“Darling,” he said, starting the engine, “it would be my pleasure.”
Haleigh knew nothing about cars beyond what she needed to know to drive one. Like most people, she admired the look of a beautiful classic when one crossed her path, but beyond that, she was clueless.
She was also starting to feel rather clueless about Cooper.
Though she’d known him forever, Haleigh had never put much thought into what he did for a living. If memory served, Cooper started working on cars around the age of fourteen. The memory came clearly because that was the same year that her parents had insisted she abandon sports to focus all her energy on academics. Cooper had leapt into his passion against his father’s wishes and Haleigh recalled being in awe of his open defiance, wishing she’d had the same courage.
From then on, Cooper had practically lived in a garage. Though his love for gears and motors drove him there, the desire to avoid his disapproving father had kept him there.
The Ridgeway patriarch had been a mean drunk who rarely had anything nice to say to either of his children, but especially not to Cooper. Abby had stood by Haleigh’s side through the worst of her battle with alcohol, and she’d often wondered whether her friend’s diligence had been because of her father or in spite of him. Like maybe saving Haleigh had been a way to make up for not being able to save the man who’d raised her.
Considering what Cooper had endured, and knowing that Haleigh carried the same affliction, it was a miracle he wanted anything to do with her.
“The truck is over in the garage,” Cooper said, dragging Haleigh from her thoughts. She looked up to see that they’d arrived at his house while she’d been taking a walk down memory lane. Squeezing her hand, he said, “You’ll have to walk past the coop, but I won’t let Mabel get you.”
She tried to make her laugh sound sincere, but it came out stiff and forced.
“What’s wrong?” Cooper asked, sensing the growing tension in her body.
In a whisper, she said, “Your dad was an alcoholic and so am I. Why in the world would you want to be with me?”
Staring out the windshield, Cooper tapped the steering wheel but stayed quiet. He hesitated so long, Haleigh’s nerves threatened to snap.
“I’m only going to say this once.” He turned in his seat. “You are not like my father. You hear me? You’re nothing like him, and you never will be. He was a coward and a failure and chose booze and misery over his family.”
“He had a disease, Cooper. I have the same one. You can’t refuse to see that.”
“It isn’t the disease that matters. It’s how you deal with it. The fact that you beat it and make a choice every day not to reach for a bottle is proof that you’re better than he ever was.” Rubbing his thumb along her bottom lip, he added, “You were a good person before you took that first drink, Haleigh Rae. And you’re still the same good person right now. I see it every time I look at you.”
Grasping his wrist, she placed a kiss in his tender palm. “I’d give anything to see the girl that you describe staring back at me from the mirror.”
“She’s in there,” he said, pressing his forehead to hers. “She’s always been in there.”
Wanting to believe him, Haleigh pressed closer as if the message might convey by osmosis. No matter what Cooper said, she couldn’t change her past, but that past didn’t have to define her future.
Pulling back, she took a deep breath. “Enough of that. This is supposed to be a date, not a therapy session. Now show me this fancy truck.”
“Here she is,” Cooper said as he lifted the garage door. The motion-activated light inside illuminated the space the minute the door started to move. He kept his eyes on Haleigh to catch her reaction.
“Holy blindness,” Haleigh said, holding a hand in front of her eyes. “What the heck kind of wattage you got in here?”
“It’s a one-hundred-fifty-watt floodlight. If anybody moves a thing in this garage, that baby lights up. It works as my visual security alarm—I can see it from my bedroom.”
“Why not use a regular security system?”
“I’m afraid it would give the chickens a heart attack.”
Haleigh shook her head. “Leave it to you to be more concerned about the chickens than having a prized car stolen.” Once her eyes adjusted, she took in the truck in the middle of the space. With a puzzled expression, she said, “It’s teal.”
“Technically, it’s Bahama Blue.”
“Right,” she agreed. “Teal.” Her head tilted to the left as she said, “It’s cute!”