Meant to Be (Sweetbriar Cove #1)(78)

Laura looked stricken. "I'm sorry if I made you think that," she said, squeezing his hand. "I know we both said some things in the end there, but I never meant for you to hold onto them like this. God, Cooper, you deserve to be happy. You're a good man, even if we weren't good for each other."

Cooper exhaled. He felt off balance, like the world had suddenly tilted off its axis, and everything he was so damn sure he had figured out was now up in the air again, spinning in the wind.

"You really think that?" he asked, and the naked hope in his voice would have made him ashamed if it were anyone else in the room. But for better or worse, Laura knew him from the inside out. She looked at him straight on and smiled. 

"I do. And I wouldn't lie to you. If you were an asshole with no hope of redemption, I'd be the one telling you that."

He managed a smile. "You and Mackenzie, at least."

Laura brightened. "How is she?"

"Giving me a hard time."

"Good." Laura got up. "You need a kick in the ass sometimes. I had high hopes for that Poppy, it seemed like she had her head screwed on straight."

"Not so much." Cooper couldn't help but smile. "She's a total romantic. Believes in soulmates and happily-ever-afters."

Laura arched an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound like your kind of thing."

"I know." He nodded. "But she had me believing. For a while, at least."

He looked away. That was the crazy thing, that for all his bitter memories and stubborn thinking, Poppy really did make a believer out of him. With her, he could see it: why some people just belong together. No judgment, no fights. He'd never felt a peace like the moments where she was curled in his arms-and never known reckless desire like when she fixed those teasing eyes on him with a smile, tempting him to lose himself forever in her touch.

"Aww, hell," he cursed, as it hit him all over again. "I've screwed this up real bad, haven't I?"

Laura patted him on the shoulder. "I'm sure it's not too late for fixing."

"I don't know about that." Cooper thought about the way he'd acted over the past week, pushing her away, time and time again. "She's leaving to go back to New York."

"So?" Laura challenged him. "Give her a reason to stay."

Cooper was about to detail all the ways that wouldn't work, when a loud wail came from the baby monitor. Laura sighed. "Sorry, he's teething. Won't give me an hour's peace."

"No, it's OK. I've taken up enough of your time." Cooper got to his feet. "And thank you," he said awkwardly. He hadn't been expecting to talk like this-and he definitely hadn't expected that Laura would be the one to make him see that maybe, just maybe, there was still hope for him, after all.

"Anytime." Laura smiled. "Don't be a stranger now. We're going to be renovating Brady's room soon, and I love my husband, but the man can't tell a hammer from a wrench."

"Give me a call, and I'll fit you in," Cooper agreed. He paused. "I'm glad you found it," he said, giving her a wry smile. "Steve, the baby . . . It seems like a good life."

Laura smiled. "Tell me that again when I've had more than three hours sleep."

The wailing went up a decibel.

"I'll leave you to it," Cooper said quickly. "I can see myself out."

He closed the front door behind him, listening as baby Brady's wails quieted. The cool air hit him in a rush, and for the first time since that day at the library, he felt a clarity, some damn direction after all the dark, messy self-doubt.

He wanted Poppy-not just for a night, but for everything. A future, a family, all those things he'd believed were out of reach until she'd come along to show him that some things really were meant to be, after all.

He needed her. He loved her. They belonged together. Now he just had to figure out how to make her see it, too-sometime in the next twelve hours.

Before she closed the book on him for good.





25





       
         
       
        



It turned out, when Sweetbriar Cove said bon voyage, they went all out. Poppy was expecting a quiet drink at the pub with June and Mackenzie, but when they stepped through the doors, she was met with a loud, "SURPRISE!"

Poppy blinked. It looked like the whole town was crammed inside the building. "You guys!" she exclaimed. "What is all of this?"

"We wanted to give you a proper send-off." Franny beamed. "It's been so much fun having you around."

"We always love an excuse for a party," Debra added, with a twinkle in her eye.