Chapter Nineteen

The first thing that Coop noticed upon waking up was that his right arm was asleep. In fact his whole right side felt weird. Before he even opened his eyes he assumed he must have slept awkwardly on it.

The next thing he noticed was that smell, it was familiar. He knew he'd come across it recently, but the name of it wasn't coming to mind. When he opened his eyes, he had to blink to remove the blurriness from his vision.

He turned his head and something soft and fine brushed across his face, tickling his nose. The smell filled his senses, and in a flash he remembered where he'd come across it before. Danielle's hair, he was smelling Dany's hair.

He brought his left hand to his face and rubbed the rest of the sleep from his eyes. There was enough light coming through his bedroom window that he could make her out clearly.

Sometime during the night she must have rolled over onto him, her head resting half on his chest and half on his shoulder. One of her hands was resting on his stomach and one of her legs was bumped up against his.

He looked around the room, replaying the events of last night in his head. The night had gone from one of the worst of his life to definitely top three, and he couldn't recall the other two at the moment.

He laid there for a few seconds, telling himself he should try and slip out or nudge her awake. Even as he chastised himself for it he brought his cheek to the side until he was almost touching her forehead. He didn't mean to say it, but when it sprung to mind his lips just started moving.

"I wish it could be like this all the time." 

When it registered to him he'd said it he tensed a little bit, fearful she might be awake and had heard him. He moved his head back and looked at her face, relieved to see her eyes were closed.

The sudden movement caused her to shift in her sleep, her hand brushing across his stomach. As her arm slid her upper body fell into him more, her chest pressing against his side, and from where he was he could see down her shirt.

He froze, a special kind of terror rising inside him. That terror came from the fact that he was a young man, who had just woken up, in the morning. If you need it explained to you, have a friend draw a diagram.

He tried to quickly and quietly extricate himself. Throwing his legs over the bed he slid out and stood, waking up Danielle in the process. Coop started walking out of the room, headed toward the bathroom to take an especially cold shower. Behind him Danielle was sitting up, when she noticed his retreating figure she called out.

"Morning."

Coop stopped in his tracks, twisting at the waist he nodded at her. "Yeah, morning."

She had some serious bed head, and one of her eyes was still partly closed, but he didn't care. She was smiling at him like she'd slept for a year. All he could think about was how cute she was and how warm her body had felt against his. He ran pretty hot most of the time so he was surprised he noticed a difference.

She looked around the room, blinking until both her eyes were open. "I must have passed out, sorry."

Coop shook his head and waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it, it's fine."

She noticed finally that he was headed out of the room. "Where are you going?"

The lovesick part of his brain wanted that to mean, 'Get back in bed and snuggle with me some more.' He hooked his thumb down the hallway, still refusing to turn around, lest she spot his regular morning visitor.

"Nature calls."

Technically he wasn't lying, this was just one call he absolutely could not answer at the present moment.

She scrunched her nose. "Gross Coop."

He put his hands out to his side palms up with a 'duh' look on his face. "You asked, anyways I'm gonna grab a shower too. You should probably start getting ready yourself." He said the last part in a matter of fact way.

Her eyes got big, and she sat up the rest of the way, putting her feet over the bed. "What time is it?"

He hadn't thought to look yet, other more pressing matters on his mind. She reached over to the nightstand and grabbed her phone. 

When the screen came up her face sank. "Holy crap it's 10:30!"

Coop's eyes bugged out, and forgetting why he had been planning to leave the room he turned around and stepped towards her. "Really?"

She took her phone and pointed it towards him. Sure enough the display read 10:32 AM. He also saw she had several missed calls and texts from her mother and friends. He started backing out the door. 

"I'm gonna go get washed up, you better get home before your mother calls the cops."

Danielle nodded as she grabbed her things, standing and slipping on her shoes. Coop was half way down the hallway to the bathroom when the doorbell rang. Cursing the timing of whoever it was he altered course.

Heading down the stairs with Danielle trailing behind he unlocked the door and began to open it as Danielle said from the halfway mark on the stairs. "My mom's gonna kill me!"

As the door swung the rest of the way open April and Paul were standing on his front porch.

Coop's face clearly said 'I'm screwed and I know it.' as he deadpanned. "At least you'll have company."

April's face was serious, in stark contrast to how warm and welcoming she usually looked.

"Young lady, you and I need to have a serious talk."

Paul on the other hand had a look that said I support my girlfriend but I also feel really bad for you kids. His arms were crossed in a show of solidarity with April.

Danielle came down the stairs and shook her head. "Mom, it's not what it looks like."

"It looks like you slept over at a boys house without letting me know."

Coop couldn't help the nervous impulse to speak and said. "She's got you there."

Danielle looked at him like she wanted to slap him. April looked at him like she couldn't believe he had the nerve. Paul though, Paul was a treasure. He had to turn his head and fake a cough to hide the chuckle that wanted to come out.

April turned and glared at him, though her look was more to tell him to keep it together. Looking back at Dany, she had an amused but decidedly not playful smile on her face.

"Imagine my shock when I get home this morning to start helping you get ready for the ceremony and you aren't home. Then picture my disbelief when you don't answer your phone. Understand my complete disillusion with reality when I find out you haven't been seen by any of your friends since you were involved in a brawl last night." 

April's voice had gotten a little bit louder with each iteration. "Mom." 

April held up her hand to signal she wanted silence. She turned and smiled at Coop, a smile that chilled his heart. "Coop you're a horrible liar."

He wasn't sure how to respond. "Thank you?"

"You're welcome. Danielle's siblings taught her all the tricks they learned growing up, so I have a hard time detecting bull-crap from her." April pointed at him for extra emphasis. "But you are too blunt to lie, so I want you to explain to me what happened last night." Coop looked at Danielle, who nodded for him to go ahead.

He shrugged and began speaking. "Danielle and I went to a party for the wrestling team. One of the guys brought a friend and the two of them got drunk at the party."

April's eyes started to go wide when Coop raised his arms.

"They brought it themselves, we were just having sandwiches and soda next to the baseball field. When we told them they had to leave they started a fight." Coop briefly looked at everyone before he lowered his head for the next part. "Danielle tried to intervene and one of the guys pushed her. I jumped on him and I just…" He trailed off, ashamed by their perusal of him.

Danielle walked up to them with concern on her face. "He was just trying to protect me."

April sighed. "From what I heard, that boy walked away with a black eye, several bruises and a sore jaw. Thanks to that and them being intoxicated no one wants to involve the authorities. Otherwise Cooper might have been in a lot of trouble."

Coop didn't say anything else, so Danielle took over. "Cooper was upset after and tried to walk home, I managed to find him and we came back here and watched a movie, I must have just conked out."

April spent a good long while looking at the two of them, finally she sighed.

"Cooper I'm thankful you stood up for Danielle. But in the future I'd prefer if you find yourself in that situation, please focus on getting her out of there rather than beating them up."

Coop nodded. "Yes ma'am."

"And I understand you two are best friends and it might not be a big deal for you to sleep over. But at the very least I should be informed if you aren't going to be coming home."

Danielle and Coop both nodded, until the weight of what she said sank in. Was she saying she didn't care that they slept in the same bed, just that she hadn't let her mom know she'd be out? The two of them shared a look that said 'What the hell?'

April motioned for Danielle to come along, Danielle went and stood in between her and Coop. 

April turned to Cooper and smiled. "Cooper, do you need a ride to the ceremony?"

Cooper shook his head. "No ma'am, my grandparents and my sister are going with me."

"Alright, we'll see you there."

Her and Paul started down the path, Danielle grimaced, followed by a smile. Preparing herself for another talk when she got home. She followed after them, silently. Cooper watched them go then blew out a breath, thanking his lucky stars April liked him.

* * *

Cooper got picked up by his grandparents at noon, Christine and her fiancé, Michael, met them shortly before the ceremony. Coop and Danielle's families came, including Danielle's father. Coop was honestly impressed that the adults didn't ruin things for Danielle by acting out or arguing.

Finally it was time for the families to take their seats and the students to file into theirs. Coop saw Odys and a man he had been introduced to as Odys' caretaker, years ago. It had been so brief he couldn't remember the man's name.

The thing that amazed Coop was how happy Odys looked. Since coming home, Coop had only ever seen Odys in a state of annoyance, apathy or braggadocio. But in front of his guardian he was smiling and laughing. Coop was glad the other man seemed to not be completely isolated.

Coop and Danielle both remarked on how mundane the day seemed compared with how they imagined it being. In truth they were just here to grab a piece of paper and pose for pictures. There was no big day, it was all the little days beforehand that had been special.

And both of them were regretful that they had to spend so many of them apart from each other. After the ceremony was finished, Christine came and hugged her brother, she even got teary eyed over the whole ordeal.

Her and Michael had plans that night and so they said their goodbyes. But not before she whispered into her brother's ear. "Good luck tonight, squirt!" Then she winked and gave him a sly smile.

Coop's grandparents as well couldn't make it to the party out at the ranch. His grandmother had a medical checkup early in the morning, but they promised to fix him a big dinner the next weekend. That left Coop and Danielle to head out to the ranch by themselves.

Coop and Danielle changed and he rode back home with her, Paul and April. Coop and Danielle got out of the car, chatting as Paul and April went inside.

Danielle checked her phone "It's past four now, what time are Kari and Adam starting the party?"

"Six, I think Janey and Marshall are planning to leave pretty early to go hang out with friends."

Janey and Marshall were Adam and Kari's kids. Coop got along great with them, but they were both busy kids on separate life paths. Marshall was in an ROTC program which ate up a lot of his free time, while Janey was your quintessential rodeo queen and had a long time boyfriend she was in love with.

"Okay, you good if we leave around five thirty?"

Coop shrugged. "Yeah whenever you're ready."

She fidgeted with her diploma, smiling before nodding. "Great, I'll see you then."

With that he hopped 180 degrees and rushed inside the house. He could understand her nervous energy with it being their graduation. He was feeling it because of where they were going next. 

As she raced inside the house to get ready she was starting to realize she was gonna have to do the heavy lifting tonight.

* * *

They were in her car on their way down to the ranch and he was talking as much as possible to keep his mind off the fact that in roughly an hour they'd be dancing, like close together probably. 

Coop was recounting going with some of his friends to a shrine in Japan for the first time. What the customs were and what everything looked like. Luckily for Coop he managed to find stuff to talk about for all but the last five minutes of the drive.

Finally Danielle broke the silence. "Did you have any opportunities to dance in Japan?"

Coop gulped. "I mean I got dragged to the arcade a couple of times and played some dancing game. Real dancing though, just that one time I took Amaya out."

After a moment, recognition shone on her face. "Oh yeah, that was the girl whose boyfriend couldn't handle her career right? What happened to her?"

Cooper looked away from her before smiling. "They got back together a week later from what I understand. Apparently when he saw pictures of her dancing with someone else it was more than he could bear and he rushed back from another country to her side. I think they're engaged now."

The two looked at each other at the same time, holding their gaze before smiling shyly and looking away. Finally they arrived, they also noticed there were more cars than they had originally anticipated.

They parked and got out of her SUV. They went around the house and to the back, where they were greeted by the sight of several kids their own age.

Janey and Marshall saw their cousin at the same time and came over. Marshall got to Coop first and jumped him, Marshall was 6'0 so he reached up to put Coop in an affectionate choke hold. Coop managed to duck his head out of the way and bear hugged the smaller man instead.

Coop smiled warmly and then put him down. "You couldn't beat me when I was smaller than you, what makes you think you could do it now?"

Marshall playfully pushed him. "David and Goliath, it's in the bible Coop, you calling Jesus a liar!" Marshall was just playing, playing up his hillbilly persona he put on for the rodeo or concerts.

Danielle rolled her eyes at him. "Jesus didn't write the gospel of Samuel Marsh, Samuel did; hence the name."

Marshall pointed at her with comically wide eyes. "Heresy, burn the witch!"

Janey slapped her brother on the chest. "Knock it off you goober!" Janey proceeded to hug Danielle and Coop.

She looked at Coop and said. "You've gotten taller."

Coop pointed at her and scanned his eyes over everyone while pointing. "And that is how you comment on someone's height without making them feel like a freak, thank you Janey."

Janey smiled before saying sweetly. "Absolutely, I want my people and yours to remain on good terms."

Coop's face turned expressionless as everyone started giggling, turning his head upward and nodding. "Cause I'm a giant, I got it, that's great, real nice."

They all had a good laugh at his expense, Kari and Adam finally came out greeting the new arrivals.

Kari put her arm around Danielle and then pointed to the other kids. "We sort of bribed Marsh and Janey into staying longer if we turned the party into a whole bash for them and their friends too, you kids don't mind, do you?"

Neither one did, they also saw some of the Bogdan family friends were in attendance. Even Dale was off to the side, talking with some of the other adults.

Kari and Janey got on either side of Danielle and smiled at everyone. "Well excuse us real quick boys while we all get ready for the party."

Coop was confused as the other two girls looked ready. When he'd gone to meet Danielle to drive out she was wearing just plain jeans and a t-shirt. She'd said it was because she didn't want her dress to get wrinkled on the drive. They ushered Danielle inside while everyone else continued talking. 

Adam came up to Coop and shook his hand. "How was the ceremony nephew?"

"Honestly a little lackluster. I think it's one of those things you build up and then it can't possibly meet your expectations." 

Adam nodded enthusiastically. "Or maybe you were so transfixed on tonight you couldn't be bothered caring about anything else."

Adam had a knowing smile plastered on his face. Finally Adam looked at Coop's suit, the one his dad had tailored for business parties. "And what is with that suit, you look like you are about to negotiate a bank takeover."

Coop looked down at himself. "This is the only suit I have, I can dance in this."

Adam shook his head. "You're gonna stick out like a sore thumb square dancing in that though."

Coop shook his head emphatically. "Who said anything about square dancing?"

It was Marshall's turn to get in on the ribbing. "So you're telling me if Danielle asks you to square dance with her you're telling her no?"

Coop didn't say anything at first, just looked back and forth between the two men before pulling on his shirt. "Well what am I supposed to do about it now?"

Adam put his hand on Coop's back, waving his other hand in front of them as if he was painting a picture. "I see something in your future, yes I see, pearl snap, I see, boot cut wranglers. Maybe even a bolo tie?" Coop emphatically shook his head no at the mention of a bolo tie.

Adam smiled in an acquiescing way. "Okay, no bolo, but you're only a little bit taller than me and Marsh, I'm sure we can find something to snazz you up for the little lady."

Coop followed his uncle and cousin inside, though the last thing he wanted to do was try and make Danielle's heart race. Not because he didn't want his feelings reciprocated. He just didn't wanna try simply to fail again. It was wasted effort that only made him feel farther away from what he wanted.

But he also didn't want to ruin what was supposed to be a celebration of everything they'd accomplished after all these years. They went upstairs, passing by Janey's room they heard hushed whispers inside.

Coop suddenly started picturing how Danielle had looked that day when they'd kept dancing after everyone else had left the floor.

The three men walked into Adam and Kari's room. Building the house from scratch the way they'd wanted they both had their own walk in closets. Kari's was just a tiny bit bigger, according to her at least.

They went about finding an outfit, starting with the boots, Marsh ended up running and grabbing a pair of square toe walking boots that had been slightly too big for him.

As the name implied they were not built for riding but just everyday activities.

For the jeans a pair of Wrangler cowboy cut, wide enough at the bottom to accommodate boots but still snug. The part of the ensemble that took the longest was the shirt. Kari kept Adam well fed, so he had a little more of a gut than the other two men in the room.

They hit pay dirt when they found a long sleeve red button down shirt, still in the package. Adam muttered a curse that he couldn't get Coop into a nice pearl snap.

Coop immediately went to roll up the sleeves and Adam stopped him. "Son, wait until after Danielle sees you, just trust me."

Coop sighed begrudgingly, re-buttoning the cuffs. Adam dug further in his closet. "Now for the hat." 

Coop waved his hands and shook his head. "Uncle Adam I don't think I can pull that off; I'm not really a cowboy."

Adam stopped, standing back up and coming to stand in front of his nephew. "Cooper do you feel lucky everyday you get to wake up in this country?"

Coop looked suspicious, but nodded. "Yeah, of course."

"And do you honor your family?" Cooper again, nodded.

Adam smiled teasingly "Are you about to go dancing with a pretty girl?"

Cooper rolled his eyes, but smiled after. "Yeah, I suppose I am."

Adam leaned in and chimed. "Well that all sounds like cowboy shit to me kid. Now let's not keep the lady waiting."

They walked out of the bedroom and down the hall. As it turned out the girls were still in Janey's room helping Danielle.

Adam looked back at Coop. "Man she must be pulling out all the stops for you."

Cooper could feel his body tensing just like he would before a wrestling meet or a sparring match. And also like he had when his grandmother had paired him and Danielle up to dance years ago. He forced his mind through the problem, psyching himself up and trying to calm his nerves.

He even started stretching just like he would before a match, before he caught an odd stare from one of Marshall's friends. Settling back into the swing of things he slowly felt his nerves calm down.

After everyone had a chance to get some drinks and food they opened the dance floor, really it was just a section of the patio, some parts covered, some uncovered.

Marshall went out on the floor with his friends, while Adam was de-facto DJ for the event. They left him standing at the edge of the patio with the back door to him.

He stood there and waited frantically as the first few songs were played. When Janey and Kari walked past him they each squeezed his arm, he could see smirks on both of their faces.

He felt his heart pick its pace back up, and had the sudden urge to turn around, but for some reason he couldn't force his legs to move.

Just when he thought the suspense might kill him she said. "Hey Coop."

It worked like a spell, freeing his body from its self induced paralysis. He turned around slowly, and saw her. 

Her hair was pinned back on one side, held in place by the hair pin he'd brought her from Japan. She wasn't wearing lipstick, just gloss.

And her shoes, they looked like high heeled open toe sandals. He didn't know they were actual dance sandals she had bought specifically for this night. What floored him most of all was the dress. 

It was a white sundress, thin straps going over her shoulders, leading down to a thankfully for Coop, modest bust line. It had a sparse design, thin green vines with yellow flowers. 

Past her waist line the fabric was slightly looser down to where the skirt ended at her knees. Coop silently thanked whoever had designed it that way. He realized after a while that Danielle was expecting him to talk. And that she would probably like him to say something positive.

He scoured his brain for the one thing he could say to compliment her without sounding like he was interested. 'Say something you idjit before college starts!'

He forced his voice to sound pleasant but not too excited. "You look good."

Danielle looked down and to her right, brushing her hand through her hair on the left side with the hairpin. She looked as if a little bit of wind had been taken out of her sails. "Good, is good."

He realized his mistake, and panicked. For some reason she wanted more than just approval, what then, appreciation? He hastily blurted out what had originally come to mind when he'd seen her.

"Too good to be true…" A slight pause as he realized how far over the line he'd stepped. "...if I'm being honest."

She turned her face up to look at him, her fingers still behind her ear. He knew he'd succeeded when that smile appeared on her face. He felt like his feet might leave the ground for a second.

Coop thought he had seen every smile imaginable cross her face in the last eighteen years of life. All of the different colors of the emotional rainbow that made up Danielle 'Dany' Ramos, but he'd never seen this. 

It made him feel like at this party of dozens they were the only two people there. He had to look down a little bit to shield his eyes from how radiant she looked.

It was like he was staring at the sun and he needed to turn away before he went blind. She bent over just enough to reestablish eye contact, smiling at him teasingly.

"Thanks, you don't look so bad yourself." She looked down at her feet. "In fact, you're making me think I should have worn glass slippers instead."

His head shot up, his eyes cast straight forward as rusted gears started grinding to life in his mind. 

'Is she comparing me to prince charming?'

She looked back up at him, satisfied with the fit of her sandals. She smiled, looking around. Coop felt like she was waiting for something. Then he noticed everyone on the dance floor.

"Should we, I mean, would you like to dance?"

With a feeling, and also a look of relief she nodded. "Yeah."

Coop wasn't sure what to do, should he take her hand, walk behind her? Danielle saved him from his contemplation by walking over and looping her arm through his.

They went out on the floor together and joined everyone else. Adam's kids had demanded that their dad include music other than country. All he did was hook up his phone to the sound system and play different music play-lists off the music streaming apps. 

Luckily for Coop, when they went out on the floor there was a dance party track playing. He did his little side to side sweet spot shuffle, the shopping cart, the fish out of water, which was really just his poor attempt to do the worm.

All the things that made Danielle laugh when they were kids, and still worked today. She shook her head and giggled as he intentionally did the most horrible dances. 

After a few of the faster paced songs had been played, a slow one started to come on, 'Photograph' by Ed Sheeran. Coop immediately started to back up off the dance floor, turning his face and upper body toward the house.

"I'm gonna grab a drink, do—." Danielle grabbed his arm, stopping him.

"I really like this song, can we keep going, for a little bit longer?" He honestly thought he'd misheard her.

"You wanna keep dancing, with me, to this song?"

She nodded, with a smile that clearly said, 'Why wouldn't I?'

"Yeah." She chuckled matter of factly; and maybe a little nervously too? "Is that okay?" 

He grunted something that sounded like an affirmative, nodding as well, though it looked automatic. As if his brain was still processing the request but his body had already decided.

He stepped forward, doing as they'd learned years ago he stopped and allowed Danielle to place her hands on his waist.

They started moving, swaying back and forth slowly to the rhythm of the song. As he listened to the lyrics he noticed all the similarities between the song and their story.

He tended to listen to the heavier, angrier and sometimes angstier stuff. He liked the song though, and hoped she liked it for the same reasons. She was resting her head next to his, though slightly lower. 

Giving him yet another opportunity to take in the scent of her hair. He forced himself not to think about anything other than the movement of his feet and the feel of her against him.

He wasn't gonna second guess anything. Tonight was about making a good memory of the two of them, he just prayed it wouldn't be one of the last.

As the song wound down he stepped back and bowed. "Thank you for the dance."

He had another goofy grin on his face. Trying to take the awkwardness he felt and turn it into something lighthearted. What he didn't expect was for her to grab the hem of her dress and curtsy.

"Thank you kind sir." 

She also had a goofy grin on her face. They stayed that way for a moment before she started moving. "You wanna take a break, get that drink?" He shook his head up and down.

"Yeah, what do you want, I'll grab it." She thought about it for a moment.

"Can you see if they have sparkling water?" 

He smiled, and jogged off. Running toward the house he went to check the coolers. Danielle actually did a little jump in the air. Not only did they dance, but he didn't make it weird.

I mean he'd tried to run off when the song first came on, but she'd convinced him to stay. He didn't know that while he was gone she'd listen to that song and imagine Coop singing it to her instead. Silly she knew, especially considering how low his voice was. She suddenly felt very optimistic about tonight. 

Inside the house Coop was scouring, debating which flavor of water to bring her. He agonized over it to the point of debating whether to bring one of each and let her choose, just then his cousin Marshall came in.

"Hey Coop, how goes it?" He said on his way to the bathroom.

Coop glanced at him. "Good, but I can't choose which one of these to bring to Danielle."

Marshall stepped forward and grabbed the nearest one to where he was standing and handed it to Coop. 

Coop looked at it with doubt. "Why this one?"

Marshall shrugged. "Cause it was closest to the door?"

Coop looked defeated, pressing the can to his forehead to stifle the feverishness he was beginning to feel. 

Marshall shook his head. "It's water bro, just pick one."

Coop nodded. "Yeah you're right."

"What's going on man, are you guys?" Marshall made a gesture of crossing his two index fingers while whistling. Coop shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

"I honestly don't know anymore. You know we had something go down a while back."

Marshall nodded. "When she roasted your balls on the train, yeah granddad told me."

Coop breathed forcefully through his nose. 

"Of course he did. Well now that I'm back she's always saying things that make it seem like she likes me, and she's always smiling at me, touching me, which makes it impossible for me to function, and we keep looking into each others eyes and things are just awkward and if I don't pick exactly the right water she wants this whole night is gonna fall apart, I think." He grimaced upon realizing how nervous he sounded.

Marshall looked like he didn't quite understand. "So you're worried you're misreading things?"

Coop nodded. "I thought we had something before and it backfired in a big way."

"So now you're thinking everything since you came back is a fluke and she's only acting this way cause you guys have been apart awhile."

Coop nodded vigorously. "Yeah man, I mean sometimes it's almost like she's teasing me about liking her."

"But what if back then was the fluke?"

Several seconds passed as Coop digested what he said. "Huh?"

"I'm saying, you think Danielle being super into you since you've been back is a fluke. But what if her going postal on you back then was the fluke? Grandpa said something about her having family stuff back then? You caught her at a bad time man."

"But if she was into me back then. Would she really say all that?"

Marshall shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know man, but with the girls I've known there's only two kinds of guys women take their anger out on like that. The ones they don't care about at all or the ones they really love. I think you should give it another shot, she's crazy about you bruh."

Marshall started stepping from side to side. "Sorry bro, but I gotta see a man about a horse."

His cousin ran off to use the rest room. Coop put back all but one of the cans and headed outside in a bit of a daze, forgetting to grab one for himself. The music had gone back to dance music and couples songs again.

Danielle was chatting with some of the kids, Coop decided he'd test the waters to suss out what the deal was. Steeling himself, he nonchalantly walked up to her side, putting his left hand on her lower back.

Then he handed her the drink with his right. If he was mistaken she'd look at him weird or make a joke. She casually grabbed the drink, smiling at him as she introduced him to the other kids.

"Coop this is Eric, Tabitha and Simone."

He slowly removed his hand to shake hands with Eric, Coop smiled at all of them, hiding his excitement over her reaction.

"Hey, nice to meet you all."

Danielle took a sip of her drink, taking a second to inwardly scream over Coop's hand placement. And then she placed her hand on the back of Coop's shoulder and rubbed it softly, smiling to herself. 

She knew what he was getting at and she was more than up to the challenge of making things crystal clear. Inside of his mind a war began. 

'Holy shit I think she actually likes me!'

He almost missed what Dany was saying to the other kids. "Coop just got back from living in Japan."

Danielle and Coop made small talk with the kids for a few minutes. Finally everyone went their separate ways, leaving Coop and Danielle by themselves again.

Coop took several quick shallow breaths to psych himself up before turning to her. There was a battle going on between the part of him that believed in them and the part that wanted to give up.

And hope was winning. "Feel like dancing some more?"

Danielle looked pleasantly surprised that he'd asked again. "Yeah, let's cut a rug!"

Coop shook his head. "It's a patio, not a rug silly."

He snorted while turning around, walking out on the dance floor even as she slapped him about the back and arm. The music was back to being light hearted dance stuff again.

In fact the music stayed that way for so long that Coop thought Adam might have stopped checking the songs and was just letting the playlist choose. Right when Coop was about to suggest another break, the lights rose and Adam came to the front of the dance floor with a microphone in his hand.

"Hey kids, everyone, I don't mean to interrupt the festivities, but I just wanted to say a few words. As I'm sure most of you know, I'm Janey and Marshall's dad. I'm still in awe of the fact that my rug-rats pulled it off and became adults. I've seen the two of them do things on horses that would make Ken Maynard eat his hat."

None of the kids got the reference except for his own kids and Coop and Danielle. If only because Adam was a fan of trick riding and talked about old Hollywood westerns a lot. From the back everyone heard Kari call out.

"They probably did it because you put them up to it." Adam smiled at his wife.

"Well I can't call you a liar without becoming one. But my boy Marshall is getting ready to enlist, and I'm so proud of him going out and seeing the world, trying to make a difference. Janey well she's on her way to making a name for herself as a force to be reckoned with in the world of riding.

"I just wanted to say that if I'd known my kids would have turned out this great when I was young I wouldn't have taken so many risks with getting hit in the nuts by bulls and broncs."

Everyone not related to Adam burst out laughing, the family all had varying levels of annoyance and or amusement on their faces. Once everyone had settled down Adam spoke again.

"We have some other family members here tonight, one by blood and one by gumption. My nephew Cooper, and Danielle, well she's lived next door to him their whole lives and those two have been inseparable most of the time. He's just gotten back from living overseas and she's been helping us out on the ranch making sure the animals stay healthy. I just know whether they're together or apart, they're gonna do great things."

There were light cheers and clapping, until Danielle spoke up confidently and silenced everyone. "Together." Coop turned his head to look at her, seeing resolve on her face.

She smiled at him, softly. "Definitely."

No one said anything as the two looked at each other. Adam finally brought everyone's attention back to himself.

"Well, I know some of you are planning to go out on the town and celebrate in style. We here are gonna turn on the old fogey music and really get to it. I ask that you kids be responsible, and watch out in case that storm changes course and comes this way."

With that everyone took another break. Most of the kids did in fact leave. The parents of several were still there, taking their opportunity to dance. Dale walked over, having not been able to say hello before, he looked at Coop.

"You clean up awfully well there Coop. Hell, I might start looking for you on the circuit."

Coop chuckled. "I get enough of a workout wrangling people on the mats, if I tried pushing steers around too I'd probably end up trying to choke out a bull or rope a human."

They all laughed, even though it really wasn't that funny. Dale looked to Danielle and took his hat off, placing it over his heart.

"You look beautiful, Miss Dany." Danielle smiled.

She looked flattered, but not terribly so. Like how someone who was just paid a compliment should look. That didn't stop Coop from feeling like he was the one who had intruded.

She nodded, still at Coop's side. "Thanks."

One of the girls there came and grabbed Dale by the arm, dragging him out onto the dance floor. "Come on cowboy, let's see what those boots are made of."

Coop and Danielle were now standing off to the side. The music was fast paced, and Coop wanted a chance to sit and let his racing mind and heart settle down. He looked to her and motioned to some benches that were away from the patio, lining the fence that encompassed the rest of the property.

"Actually, do you mind if we sit down for a bit, there's a nice breeze and I could use a chance to cool down." He knew he must look like a nervous wreck, fearing hot sweats.

She smiled as if she didn't have a care in the world "Okay."

She stepped out of her sandals and picked them up, walking out onto the grass in her bare feet. Coop followed beside her with his hand out in case she needed to steady herself and they sat down. There were small stake lights lining the fence where it passed near the house.

The breeze made the leaves in the trees rustle around them, and you could hear the sounds of the animals not too far away. The irrigation canal running in front and to the side of the property sounded like a small trickle at this distance. They sat that way until Coop remarked looking up at the sky.

"I wish we could see the moon tonight."

Danielle followed his gaze, leaning back and peering up at the sky. "I'm sure, it's still there, shining."

He smiled, not responding. Finally she broke the silence. "I'm really glad this is what you wanted to do for your party."

"Yeah, me too, I can't imagine anything better than tonight."

More silence, and more time for them to wonder where they were headed. Finally some slow songs came back on and Coop stood up. "I think I'm ready to get back out there."

He held out his hand and she took it without word. She stood up and they returned to the dance floor, only stopping for her to put her sandals back on once she stepped off the grass.

Cooper offered her his hand as she slipped her feet back into them, smiling at him thankfully. The heels meant that when they made eye contact it was on more equal footing. Which was strange, considering Coop had to look down at her yet he always felt like the one below her.

As they stepped next to each other another song came on, 'Stand by Your Man' by Tammy Wynette. Coop and Danielle smiled at each other awkwardly as the lyrics about a woman trying to love a difficult man played.

They embraced and danced, instead of putting her hands on his hips she wrapped them around his back. Coop followed suit, praying he wouldn't step on her toes.

There might as well have been no one else on the dance floor, as focused as they were on each other. When the song got to an especially heartfelt moment, she pulled her head back from his chest and looked up at him.

And in that moment, he was doubtless. No matter how much he protested or tried to convince himself, he would always be in love with her. If he had any kind of future, she was it.

He brought his arms up and put his hands on her shoulders, going for broke, grinning like a loon he leaned down, as he did so Danielle closed her eyes in anticipation.

Just before their lips touched the song abruptly stopped, the speakers popping, causing Coop to pull back in surprise. Danielle opened her eyes, expecting Coop's face to be right in front of hers. She looked temporarily disappointed before looking to see what was going on. Adam got on the microphone again and spoke.

"Hey y'all, we just got a weather update and that storm's gonna be a bit worse than predicted. I'd say we got another hour before we're gonna have to start breaking stuff down. If anyone has to go very far I'd take that into consideration when deciding when to leave. Now let's switch things up with a little square dancing, what do you say?" Coop wasn't detracted at all, there would be another moment.

Danielle looked at her watch, then at Coop. "You don't care if we stay longer, do you?"

Coop shook his head and took her hand, grinning. "You couldn't drag me out of here if you tried."

She smiled. 'Finally you doofus'.

At that moment Kari peeked her head out the back door. "Adam honey, can you help me? We need to load some coolers so people can shove off before the storm hits."

Adam nodded, walking over. Coop looked at him, debating whether to offer his assistance.

Danielle saw, then nodded towards the back door. "You wanna help them real quick?"

Coop looked apologetic. "You don't mind?"

Her smile was beaming and she tossed the words out like each one was a promise. "We've got all the time in the world."

Coop looked at her, nodding before slowly letting go of her hand and chasing after his uncle. Dany walked over to the dance floor, standing just outside of it. Eventually that song ended and because Adam wasn't there another slow romantic song came on. 

When Dale saw that Danielle was alone he also excused himself from his partner. He made his way to where Danielle was. He came up to her and smiled softly. "Would you like to dance Dany?"

She looked at him apologetically. "Sorry Dale, I'm waiting for Coop right now."

Dale looked down a little bit, smirking before shaking his head. "You really love the guy, don't you?"

Out front, Coop was hearing all about how much of a big and strong young man he was for helping out. He lifted the last one into the truck and slapped his hands together, turning around to go back to Dany.

Meanwhile Dany was a little thrown back at having Dale say it so succinctly like that. "Yes, I do."

Dale nodded, smiling. "I figured, the way you were always talking about him. And how you looked at him the other day. I just figured I'd shoot for one dance before I leave."

She furrowed her brow. "Leave?"

"Today was my last day, tomorrow I'm going back home for a few weeks and then I'll be hitting the rodeo circuit again."

She smiled. "Well I'm sure there'll be plenty of pretty girls to keep you entertained."

"There always are, but you're special."

She started "Dale—."

"He's lucky, I can see why you like him though, he's a good guy."

At that moment Coop walked out the back door, frowning when he didn't see Danielle where he'd left her. He looked around for a moment, before spotting her. She was standing on the edge of the dance floor, with Dale.

For a moment he told himself it didn't mean anything. He wanted to hold onto that hope that had been rekindled so bad. Then he saw the look on her face.

She was smiling at Dale, chatting about something. From that far away he couldn't understand what they were talking about. All he knew was that they were close and she looked like she was in bliss.

The words he couldn't hear her saying were. "He's the best man I know."

And the bliss on her face which he thought was for Dale, was because she knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was all gonna work out for them.

Dale leaned in, when he did Coop's breath caught in his throat and his heart stopped, thinking he was going to kiss her. Instead he gave her a friendly hug, but Coop still had to turn his head away.

He didn't wanna see anymore, whatever happened. Turning, he walked into the grass and to the bench they'd been sitting on earlier.

He sat down and refused to look toward the dance floor. How did he let himself keep reading things wrong? He'd told himself just before he walked outside, that he was gonna tell Dany the truth, that he still loved her. He sighed and closed his eyes.

Danielle meanwhile said goodbye to Dale. "Well don't be a stranger."

Dale smiled. "I'm sure I'll come through again."

He walked off, she looked around, having expected Coop to show up while she was speaking with Dale. She walked off the dance floor and back towards the house. When she got nearer she spotted Coop sitting alone where they'd rested earlier.

She frowned and made her way over. He didn't look up as she approached, only glancing up at her when she came to stand right in front of him.

Smiling sweetly, she spoke. "Ready to go, I think I'm really warmed up now."

He felt the stab of pain, but shrugged it off. It was his own fault for thinking she had wanted anything out of him tonight except dancing. She had just been riding the high of being done with school. That was the only reason she had been so happy with him earlier.

It didn't mean that he was the one in her heart, he never would be. He was tired of this feeling, like she was buried inside him at all times and yet, untouchable.

"On second thought, I think I'm gonna head back now. I'll see if someone's heading that way so you don't have to leave."

She couldn't have been more surprised if he grew a second head and taught it to whistle. "What?"

"That storm's coming, and I don't wanna impose on Adam and Kari by taking up the spare bedroom and the couch." He couldn't bring himself to look her in the eye. Otherwise he would have seen the sudden worry she felt.

She was past the point of caring about doing this gently. "What's wrong?"

He looked at her then, hurt clear on his face. "Nothings wrong, I'm just sick of this dance." A little too much honesty there. "It's getting late and the weather is gonna be lousy all night and tomorrow too probably"

She let her face turn hard for a second, wanting to scream at him to stop pushing her away. She was frustrated and she didn't know why he was being like this. Lowering her voice she started to say. "Can we just talk—."

He interrupted, his voice resolute and cold. "If you ask I'm sure they won't mind you staying, but I'm headed back."

He stood up, starting off towards the front door. She panicked and stepped in front of him, putting her hands on his chest.

"Cooper wait!" Her panic was palpable as she tried to make him look her in the eye.

She shouted it loud enough that everyone on the dance floor stopped to look at them. Both of them looked towards the couples, Cooper glared at them, then looked back at Danielle. He had nothing left. The day he had been dreading since he'd first been shot down by her had come.

When she looked back at him he looked defeated. Short of screaming her love from the rooftops she didn't know what to do. She wasn't even sure that would provide the desired result anymore.

"Let me grab my things."

He softened a little bit. "You don't have to leave with me Dany, if you wanna keep dancing go ahead, I'm sure there's someone here who'd love to dance with you."

She couldn't fathom what he was trying to infer, internally she screamed 'I only wanna dance with you, you horses ass!'

"I'm not letting you hitchhike or whatever you're planning to do to get back. If you really want to leave, we'll go."

He gave up trying to dissuade her, nodding instead. "Fine, I'll be at the car."

He walked off, around the side of the house. She stared after him for a long moment, before wiping something out of her eyes. A strong breeze came up and blew her hair around, signaling the storm had just begun.

* * *

Coop was already standing by the car by the time she came out. She'd explained to Kari and Adam that Coop wasn't feeling well. They'd both insisted the kids sleep over. Danielle had politely declined. Her mood told them something had happened.

Adam considered dragging Coop inside to suss out whatever was wrong. But while the man was fine with giving these two lovebirds the occasional push, trying to orchestrate their whole relationship was going a little bit too far.

He had faith they'd work it out, whatever it was. When Danielle got in the explorer Coop didn't immediately put on his seatbelt. She almost didn't say anything because of his attitude. 

She managed to keep the grumbly tone she felt out of her voice, mostly.

"Buckle up." He looked down, he'd been so busy feeling downtrodden he'd forgotten.

He fastened himself in and uttered. "Thanks." Even though he said it with all the dispassion he could muster, she was still relieved.

'Even if it's one syllable, it's something.'

As they started driving she was still trying to understand what the problem was. They'd literally been about to kiss before, then he left to help out loading stuff and came back in a tantrum. The rain started to come down even quicker than the updated projections. Even putting the wipers on the fastest setting she had to focus intently to see the road in front of her.