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“That’s just depressing” I sighed “Is it good?”
“Not after the fifty-sixth time, no”
I threw ood”
“Yup” He looked over at his nepheas laughing at whatever a surprisingly ani “She likes kids”
“I thought she ht” I studied her “So, she looks like a character from Frozen, huh?”
Cooper smirked “Actually, yeah I didn’t see it until now”
I chuckled and burrowed closer to him “I like your nephew, Cooper”
“He’s easy to like”
After a moment of silence, he said, amused, “What about Cat?”
Hmm
It wasn’t that I didn’t like her “She doesn’t trust me But it’s only because she loves you”
“She’ll coive it time”
The scary part was that for hiive it all the time in the world
NINETEEN
Cooper
Jess laughed at soether, transfixed She laughed with her whole body Pure joy
Itbags, surrounded by a ton of tourists, a lot easier to handle
Teeks had passed, and he and Jess had spent every spare ether Saiven Jace and Riley ement responsibilities so he could have time off to spend with Jess It was music festival day in Hartwell, and Main Street was filled with stalls—people were selling music memorabilia, food, and arts and crafts, while band after band each did a set up on the bandstand
Cat and Joey ith Jess at Dahlia’s jewelry stall, Joey standing in between histheir hands Cooper couldn’t even put into words how much it meant to him that Joey had taken such a shine to Jess And it , despite her reservations over the good doctor
Not that Jess was a doctor anymore
And that still didn’t sit right with him
For the past teeks she’d been working closely with Bailey at the inn, but Cooper could feel her floundering Jess loved the inn, but he didn’t believe it was her calling in life He was just waiting for her to wake up and realize it
As for her new boss, Bailey loved iven Jess the day off so she could enjoy it with him and his family
And Jess wasit
She was co alive here In his town With him and his people
A rush of possessiveness h him
Cat broke away froht I’d cos back, leaving him with Jess’s
They both watched in silence for a moment and he shot his sister a look out of the corner of his eye She earing a soft s Joey into her side
He grinned
Then she shot hiht his expression “What?”
He shrugged
She turned to hi an exasperated look “What?”
He gave her a grin that said, You knohat
Cat huffed, rolling her eyes, but he caught the s the corners of her mouth “Okay, okay I like her”
“I know you like her”
“I’h,” she warned “I don’t want you and Joey getting attached to soht pick up and leave”
Feeling affectionate, he hooked an arm around Cat’s neck to draw her close He kissed the side of her head “Okay, Mom”
She pushed hi the whole time “Whatever You know, Aydan’s pretty annoyed at you Apparently you told her you weren’t interested in dating her because you weren’t interested in dating anyone She was surprised to hear about Jessica”
“Jessica was a surprise to me, too” He searched her eyes “Aydan’s not really pissed, is she?”
“Nah” She shrugged “You know Aydan And anyway, I told you before that you were the last on her”
But Cooper didn’t hear the rest of what she had to say because he felt an odd sensation on the back of his neck and turned around to look for whoever was staring at him
Through the crowd of tourists and locals his gaze collided with Dana’s She was standing with her sister Watching him
Fuck
He whipped back around, his whole body tensed Since the night he’d thrown her out of his bar, he hadn’t seen or heard frootten it through to her that they were over
Now she atching hiain
“Shit”
“Jesus Christ,” Cat snapped, glowering over his shoulder “Has she been bugging you again? Because if she’s bothering you again, screw it I’ her”
Cooper grunted, knowing his sister was only half joking “You cannot afford to get arrested You have responsibilities” He pointed to Joey, as now standing at the next stall fro hysterically up at Jessica, as currently sporting a long, curly wig for his a devil horns with her hands
“God, she’s a goof” Cat sood?”