Chapter Eleven

Danielle turned into her driveway, driving to the back and parking. Coop took off his seatbelt, opening the door and stepping out. "No curbside service today huh?"

Danielle exited and shut her door. "You're like Paul Bunyan size, two steps and you're at your front door."

Coop feigned a laugh, clutching his stomach and slapping his knee. "That was so funny I forgot to laugh."

Danielle started circling the car towards him, fast. Coop caught on and started going the opposite way. They kept at it for a half a minute before Coop made an X with his hands. "Truce."

Danielle squinted her eyes at him. "Chicken."

Coop swatted at himself, brushing himself off. Even though he'd done it plenty before he had gotten in her car for the drive back. "I'm gonna go grab a shower and a bite. Will you be good if I ride with you tomorrow?"

He said it all nonchalantly, but the second he said the word shower her cheeks became reddish in color. It was at this moment that Danielle's mother came outside. "Cooper!"

April walked up to him smiling. Cooper looked between her and Danielle, drawing a blank on what her maiden name was. "Hello, Ms…."

He looked at Danielle as he spoke slowly, watching for her affirmation. "Stewart."

April smiled wryly at Coop. "It's fine, you're old enough now you can just call me April."

Coop immediately looked at Danielle to see her emphatically shaking her head, a scowl on her face. She was also mouthing the word 'No!'.

Coop turned back to April. "Yeah, I'm not stepping in that minefield Ms. Stewart."

She chuckled. "Fair enough, how are you liking being back?"

Coop contemplated the question. "Honestly it's a little surreal. Some things haven't changed at all while others are almost unrecognizable." He consciously did not look at Danielle while saying that.

"I was so accustomed to not being home I didn't realize how much I missed it until I was standing right in front of it, my house I mean."

April smiled. "Why don't you come over for dinner Coop? I'd love to hear about Japan."

He shrugged. "If Danielle doesn't mind, sure."

Danielle shook her head. "Why would I mind?"

Coop gave her a stern look. "I seem to recall a certain someone slapping my hand one time while I was reaching for a piece of garlic bread."

Danielle's expression became a mixture of pouty and ashamed. "It was the last piece."

April smiled watching the two of them. "We'll be having dinner around seven if you're interested Coop."

Coop nodded. "Should I bring anything?"

April shook her head. "Just an appetite."

Coop smiled, turning to look at Danielle. "Alright then, I'll see you at seven"

Saying their goodbyes, Danielle and her mother went back in the house. April rubbed her scalp just above her ear. "You know if he hadn't been talking to you, I'm not sure I would have recognized him."

Danielle nodded. "Everyone's been mentioning his growth spurt."

April frowned, shaking her head. "Oh, I'm not just talking about looks, he's carrying himself in a completely different way. He's always been a little jittery, though I think a lot of that is because I only ever saw him around you." April gave her daughter a knowing smile at that.

"But now he seems like he's just more comfortable in his own skin. He's almost a whole new man."

Danielle nodded absently, it was different for her because the changes to his physical appearance had happened in real time to her. It wasn't like he stepped into a box and came out tall and ripped. But she hadn't seen how he was around other people all that time.

Now that she considered it he was more at ease around everyone. When they were younger he mostly kept to himself, her and his family. Once they'd switched schools that group expanded a little to include the gym he trained at and the guys from wrestling.

But seeing him and Dale get along was what had given her pause. Coop didn't go out of his way to talk to people, at least he hadn't before. Was that all that had changed about him?

She got that feeling in her stomach you get when you go over a hill on a cross country trip and your stomach floats for just a second.

What if that's the reason things are so awkward now, because he didn't need her anymore. She wanted to be glad that he had grown as a person.

But the prospect that they weren't really that close anymore was a loss she couldn't vocalize, as much as she'd like to. As she walked up the stairs to her bedroom she tried to think of a way to find out where they really stood.

'What if I've been the one holding him back this whole time?'

* * *

April was buzzing around the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on the kids meal. Danielle came down the stairs, having changed her outfit, no special reason. She looked around after reaching the bottom of the stairs, not sure what to do with herself now that she had gotten changed. Luckily her mother saw her standing around and snapped her out of it. "Danielle honey, would you set the table?"

Nodding, Danielle went about putting out plates and silverware. Not fully engrossed in the task, she stared off at nothing in particular. She was thinking about him, about them and the future. There was only a week until graduation and the deadline she'd put on herself.

She needed to get through to him before the party unless she wanted to be the one to bare her soul. But short of throwing herself at him, she was completely lost on how to elicit his true feelings.

She didn't want to trick him, just get him to see she felt the same, without actually telling telling him. God, that made her sound like a grade A bitch no matter how she worded it in her head.

'Maybe I won't have to do anything, things are just weird because he's only been back a few days. Once he gets comfortable he might realize that—.'

A knock on the door broke her out of her introspection. April, who was busy moving dishes to the dining room table caught her daughter's eye before nodding towards the door. "Can you get that honey?"

Danielle smoothed out an imaginary wrinkle in her shirt as she went to the door, then brought her hand up to check that the twin braids she'd put her hair into hadn't sporadically come undone.

She took a breath and opened the door with a smile. Coop stood, holding a vase with a few flowers. She barely took notice though. He was wearing a short sleeve black tee shirt and dark tan canvas pants with boots.

His hair still had that short, kind of ruffled side part look, but he'd at least tried to smooth down the unruliness. She mentally celebrated the fact that she had resisted the urge to lick her lips. When he started speaking she had to shake her head to regain clarity.

"Hey, so I know your mom said not to bring anything, but the bushes my mom planted way back when have gotten a little out of control. So I figured a few fresh cut flowers might be appreciated."

She took an extra moment to appreciate the fact that Coop was knocking on her door again. An awkward moment considering Coop was standing there holding out the flowers to her. Realizing this she reached out and took the flowers from him. "Right, thanks, please come in."

Coop's smile turned a little sardonic. "And a good day to you too madam. Why so formal all of a sudden?"

She turned and walked over to the dining room table, Coop following after her. She placed the vase in the middle. "I don't know, it's just, you haven't been over here in a really long time. It feels special, I don't know." She glanced up at his face for just a split second before muttering. "Shut up."

Coop chuckled, waving to April as she walked from the kitchen into. "Thanks for having me over ma'am."

April smiled warmly at him. "You're welcome anytime Cooper, you're practically family after all."

Her comment was meant to be taken innocently, but inside she was secretly cheering the two on. After her marriage had imploded she'd started leaning on her kids and focused entirely on their well-being. In the years since her two daughters and son had tried to convince her to date someone.

Finally she'd relented and taken their advice. She'd gone back to work after the divorce, taking a job as a receptionist at an insurance office. One of the agents, Paul, a man five years her junior, had asked her out after she'd started working there.

At the time she'd politely declined, saying that she wasn't ready to see anyone so soon after leaving her husband. Paul had apologized for the trouble and excused himself, with a smile she was sure he had forced for her benefit. After that he spoke to her normally during office hours, being completely professional.

Truthfully he was a great guy, a gentle giant who always had a warm smile and a handshake when he met someone. When you first met him, by looking at him you might mistake him for a harsh man.

He had sort of brutish features that had softened as he had gotten older. But once you spoke to him it became readily apparent how kindhearted he was. He went out of his way to help others, never complained about something he could try and fix instead. He was the rugged outdoorsy type outside of work, always going on rafting trips and hunting excursions.

After she had rejected his advances she found herself thinking about her failed marriage less and less and her co-worker more and more. Over time she even found herself falling for him, though she believed that ship had sailed based on their interactions after he had asked her out.

On occasion, when the office had parties or did events outside of business hours, he was sociable in groups and spoke to her normally. But if she found herself alone with him he would struggle to make conversation and eventually find a reason to excuse himself.

* * *

Eventually she had no choice but to confront him about it, not wanting there to be awkwardness between them. She had approached him after an office softball tournament. They had all gone to a local sports bar after the game and had ate and drank for a few hours.

At the end of the night both of them were the last ones left at the establishment. Both were outside waiting on rides. She was getting picked up by Danielle, while Paul was waiting on a taxi. He stood several feet away, hands in his pockets looking at the sky.

He wasn't as skittish as usual around her, probably thanks to the beers he'd had. She loved that he still had the courtesy not to bury his face in his phone, even if it would give him an excuse to ignore her.

She saw him admiring the view and felt the need to say something. "It's a beautiful night."

Paul was taken by surprise, but smiled at her, saying as he turned his gaze upwards again. "Yes, it is."

She gathered up the rest of her courage and gripped the strap on her purse tight as she continued. "Paul." He looked at her, detecting her serious tone. "Have I done something to upset you?"

His face immediately showed panic and concern. "What? No, of course not, why would you think…" His voice trailed off.

She took a small step toward him, cocking her head to the side. "You seem uncomfortable when it's just us, I'm sorry if I—."

He interrupted, taking a step toward her as well. "No, I'm sorry, I just thought..." He averted his eyes. "…I didn't want to bother you with my presence. It's always seemed like things have gotten awkward with women after I make my feelings known. I'm kind of hard to ignore I guess. I figured it would be best if I left you alone and gave you space."

April breathed a sigh of relief, and she found herself appreciating the man before her even more. "I wasn't bothered at all, in fact I was flattered that you saw me that way, even if I wasn't ready, at the time." She left a bit of an emphasis on the final part, hoping he would notice.

"At the time?" He gulped, hesitant to overstep and offend her. "Does that mean that you are, what I mean to say is…"

She grinned at his cuteness, the fact that he could be so worked up over her. She spoke up to spare him the embarrassment. "If you would still like to go out with me, I'd love to."

Paul's face broke out in a wide smile. He asked her what she might like to do, and she said dancing. Paul's face showed worry at that, she guessed he wasn't light on his feet at his size. Her husband had always made excuses not to take her dancing, and she had eventually learned not to ask. But

Paul got a determined look on his face and nodded. "If the lady wants to dance, then we'll go dancing."

Minutes later, Danielle arrived to pick her mother up, Paul and April exchanged their personal numbers and he promised to make the plans for their date.

He had been worried about stepping on her feet, but it turned out that his time as a football player and a Marine meant that he took instruction well and could learn quickly.

That had been a year ago now and they had gotten very close in that time. He got along with her children, occasionally taking them all camping. The physical side of their relationship had progressed a little slowly. Her husband was the only other man she had been with in her forty years.

Though they had started slowly in the intimacy department, they were now like a couple of teenagers. She had managed to come back from the brink after her marriage ended.

She still felt responsible that it had led to the distance, both figuratively and literally, between Danielle and Coop. And that was exactly why she had planned this night when she found out Coop was coming home.

* * *

April, Coop and Danielle were standing around the table. April took off her apron and placed it on the kitchen counter. "I hope you kids are hungry."

Coop looked at the spread, impressed she had thrown this all together so quickly. "This looks great ma'am, I could eat for sure."

Danielle eyed her mother warily, sensing something was sketchy. "Yeah mom, this looks like a real feast."

April smiled innocently, waving her hand across all the food. "Well it's not everyday your best friend comes home from living abroad sweetie." April glanced at the clock on the wall of the dining room, to see what time it was.

Danielle noticed and followed her eyeline. "Mom?"

April turned her head towards Danielle, still keeping her eyes on the clock. "Hmm sweetie?"

Danielle lifted her hand, pointing underhanded at the clock. "Why are you…" Just then a truck pulled into the driveway outside.

April brought her hand to her forehead and began the most terrible acting known to man. "Oh shoot, you know kids, I totally forgot. Paul and I made plans for tonight. We're supposed to go to his friend's new restaurant!"

Danielle immediately shook her head in small movements, keeping her voice low but sharp. "Mom, no, don't…"

April was already grabbing her purse off the entry table and grabbing her coat. "It's okay honey, you kids eat up, don't worry about me. I'll probably stay at Paul's tonight though so wrap up any leftovers and clean the table, thanks, love you bye."

The last part was said in a rush as she stepped out the door and waved her hand behind her as a goodbye. The door shut and the two friends were left in silence. Danielle's mouth was slightly open while she processed the shock from her mothers antics.

Coop meanwhile had one hand across his midsection, resting his elbow on that arm and covering his mouth with his hand. Trying not to laugh at what had just transpired, seeing Danielle's expression caused him to blurt out. "You'll catch flies if you aren't careful."

Without looking at him her hand immediately shot up. "Be quiet or I won't even send you home with a plate."

He held up his hands and then folded his arms. As Paul's truck pulled out of the driveway Coop circled the table. "Well I don't know about you but I'm starving."

He was trying to ignore her moms obvious meddling. Judging by her attitude she was embarrassed having her mom try and match-make for her. Ignoring his wounded pride he decided to try and move past it.

He went about serving himself, occasionally glancing her way to see if she would move. "Foods gonna get cold eventually, might as well eat while it's hot."

After a moment she grabbed her plate and followed suit. 'He seemed to take that pretty well.' As she thought it another voice chimed in. 'Because he doesn't care, he's over you and you're just friends.' 

Thoughts like that made her stomach sink. What if all of this doesn't pan out and we just stay friends, is that enough? She didn't want to go back to what they had, great as it was.

And no other guy would ever know her like Cooper did, as cheesy as it sounded. They were kinda meant for each other, weren't they? She made her plate and sat down across from him. Coop smiled as he loaded up his first forkful of food. "I missed your moms cooking." 

Danielle was stabbing at something on her plate as she spoke. "You didn't like the food in Japan?"

He shook his head, chewing his food before swallowing. "No it was great, but, after mom died dad never really found the knack for cooking. Christine would make stuff sometimes. I guess partly when I think of a home cooked meal I think of your house."

She smiled, not really knowing what to say. Both of them ate in silence for a moment, she looked down at her plate as she moved food around, trying to think of something to say to keep the conversation going.

She looked up and saw that Coop was holding his fork over his plate, staring at her. "What?"

Coop realized he'd been caught looking, stammered for a bit before responding. "Sorry, it's nothing, I was just, I was thinking about after graduation."

He smiled, casting his eyes down and going back to his food. 'If by after graduation you count wondering is this what it would be like coming home to you every night.'

Danielle nodded, settling into another bout of silence. 'Isn't there anything we can talk about? I mean this is kind of nice but, what does it say about us if we can't even have a normal conversation over dinner?'

"I forgot, I need to go by the DMV tomorrow to turn in the forms for the reciprocity, can we swing by after school gets out?"

Danielle smiled. "Sure no problem."

Cooper continued excitedly. "Once I get a new bike I can go back and forth to the ranch and try and get that truck running."

Danielle looked quizzically at him. "So what exactly happened to the, what was it, Koala?"

Coop looked back at her dumbfounded. "You mean my Kawasaki?"

Danielle nodded enthusiastically, sidestepping how off the mark she'd been. "Yeah, how come you didn't just have it shipped here?"

Coop rubbed the back of his neck, speaking in an apologetic tone. "I kinda crashed it."

Danielle went slack jawed, eyes becoming big as saucers. "You did not!"

Coop shook his head, scrambling for the words to explain. "It really wasn't my fault, I was going down a back alley and a truck driver making deliveries didn't see me."

Danielle looked like she could kill. "You got hit by a truck?"

"Neither one of us was going very fast, and I managed to slow down enough so it just smashed up my headlight and bent my handlebars. I only had a few weeks until I left so I sold it. My neighbor bought it off me for his son, so it's not a complete waste."

"And you just forgot to mention it?" He cocked his head, squinting one eye shut.

"Well I knew if I told you you'd be mad, and I was kinda hoping to avoid that." He couldn't help the nervous laugh that came out.

She in turn had a very sour expression on her face. "Yeah you're right, I don't like the thought of someone who means the world to me risking their life everyday. What would I do if something happened to you?"

That little hopeful voice in the back of his head wanted to scream. "Come on, I'm okay, I'm not going anywhere, I'm here."

He gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile. She smiled back, hesitantly.

"You promise?" The question took him by surprise, he looked at her confused

"Promise what?" He watched her for a moment while she moved food around on her plate.

"That you aren't going to leave again, you're back for good now?"

This topic of conversation was a little too close for comfort. And it threatened to touch on things that they promised wouldn't be mentioned again.

"I mean I'm here until college is over. After that, who knows, it depends on what happens with the company really."

She nodded her head, not seeming to pay attention. Truthfully he would stick around up until the day she left him behind. He knew there was an expiration date on their relationship as it was now.

Someday she'd find a guy and fall in love. He didn't see how things could go on like this after that.

It would start with them hanging out less, her excusing herself due to prior commitments. Then she'd come to him, apologize and tell him that it made the guy feel uncomfortable dating a girl who was best friends with a guy.

She was so sweet and concerned right now, but when the love of her life asked her to she would turn her back on him.

That was why he wanted there to be distance between them. He was just preparing himself for the day she wouldn't be there anymore.

"Even though I might have to travel a little, I don't think I'd like leaving long term again. Doesn't feel right being that far away."

Her expression softened a little at that. "Yeah, things weren't the same without you." Another uncomfortable silence followed. As they came close to finishing their meals Coop broke the silence.

"You know what would hit the spot after this?" Danielle looked up to see his eyes gleaming. "Wasabi ice cream."

Her face contorted in disgust. "That's disgusting."

"I'm serious, it's really good." She made a face that screamed 'Bleh!' and shuddered, he laughed out loud.

He stood up, grabbing his plate. "Is that new Milwaukee Joe's still open?"

He crossed over to her side, grabbing her plate for her. "I don't think it counts as new, it's been open for four years."

"Go grab your jacket and we'll go get some ice cream for dessert."

"You think because you're offering me ice cream that I'll just hop to and do what you say?"

Coop immediately stopped walking towards the sink and stopped to look at her with a blank expression. After a moment she grumbled, rising from her seat she went to the stairs and headed up to her room.

As she did he muttered. "That's what I thought."