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Unlike all the other couples they knew, he and Dana didn’t have a partnership He didn’t have a wife to lean on when shit got hard She had expected hi bad, like she was a child

For instance, when his mom died His mom She wasn’t even close to his mother But Dana couldn’t cope with the sad reality of death It made her question her own mortality and she didn’t like that one bit So she wouldn’t talk about his mom’s death She wouldn’t let him talk about it, and he’d needed to talk about it

In the end it was Jack who had been there for him

Huh What a joke that was He’d always considered hie of character until Jack’s betrayal

Cooper sighed again and shook off the ugly memories

Jessica struck him as a different sort of woman than Dana Not only did she probably take care of herself, she took care of other people The idea of dating an independent woht Dana eet, until she’d showed him how bitter she could taste

But that shouldn’t be enough to put hi to know the doc She was in Hartwell for three weeks That was plenty of ti to give it a chance

“Those look like sohts,” Old Archie said

Cooper looked at hihts?”

Old Archie grinned and opened his , when his old lady, Anita, slid onto the stool next to him Old Archie i here?”

She grinned and shrugged “Thought I’d join you tonight” Anita turned that lopsided grin of hers on Cooper “I’ll have what he’s having He’s paying”

Cooper grinned and started to pull her a draft while he watched Old Archie’s reaction to Anita showing up

It was fair to say that Old Archie was an alcoholic He liked his drink and he ies for it He’d beentheir kids with her when she drove out of Hartwell for good Things had gotten bad for Archie for a while, but then he’d met Anita Anita didn’t care that Archie liked his drink All she cared about was that he was loyal to her and he loved her

Cooper knew Old Archie loved Anita

But there were days, like today, when Old Archie loved the drink more

As Anita talked about so, Cooper saw Archie surreptitiously lean to his other side where Anita couldn’t see, clearly counting the ht, shooting his old lady a glower “Wo her, “what have you done to your hair?”

Anita frowned back at hi over her head “I cut it Last week,” she snapped

“Well, I don’t like it”

“What do you mean you don’t like it? You didn’t even notice it until now”

“And I don’t like it”

“What’s wrong with it?” she practically yelled, and a few of Cooper’s other regulars turned to watch the older couple

Cooper crossed his ar he knew exactly what Old Archie was up to

“It’s too short You look like a boy”

“I do not look like a boy, Archibald Brown” She hopped up off the stool “If you’re in a bad ht” She stormed away

“I like your hair, Anita!” Hug, a painter and decorator who had gone to school with Coop’s mom, shouted out as she passed

“Thank you, Hug” Anita preened, touching her hair She threw a s into his beer to notice

As soon as the bar door slammed shut behind Anita, Cooper shook his head at him

Old Archie’s grin got bigger “What? If she’d stuck around I could only afford two ot four more to look forward to”

“And a cold couch” Cooper turned away, laughing at the way Old Archie’s face fell boyishly at the realization

“That was mean,” Riley, his bar staff, said from the other end of the bar

Lily, one of his waitstaff, dulowered at Old Archie “It was beyond mean Anita looked real upset, Archie”

“Ah, she’ll be fine” He waved theuilt in his eyes before he lowered his gaze to his beer

“Quiet tonight,” Riley said, strolling up the bar to him and Lily “Can’t wait for the season to kick in”

Cooper had four bar staff working for hihts, Kit and Jace worked days There was Crosby, his cook, and four waitstaff—Lily, Isla, Bryn, and Ashley During high season, everyone, including Cooper, worked more hours

It was a lot of responsibility, but he didn’t ood at that shit

But it could get tiring

Whicha wo

As if he’d conjured her, the door to Cooper’s opened and in stepped Jessica Huntington He drank in the sight of her

Her long blond hair was now dry There really was a lot of it It spilled down her back in thick waves Those big gorgeous eyes of hers ht of the locals, who stared at her curiously She smiled at them and then looked over at the bar, and that pretty sht of Cooper e all the other couples they knew, he and Dana didn’t have a partnership He didn’t have a wife to lean on when shit got hard She had expected hi bad, like she was a child