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Cooper Si was going right Less than five days in, he’d lost power—a sudden nor’easter the culprit—and he’d been forced to stay in Fisher with his brother Maverick He loved his brother, but Cooper wasn’t in thewith Maverick and his wife, Charlie, was like being dunked in a vat of happy A vat the size of New England

He was gone as soon as he got word his hydro had been restored

He’d only been home a few days when a sudden windstor with most of his frost fence The frost fence he couldn’t care less about—it could be replaced—the one-of-a-kind weather vane, however, was another story Made of copper and brass, it was probably the ugliest weather vane in the entire state of Maine, but man, he loved it Sohis property as well as the neighboring ones looking for the da over icy rock andto show for his effort Hell, he’d even take a piece of fencing to call it a win, but none could be found

Glaring up at the gathering clouds and then back at the dark, angry Atlantic Ocean, Cooper yanked on his hood and started toward hootten no work done If he got back sooner than later, he ht be able to fix that

Or not

His mood now as black as the water behind hiainst the wind and decided not to think about work There was no point, really Either he was gonna get it done, or he’d continue to screw the pooch

By the time he reached the old farinning to press into the side of his head He decided a couple of pain pills and a swig of whiskey would do the trick, and was planning on doing just that when he spied a co, he shook his head It was probably Charlie

“Not today,” heto the front door For whatever reason, Charlotte had decided he needed taking care of, and it was about ti care of hi annoyed the hell out of him

He took the stairs two at a time and didn’t bother to shake the slush, salt, and dirt from his boots as he strode into his house Cooper strode across the foyer but pulled up short when his cell phone rang He patted the front pockets of his jeans and then realized the da was on the hall table He scooped it up and headed for the kitchen

“Where have you been?”

“Where are you?” he shot back, glancing around the place What was that s until he reached the fridge and, too lazy to head back to the front roorabbed a Bud Wasn’t like there was s in there were beer and yogurt

“I’m home, with your brother”

Cooper ruh the cupboard for the pain pills, tossed a few into hisfroing out of his jacket, he threw the heavy coat onto the kitchen table Frowning, he took another swig and glanced outside So whose car was out front?

“Where are you?” Charlie asked again

“I’ his chin absently

“Oh”

“Did you expect me to be somewhere else?”

“Well, no But I’ve been calling for hours and you didn’t pick up Morgan said the place was empty”

“Morgan?” He straightened and peered into the family room

“Thank goodness I gave her my spare set of keys”

“Keys?” A frown firmly in place, Cooper headed back to the front of the house “Why the hell would you give er?”