“All of this is because you’re hormonal?”

“No, you idiot! I’ve been trying to have a baby!”

The words rippled through the air and she immediately pressed a hand to her mouth. She hadn’t meant to say it. Especially not like that. Coop’s face went white and he looked like he needed to sit down to digest what she’d just said.

“You’ve been…With who?”

He turned his face toward her. Heat rose to her cheeks in embarrassment. For years she’d ignored the fact that once upon a time she’d have done anything to have his hands and lips on her like they’d been only moments ago. Now that they had been…it took her back to those days of desperately trying to get his attention. To make him see her as more than just a friend. And now he thought she was involved with someone. At any other time it would be comical. In light of the situation, it was just plain awkward.

“It’s none of your business.”

He looked up at her from beneath his sooty lashes and said ominously, “From the way you were kissing me a moment ago, I’d say it is very much my business.”

A Cowboy To
Come Home To

Donna Alward

www.millsandboon.co.uk

About the Author

A busy wife and mother of three (two daughters and the family dog), DONNA ALWARD believes hers is the best job in the world: a combination of stay-at-home mum and romance novelist. An avid reader since childhood, Donna always made up her own stories. She completed her arts degree in English literature in 1994, but it wasn’t until 2001 that she penned her first full-length novel and found herself hooked on writing romance. In 2006 she sold her first manuscript, and now writes warm, emotional stories for Mills & Boon® Cherish™.

In her new home office in Nova Scotia, Donna loves being back on the east coast of Canada after nearly twelve years in Alberta, where her career began, writing about cowboys and the West. Donna’s debut romance, Hired by the Cowboy, was awarded the Bookseller’s Best Award in 2008 for Best Traditional Romance.

With the Atlantic Ocean only minutes from her doorstep, Donna has found a fresh take on life and promises even more great romances in the near future!

Donna loves to hear from readers. You can contact her through her website, www.donnaalward.com or her page at www.myspace.com/dalward.

To my girlie girls, who have grown into an awesome pair of brainstorming partners. I’d still be stuck at the words “Chapter One” if it weren’t for you!

CHAPTER ONE

COOPER FORD WAS six foot two of faded denim and plaid cotton, accessorized by an insufferable ego.

The smile slid off of Melissa Stone’s face as Coop pulled the door to the flower shop closed behind him, the little brass bell dinging annoyingly as he reached up and took off his hat. Oh, wasn’t he all charm and politeness. Melissa’s replacement smile was plastic and somewhat forced. Just what she needed at five o’clock on a Friday afternoon. To be face-to-face with the one man left in Cadence Creek who she wished would simply dry up and blow away.

“Afternoon, Melissa.”

She gritted her teeth at the sound of his deep voice, somehow musical even when saying the most mundane things. “Cooper.”

She refused to call him Coop like everyone else in town. Like she had years ago when they’d all hung out together, having a few beers around a campfire after a Sunday-night softball game. When he’d been the sort of guy she’d been proud to call friend. Now he was Cooper. If she thought he’d let her get away with it, she’d call him Mr. Ford. He deserved it.

But that would be a little too obvious. A very stiff “Cooper” sent the same message with a touch more subtlety—even if he did remain Coop in her head. The old days were gone. They weren’t friends any longer. To her recollection, this was the first time he’d ever deigned to darken the flower shop door.

He smiled at her. “Nice day out there. Cool, but sunny.”

Oh, this was positively painful. The weather? Seriously? She blinked, trying to ignore Coop’s big frame, which fit perfectly into his dusty jeans and the worn denim jacket that looked as if he’d had it for at least a decade. The edges of the collar and cuffs were white and slightly frayed. The jacket gaped open, revealing an old plaid shirt with a streak of dirt smeared across his chest.

One positive thing she could say about Coop: he wasn’t lazy. From the look of him he was straight off the ranch. From the smell of him, too—the pungent but not unpleasant scent of horses clung to his clothing.

“Forecast says frost maybe tonight.” She resisted the urge to tap her nails on the counter. The weather, she realized, was a safe topic. “What can I do for you, Cooper?”

He bumped his hat on the side of his leg. “I need some flowers.”

His gaze dropped to the green apron she wore when she was in her shop. The words Foothills Floral Design were embroidered on the left breast. Pockets lined the bottom, where she could keep her scissors and pocket knife and anything else she needed as she worked around the store.

Her cheeks heated. No big surprise that Cooper was staring at her breasts. He liked women, did Cooper Ford. When she’d been married, Coop had a new girl hanging off his arm every other month, it seemed. A real love-’em-and-leave-’em kind of guy. She took a deep breath. “What kind of flowers?”

His gaze lifted to meet hers and she found herself drawn to the golden flecks in the hazel depths. He had lashes that were too long to be decent for any self-respecting man, which made his eyes quite pretty.

Pretty enough for him to get away with just about anything in this town, she reminded herself with disgust. Except with her. She knew exactly what kind of guy Cooper was. He’d definitely shown his true colors the day he’d betrayed their friendship.

“I don’t know,” he confessed with a sheepish grin. “Something big. Something that says I’m really, really sorry.”

Acid soured her stomach. Ugh. Apology flowers. And she could just imagine what the combo of Coop and a big bouquet would do to some silly doe-eyed girl who didn’t know any better. “Who’d you do wrong now, Coop?”

The words were out before she could think better of them and she couldn’t take them back.

His gaze sharpened, but he merely raised one eyebrow. It made her feel small, as she always did when she was reminded of what a fool she’d been three years ago.

Walking in on her husband, Scott, and his girlfriend had been the most humiliating moment of her life. It had made her one big cliché.

She’d thought it couldn’t get any worse, but then she’d discovered that Coop had known all along. He’d been aware that her husband—his best buddy—was having an affair. And he hadn’t said a single, blessed word to her about it. No heads-up. No…nothing.

The joke had totally been on her, and she’d never forgotten it. Even now, as she took the steps to truly move on—alone—his betrayal stung. There was sticking by your friend and there was doing what was right. Cooper didn’t choose right.

“I missed my mother’s birthday,” he replied, putting his weight on one hip and hooking a thumb in his jeans pocket. “I was out of town all week. But it was her sixtieth and so now I’m trying to make it up to her.”

Once more Melissa felt foolish. She didn’t like Cooper. Actually, the truth was more that she didn’t trust him. She didn’t respect him. She should just let it go, like water off a duck’s back, as the old saying went. She definitely should not let him get to her, especially after all this time.

“Oh,” she answered. “Then I’m sure I can help. Do you want it in a vase or paper?”

“Paper,” he answered. “She’s got a million vases around the house. And no roses. They’re too formal and old-ladyish. Something mixed.”

Melissa tended to agree. Not that roses weren’t great, and they were definitely a classic—elegant and timeless. But she secretly preferred something simpler, more wildflowerish and whimsical. “Colors?”

“Yellows. Maybe with some red and blue in it? Colorful and, well, large. It’s a big apology.”

He smiled down at Melissa and she nearly smiled back before catching herself. “Give me fifteen minutes or so,” she replied, jotting the order on her notepad. “You can come back and pick it up, yeah?”

He nodded. “It’ll give me time to go to the pharmacy and get a nice card.”

“Gee, nothing says ‘Happy Birthday, Mom’ like a last-minute card,” she replied drily.

He didn’t answer.

“Okay,” she said, putting down her pen. “Fifteen minutes.”

“Thanks, Mel,” he said, putting his hat back on his head.

Mel.

No one had called her that in ages. Certainly not Cooper, who she avoided as often as possible, which took some creativity in a town the size of Cadence Creek. Thankfully, he felt the same way, and even if they ended up at the same functions, they steered well clear of each other. Opposite ends of the room sort of thing. Definitely no eye contact or chitchat.

But hearing the shortened version of her name—Mel—took her back to the old days. The days when she’d thought she was happy, and she’d really been living in a fantasy world.

The bell chimed as he left, a cheerful sound that was out of key with her current dismal mood, a good portion of which had nothing to do with Cooper at all. She was getting tired of taking her temperature every darn day. Of getting her hopes up, only to be faced with disappointment. Of spending her savings on trying to get pregnant the nontraditional way. She was going to give it one more try, but she wasn’t holding out a lot of hope. Maybe she’d be better off filling out the paperwork for the adoption registry.

But deep down, she wasn’t ready to give up. The end of her marriage had also marked the end of her plans for a brilliant life. Plans that had included starting a family. Why should she give that up just because circumstances had changed? She’d done so many things on her own since the divorce, like start her own successful business. She was absolutely certain she could manage this, too.

She would be a good mom if given the chance.

But first she had to look after Cooper’s order. She was just getting out the red gerbera daisies when Penny arrived for her Friday-night shift. Penny was in eleventh grade at the high school and was the best worker Melissa had on staff. Most of the time she wished she could have her for more shifts, but Penny and her parents were firm on the eight-hours-a-week rule. Melissa got her Friday from five to nine and Saturday morning from nine to one and that was it.

Melissa hoped that if the planets aligned and things finally went right, she could offer Penny a lot more hours next summer—especially if Melissa was spending more time at home with a baby. Between Penny and Amy Wilson, who covered a lot of the day shifts, Melissa had some breathing room in the schedule.

Penny’s arrival meant Melissa wouldn’t have to wait on Cooper when he returned. All she had to do was finish making up the arrangement before he came back.

Her fingers plucked bright yellow yarrow a little quicker at the prospect. Cooper Ford had nothing to do with her current life.

She made her own way now, and that was exactly how it was going to stay.

Cooper let out a breath when he was out on the sidewalk again. He’d finally gathered up the courage to go into her shop. This nonsense of avoiding each other had gone on long enough. Surely after three years she might have mellowed where he was concerned.

But nothing had changed, had it? Melissa still looked at him as if he were dirt beneath her heel. It had been a long time since she and Scott had split. But the truth was she still hated Scott, and she still hated Cooper’s guts because he’d known about the affair and hadn’t said a word.

He walked away from the flower shop, his long legs eating up the concrete as he made his way to the drugstore. The problem with Melissa was that she didn’t know the whole story. She thought Cooper had kept his mouth shut because he’d been looking out for his best buddy. “Their little club,” she’d called it. And she’d called him a lot more than that, too, words he would never have imagined coming out of that sweet little mouth. He’d taken all the verbal slings because she’d been right. Not in her interpretation of how it all went down, and definitely not right about his motives. But she’d been right that he should have had the guts to say something. God knows he wanted to. He’d come close so many times… .

But all his life he’d been a coward where Melissa was concerned, and the day she’d walked in on Scott with another woman hadn’t changed anything. Cooper had had no right to her friendship after that. He’d failed her, and she would never know how badly he felt about it.

At the drugstore, he headed for the greeting card aisle. Without too much trouble he picked out a birthday card for his mother, but he paused as he passed by a smaller section of cards. Close to the thank-you notes were half a dozen with I’m Sorry messages on the fronts. They sported sappy pictures of flowers and cute puppies and kittens. He gave a dry chuckle as he picked one up and opened the flap. There were no words on the inside, just a blank space to write in a personal message.

He imagined what he’d write to Melissa. “I’m sorry for keeping the truth from you all those years ago,” maybe? It was true. But it wouldn’t be enough. Not for her. And there was no way in hell he was going to write “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about your husband’s infidelity, but I was in love with you and didn’t want to hurt you.”

Even if he were stupid enough to confess such a thing, it didn’t even scrape the surface of what had really happened.

He’d been between a rock and a hard place and it had marked the end of his lifelong friendship with Scott. Not that that mattered one bit to Melissa, he thought bitterly. Not once had she considered how he might be caught in the middle, between his two best friends.

He put the card back in the slot and went to the cash register. Once outside, he headed back to the flower shop, gearing himself up for another few minutes of pretending they didn’t have any past history at all.

But when he went back inside Foothills Floral, there was no sign of Melissa. Instead, a teenager with braces smiled at him and rang up his purchase.

He left and got into his truck, a crease forming between his brows.

It appeared he wasn’t the only coward.

The early September sky was the clear, deep blue that Melissa particularly loved, and it seemed to go on forever. As she got out of her car and shut the door, she took a deep, restorative breath. How she loved this time of year. Everything was warm and mellow after the brash heat of summer. The prairie was green and golden, the air crisp and the leaves on the poplars and birches were turning a stunning golden yellow. It reminded her of back-to-school days and how she’d loved filling up her new backpack and lunch bag and getting on the school bus as a girl. It reminded her of sitting on the bleachers during football season, cheering on the Cadence Creek Cougars and, in particular, Scott.

Well, that memory was a little tainted now, but she still remembered what it had been like to be nearly seventeen and in love with the handsome star of the team.

These days the fall weather made her want to do all sorts of nesting things, like baking and freezing and canning and knitting. It was silly, because why would she bother freezing and canning for herself? Maybe if she had a family, a few kids running around…

She shook her head and focused on the house in front of her. She had a good life. Maybe it hadn’t turned out exactly as she’d planned, but she had a thriving business and a nice, if small, home. She had good friends and a lot to be thankful for.

She looked up at the unfinished structure before her. Things could definitely be worse. Take, for instance, Stu Dickinson and his family. They were going to own this house when it was finished. The Dickinsons had been living in a cheap duplex rental in town when it had burned and they’d lost everything. With his wife suffering from multiple sclerosis and unable to work, Stu was the sole breadwinner for them and their two kids. Tenant’s insurance had made it possible for them to replace necessities, but they were struggling to make ends meet.

Which was where a local charity organization came in.

Melissa wasn’t that great with power tools, but she’d signed up to volunteer now that the house was framed. She had no idea what she’d be doing today, but the coordinator had assured her that she’d be fine and that someone would show her exactly what to do.

When she stepped inside the house, the racket was unbelievable. The shrill whine of a saw rang in her ears, followed by a bang and the sound of male voices.

“Hello?” she called out in a brief moment of silence, putting her purse by the door. The room on her left had been finished with Sheetrock and had had its cracks filled, but not painted. The one on the right was still only framed and the wiring was visible, including electrical outlets and dangling wires for an overhead light fixture.

Boots sounded at the back of the house and she wiped her hands on her jeans. “Hello?” a voice returned.

A strange feeling slithered through her stomach in the instant before the man appeared.

“You!” she exclaimed. Oh, wasn’t this just her luck! Twice in one week, no less.

Cooper halted in the doorway to the hall. “Oh,” he answered, his face going completely blank for the space of a second. “You’re volunteering today?”

She nodded. He sounded as pleased about it as she was. “And I take it you are, too?”

He nodded in turn.

She couldn’t back out now. For one, she’d committed to volunteering. And two, if she did withdraw, Cooper would know it was all because of him. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

At some point it might be good if they could be in the same room together without her wanting to spit in his eye.

He took off his gloves. “Stu works for me. Least I can do is help out, you know?”

Melissa blinked. “I would have thought things were too busy out at your place.” Cooper’s ranch was profitable and his reputation for breeding great stock horses was growing. Ranchers from all over the prairies and northern states came to the Double C for their cutting and working horses.

“Sure it’s busy. But I don’t run it alone. I have good men working for me. They know what they’re doing and I trust them. You know what it’s like. You must have someone working the shop this morning.”

She did. Against her better judgment she’d hired Amy Wilson on a part-time basis. Amy’s reputation around town wasn’t always the greatest, but Melissa had taken a chance and given the vivacious blonde a try. So far she’d worked out well. She was a fast learner and was good with the customers. The only thing she couldn’t do was arrange flowers, so Melissa had gone in early to do up the day’s orders and make sure the cooler was filled with prearranged bouquets for walk-in sales.

“So, is there someone here to tell me what I need to do?”

Cooper grinned. “Yep. Me, for now. The bedrooms are all painted, and we’ve just finished laying the floor in the master. How are you with a brad nailer? We’ve got the baseboard and crown molding ready to go.”

Melissa hesitated. Couldn’t he install the trim while she worked with someone else? The last thing she wanted was to spend the next four hours in the same room with Coop.

“Melissa.”

His rough voice pulled her back. “What?”

“Is it so bad? Really?”

She met his gaze. He wasn’t smiling, wasn’t making fun or trying to be charming—for once. He was dead serious. He shifted his gloves from one hand to the other—was he nervous? He hadn’t aged, other than a few lines in the corners of his eyes that were more likely from the sun and wind than time passing. He still looked so much like the boy she’d laughed with over the years. Though she wouldn’t admit it out loud in a thousand years, she missed that guy. Once upon a time she’d called him her best friend.

“You remind me,” she said coolly. “You remind me, okay? Of how stupid and naive I once was.”

“I’m sorry about that.” He took a step forward. “But I can’t change it. We’re grown-ups. Surely we can manage to work together for a few hours without killing each other.”

He was right. “Yeah, well, this place isn’t about you or me, so we just have to suck it up, right? Besides, I don’t know much about construction, so it appears I get to swallow my pride and let you boss me around.”

He smiled then, a crooked upturn of his lips that reached his eyes. “Like I could ever tell you what to do.”

The air hummed between them for a few minutes. Briefly, Melissa missed the way things used to be, the easy rapport they had shared. Cooper had been a tease, though she’d always known that his flirting meant nothing. It had been safe to banter back and forth because he was Scott’s best friend as well as hers. He’d given the toast at their wedding, for Pete’s sake.

She ignored his last statement and checked her watch. “Shouldn’t we get started? I only have until one o’clock, when I have to be back at the shop.”

He led the way to the master bedroom, pausing briefly to introduce her to the other people working there, installing oak hardwood in the other bedrooms. To her surprise she saw Callum Shepard, a local dairy farmer and newcomer to town, and Rhys Bullock, Martha Bullock’s son and one of the hands over at Diamondback Ranch. The big surprise was that they were being bossed around by Chelsea Smith, whose father owned the hardware store.

After the hellos, Melissa followed Cooper to the back bedroom, pausing in the doorway to admire what had already been done. the walls were the shade of her favorite vanilla latte, and the rich color of the hardwood looked lovely against it. There were windows in two walls, providing a view of the distant Rockies in one direction and a view of the creek valley that ran to the north in the other.

“This is nice,” she said, stepping in and hearing her boots echo on the wood floor.

“Stu deserves it. They were already struggling to make ends meet, and then to lose all their belongings…Sometimes life just isn’t fair. I’m glad they were able to get this going and I’m happy to help. He’s a good man and a good worker. He deserved a break.”

It was easier to dismiss Coop when he was being deliberately charming. When he was sincere it was hard to remember why she resented him so much.

Lengths of baseboard were stretched across the floor, and a saw was set up on a heavy drop cloth. A loud drone filled the room as the air compressor fired up.

Cooper saw to filling the air nailer and then reached for his measuring tape. “Hold this here,” he commanded, leaving her with one end. Together they measured the wall, then measured the baseboard—twice—and Cooper marked it with a carpenter’s pencil.

She held the end while he made the first cut, then angled the other side with the miter saw so the next piece would match up in the corner.

Together they moved the piece to the wall, putting it flush against the end cap of the woodwork in the doorway. “Okay, now you’re on. I’ll hold it in place and you nail it.”

“Me?”

“Sure, you. Take the nailer and press it against that hollow part there.” He pointed to the curve in the baseboard design. “Is it pressed all the way in? Okay, now squeeze the trigger.”

With a loud snap, the nailer jerked in her hand. “Is that right?”

“Looks good to me. Keep going.”

The tool felt odd in her hand, and the noise was loud, especially when the compressor kicked in again. But it was kind of fun, nailing the molding into place. They had to adjust a cut when working their way around the doorway for the walk-in closet, but for the moment Melissa forgot about how much she disliked Cooper, and simply focused on the job.

They worked in relative silence as they finished the baseboard, and then moved on to the crown molding. This was harder, getting the angle just right. It took a few tries with each piece, and nailing it in place was awkward when Melissa had to hold the nailer above her head.

It was after twelve when they finished. She stood back as Cooper took a tube of wood filler and touched up the corner seams where there were inevitable tiny gaps. He took his time and she watched him on the stepladder, the way his jeans fit and how his customary cotton plaid shirt spread across broad, muscled shoulders. Scott hadn’t been the only one on the football and hockey teams. Cooper had been a bit of a jock, too. But unlike Scott, he’d never had a girl watching from the stands.

Nope, he’d had about ten girls, all gazing at him with love-struck expressions, sighing blissfully if he ever turned his attention to them. Which he did. Just never for too long. And never at Melissa.

“Once this is dry, it’ll just need to be touched up with a bit of paint. What do you think?”

Melissa looked away so he wouldn’t know she’d been staring at him, and made a point of sweeping her gaze around the room. “It looks finished,” she said, realizing it truly did. “The crown molding was a nice touch.”

“We didn’t do that in the kids’ rooms,” Cooper said, screwing the cap back on the tube. “It’s expensive. It’s a nice addition in here, though.”

Melissa checked her watch. “My time’s just about up. Are you done here, too?”

Cooper nodded. “For today. I come out most mornings for a couple of hours and lend a hand. Bring the guys coffee. It won’t be long now until it’s ready. The drywall guy is coming back tomorrow to finish the den, and then it’s just painting the front rooms, putting down the flooring and installing the kitchen cupboards. You coming back another day?”

He rolled up the hose from the compressor as he spoke. Melissa paused. It hadn’t been so bad, being with Cooper. Awkward and at times uncomfortable, but they’d been civil, which was more than they’d accomplished in years.

Now that she’d seen the house and helped it take shape, even just a little, she wanted to come back and help out again. “I’ll have to check the work schedule at the shop and call the coordinator. Amy’s fine with running the store, but I’m the only floral designer.”

“Well, there’s always stuff to be done. I’m sure your help would be welcomed.”

On the way out of the house Melissa stopped and picked up her purse. Cooper had put the compressor in the hall by the other bedrooms and she heard his voice as he spoke to some workers. She was walking to her car when he called out her name.

She turned and saw him jogging her way. “Hey,” he said, slowing as he approached. “I’m going to pick up the lunch order from the Wagon Wheel and bring it back. You want to grab a sandwich or something?”

With him? There was letting bygones be bygones and then there was…what? Lunch for two at the busiest spot in town? They’d been civil this week, but the idea of sitting down and making pleasant conversation was unfathomable. They weren’t friends. Adults, maybe, but the time for friendship and hanging out together was long gone. It was far too late to rewrite the past.

“I have to get back to the shop, sorry,” she stated, reaching into her purse for her keys.

Cooper stood back. “Sure. Maybe another time,” he suggested, though they both knew it wasn’t really an invitation.

“Maybe,” she agreed, but it was an empty agreement.

“See you around, Mel.”

“Yeah. Bye, Coop.”

She reached for the door handle and scooted behind the wheel before he could see the color rise in her cheeks.

She’d called him Coop. After staring at his behind and being asked out to lunch.

This was exactly why she had said no. The last thing she needed in her life was a complication like Cooper Ford. They’d done a good job of avoiding each other in the past, and she could take care to do it again.

CHAPTER TWO

SHE MANAGED TO AVOID HIM for almost two weeks.

Melissa yawned and locked the door to the shop. Saturdays and most weeknights she closed at six, except for Fridays, when she stayed open until nine. Last night had been crazy busy with walk-in traffic, which had been unusual but good. and today she’d had to interrupt her design time to help Penny cover the front. People were purchasing fall arrangements, particularly sunflowers and warm-colored mums and zinnias. Premade silk wreaths for front doors were disappearing like hotcakes and so were decorative sheaves of wheat.

To top it off, she’d barely finished the weekly standing order of flowers for the church when the president of the Ladies’ Circle had come to pick it up. And Melissa had moved directly from that to working on the arrangement for a funeral happening on Monday.

Now orders were flooding in for the funeral home, and instead of taking a day off on Sunday, she knew she was going to be spending her one lazy day a week here at work, rather than at home vacuuming and doing laundry.

She loved the store and owning her own business, but there were downsides, too.

She’d walked to work this morning, taking the extra precious minutes to enjoy the cool air and fall sunshine. Now she wished she’d brought her car. All she really wanted was a quick dinner and a hot bath before falling into bed.

She’d take care of the quick dinner by stopping at the diner, she decided. The sunlight was fading as she made her way down Main Street and around the corner to the busy restaurant. The parking lot was full and she nearly considered just going home and ordering a pizza. But the great thing about the diner was the convenience of a restaurant with the advantage of good home cooking. When she stepped inside and saw that the special was meat loaf and mashed potatoes, she was sold. Total comfort food.

She placed her order and waited just beyond the counter.

The noise was deafening and she closed her eyes, reminding herself that it was only a few minutes and she could find peace and quiet at home.

And then there was a warm hand on her shoulder and a deep voice said, “Mel, are you okay?”

She opened her eyes to find Cooper’s worried ones staring down at her. For a split second something exciting leaped at the recognition of his fingers gripping her shoulder. Embarrassed, she nodded quickly, slipping away from his touch. “Fine. I’m just waiting for my order.”

“With your eyes closed?”

She shrugged, even though she felt ridiculous. “I’m tired and it’s loud. That’s all.”

“Melissa? Your order’s up,” Martha Bullock called out from behind the counter, holding up a white paper bag.

Relieved, Melissa stepped forward to collect it, only to hear Martha announce, “Yours, too, Coop. Extra cheese and a side order of onion rings, just like you wanted.”

He took the bag from Martha and handed her a twenty, then leaned forward and kissed the older woman’s cheek. “You sure know how to look after a man,” he teased, sending her a wink.

“Oh, go on with you,” she answered, flapping a hand at him but grinning widely. “Your charm’s wasted on me.”

“Did you put in extra ketchup?”

“Sure I did.”

“Then it’s not wasted. Have a good night, Martha.”

Melissa restrained herself from rolling her eyes. The thing about Cooper was that the teasing truly was genuine. He was a charmer, but there wasn’t anything fake about it. If there had been, people would see clear through it. Maybe that was what had hurt so much. Coop had been the most honest, genuine man she’d ever known. Until, of course, he’d lied.

It was quieter outside. Melissa expelled a huge breath. “Well, good night.” She started walking across the parking lot to the sidewalk.

Cooper’s voice stopped her. “Hey, Mel, you want a lift? Getting dark for you to be walking home alone.”

“I’ll be fine. I like the air.”

“But my truck’s right here. I can drop you off, no trouble.”

She halted and turned back, pasting on a smile. She did not want Cooper Ford driving her home or anywhere else. “Really,” she said firmly. “I’ll be fine.”

He frowned. He was wearing the same battered jean jacket as he had that day in her shop, and she marveled once more at how broad his shoulders were. She should not be noticing these things. She wasn’t exactly blind, she reminded herself, but the real problem was they shouldn’t matter. She couldn’t honestly say they were simple detached observations. She noticed, and then she got this odd feeling. Kind of tingly and warm.

“If you won’t take a drive, I’ll walk you home.”

Suddenly he didn’t seem so attractive. Why did he have to be all up in her business lately? Hadn’t they managed to avoid each other quite successfully the past three years? It had been an unspoken agreement, and suddenly he was breaking it left, right and center.

She decided to ask. While the smell of meat loaf wafted up and teased her nostrils, she squared her shoulders and faced him. “Why now, Cooper? For three years we’ve barely said two words to each other. Now all of a sudden you’re making conversation and offering to walk me home—in Cadence Creek, and on a route I’ve walked a million times.”

He stepped closer. “How long did you think we could each pretend that the other didn’t exist? I guess I thought three years was enough time for you to stop hating me quite so much. That we could stop avoiding each other in a town this small. It’s gotten to be quite a challenge, you know. Trying to stay out of your way.”

“I don’t hate you.”

“Really?”

He raised his eyebrow again, and she could practically hear what he was silently saying. Riiight.

She sighed. “You’re not going to just let me go home, are you?”

“Not walking alone. Cadence Creek is a nice town, but it’s not totally crime free, you know. Stuff happens.”

“Fine. But I’m still walking. I need the fresh air. It’s been a long day.”

He caught up to her and fell into step beside her on the sidewalk. “I haven’t seen you at the house this week.”

“I was there one afternoon and did some painting in the living room. You were gone already when I arrived.”

“I’m sure you planned it that way.”

She kept walking. It was kind of surreal, strolling through town in the semidark with Cooper. “I ended up being swamped this week,” she confessed. “If this keeps up, I’m going to have to hire a part-time designer.”

She bit down on her lip. She’d also made a trip to Edmonton, to the clinic, when conditions were “right.” A few weeks from now she’d know whether or not she needed to pee on a stick. She kept telling herself not to get her hopes up, but each morning when she woke, the first thing she thought of was that this time next year she could be a mother.

They were passing by the Creekside Park and Playground when Cooper reached out and put his hand on her arm. “Hey, why don’t we stop and eat? There are a few picnic tables here, and our food’s getting cold.”

“You want to eat in the dark? Are you crazy?”

“By the time I walk you home and get back to my truck, my stuff will be cold.”

“You didn’t have to walk me,” she pointed out.

“Yes, I did.”

She recognized that tone. Cooper was charm itself, but he was also incredibly stubborn. Not only that, but she was so hungry her stomach was actually hurting, and the food smelled unbelievable. “Fine. You’re going to pester me until you get your way, anyway.”

They crossed the grass to a picnic table and Melissa spread out the paper bag as a place mat. Cooper took the spot across from her and began pulling take-out containers from his own bag. She gaped as she counted three: an extra-large one holding his burger and fries, a medium-sized one with onion rings that smelled fantastic and a smaller one with the Wagon Wheel’s special recipe coleslaw.

“You’re going to eat all of that? Yourself?”

“I’m a growing boy.” He patted his flat belly and opened the container holding his burger.

She shook her head. “It’s a wonder you’re not the size of a barn.”

She picked up her plastic fork and dipped it into the mashed potatoes and gravy. The food wasn’t piping-hot any longer, but was still quite warm, and as she tasted the first bite she was struck by a pang so bittersweet it made her heart ache.

This was something they might have done in the old days: a bunch of them together, some takeout, hanging out on a Saturday night. Only it wasn’t a bunch anymore, but just she and Cooper. Some of their circle of friends had drifted away, some had left Cadence Creek and gone to work in bigger towns and cities. So little of the past remained. In some ways it was good, but in other ways, Melissa missed it. Up until things had blown apart, there’d been a lot of good times.

“You okay?” Cooper asked, pausing to look at her while holding a French fry.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking about when we were kids, and some of the stuff we used to do on a Saturday night. It sure wasn’t picking up takeout because we were too tired from dealing with ‘real life’ to cook.”

He chuckled. “We all have to grow up sometime. At least mostly.”

He held out the box of onion rings. “Have one. You know you want to.”

She wasn’t sure if she was glad that he remembered her fondness for onion rings or not. It was too much to resist as he waved them under her nose. She reached into the package and took out a round battered ring. When she bit into it, her teeth caught the onion and it came out of the batter. She pulled it into her mouth like a piece of spaghetti.

Cooper laughed. “Good, right?”

“So good,” she admitted.

He put the box between them on the table, an unspoken invitation to share. A peace offering? Was he hoping that the deep-fried treat would accomplish what time had not? It was a big thing to ask from a carton of onion rings.

For the moment, she chose to cut into her meat loaf and peas and carrots.

They were quiet for a few minutes, eating and listening to the breeze whisper through the leaves that still remained on the poplars lining the creek. She didn’t know what to say to him. Talking about the past would only bring up the painful way her marriage had broken apart. And anything else seemed…contrived. Awkward. He ate his burger in silence as she finished her meal, then he handed her another onion ring before taking one for himself and dipping it in ketchup.

“You still like doing that?” she commented.

“Yeah. Ketchup should be a food group all by itself.” He put his empty containers in his bag. She did the same with hers and they left the picnic table, stopping at the garbage cans to deposit their waste.

“Feel better?” he asked quietly.

She did, surprisingly. It wasn’t just the food, either, although she’d been very hungry. She’d had a few moments to breathe, to unwind. Funny how he’d seemed to know she’d needed that. Or maybe she was reading too much into his motives. Maybe it truly was all about eating his dinner while it was hot.

“I do feel better,” she admitted. “I was pretty spooled up after my day.”

“Give me five more minutes, okay? Come with me.”

She frowned but followed. He led her over to the swings. “Sit down.”

“Okay, now you’re being silly. I just want to go home and get off my feet.”

In response, he sat on the swing beside hers. It was set low for kids, and his long legs folded up like a frog’s, but he pushed off anyway and put it in motion. “This gets you off your feet. Look.” He held his booted feet up in the air. He looked ridiculous.

She felt foolish, but sat down and scuffed one shoe in the dirt, making the swing rock a little.

“Hold on to the chains and lean back.”

“Cooper, you’re crazy.”

“Do it, Mel. Lean back and then open your eyes.”

She pushed with her foot a little harder, then gripped the chains between her fingers and leaned back. The breeze from the motion ruffled her hair, making bits of it feather across her cheeks. Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked up.

There were stars. Not too many, but a handful that seemed to rock in the sky as she swayed back and forth. When had they come out? Sometime between leaving the restaurant and eating her dinner in the twilight.

The sky was so big, so endless. She heard a loud sigh and realized it had come from herself. As she watched, more stars appeared out of nowhere. One second vast emptiness, then the next time she looked, pop. There they were, twinkling down at her from the infinite blackness.

“Make a wish,” Cooper suggested.

Her throat tightened. What in the world was she doing, sitting on the swings in the dark with Cooper Ford? “I’m too old for that nonsense. Besides, that’s for the first star you see, and there are at least two dozen right now.”

His voice was low and warm beside her. “Then make two dozen wishes. Wish on every one.”

“Cooper…”

She knew it was stupid and juvenile, but she couldn’t resist. She closed her eyes and made a wish.

Let this time be the one.

All she really wanted was to be a mom. She’d wanted it when she was married to Scott, and they’d supposedly been trying when she’d caught him cheating. The divorce had killed not only their marriage but her dream of a family, too. And she wasn’t interested in getting married again.

But the longing for a family, for a child of her own, hadn’t abated. If she could survive starting her own business and her marriage blowing up, she could handle being a single mom. She certainly didn’t want to marry someone she didn’t love just to make that happen. That made less sense than doing it alone.

She really wanted the pregnancy to take this time. If not, she could look into adoption, but she truly wanted to experience the joy of carrying her baby inside her. There was just something so…complete about it.

“You still here, or are you on another planet?”

Coop’s voice intruded. Her swing had stopped swaying and her arms were twined around the chains, while her face remained tilted toward the sky. She swallowed and opened her eyes. “I’m still here. It takes a while to make twenty-four wishes.”

He chuckled in the darkness. That funny curling sensation wound its way through her stomach again.

She jumped off the swing and brushed her hands down her trousers. “I really do need to get home. I’ve got to be back to work tomorrow to do up all the arrangements for the Madison funeral.”

“All work and no play makes Mel a dull girl.”

She shrugged and reached for her purse. “It happens when you own your own business. You know how it is. There’s no real time clock to punch.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m going to be locked up in my office tomorrow going over paperwork.”

They made their way back to the sidewalk and on toward Melissa’s house. “We really did grow up, didn’t we, Cooper?”

His boots sounded on the concrete, steady thumps that seemed slightly out of place and yet reassuring. “Yes, we did. And some of it was painful.”

Melissa had hoped he wasn’t going to bring it up. She shivered in the rapidly cooling air. Without saying a word, Coop took off his jean jacket and slid it over her shoulders.

“Live and learn.” She injected some lightness into her voice, as if it was no big deal.

Her house was just a few blocks away now. She had to put him off for only a minute or so and she’d be home and he’d be gone.

“Live and learn?” Coop stopped and put a hand on her arm, halting her, too. His voice was harsh. “You don’t talk to me for three years and then come out with a flippant ‘live and learn’?”

She pulled her arm away from his fingers. That was twice tonight he’d taken the liberty of touching her. “Maybe you should take the hint that I don’t want to talk about it.”

They carried on for a few minutes, the silence growing increasingly awkward between them. Twenty more steps and she’d be at her front walk. She was nearly there when she realized she couldn’t hear his boots just behind her anymore. For some weird reason her heart was pounding, but she made herself keep going. She took five more steps before his voice stopped her.

“I was wrong.”

She slowed, paused for just a breath of a moment, but kept walking. They weren’t going to do this. Not tonight and not on the sidewalk outside her house.

The memory of their argument was still fresh in her mind—as if it had happened yesterday—and nearly as painful. She’d been so angry at Scott. Angry and hurt with the vitriolic bitterness of a wife betrayed. But with Coop, it had been different. It had been a trust of a different kind that he’d broken. She’d been hurt by that, too. Hurt and disappointed that the one person she’d turned to when everything blew up had already known. He’d betrayed her, too.

“So you said already,” she replied, wondering why the last twenty steps felt like a hundred.

“I thought maybe you’d be willing to accept my apology after all this time.”

His longer legs caught up with her by the time she reached the first row of interlocking patio blocks that wound their way to her front door.

“Melissa. Please. Hasn’t this gone on long enough?”

“What, our hating each other?”

She looked up into his face. In the glow of the streetlamp, he actually looked hurt. That was preposterous. She’d been the person wronged in all of this and they both knew it.

“I never hated you.”

“Well, you sure never cared about me. That was clear enough.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw and his gaze slid away for a moment. he took a deep breath and let it out before looking down into her eyes again.

She really wished he wouldn’t do that. It was so hard to stay angry when he gazed at her that way, all wide eyes and long eyelashes. “Bedroom eyes,” her mother had said once. Eyes that were used to getting him what he wanted.

Melissa also knew she was entitled to her anger. Coop had told her once that he would always be there for her. And when push came to shove, he hadn’t been. There was no way he could deny it.

“I never hated you,” he insisted softly. “Not ever. It was complicated, but you are completely right in that I should have told you. I was wrong, Melissa, and I’m sorry. You have no idea how sorry.”

She did not want to believe him or be touched by his apology. It was a real struggle, because he was looking at her so earnestly that she knew he wasn’t lying. Nor was he trying to charm or joke his way out of anything.

But one thing stuck in her mind from that whole speech, and it wasn’t that he’d admitted he was in the wrong, or that he was swallowing his pride to apologize.

It was that he’d said it was complicated.

“How complicated could it have been, Coop?” She kept her voice down—there were neighbors to consider—but her words were still crystal clear in the cool night. “Scott was cheating on me and you knew about it.”

“Scott was my best friend.”

“So was I. You said you’d always look out for me. You were like my big brother, do you know that?” She lifted her chin and finally said what she’d wanted to for ages. “You knew he was with her in the afternoon and coming home to me at night. Do you know how sick that is?” Tears pricked Melissa’s eyes. “How dirty I felt for months afterward? All it would have taken was a few words from you. I trusted you, Coop.”

He ran his hand over his hair. “Mel.”

Her name sounded ragged coming from his lips. So he wasn’t completely unaffected, either. Good.

“I trusted you,” she repeated, softer now, and a sadness took over where her anger had lived. Sadness and acceptance.

“I was friends with both of you. Have you even considered for one moment how caught in the middle I was? I swear, as soon as I found out I confronted him about it. I begged him to put a stop to it. I demanded.”

“Did you threaten to tell me?”

“Yes.”

“And yet you didn’t.”

He swallowed and looked away. “No.”

“And why is that?”

He didn’t answer, but they’d come this far and she wanted to know. He’d been the one to open the can of worms, and now he would have to deal with her questions. “Why didn’t you tell me, if you told him you would?”

Cooper took a few moments to respond, and when he did his words seemed measured. “Scott said he would deny it, and that you’d believe him.”

She frowned, puzzled. “Maybe I would want to believe him, but don’t you think I’d ask why you would tell me such a thing if it wasn’t true? Come on, Coop.”

He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Look, my intention wasn’t to relive this thing from start to finish, okay? I just wanted to say I was wrong, and that I’m sorry. Isn’t it time we moved on?”

It bothered her that he was probably right. It had gone on a long time. She’d picked herself up and dusted herself off, made a good life for herself. The one thing she hadn’t done was let go of her resentment for Cooper. Funny how she’d been able to put Scott in the past and not miss him a bit, but not Cooper. She supposed it came from staying in the same town and being faced with seeing him on a regular basis, even from a distance.

“I forgave you a long time ago, Coop.”

“You could’ve fooled me.”

“Forgiving isn’t the same as forgetting. You’re right. It’s over and done. But you know the old saying, ‘Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice…’”

“‘Shame on me’,” he finished.

“Our friendship as it used to be is over, Cooper. We can’t go back. It’s how I’m built. Once someone hurts me, they don’t get a chance to do it again. Once I learn a lesson, I don’t forget it. So maybe we can just call a truce, okay? I can live with that. If you’re expecting more…”

She didn’t finish the sentence, but she didn’t really need to, did she?

Cooper took a step back, out of the circle of lamplight. “You should go in. It’s getting late.”

She didn’t like how they were leaving this, but knew there was no other way. “Thank you for the walk home.”

She’d turned and taken two steps along her walkway when his voice stopped her once again. “Mel?”

Her heart quaked. Why did this feel like goodbye? Why did it feel final? Final had been three years ago when she’d said she never wanted to speak to him again.

The words had been extreme, but that had been an extreme period in her life.

“I lost two best friends, you know. You might think I sided with Scott, but I didn’t. I hated what he was up to and begged him to do the right thing. It was the end of our friendship. I did not condone or support his behavior in any way. You need to know that.”

Sadness swept over her. “You didn’t stop it,” she whispered. “To me, you condoned it by doing nothing.”

Silence spun between them, until finally Cooper gave a curt nod and turned, walking away. She watched until the sound of his boots faded and his tall form turned the corner, out of her line of vision.

Only then did she realize that she was still wearing his jacket. She curled her fingers around the edges and pulled it close, drawing in the scents of hay and fresh air and the cologne he’d worn for as long as she could remember. The smell of it was imprinted on her brain, bringing a wealth of memories and emotions. It took her back more years than she cared to count.

She’d worked so hard to put the past behind her, but as the scent of him wrapped around her, she grieved just a little bit for the life she’d nearly had and the dreams she’d lost.

CHAPTER THREE

COOPER SAT IN HIS TRUCK a half block from her flower shop, trying to muster the courage to go in. The other night he had come this close to telling her the truth. It had all been going so well. Not quite like old times, but at least they’d been talking. He’d gotten the impression that she’d be open to his apology, so he’d made it.

Only it hadn’t gone quite according to plan. She’d pushed. He’d thought for a long time that she hadn’t spoken to him for years because of simple pride. The longer the impasse, the harder it was to swallow pride and end it, right? It was difficult to take the first step. But he’d miscalculated. It wasn’t just pride with Melissa. He had truly, honestly hurt her.

He’d never intended for things to get so intense the other night. With any other woman he could try flowers to ease his way back into her good graces. Considering Melissa owned the flower shop, he’d had to come up with something else. Besides, she’d see right through that sort of thing.

So a plastic container of his mother’s peanut butter chocolate chip cookies sat on the seat beside him as a peace offering. She’d always had a weak spot for those.

He was still trying to figure out what he hoped to achieve by mending fences. Was it simply a need to put the transgressions of his past behind him? To receive absolution from his guilt for the part he’d played in the breakup of her marriage?

Then there was the problem of his feelings for Melissa. They’d been good friends since junior high school. By the time he’d figured out he wanted more, she’d only had eyes for Scott. What was worse, Scott had known how Coop felt, but had never said anything to him. It had been an unspoken rule—that they didn’t talk about it. To Scott’s credit, he had never rubbed Coop’s nose in it. Not until Coop backed him into a corner. Then Scott had shown what sort of man he truly was. And what sort of man Cooper was, too. The kind of guy who would choose to save his own skin rather than do the right thing.

So what did he really want? Coop drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. He considered the idea that maybe he should let her go. Until he did, he couldn’t move on. And he really should at some point.

He was twenty-seven years old and he’d never had a serious relationship. All because of Melissa Stone. It went beyond his mom and dad asking when he was going to settle down and give them grandbabies. He wanted that, too. He loved his business, but he wanted a wife and a few kids running around his big empty house. He wanted to teach them to ride and coach their hockey team. More than that, he wanted a partner to share things with. A meal at the end of the day. A beer while watching the football game. A woman he loved waking up beside him in the morning.

It was just that it seemed impossible to make the connection from his life as it was right now to his vision of the future. Melissa—and their unfinished business—was in his way.

So he’d go in there and give her the cookies and get his jacket back and wish her well, and finally, finally, move on.

Resolutely, he shut the door to his truck and gripped the dish in sweaty hands. This was stupid, wasn’t it? A grown man going home and asking his mother to bake special cookies, of all things. She’d even remembered Melissa’s fondness for them. His pulse beat at his wrist and the muscles in his chest tightened with nervousness as he reached for the door. Dammit, he felt about fifteen years old and not anything like a man preparing to let someone go.

Amy Wilson stood behind the counter, a cordless phone pressed to her ear when he walked in. She looked up and smiled, and his pulse jumped again—not because he was particularly fond of Amy but because she was a notorious flirt and gossip. The last thing he needed was her overhearing anything he’d come to say.

“Cooper?”

He turned to his right and there stood Mel, dressed in a soft sweater the color of red wine and a pair of gray trousers. The sweater draped over her body like some sort of shawl, and it was utterly feminine and flattering. She held a finished bouquet in her hands, an arrangement of red roses, white carnations and baby’s breath. Her brown hair was caught up in some sort of clip that left little pieces sticking out. It was one of those casual, purposefully messy looks, and it suited her perfectly.

“Hi,” he said, so struck by the sight of her that he lost the few words he’d put together in his mind. Instinctively, he reached for his hat, then remembered he’d left it in the truck.

“Something I can do for you?”

“Um…”

She smiled, but he saw lines of tension around her mouth as her gaze strayed to the front counter. “Let me put this in the cooler.”

Amy hung up the phone and tore a piece of paper off a pad. “An order for a get-well arrangement, any color, no more than fifty,” she said. “For between five and six.”

“I can do that.” Melissa pushed open the sliding door to the cooler and put the roses inside. “The Carson arrangement is ready. Joe said he’d be in around three for it.”

Cooper shifted his feet as Amy’s gaze slid to him. “Something we can do for you, Coop?”

“I, uh…”

He felt Melissa’s eyes on him and wondered if he was blushing, because his cheeks suddenly felt on fire. “Sure. I’ll take…” Panicking, he scanned the fridge. “Sunflowers. One of those silver buckets with the sunflowers in it.”

“Sure thing.”

Amy moved to take it out of the cooler, but Melissa’s voice stopped her. “I’ll get it, Amy. You’re already late for your lunch break.”

“Oh, I can eat here, I’ve brought a sand—”

“You wouldn’t pick me up a coffee from the Wagon Wheel, would you? I’m not sure I’m going to make it through the afternoon without an extra shot of caffeine.”

Amy’s gaze slid between Melissa and Cooper. “Oh, sure. Just let me get my purse.” She retrieved her bag from beneath the counter. “See you in a bit.”

The bell jingled behind her.

“That was probably stupid. It’ll be all over the diner, within five minutes of her arrival, that you’re in here.”

Coop grinned. Amy wasn’t a bad sort. She tended to be unlucky in love and a bit vocal about it, but she wasn’t intentionally mean or vindictive. “Well, it’s probably better than having her eavesdrop.”

“Is there something to eavesdrop about?”

He held out the plastic container. “It’s a peace offering. For upsetting you the other night.”

She came forward and took it from his hands. “Is this what I think it is?” She peeled back the cover and he watched, fascinated, as she closed her eyes and took a deep sniff. “Peanut butter. These are your mom’s cookies, aren’t they?”

“I remembered they were always your favorites, and begged her to make a batch.” He grinned. “You only got half. Sorry.”

“I should have had Amy bring me milk instead of coffee.” Melissa smiled at him in a genuine, easy way. “Thank you, Cooper.”

The warm smile hit him right in the solar plexus, robbing him of breath. “You’re welcome. I was thinking about what you said and…I can’t change anything that happened. I just want to offer a truce, like you suggested.”

“Bygones be bygones, that sort of thing?”

He nodded. “I know you were affected so much more than me, Mel. I’m not disputing that. But the whole thing has hung over me like a black cloud. I know I can’t make things right, but will you please accept that I wish I could?”

She put the lid back on the cookies. “Oh Coop,” she sighed. “If it were only that easy.”

The door jingled and they were interrupted by Callum Shepard. Cooper stood back as the local farmer stepped up to the counter, a wide smile stretched across his face. Cooper was pretty sure he had never seen the normally reticent Callum look quite so happy.

“What can I do for you today, Callum?” Melissa tucked the dish discreetly beneath the counter. “You look like you’re in a good mood. Anything to do with the cupcake joint opening up down the street?”

For Pete’s sake, the man was practically bouncing in his boots, Cooper thought irritably.

“You heard about that?” Callum asked. “Avery Spencer’s opening it. She and Nell are moving here for good.”

The latest bombshell in town was finding out that newcomer and all around keep-to-himself kind of guy Callum Shepard had a baby daughter no one knew about.

“That’s great,” Melissa replied.

“We’re getting married,” he blurted out, and Cooper nearly choked on a laugh. The guy sounded both thrilled and scared to death.

“Congratulations,” Melissa said, smiling. “Have you already done the asking? Or is this wishful thinking?”

Callum finally seemed to chill out and he chuckled. “Sorry. It’s still so new. I asked her yesterday and she said yes. But it wasn’t planned, so today I’m surprising her with a ring. I thought flowers might be nice to go with it… .”

“Absolutely.”

Callum seemed to just realize that Cooper was standing there. “Oh, gee. Sorry. You were here first, Cooper.”

Coop grinned and held out his hand. “I’m in no rush. Congrats, man.”

“Thanks.” Callum gripped Cooper’s hand and he gave a shake of his head. “You just never know. A year ago the last thing I planned on was getting married and having a kid. Funny how things work out.”

“Isn’t it?”

Mel interrupted. “What were you thinking, Callum? Something simple, or a grand gesture sort of thing?”

He grinned. “Grand gesture. Roses?”

“Perfect,” she decreed. “A dozen, long-stemmed? Maybe in red and white. You can tell her it stands for love and unity.”

“That’d be wonderful. Thanks, Melissa.”

“It won’t take but a minute.”

Cooper watched as she deftly selected half a dozen of each color from buckets of roses in the cooler, then arranged them on a huge sheet of green-and-gold floral paper. In no time flat she’d added a touch of greenery and sprig or two of baby’s breath and had the bouquet wrapped up and taped and ready to go.

Cooper studied her as she worked. Melissa was good at what she did, and She truly loved the business she’d built. No matter how her life had derailed, she’d landed on her feet and with a smile. She was a strong woman, no doubt about it.

The register dinged as the cash drawer opened and she shut it again, then handed Callum the arrangement and receipt.

“There you go,” she said cheerfully. “Good luck.”

Cooper wished Callum would hurry up. Before long Amy would be back and any chance to finish his conversation with Mel privately would be gone. But the farmer had other ideas.

“One more thing…I picked out this ring today, but I’m not sure she’ll like it. Would you mind…?”

Callum reached into his pocket and pulled out a box. He handed it across the counter and Melissa flipped open the lid. It creaked, as all jewelry boxes did, and she looked down at what nestled inside.

Cooper couldn’t see what the ring looked like, but he could see the way Melissa’s face softened as she gazed upon it with a mix of wistfulness and tenderness, pain and happiness.

“It’s beautiful, Callum. Just gorgeous.”

She closed the box and handed it back. “Avery’s a lucky woman. I know you’ll be very happy together.”

“Thanks,” he replied. “And thanks for the flowers.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Go get ’em, tiger,” Coop said, lifting a hand as Callum made for the exit.

“He’s excited,” Melissa observed as the door clicked shut.

“He’s marrying the woman he loves. Of course he’s excited.” Cooper surprised himself with his sentimental observation. Seeing Melissa look at that engagement ring had affected him more than he cared to admit. She deserved something like that. Happiness. She certainly deserved better than what she’d gotten the first time around.

“Well, I hope it all works out for them,” she replied, tidying up her countertop.

“Why shouldn’t it? Just because your marriage didn’t work doesn’t mean every couple is doomed to unhappiness.”

“I know that.” She looked hurt at his observation.

He stepped closer to the counter. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I just meant…you can’t stop believing in love just because it didn’t work out once before.”

“Did I say I had stopped believing?” Her hands paused on the tape dispenser.

“No.”

She fussed about, but he could tell she was just trying to keep busy.

“So, have you considered giving it another try?” he asked.

“No.”

“Why not?”

She looked up at him sharply. “Just because it exists doesn’t mean it exists for me, okay? Why the sudden interest? Boy, you’ve been all up in my business lately. Thanks for the cookies, Coop, and we can shake hands and let bygones be bygones like you wanted. But let’s just leave it at that, okay?”

He looked out the display window and saw Amy turning the corner, coming down the block. He frowned. “You mean that? About letting bygones be bygones?”

“Sure.”

“Then shake on it, like you said.”

He held out his hand and waited. Silently counted the seconds. Amy would be back at any moment, curse her busybody self.

Slowly Mel’s hand stretched out. Met his. Her fingers curled around his palm.

Her skin was warm, her fingers slightly callused from working with flowers and chemicals all day long. He turned her hand over in his, looked at the closeclipped, unpolished fingernails that were part of the profession she’d chosen. Years ago she’d grown them long and always had them painted.

Mel wasn’t the same girl he remembered, and perhaps it was time he accepted that.

She slid her fingers from his while a strange silence filled the shop. “There,” she finally said, her voice oddly tight. “Truce.”

“Truce.”

The word seemed hollow somehow, and left him wanting more. So much more it left him floundering.

“Mel…”

Amy came back inside, rosy-cheeked and bringing a rush of fall wind with her. “One coffee, cream and sugar, just as ordered,” she announced brightly.

It was time Cooper got out of there. He’d done what he’d set out to do—given her the cookies and made peace between them. More than that, he’d realized that all this time he’d been holding on to a vision of the girl he’d once known and loved, rather than the woman she’d become.

“I’ll see you around, Mel,” he said quietly. “Amy.”

“See you around,” Melissa replied, while her assistant merely smiled and gave a waggle of her fingers.

Outside the shop the air had turned suddenly cold. Coop shivered as he realized two very annoying things.

First of all, he’d forgotten to ask for his jacket back.

And second, his whole plan had backfired. Instead of letting go so he could move forward, he was starting to realize that the woman Melissa had become could be even more of a threat to his heart than the girl she’d once been.

Melissa watched Coop walk down the street, and tried hard to ignore the shocking way her stomach seemed to be tangling in knots. Her pulse still raced, beating at the hollow of her wrist where his fingers had rested only moments ago. That had been no ordinary handshake. Things had tingled. In a way they hadn’t since she’d been sixteen and had finally given up on him ever looking at her as if she was a girl. Scott had kissed her one night after a school dance and that had been the end of any crushes on Coop. She’d accepted that they’d only just be friends. It had been fine while she’d dated Scott, and after, when she’d married him. Coop had ended up being more like a brother.

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