Page 10 of Broken Heart
But whether he was a loyal guy or not didn’t matter.
Because I couldn’t bear to go down that road again and risk it.
Plus, if my assessment of him was accurate, Cooper was the kind of guy that likely already had a girlfriend. I mean, he was handsome, hardworking, confident, and honest. He didn’t need to walk into my store and claim that wood as his own, but he did. And he’d followed through with everything he said he was going to do to rectify the situation.
A man like that wasn’t easy to come by. I just hoped that the woman he chose to be with realized just how lucky she was to have such a decent man in her life.
“Skye? Is everything okay?”
His voice startled me, forcing my body to jump back slightly in response. I shook my head as though needing to physically remove the thoughts of Cooper from my mind. If I couldn’t get a grip, I was going to embarrass myself in front of this breathtaking man. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m sorry. I’ll get the door opened.”
As quickly as I could, I spun around on my heels and all but sprinted to the door to unlock it. Once inside, I held the door open, so Cooper could get in without having to set anything down outside. He exited the store again, clearly needing to get a few more things from his truck, so I stepped away from the door to set my things down and try to pull myself together.
By the time I’d done that and gone through a few of my normal opening activities, I returned to the front to find Cooper was already at work. When he saw me approach, he stopped what he was doing and said, “So, I’m going to just dive right in. I’ve got some things still in the truck, but I need to work on removing what’s here first. It’s probably going to be a bit loud initially, but I’m hoping to have the brunt of that kind of work done before you’re open.”
Nodding, I said, “That’s not a problem at all. I don’t know anything about what you’re doing, but if there’s something you need my help with, I am good at following instructions.”
For the first time since I met him, Cooper let out a laugh and smiled at me. There was no denying he was a good-looking guy. But that smile transformed him. Gosh, he was handsome. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Not wanting things to get awkward, I decided it was best to leave him to work in peace. I’d done all I could do, and frankly, even though I’d offered to help, I was hoping he didn’t need it, because I really didn’t consider myself to be very handy and would likely wind up embarrassing myself more than anything else.
Now that I’d seen him smile, I wasn’t sure it would be wise for me to be in such close proximity to him. So, I scurried off and got myself to work. Knowing that I planned to come in early this morning, Joan and I left almost immediately after we closed last night instead of handling our normal closing duties. I told her I’d take care of them this morning, and that’s precisely what I did.
For the next two hours, I focused on my work while Cooper worked on fixing my door. If it hadn’t been for the noise he was making, I wouldn’t have known he was there, because he never came over to talk or ask me any questions.
Sure enough, about ten minutes before my normal opening hours, things had quieted down in the shop. I glanced over and was impressed to see how much work Cooper had gotten done. It looked wonderful, even better than what had been there before.
I loved it.
But the good vibes I’d been feeling about the new entrance to my bookstore flew out that door approximately two and a half minutes after I opened.
Because a woman walked in and was watching Cooper work on the door as she continued to move in my direction.
Deciding it was best to make it easy on the both of us, I closed that distance and seethed, “What are you doing here?”
Maria spun around, her eyes landing on mine for the first time in more than five months. She sent an apologetic look my way, but there was something else lingering there that looked a lot like longing. “Skye, please let me say something,” she begged.
I might have been able to listen to whatever she intended to say next if my eyes hadn’t dropped down from her face to her rounded belly. “Are you pregnant?”
Maria’s hands went to her stomach, and she nodded. Tears filled her eyes.
“Get out,” I ordered, my voice louder than I had intended for it to be.
“We need to talk,” she said.
Shaking my head, I insisted, “There’s nothing to say now, Maria. What could you possibly believe we have to discuss with one another?”
“We should talk about this,” she suggested. “I realize you needed time, and I’ve been trying to give that to you, but we need to clear the air.”
“Are you insane?” I fired back, my tone indicating my annoyance and getting louder. “Do you honestly believe that? Do you think there is any way possible for us to move beyond what you did? What you both did?”
A look of defeat washed over her. “I know we hurt you. I get it. But you’re my best friend.”
I was convinced my head was going to explode. “Correction, Maria. I was your best friend. Until you went behind my back and betrayed me. There is no true best friend on the face of this planet who would do what you did. You slept with my boyfriend. Not only that, but you started a full-blown relationship with him. I had to find out from an email. Do you know how humiliating that is? All that time, I didn’t know any of it was happening. And now, five months after I learned the truth, you think it’s okay to walk in here, very clearly pregnant with a baby I can only assume is my ex’s, and you think I should just forget what you did?”
“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I never meant to hurt you.”
“Well, it’s too late for that,” I told her.