cooper, I’ve been in one or two seedy waterfront bars where you have to be careful and I’ve never been treated like that.”

“I believe it. Even in ugly grunt bars, only the lowest, drunkest men pull that stuff. And he’s seventeen?”

“I think I’d like to leave,” she said.

“No, Sarah. We’re going to stay. We’re going to sit here awhile and talk quietly. I want you to have your wine, try to eat your dinner.”

Cliff came to their table. “You folks okay?” he asked softly.

“We’re fine,” Cooper said. “We’re very excited about that grouper.”

“Good!” he said, grinning.

But Sarah’s hand went to her stomach. When Cliff left she said, “I’m not all that excited.”

He smiled at her. “Time to get a grip. If you’re going to live in a little town, you have to know who you can trust. You can trust the grouper.”

“You broke his finger?” she asked.

“Nah. He got in my face, poked me in the chest and told me to take off and leave Landon. I didn’t feel like it. I made a point, that’s all. His finger is fine. I wanted to mess up his face, lying little prick. He’s lucky we walked away.”

She smiled at him. “Are you all right?”

“You
are
buying dinner,” he said. “My shins hurt.”

And her flush deepened.

Eleven

C
ooper wanted to keep Sarah at the restaurant for a reasonable length of time. For one thing, he wanted to be sure she was completely calmed down and thinking straight. He also intended to be sure they discussed some very important things. While they ate salads, he opened the conversation. Mr. and Mrs. Morrison clearly considered themselves privileged and above the rules. Jag took it even a step further. He was vindictive, cruel and obviously spoiled, with a powerful family who would back him up even when all the facts pointed to his dishonesty and immorality.

“Listen, Sarah, that kid? He’s fearless and dark, dangerous. Obviously, he comes by it honestly—his mother is just as creepy. First of all, if you ever see any of them, the Morrisons, I want you to cross the street to avoid them. Second, we’re going to take this even more seriously and make sure Landon is safe. And third...” He shook his head. “I don’t know how I’m going to describe it, but I’m going to tell Mac about what just happened. It was very sick and twisted.”

“They mentioned a lawyer.”

“People say
lawyer
a lot more than they use lawyers. But they do need one. Their kid went to jail, will have to appear before a judge and has been suspended from school. Landon doesn’t need a lawyer.”

“Are you sure?” she asked. “Because it sounds like they really believe Landon would lie about this.”

“I think they do believe it, but that doesn’t make it true,” he said.

“Where does a kid like that end up in life?” Sarah asked him.

“Probably cell block five,” Cooper said. “And if so, he’ll find out what it’s like to be jumped from behind. Listen, the real important issue here is Landon. He wants to be a big manly guy, all sixteen-year-old boys do. He doesn’t want to appear afraid. You’re going to have to find a way to convince him to take Morrison very seriously.”

She huffed. “I can try. You might have better luck with that than me.”

“If there’s an opportunity, I will. And I’ll talk to Mac, but I think you should do that, too. Ask Mac what steps you and Landon should take to be safe. Hopefully, the kid’s just an ass.”

She shook her head. “I’m trying to figure out how to explain that I could interpret him throwing me kisses and licking his lips as dangerous....”

“It wasn’t that, Sarah. It was the gleam in his eyes. If he’d done that to my girl in front of me ten years ago, I might’ve taken him out. As for Mac, I don’t think he’ll even question you when it comes to your feelings about Morrison. After all, his daughter is involved, if only on the edge of this situation.”

She was looking at him steadily. Earnestly. “I never thought I’d be relying on a complete stranger for help with this.”

Cooper was considering many possible responses when Cliff brought the grouper.

“Here we go,” Cliff said. “Most popular dish in the house. And listen, folks, I’m sorry about what happened earlier. I didn’t see what he did to get a rise out of you, but I didn’t have to. I’ve dealt with that kid and his mother before. His dad, Puck Morrison, is not such a bad guy, unless you’re doing business with him. Then he can get a little fierce, but I never knew him to turn on anyone...”

“Puck?” Cooper asked.

“From old hockey days.” Then he laughed. “Real old. Puck’s got about thirty years on his wife. I knew her way back. She used to be a tiny little thing with a bad temper. Came from nothin’—she’s a town girl—but you’d think she came from Buckingham Palace. Puck came from Eugene. Effie’s the second wife. He wasn’t quite done with the first one when Effie stepped in. That’s mostly just gossip, but I been around a long time and knew Effie before she had boobs. Seriously, I think Puck bought her boobs, then married her. Or maybe then his wife left him, along with their two older sons. I don’t know what they were doing here tonight. Morrisons don’t usually darken my door. Puck drops in by himself sometimes, just for a beer or some gossip, but the wife likes the country club. She doesn’t waste a lot of time in this old town....”

He just talked on and on while Cooper and Sarah listened. When he slowed down just a little, Cooper said, “Pull up a chair, Cliff. Have a cup of coffee with us.”

“Nah, but thanks,” he said, not catching the sarcasm. “Enjoy that grouper. Most popular dish in the house.”

Cooper and Sarah just smiled at each other across the table. Cooper lifted his fork and said, “Try it. It really is good.”

As she took a small bite, Cooper was aware of the shift in mood at their table, thanks to Cliff. At least for the moment, it seemed as if Sarah wasn’t thinking about that snotty punk or her brother or her troubles. She chewed slowly, lifted her brows and said, “Wow. Excellent! You must come here a lot.”

He shook his head. “Just a couple of times. It was recommended and I liked it.” He took his own bite. “So, I told you I was in four schools in four years. I had no idea I’d end up in the Army, in helicopters. I enlisted because I figured everyone in the Army was from somewhere else and it was probably the only place I wouldn’t be the new guy. But what about you? You move around a lot as a kid?”

She shook her head. Born and raised in Boca Raton, Florida, she grew up surfing, sailing, swimming, diving, playing volleyball, softball and soccer. The conversation was slow and easy, punctuated by his questions and their bites of grouper, rice and asparagus. She loved the sea, thus the Coast Guard. She’d thought she’d like flying, then learned she
loved
flying helicopters. Until the death of her parents, she’d led a charmed life.

She married another Coast Guard helicopter pilot, a man her age but junior in rank by a few years. And she described it as a foolish mistake.

“There were red flags. I questioned his fidelity before the wedding but he somehow convinced me I was imagining things, that he could never be interested in another woman. It turned out I married a man who thought being faithful was optional. Once caught, he calmly explained he wasn’t cut out for marriage. For monogamy.”

Cooper was stunned. Of all the stupid and insensitive things he’d done, that hadn’t been one of them. If he became attracted to another woman, enough to want to take her to bed, he saw that as a signal whatever relationship he was in wasn’t working. Duh. He wasn’t naive; men cheated all the time and some rationalized that any woman who wiggled past them was fair game.

“Why do you look so dumbfounded?” Sarah asked him.

He closed his mouth. “Sorry. I’m not fifteen. I know it happens all the time. But before the marriage? Why’d he want to get married?”

“I have a better question. It wasn’t the first time. The Coast Guard is like a small town, especially after about six years. So why didn’t anybody tell me? Why didn’t someone say,
Hey, Sarah, this guy’s really been around and he’s broken a few hearts?
”

Cooper couldn’t stop the stain that darkened his cheeks, though he fought it. He’d been accused of breaking hearts, but not by cheating. His crimes were slightly different. He’d been called shiftless and unable to put down roots or plan a real future. He couldn’t seem to get attached. He’d been twice engaged—once because he’d been with a good woman and thought it was time and once because his girlfriend of the moment, also a good woman, asked and he couldn’t think of a reason to say no. Both times he’d been informed he had commitment issues. He was told he was emotionally unavailable, whatever that meant. One said he had problems with intimacy, but he thought his only problem was not enough intimacy—and then he was informed that sex was not intimacy. Really? He was too much of a loner, couldn’t connect, didn’t understand women. Probably true, as far as he knew. And although the breaking up had hurt him enough to try avoiding women, he realized he was probably better off than with either of them.

And there’d been a whole lot of short-term women. Some very short-term. Right now as he looked across the table at Sarah, who was so
hot,
he asked himself why. Shouldn’t he have found a long-term mate by now? Did he have a missing chromosome?

“You look completely embarrassed,” she pointed out to him.

He cleared his throat. “I’ve been told I’m a bad bet. That I’m afraid of commitment, intimacy, et cetera. I never thought I was afraid. You don’t have to believe this—I probably wouldn’t if I were you—but I didn’t cheat. I’m no Prince Charming, but I didn’t do that.”

Unbelievably, she laughed.

Cliff chose that minute to bring them coffee and pick up the plates. For someone who had wanted to leave and didn’t think she could eat, Sarah had killed that grouper. Cliff asked if they’d like drinks or dessert and they both shook their heads.

“So, why is that funny?” Cooper asked.

“First of all, it doesn’t matter whether I believe you. I have no stake in your past affairs. And second, I’m laughing at myself for depending on help from a guy who has a long history of fear of intimacy and commitment.”

“Yeah, that’s been said about me, but I think I’m completely dependable.” He lifted his coffee. Sipped. “I asked how that could be the case, since I had no resistance to getting married.”

“Oh, so you were engaged,” she said.

“Twice.”

“And they broke it off?” she asked.

“One of each—I was asked to leave the first time. It was about that something I didn’t seem to have and that I still don’t understand. And the second time, I had to end it because of all the arguing. But it seemed to be about that mysterious missing factor again.”

“Easy come, easy go,” she said.

He looked at her over the rim of his coffee cup for a long moment. Then he said, “No, Sarah. There wasn’t anything easy about it.”

She cleared her throat. “And yet you find yourself completely dependable?” she asked.

“I do. Hey, I’m here trying to sort out the wishes of some dead guy because he was my friend. I could load up the camper and go, right? It’s not like Ben would put a curse on me. And I didn’t even agree to this job.”

“They why are you doing it?”

“Because no one else will. And it’s the right thing to do—he was a decent guy. Besides,” he said, “it’s not like I can’t spare a few months.”

“Well, I can’t take a few months off,” she said. “Are you rich?”

“Far from it. But there’s just the fifth wheel, paid for, and no kids. I have three sisters who make sure our parents are fine. I can afford to do this for Ben.”

“You must have been real close,” she said. “Best friends.”

Cooper put his elbows on the table and laced his fingers together, looking down for a moment. Then he met her eyes. “I guess. Guys are different, you know....”

“Oh, yes, I know.”

“I liked Ben. He was my lead mechanic. He made me laugh. I got a kick out of him and tossing back a few with him was always a good time. We stayed in touch. He visited a few times in ten years, but I’d never come up here before. Our whole friendship was mostly emails and phone calls. We had things in common—I had the Gulf of Mexico and he had the Pacific. When I was flying for oil companies, there were a couple of spills, and he called to ask if there was a local wildlife rescue organization I’d like him to make a donation to. He’s always cared about the wildlife, although I didn’t realize how much until I got here. I trusted him. But the truth is, besides my family, I don’t have a lot of friends. Just a few. Good ones, but not that many.”

After a long moment of silence she said, “Me, either.”

“I see you as having lots of girlfriends to drink wine with, shop with.”

She shook her head. “I work in a man’s world. There’s one other female pilot at the station, married. We get along fine, but...our lives are different. And sometimes the wives of the guys I work with don’t...” They were wary of her, like they didn’t trust her. It wasn’t easy being one of the few women in a unit and being single besides. The last time she had a close girlfriend, she found out she’d been sharing her with her fiancé. “No, I don’t have a lot of girlfriends. Just a few women I’m friendly with, that’s all.”

“Sometimes that’s all you need,” he said.

And then Cooper told her about his buddy, Luke, and Luke’s brothers. Sarah had a couple of guys at the station she’d bonded with, and she was getting to know Gina, whom she liked.

Cliff was standing beside their table and they both looked up at him. The leather folder containing the check sat on the table and their coffees had been refilled but neither of them seemed to be aware of it.

“Tell you what, folks,” Cliff said. “How about I leave the keys here and you lock up when you’re ready?”

It took a second to sink in, then they laughed. The restaurant was empty and Cooper had no memory of seeing people leave. He reached for his wallet.

“No, you don’t,” Sarah said, grabbing the check. She held it in her custody until she could wrangle her credit card out of her purse. “This one is mine. You kept me from being convicted of murder.”

“Two seconds,” Cliff said, running off with the check.

Cooper stood and pulled on his jacket. He picked up her long, black coat and held it for her. “Thank you, Commander. I’ll get the next one.”

“You do that, Cooper. Just keep an eye on my brother for me, that’s thanks enough.” Then Cliff was back with a receipt for her to sign. “Sorry we kept you up, Cliff,” she said.