It's In His Heart (A Red River Valley Novel) (26 page)

“I doubt he thought our sex life would end up in a book for the world to see.” She looked at the ice cream label. “Yum, this is good. You’re my new BFF. Anyone thoughtful enough to bring me Cookies ’n Cream after a public humiliation is a friendship forged in blood. Like when guys in the movies slice their palms with a knife and then shake on it.”

“You said you’re sorry,” Lorenda said.

And Ella really was sorry. The regret gnawed her to the bone.

“You may be right, but it takes two to work things out. He’s made it clear that he doesn’t want to accept my apology.”

“I know it might not be what you want to hear right now, because you clearly have feelings for him, but you obviously didn’t give a second thought to the accusations against him. If he can’t find it in his heart to at least listen to you, then maybe you’re better off,” said Lorenda.

Ella inhaled deeply. “It’s my own fault. I shouldn’t have written our intimate details into a book without him knowing. Plus, I knew getting involved with him was probably a dead-end road, but for the first time in my life, I wanted to live on the edge. Take a risk, throw caution to the wind and experience life going Mach five with my hair on fire. I rolled the dice and I lost. Now I’ve got to move on. It’s what I came here to do anyway. It’s just going to be a little harder now. I wanted closure with this cabin, and now I have it, just not in the way I thought.”

“Any idea where you’re going?”

Ella shook her head. “Not permanently. I promised my family I’d come home for a visit, so I think I’ll drive to East Texas and stay there for a few weeks. Maybe a month.” She laughed. “It might take that long to smooth things over with my Southern Baptist family now that they know about my new profession.” She shrugged. “After that, I don’t know where I’ll end up. My editor wants me to move to California because there’s been some chatter about turning the books into screenplays. She says LA is the perfect place for me right now, but I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not.”

Ella shoveled another bite into her mouth. “Where do they make this stuff?” She held up her pint. “Maybe I’ll move there. That would be convenient.”

“Well, we’re planning a going-away party for you at Joe’s Saturday night.”

Ella smiled. “Awww, you guys are so sweet. Thanks, but I’m not really in much of a party mood.”

Lorenda tried to cheer her up. “Well now, that’s the point of the party. You will be afterward, and just so you know, we asked Joe to give Coop that night off. We’re trying to keep our plans quiet.”

Ella cocked a brow in you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me disbelief. “Good luck with that. You think you can keep it quiet in this town?”

“We’re giving it a shot.” Lorenda shrugged. “And, we’re looking out for Coop, too. Ross might do him bodily harm if he talks to you again the way he did at Joe’s the other day.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much if I were you. I don’t think Coop will come within a thousand yards of any place if he knows I’m there.”

C
hapte
r
T
wenty
-
S
even

Coop wiped down the bar and frowned as two Red River residents walked past him with curious looks and knowing smiles on their way to find a table. Those looks had become the norm since Ella had turned him into a walking freak show in her latest book. The excitement of having a local celebrity in their midst had stirred the town into a buzz of energy. The word had spread like a raging forest fire, and it had even made it into several national magazines. In his rage, he’d blown Ella’s cover, and probably ruined himself in the process.

Maybe he’d been a little cruel, his words a little over-the-top when he confronted Ella the other day. But no one could imagine the shock that coursed through him when he’d gotten to the last quarter of
Rio Grande Romp
and the familiarity of those chapters started to sink in. When he’d finished the novel and read the excerpt for book four, Coop had nearly choked.

He’d dropped his new e-reader on the floor, fumbled for it, and flipped back through some of the pages he’d just read. After rereading the excerpt, there was no mistaking whom the author was, but he still couldn’t bring himself to believe it. Until he sat in stunned silence, staring down at the backlit text and the author’s bio. All the pieces fell into place.

Of course. The author was from New Mexico and lived with an English bulldog. No mention of a husband, because Bradley was gone. Had Bradley known? Coop couldn’t imagine that he did.

He thought back to the day at the post office. An envelope from Wanton Publishing had come for her, the same publisher as the books. Probably a royalty check. Judas money. When she’d tucked it under her arm, it should’ve chinked like thirty pieces of silver.

Now it all made sense. That’s what she’d been doing on her laptop. That’s why she didn’t have to go back to a teaching job. That’s why she was here in Red River ruining his life, putting his future in jeopardy. All to make more money off her books.

After Kim, he’d vowed not to get sucked in by another conniving female, but he’d done just that. He probably could’ve handled the situation a little more discreetly, but still, she had it coming. Ella had lied to him, manipulated him, and then knifed him in the chest. Almost literally. He’d felt the blood drain from his chest like his heart had been ripped out when he realized the extent of her deceit.

He’d been crashing on Butch’s sofa the past week and intended to do so until Ella left Red River. He didn’t know when that would be; fall was still several weeks away. But he’d have to tough it out, because he wasn’t about to share a cabin with her anymore. If she didn’t leave soon, he’d see if she would buy him out and he’d rent a place. She obviously had the money.

And he wasn’t about to return any of the half dozen calls from her that he’d let go to voice mail.

So why did he feel so crummy about it all? About the way he’d talked to her, about the thought of her leaving and not sharing his bed anymore? Every night when he bedded down on his dad’s sofa, he felt a mixture of regret and anger, because no matter how mad he was at her, no matter how badly she’d betrayed him, he wanted her with him. In his bed. Every night.

He dried another glass and slammed it on the shelf.

Butch and Orland sidled up to the bar, and they both ordered the usual. Coop filled two frosty mugs with Budweiser and topped off the foam.

“Still haven’t come to your senses?” Orland asked.

“Excuse me?” Coop asked.

“Ella,” Orland said, like just mentioning the name was self-explanatory. “You still haven’t talked to her?”

“I have nothing to say to Ella Dennings,” Coop said flatly.

“Sure you do.” Orland drew on his beer. “You got plenty to say to her. Some of it nice, some of it not so much. Either way, get it off your chest and move on, before it’s too late.”

“After what she did? You think I should just get over it? Talk it out like she forgot to mention breaking an old fishing rod or something?” Coop tried to keep his voice calm but wasn’t exactly successful.

Orland thought about it for a moment. “Yeah,” he finally said. “I do.”

Butch just sat quietly. Coop figured it was because his dad wasn’t exactly an expert on getting relationships to work out with a happily-ever-after ending.

“And what if I end up in court with her book being used as evidence against me?”

Orland shrugged. “Maybe she should’ve asked before she put her . . . uh . . . experiences with you in her book for the entire world to read, but it’s not exactly her fault if you end up in court to begin with. That one’s on you, buddy.”

“I didn’t force myself on Kim Arrington,” Coop hissed.

“I believe you and so does everybody else in Red River, but that doesn’t matter,” said Orland.

Coop tossed the bar towel over one shoulder and folded his arms across his chest. “Really? Then what does matter?”

For the first time since the two old geezers sat down, Butch spoke up. “What matters is that Ella gave you the benefit of the doubt when none of your so-called friends back in Albuquerque would even speak to you.” Butch set his beer down on the bar and measured his words carefully. “Son, I’ve never talked much about your mother. Mostly because you didn’t want to hear it. But that was the easy way out for me. I’m your father and I should’ve made you listen. You’ve blamed your mother all these years, but I could’ve easily gotten her to stay with me, with us. I was just too selfish at the time to listen to her needs. She didn’t ask for much. If I’d thought of her a little more, she would’ve stayed. I realized that after I got over being angry when she left. It took me about a year, but I drove out to California to get her. It was too late.”

Coop’s mind raced. “You . . . wait . . . you went to California to get her back?”

“Yes, I did.”

“But, when? I don’t remember that.”

“You and Bradley went to baseball camp the year after she left. You were in El Paso for a week. That’s when I drove out there to win her back. I told her I’d start considering what she wanted, what made her happy. Promised her I’d change and start thinking more of her, take her on a vacation besides Red River, maybe even go to one of those romantic movies once in a while.”

Coop was still trying to wrap his mind around it. “But she didn’t come back with you. What happened?”

“She’d already moved on. Started over. She said if I’d told her that before she left Albuquerque, there might’ve been a chance for us. But I was too stubborn and selfish and I refused.” Butch took another long drink, letting the memories form into words. “Her heart was already too hardened toward me because of what I’d put her through. And because I let you believe it was all her fault. She didn’t want me anymore.”

“It
was
her fault, Dad.”

Butch shook his head. “No, son. You can’t dance a two-step alone. But I took the coward’s way out and let you believe that. She was the best thing that ever happened to me, and I let her go without trying to get her to stay and work it out. I was a fool. So everything that happened after that was my fault. Getting married again so many times, putting you through all that, that was my desperate attempt to forget that I messed up. The only good thing that came out of all my stupidity was you and Cal.”

Coop just stared at his dad, disbelief spiraling around his head like smoke. “Why didn’t you ever tell me this?” Coop whispered.

“I tried a few times, but you’d get mad and storm out. I guess I didn’t really know how to make you listen, or maybe I just didn’t want to. But it’s time you hear it anyway, because the best thing that’s ever happened to you is packing up her things as we speak to leave town. Probably for good.”

Coop tried to wrap his head around
that.
So much wrapping in such a short span of time was making his brain hurt. “Ella’s packing? To leave?”

“That’s what I hear,” Butch said as he downed another drink from his mug.

Orland added, “They’re having a going-away party for her right here at Joe’s. You’re not invited, by the way, since it’s supposed to be a happy occasion and all. But you didn’t hear that from us.”

Coop pulled into his usual parking spot behind the cabin, but Ella’s new SUV was gone. His chest tightened, and he stared at the back door. What if he was too late?

Atlas whined, easing his head over the console from the backseat, and licked at Coop. Coop looked at him and chuckled. “You missed home, huh?” He scratched Atlas’s head. “So do I,” he said and looked at the cabin again.

He should go inside, but he was afraid of what he would find in there. Or not find. If Ella was already gone, he didn’t want to face how royally he’d screwed up.

Reluctantly, he got out of the truck and opened the back passenger door for Atlas, who bounded out and made for the cabin like a flash of lightning. As soon as Coop’s boot connected with the first step, Winston’s deep bark rumbled on the other side of the door.

Relief surged through him. Ella was still in town.

Atlas jumped and barked at the door while Coop unlocked it. When he finally pushed it open, the two dogs tumbled across the floor like two long-lost soul mates that had been separated for an eternity. Coop laughed.

They were inseparable, and Atlas had moped around for days without Winston. Kind of like him without Ella.

Atlas and Winston obviously loved each other. And Coop loved Ella.

The realization hit him square in the chest and knocked the air from his lungs.

He glanced around the cabin and rubbed at his chest, trying hard to catch his breath. When Ella moved into the cabin a few months ago, she didn’t have a lot of belongings with her. Several suitcases of clothes, a few small boxes of personal possessions that she didn’t want to put in storage, her weapons, which he was well acquainted with, and her laptop. But she’d obviously been packing, giving the cabin an empty, lifeless feel.

He set his keys down on the counter, and an envelope with his name scrawled on it caught his eye. He picked it up and ran his thumb over Ella’s looping handwriting. So creative and artsy-looking, the letters so large and flowing that just his four-letter nickname covered the entire front of the white envelope. So her.

She’d left her imprint on his heart the same way she’d scrawled it across the envelope. He lifted it to his nose and breathed in. Her scent wafted around him, and he closed his eyes to let her image dance under his eyelids.

Shaking himself back to reality, he inserted a finger under the lip of the envelope and tore it open.

The deed to the cabin—signed over to him, notarized, and already filed at the Taos County Clerk’s Office. Three weeks ago.

Attached was a note in Ella’s handwriting.

Dear Coop,

It’s yours. Bradley would’ve wanted you to have it, and so do I. For what it’s worth, I didn’t use you for material to put in my books. But you did inspire me to love again, something I wasn’t sure I could do after losing Bradley. Please don’t let my mistake rob you of finding love again either. You have so much of it to give when you find the right person.

Take care of yourself,

Ella

A small lump remained inside the envelope. He turned it over, and the small gold necklace he’d given her for her birthday slid out and dinged against the counter. He hadn’t had more than a few minutes to shop when he found out it was her birthday at the very last moment. He’d driven to the nicest gift shop in Red River and picked out this petite charm. The simple gracefulness of it matched her. The shape represented his heart, which she had conquered like it was the spoils of victory.

The landline rang, jarring his thoughts. He grabbed for it.

“Hello.”

“Coop, it’s Angelique. Got good news for you.” Her voice beamed with victory.

“Okay,” was all Coop could say.

“Kim Arrington just dropped the criminal complaint and the civil suit against you. It’s over, buddy.”

Coop stood rooted in place, frozen in time.