Faintly aware that they’d drawn an audience, Cooper lowered his voice. “Consider yourself off the hook, because I’m done playing the hapless, lovesick idiot. You were right when you said I needed to protect myself. That kicks in now.” Before walking away, he growled, “Thank you for opening my eyes to the real you before it was too late.”
Desperate to plant his fist into something solid, something that would shift the pain ripping through his gut into a dull throb in his knuckles, Cooper charged through the crowd without looking back. Haleigh may have turned him into a pitiful sap, but she was not going to ruin the rest of his life. He had a rally to run, and by damn, he would see this through.
Chapter 29
Haleigh ignored the onlookers who’d just borne witness to her humiliation and heartbreak. Every word Cooper uttered rang true. Why did she do it? Why had she fought her entire life for something she would never have? And most of all, didn’t need? If Meredith Mitchner didn’t want a real relationship with her daughter, then that was her loss, not Haleigh’s.
After all this time, it had taken falling for Cooper to make her years of therapy finally sink in. The gurus were right. She couldn’t love someone else until she loved herself. And that would require forgiving herself. Something she’d never been able to do.
But by not holding the past against her, Cooper had proven how easy forgiveness could be. Her mistakes did not define her. Her addiction did not make her a bad person. And her worth did not depend on a bitter woman’s approval.
Against all odds, Cooper had given her peace and love and genuine acceptance. And she’d thrown them all back in his face.
For nothing.
In stunned disbelief, she made her way to the edge of the crowd and dropped onto a curb at the back of the parking lot. What was she supposed to do now? Her heart demanded she not give up, but Haleigh didn’t know how to repair the damage she’d done. Marcus had humiliated Cooper, yet she’d stood silent, asking the man she loved to be patient. To take the abuse, pretend that what they had didn’t exist.
She’d poured her disease and self-loathing in his lap and he’d embraced it all. Loved her no matter what, and would have fought beside her to the end. Now he could barely stand the sight of her, and Haleigh didn’t blame him one bit.
With her face in her hands, she rocked back and forth, swallowing the tears she had no right to shed. Cooper was the victim in this twisted web she’d spun. Like the tornado he never saw coming, Haleigh had ripped through yet another life. Collected another casualty.
“That was pretty tough back there,” Lorelei said. Haleigh felt her drop to the curb beside her. “The last I heard, you’d gone missing last night. I’m going to guess Cooper found you?”
Keeping her head down, Haleigh nodded.
“Did you cheat on him?”
Haleigh’s head shot up. “No! I would never do that to Cooper.”
Lorelei didn’t flinch at the outburst. “I had to ask,” she said, as if they were talking about the weather. “Do you remember that painting I sold you for your bedroom?”
Wrapping her arms around her knees, Haleigh replied, “I’m not in the mood to talk home decor right now.”
Ignoring the rebuttal, Lorelei pressed on. “You said that the woman in the painting looked as if she wanted the man to get up off his knees.” Bumping Haleigh with her shoulder, Lorelei said, “He’s up. Now what are you going to do?”
“I don’t deserve him, Lorelei.”
“Maybe not right now,” she agreed. “But that doesn’t mean you give up. I’ve never deserved Spencer a day in my life, but I wake up every morning determined to get there. To earn his love.” Lorelei stared into the distance. “I know what it’s like to be a work in progress. Finding a man willing to see past your faults and take you as you are is a gift, Haleigh Rae. A gift that’s worth fighting for.”
Listening to her instincts, Haleigh said, “I want to fight.”
“Good.” Lorelei shared a genuine smile as she rose to her feet. “I’ll be rooting for you. For both of you.”
With a silent salute, her old classmate dissolved into the mass of car enthusiasts, leaving Haleigh to formulate a plan of attack on her own. Somehow she needed to get Cooper’s attention. To make him hear everything in her heart. As country music filled the air, an idea took hold.
“I’m so proud of you,” Linda Ridgeway said, likely resisting the urge to pinch her son’s cheeks. “You’ve done an amazing job on this rally. I bet this one event will bring in more money than the festival did last fall. If not by itself, then all the rallies combined by the end of the summer.”