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“Careful, your ”
Cooper laughed softly, but his a on his door
“Cooper!” Dana shrieked now
He winced at the sound Seriously, what had he seen in her?
“Cooper! Open up!”
“Well, that’s enough of that,” a familiar voice admonished
Iris
Cooper tensed
Iris and Ira owned the Italian pizzeria next to Paradise Sands They’d opened it twenty-five years back and named it Antonio’s because they reckoned no one wanted Italian food from “Iris and Ira”
Iris and Ira were like family to him
“Iris, this isn’t your damn business,” Dana snapped
“Cooper is like a son to e here You are not going to harass that boy Now go away You are not wanted”
“I need to talk to him Cooper!”
“He doesn’t want to talk to you, by the looks of it, so get going Get going before I call the cops”
“Stay out of it, you nosy bitch”
Enough was enough His blood turned hot as heto continue hiding in his own bar, and no way in hell would he stand by and let her talk to Iris like that
He shoved open the door and Dana skittered back as it caught her elbow
“Cooper”
“Don’t you ever fucking talk to Iris like that again You hear me?”
She licked her lips nervously, a gesture she thought got to him “Coop, please I just really need to talk to you”
“About what, Dana? About us getting back together? Are you out of your mind?”
“Cooper, if you just forgive me—”
“It’s not about that anyrateful I’et that? I don’t want you”
Tears spilled down cheeks he’d once found pretty and she let out a harsh sob before pushing past Iris She half h heels and Cooper was pissed off all over again because he could feel a twinge of guilt in his chest
“Crocodile tears”
He looked back at Iris, as staring at him sternly
“Don’t you feel guilty for anything, Cooper Lawson Everything that woman does is a manipulation”
The reuilt somewhat and he stepped forward to press a kiss on Iris’s forehead “Thank you”
Her eyes were bright when she smiled up at him “Always here, you know that”
“Back at you Say goodto Ira for me” He pushed open the bar door
“Will do See you later”
Cooper walked through his e to will the tension out of his es and sat down at a table
Thirty-six years old Thirty-six goddamn years old Just a little over ten years of those he’d spent with Dana Ten years of his life gone Thirty-six and divorced A crazy ex-wife No kids No dad No mom
But he had his sister
He had his nephew
He looked around the pub
He had his bar
And he had friends on the boardwalk and they were like family
If it felt like souessed that just rateful
Or maybe just human
Finishing his beer, Cooper let all the crap of thedisappear as Crosby came in to prep for the lunch service, and as he opened the bar it started filling up The tourist season hadn’t quite hit yet, but his place was never eulars, and as those people filled his bar, the emptiness left him for a while and the tension eased
FIVE
Jessica
The two-hour drive to Hartwell had taken it out of ular focus onas it had As soon as I’d decided on Hartwell forht of vacation had caused o, Hey, thanks a lot; we’ve only been waiting forever for you to notice we’re fucked
Teeks I had to wait for vacation and it had felt like the longest teeks ofSometimes you didn’t even realize you were as stressed as you were I should have known that And as a doctor I should have been taking better care of myself mentally and physically
Noas my chance
I was at once kind of excited to take sorown up, but also scared that all this vacation was going to do was prove that I didn’t like the life I was living
God, I hoped that wasn’t true
Those worries drifted away, however, when I began to sh theI had rolled down The closer er the ocean sh the town of Hartwell I seeh the center—it was all shops, restaurants, and parking lots The GPS turned me west and that took me into a residential area that was interspersed with a few restaurants I drove slowly down the dark, tree-lined streets, htly colored awnings and old-fashioned porches that rerown up The ser and wheninto a nearby parking lot, n that stated For Hart’s Inn Guests Only, and relief h me that for once my GPS really had led ”