Chapter Seven

The next two and a half years played out like a highlight reel. As promised neither one of them mentioned the course of events leading up to his moving to Japan. 

Eventually they found a rhythm, to schoolwork, making time for shared interests. Each one got in the habit of silencing their phone before going to bed, only to wake up to a litany of pictures, videos and texts showing what the other one had already been up to that day.

For her sweet sixteen, Coop found out that a bakery they had loved as kids had been reopened a few counties away by the owner. Coop had paid to have Danielle's favorite delivered to her same day. He also had one packaged and shipped to him a few weeks in advance.

When she face-timed to thank him, he had his waiting; ready to share their favorite childhood treat together. He didn't tell her his cupcake had gotten stale. Or the expense he had gone to procuring them; the smile on her face was worth it.

Then she had surprised him on Halloween of all days. Coop had a fascination with the macabre, which had developed after his mother passed away. He was just enthralled by the supernatural, cryptids, aliens, ghosts, etc,..

And obviously he voraciously consumed horror movies, metal music, and any other entertainment which skewed towards the darker aspects of humanity. Of course when he was with Dany he'd go along with whatever movie she wanted to see or concert she was interested in.

She'd asked once why he was into that stuff. Coop told her he liked to imagine that the world wasn't as ordinary or mundane as it seemed.

And that it was a nice change of pace picturing a world where all the horrible things that happen to people are because of monsters you can fight and not diseases you can't even name. He had gotten real quiet after that. She'd quietly sat next to him and pulled him close in a hug.

So when all three of the creators of his favorite horror themed comic book character were in Dallas for a convention, she went and got their autographs. He had actually been introduced to the character when his mother had bought him the comic at a yard sale when he was much younger.

Being a Catholic, the sight of a skeleton riding a motorcycle while covered in fire had given her considerable pause. Once Coop had pointed out that the character used a power called the penance stare to punish the wicked she'd been all too happy to buy it. Coop had read it multiple times, and had started collecting the other issues after that.

When Dany called him from the convention center he was confused. Until she turned the camera to show her at the meet and greet table with them. She'd bought the comic that reintroduced the character after a long hiatus. Then she had gone to the convention so it could be signed. Coop couldn't believe she would go so out of her way for him like that.

Coop eventually worked it out with his aunt and uncle for Danielle to keep visiting the ranch when she got her license and started driving. His aunt had a friend who worked as a vet for them. She was allowed to come and observe when the vet would come to treat the animals in the field.

They had friends record their volleyball and wrestling matches so they could celebrate wins and cheer each other up after losses. When he went to watch the cherry blossoms fall, he would face-time her so she could experience it with him.

He couldn't attend any of the school dances, and she would put off going, saying that they held no interest to her. Coop would insist that even if she went stag with one of her friends who also didn't have a date, it was better than chatting with him at home.

He didn't try and convince her to find a date because well, he wasn't a masochist. Their respective dating lives was a topic of conversation that almost never came up.

* * *

A year after he left, a mutual friend of theirs named Katy shared a picture of herself and her boyfriend and Danielle and some boy Coop didn't know at the theater. They were in their seats waiting for the movie to start.

Katy next to Dany on one side and the guy Coop didn't know on the other. Dany's face said they had snapped the picture as soon as they got her attention.

Coop saw the photo, immediately turned off his phone and tossed it in a drawer. As if turning it off would negate what he saw being true. Then he took a minute to remind himself it was none of his business, and went about his day. With the information rolling around in his gut of course.

Since Coop had gotten a motorcycle, he had found an interest for the riding and upkeep of them. He'd even taken up riding dirt bikes at a rental track.

He went out riding with some friends he'd made and left his phone at home. Not just because of the photo but also because he just wanted to enjoy hanging out with his friends and riding. When he got home later that day, he turned it back on.

There were several missed calls and texts from Danielle. Not that she didn't call and text him daily, but this was a bit much. It looked like she'd started trying to contact him almost as soon as the picture had been posted. 

Just after he'd managed to turn his phone off. Why would she be trying to get a hold of him while she was suppose to be watching a movie? Sometimes that girl made no sense, and yes, that was part of why he loved her.

He idly wondered if she was going to break it to him that she had started dating the guy in the photo. Even if she brought it up, it was only his business as much as she wanted it to be he told himself.

He decided ripping the band aid off was the best course of action and immediately called her back. It rang for only a second or two before he remembered it was one in the morning back home and went to hang up, before a far too energetic Dany answered. "Coop?"

He brought the phone back to his ear. "Yeah, it's me sorry, I spaced what time it was there and decided to call you back. Sorry if I woke you up."

He heard something moving around in the background on her end. Was she with the guy right now, in the middle of the night? He squeezed his eyes shut and grit his teeth. 'None of my business.'

As if reading his mind, Danielle spoke. "No, I was up, sorry, Nanook is trying to climb up on me at the moment. Down Nanook, go to your bed."

He could hear the dog panting as it attempted to scramble up onto Danielle's lap. Nanook was the German Shepherd her mother had gotten her after the divorce. Her mother had gone back to her maiden name, Ms. Stewart.

They already had a firearm in the house in case of a break in. The dog still made both of them feel safer though. Coop breathed a little sigh of relief internally that it was just the dog.

Dany's voice had a bizarre amount of, he wasn't sure, concern maybe, when she spoke. "I tried calling and texting you but never heard back."

Coop went to rub the back of his neck, grimacing a little bit at his own cowardice in abandoning his phone. "My bad I went riding with some buddies and left my phone at home by accident." He hoped it sounded convincing enough. "So, what were you calling about earlier?"

Danielle stuttered for a moment. "Oh, right, well I was just seeing what you were gonna be up to tomorrow."

Coop felt suspicious, as if she had been rushing to get a hold of him earlier with no actual purpose in mind. "Not sure, it is the one day of the week I don't have any plans or obligations, I might go for a ride early in the morning along the coast. Was there something you needed?"

Danielle sounded a little miffed when she responded. "No, I just, I was gonna say there's this new sci-fi movie out. It's the one where the colonists have to stop their ship from blowing up. You should check that one out."

Coop felt his jaw clench before he realized he was doing it. He distinctly remembered her friend tagging the movie they were seeing.

'Did she really just recommend the movie she went to some guy with?'

He put every ounce of willpower he had into sounding natural. "Oh yeah, have you seen it yet?"

"Yeah, Katy asked me to go with her." There was that super energetic vibe again, almost like she was reading from an all too rehearsed script. "Turns out her boyfriend Dan, you remember him, right? Well, he came, and I guess Dan asked his friend Ryan to come along too."

Cooper immediately removed Katy from the mutual friend category. He didn't even care how petty it sounded. He really didn't want to be having this conversation, but he couldn't stop himself from asking. "Oh, so like a double date?"

Dany's voice was emphatic when she answered. "No, and I made it clear to Katy I didn't appreciate being blindsided either."

"Wow, so did you make a big scene and storm out in a huff?" He knew he was pushing his luck. But he figured he might as well have a tiny bit of fun at her expense considering he'd been agonizing over this all day.

She responded in a somewhat meek tone. "No, I mean I get she was just trying to be nice. I didn't wanna make things too awkward."

Coop chimed in, forcing his voice to sound upbeat. "I get that, so did you at least like the movie?"

He knew under no circumstance would it be acceptable to ask whether she liked this Ryan guy. It at least sounded like she hadn't enjoyed being set up on a blind date.

"Not really, I mean it had good special effects, but the story was kind of weak."

Coop scrunched his face up in thought and laughed. "So, you didn't like it all that much, but you still think I should check it out?"

He heard a bit of stammering and possibly even a swear word or two on the other end. "I mean I know you really like those huge outer space explosion movies. So maybe you'll like it more than I did."

"You're saying there's a huge explosion, like that ship you were talking about blows up?" This was too much fun.

A long moment came and went before she responded in a much more relaxed tone. "You're a horse's ass!" He laughed until his stomach hurt, she wasn't amused. "Are you done?"

He wiped a stray tear out of his eye. "Yeah, I'm good."

She sounded a lot less nervous, and only slightly annoyed. "Well, if you do end up going to see it let me know what you think."

"I will, let me know if you guys come up with any other recommendations." He honestly hadn't meant it to sound like he was bitter, but the second the words left his mouth he realized he sounded more than a little jealous. Another brief pause from Danielle before she said matter of factly.

"You'll be waiting a long time. I don't think I'll be accepting any invites from her for a while."

They said their goodbyes and Coop sat on his bed. Had she really gone to all that trouble just to avoid him getting jealous? She must have known he'd seen the photo. Why did it matter to her if Coop assumed she was dating someone? Again, the girl didn't make sense sometimes. Unless, nah, not even worth considering.

* * *

Several months later one of Cooper's friends from his Japanese wrestling club asked him a favor. His older sister, Amaya, was a former idol turned actress. Her boyfriend had broken up with her just before she was due to attend a premiere for her new film. It was a big story in all the forums and magazines.

He had met Amaya when she'd come to cheer on her brother at one of their competitions. He barely knew enough Japanese to be conversational. Luckily, she spoke fluent English, so he was spared from trying to fumble his way through.

He was just being asked to escort her to the party. To help her save face and shift the story away from her very public breakup. He felt sympathetic to her plight, and honestly the thought of someone thinking he would make good eye candy felt pretty good.

In the year and some change since he'd left home he had hit six feet in height, and his previously lanky frame was now more sculpted.

His dad had kept his promise of putting him to work, even making him a paid employee of the company. It helped with his Visa, and he liked the pace. Sometimes he followed his dad around learning the fine points.

Sometimes he worked in odd areas around the rig where help was needed. The work, combined with the rigorous training he did for wrestling and martial arts meant he had what most would consider an impressive physique.

He agreed to take her and thought nothing else of it at the time. When the time came the night started off well enough. They showed up to the event, pictures were taken and whispers about the foreigner on her arm were hushed back and forth between attendees. 

Then he stood to the side as the photogs snapped photos of her and they went inside.

He even did his best to engage in small talk with people, apologizing for his limited vocabulary when necessary. He sat dutifully during the official proceedings. It was when the party portion of the event began that things got interesting.

Even though there were some underage guests, the event still had drinks on hand. Namely waiters with champagne walking around. At one point Amaya excused herself to the lady's room. After ten minutes had passed Coop went to check on her out of concern.

He found her on a small couch down the hallway from the ladies room, drinking a glass of champagne. Two empty glasses sitting next to her. Her eyes were red and slightly teary. He imagined she'd been having a good cry in the restroom before running across one of the waiters and clearing his tray.

"Amaya, are you okay?"

She nodded, even as she downed the rest of her champagne. "Yes Cooper-San, thank you, I just needed to clear my head, the space is too loud right now."

Cooper offered his arm pointing further down the hallway to a pair of glass doors. "Would you like to get some fresh air?"

He figured maybe the brisk air would help her sober up. She nodded her head and took his arm, standing easier than he assumed she would be able to. He led her outside to a long balcony with a view of the downtown area. He took off his jacket and put it over her shoulders.

"Thank you." She said, wrapping it around herself.

He nodded without saying anything. He took a moment to admire the view. Turning back to Amaya he saw that she was crying. He moved to stand in front of her. Not wanting to embarrass her he tried to cover for the display of emotion. "If the wind is bothering you, we can go back inside."

She shook her head. "No, thank you Cooper. I am just dwelling on the past."

He nodded, making a big show of stretching his arms. "Well don't get too comfortable, because that is very much my territory. And it sucks when you have company." He smiled, trying to lighten the mood.

She used a tissue to dab her eyes, giving him a faint smile in return "Is there someone who occupies a space in your heart as well?"

Cooper chuckled, looking out over the city again and crossing his arms. "Space? Honestly it feels like I'm just borrowing the thing from her sometimes."

Amaya moved to sit in one of the chairs lining the tables. Cooper put his back to the table across from her to deflect some of the wind. "Is she not here in Japan with you?"

Cooper shook his head. "No, she's back in Texas. We're not together, as a couple I mean."

He took a long pause, saying the next part for his benefit more than hers. "Just friends."

Amaya frowned, wrapping the jacket tighter around her. "Have you not told her of your feelings?"

Cooper didn't move, only answered in a lowered voice. "I have, but she doesn't feel the same. There was also a misunderstanding, that's when I decided to come with my father to Japan. It was a way to move on and put all of that behind me."

She smiled knowingly. "And that is going well for you, moving on?"

He cocked his head and clicked his tongue against his teeth. "Well, it's kind of a work in process, so I'll have to check back with you on that." His tone was light hearted yet hollow sounding.

An awkward silence ensued, both dwelling on their own love problems. Cooper broke the silence, crouching down so that he was resting on his haunches, putting him at eye level with her.

"Amaya, if there's something weighing on your mind, I'm all ears."

She gave a rueful glance down. "As you know, I am no longer with my boyfriend, he said he could no longer handle all of my obligations. I was already working when we met, in fact it is how our paths crossed. His father directed one of my films, he would visit his father on set, and we started having conversations when I wasn't shooting."

Cooper took his station back against the table. "That's sweet."

A wistful smile flashed across her face. "Yes, it was, but recently he has come to resent the work that his father, and I do as well. He does not like being in the public eye. He decided that he could no longer put up with the stresses that dating me entails, sharing me with everyone as he put it. He said the stress of always being expected to perform as a couple was too much."

Cooper looked at her. "I'm sorry."

Amaya looked him in the eye. "Thank you." Instead of deflecting or rejecting his concern she appreciated it. She shivered slightly, adjusting the jacket again.

Coop pushed off the table to stand in front of her. "Ready to go back inside?"

Amaya nodded, standing and allowing Coop to lead her back inside. Afterwards she was far more relaxed. At one point they even went out on the dance floor. At the end of the night, when her driver pulled up outside of his house, Amaya kissed him on the cheek.

Though she smiled at him her eyes still looked sullen. "Thank you, Cooper, for accompanying me tonight. I really did have a lovely time."

Cooper returned the smile. "I did as well Amaya. Thank you for allowing me to see more of Tokyo."

He moved to get out of the car when Amaya added. "When you return to America I hope the woman you speak of is there; waiting to greet you with a smile."

Cooper felt like she was speaking of a secret between women, clueless as he was about them. He thought to wish her luck with her ex-boyfriend but realized it would be improper to do so. "From your mouth to gods ears." He half chuckled, half grunted. "Thank you Amaya, have a good night."

Cooper stepped out of the vehicle and watched as it drove down the street. He looked up at the stars and realized even though there was no romantic pretext to the night, it was his first actual date, wasn't it?

Every time he and Danielle had gone out, it was always as friends. But tonight he had taken a beautiful girl to a fancy party where they had danced and had a heartfelt conversation. But it still wasn't really a date, was it? A date was two people mutually interested in each other going out to get to know each other better.

"I can't even get a girl to go on an actual date with me when I travel thousands of miles away from home."

He said it out loud, just so he could really enjoy how much of a loser he was. Not that he had actively been looking, what was the point when he would be headed home within a few years.

Between his still limited ability to speak the language, and the fact that he knew a long-distance relationship probably wouldn't work at his age, so he opted to forgo romantic pursuits.

It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he wasn't over Danielle yet, he was adamant about that. He was interrupted from his thoughts by his phone ringing.

He pulled it out of his pocket and saw it was Danielle, he looked at the clock and effortlessly calculated the time change, seven in the morning her time. 'It's Sunday, she's getting ready for church, probably.'

He answered and brought the phone up to his ear. "You're still in your PJ's aren't you?" 

He smirked to himself, imagining her looking down at her flannel outfit and making a face.

"No, I don't wear pajamas to bed anymore." His plan immediately backfired as he was left to ponder and possibly fantasize. 'What is she wearing then?'

"What are you doing right now?" She didn't sound inquisitive, so much as accusatory. He looked down at himself and around the entrance to the property.

"Currently I am standing outside my house wondering why you called." He idly wondered if she had started buying weed off his sister.

"You're just now getting home, isn't it almost midnight?"

He furrowed his brow. 'What is with her all of a sudden.' "I guess if you consider 10:00PM close to midnight, sure. I just got back from a party."

"Mmmhmm." Again with the accusing tone.

Cooper strained his ear comically. "I'm sorry, was there a sentence in there I didn't catch?"

Danielle cleared her throat, it sounded almost comical. "I'm just making sure you aren't getting into trouble. You have a little over a year left there and I'd hate for you to get locked up or something. I mean you ride around on a motorcycle doing martial arts and shiz. You're practically an after-school special waiting to happen."

Cooper had a good chuckle. "You do realize I don't practice martial arts while riding right. I wait until after I show up somewhere? Anyways, I'm just getting home because one of my good friends from wrestling asked me to do his sister a favor and attend a party with her tonight."

Queue a chilly pause from the other side of the line. "Well that was nice of you."

"Her boyfriend just broke up with her, so I guess they hoped her showing up with a new guy on her arm would make a bigger scandal, especially a westerner." 

Cooper opened the door leading into the property, walking over and sitting on the porch. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, is she nice?"

She was not in fact sorry to hear that. Okay maybe a little, she wasn't a monster. As long as it meant Coop wasn't out on a date with another girl. Did that make her petty, or extremely petty, she wasn't sure.

Cooper leaned back, bracing himself with one arm and holding the phone with the other.

"She is, though she's understandably upset at the moment. I mostly just tried to distract her from being sad, and keep her away from the champagne."

"Champagne, how old is she?" That tone sounded almost jealous.

Cooper tried to remember if he'd ever heard Amaya say her age. "I don't think she's that much older than us. I'm gonna say 19? I think it was more the waiter not being able to say no to a former Idol."

"Idol, what's that?"

Cooper leaned forward, using his now free hand to pop a few of the buttons on his dress shirt. "It's a kind of catch all term for young actresses, singers and models here."

Her voice took on an odd false tone of enthusiasm. "Wow, so you got to go out with a hot older girl who just so happens to be some big deal pop singer there; how's her music?"

He began laughing. "I've never heard it. Could sound like a group of banshees for all I know."

Danielle sounded more relaxed when she responded. "Well, I'm glad she had you there to look out for her."

Cooper looked like he might blush. "With your attitude earlier, I half expected you to accuse me of something lewd."

"Nah, not you, you can take the boy out of Texas, but you can't take Texas out of the boy."

Coop stood up, continuing to undo his shirt buttons. "Well, I think I'll grab a shower before I turn into a pumpkin, since it's so dangerously close to midnight."

"Shut up dummy!"

They both laughed, Cooper took his arm out of one sleeve and transferred the phone to the other hand so he could do the other. "Oh, you never said why you called?"

Something rustled around on the other end. "I..I don't remember, it's not important."

He finally got his shirt off. "Okay, I'll see what you're up to tomorrow, maybe we can have a watch party or something."

"Alright, night Coop."

"Night Dany."

When he woke up hours later, while brushing his teeth he saw people had messaged him because the photos of him and Amaya arriving together were posted online. He had been tagged by several friends, in Japan and then America when they came across his feed.

There was one photo that showed him with his arm loosely wrapped around Amaya's waist, resting on her hip. He had been hesitant when pointedly asked by her producer whether he was comfortable taking photos.

The man had implored upon him the necessity to make it appear as if Amaya was moving on so the rumor mill would settle down and she could go back to a somewhat normal routine.

Amaya herself had also asked him apologetically if he was comfortable faking it for the cameras. He'd agreed because it wasn't as if he was being asked to make out with her, not that she wasn't pretty. He saw that the picture had been uploaded an hour after it had been taken. 

Of interest to him, the page, which belonged to some magazine in Tokyo, was followed by several of his friends in Tokyo, as well a few back home, including Danielle.

He figured she must have seen the photo and decided to follow out of mild curiosity. For the event Coop had even agreed to cut his hair, he had maintained the mop of hair he'd had on his head for years now and felt like a change.

They had an actual stylist cut it, shorter than he'd had it in years. Some of his friends joked that he looked like Superman.

One friend had commented on how good the new style looked, and Danielle had liked the comment. He rode that high for at least a week.

* * *

His last year there passed by so fast that when his dad told him he'd booked his flight home, he couldn't believe it. Danielle had texted him that day to say she would be out at the ranch. Depending on where on the property she was there wouldn't be service.

Otherwise, he would have called her to chat before he started packing. He had done a lot of sightseeing the past six months. Stuff normal tourists would do and certain things only a nerd like him would think of. He'd even picked up some souvenirs for family and friends.

His father was out of the house at the moment. Having a meeting with his counterpart from the Japanese company they were working with. She was a pleasant woman that Coop had met on a few occasions when his father had dragged him to official functions.

Obviously, he wasn't bringing a priceless sword back for grandpa, but had picked up a yukata for him to wear around the house. For Dany he'd grabbed a hairpin made out of Jade, he questioned whether it was an appropriate gift then decided to hell with it.

Oddly enough he had made some headway in putting his feelings for Danielle behind him the last twelve months there. It wasn't that his feelings had changed. But he now accepted the futility in holding that torch.

That night escorting Amaya had opened his eyes, how both her and her ex had broken up because of an all or nothing mindset. He understood that in order to protect his and Danielle's friendship things couldn't be the way they were before.

They were too close for him to feel comfortable. The bond they shared and playful affection which they had shared in their youth, couldn't translate to them as adults. He just needed enough distance between them in order to not fall back into those feelings. Right then his phone rang. He stopped what he was doing and grabbed it off his desk. 

'Speak of the devil.'

He pressed the answer button and put it on speaker. "Bob's house of beef, this is Bob, want some beef?"

He heard laughing on the other end. "You are a child."

He went back to folding his laundry "Well this child just got informed that his ticket back to Texas has been purchased."

She shouted, then he heard her apologize to someone. "Sorry, did you say you got your ticket home?"

Coop nodded to himself. "Yeah, next week, I should be arriving around six o'clock Friday night. I am currently packing stuff I know I won't need between now and then."

"Do you want me to come pick you up at the airport?" She blurted it out so quickly he was stunned.

Cooper thought about it and frowned. He would like to see her when he landed, but picking someone up like that was something couples would do. And he was committed to trying to go forward without any misconceptions about their relationship.

"I think grandma and grandpa are gonna fix me a coming home dinner. If you want you could just meet me at their house. I should be there around seven."

It's not like he was going to ignore her or not spend time with her. But say she wanted to catch a movie, he would make sure to purchase tickets to a matinée instead of a nighttime showing.

Obviously no rom-coms or anything like that. If they saw a band, he would invite more people and make it a group thing.

"Yeah, I guess I could do that, if that's what you want?"

Any activity that could be seen as romantic or intimate, he was going to do what he could to bring it back to something mundane. Just until he got used to being around her again. If he came back and immediately started spending all his time with her, he might backslide.

Danielle was a hot tub, and he needed to dip his toes in and acclimate before he could handle submerging his whole body. And that sounded way more pervy than he had intended.

"Yeah, I mean I don't want you to have to waste gas coming to pick me up."

"You've been gone three years, how is it a waste for a friend to come pick you up?"

He might be overdoing it, but he recalled what Amaya had said about his love waiting for him when he got off the plane and he got a lump in his throat. "I just mean I'll have luggage to pick up, and if we take too long my grandparents will be by themselves, this way you can chit chat with them until I get there."

"Fine."

He could tell she wasn't happy about it and tried to change topics. "Are you still at the ranch?"

"Yeah, we had a heifer having trouble birthing a calf. We had to ride out to her, one of the new ranch hands is driving me back."

Cooper continued folding his laundry, trying to appear disinterested. "Oh, who is it?"

"Dale, he's only been on a few months, so you've never met, at least I don't think." Coop nodded to himself.

"Well, I guess that'll change before too long. I'm gonna go ahead and finish my pre-packing, I have two goodbye parties before I leave and I've still gotta contact the school and talk to the DMV about reciprocity for my license."

"Okay, I'll talk to you later."

Cooper walked over and bent down to speak directly into the phone. "Later gator." 

"Bye!"

Danielle hung up her phone, sliding it into her pocket. Dale, the man who worked for Coop's aunt and uncle spoke up. "That was Adam and Kari's nephew, Coop, right?"

Danielle nodded, lowering her head, letting her hair fall so it would hide the smile threatening to strain her cheeks. 'He's finally coming home!'

She let out a contented sigh, Dale glanced her way. "I'm sure the family will be glad to have him home."

Danielle nodded. "Yeah, he's been gone too long."

She looked out the window, thinking back over all the time he'd been away. So much had changed, between her helping on the ranch. Her and her mom being on their own. Not to mention her decision about their future together, she'd done a lot of soul searching. When you're sure of something you take it for granted. You think it'll never leave your side and then it does. There was so much she wanted to say to him, she hoped he would be willing to hear it.

* * *

Cooper stood outside the airport terminal. He'd already checked his bags and now he was saying goodbye to his father. Jack was collecting his thoughts, something that was very out of the norm. He was usually a calm and collected individual.

"When I asked you what you thought about giving Christine the house as a wedding present, you said you didn't care as long as it stayed in the family. Even though the wedding isn't for a while I decided you deserved something for how you've stepped up for this family.

"The company owns a building, it's that one with the Chinese restaurant renting space from us. Most of the floors are used for storage or for old files now. The top floor has a loft apartment that your uncle used to stay in. It's gone unused for a long time. I talked to your grandfather and were giving you the top floor, including the apartment.

"The company owns it outright, so the space is yours for as long as you want. You gave up your independence to come here so I figure this'll make up for that and let you stretch your legs a bit."

Coop did his best to hide his excitement, he'd assumed he'd be stuck in the dorms. After Christine and her soon to be hubby moved in.

He had actually been wary about moving back in next to Danielle for any length of time. Their near conjoined physical proximity was just another aspect of their co-dependent relationship he needed to put behind him.

Because at some point he was certain she would find someone she could fall in love with. When that happened the damage would be minimized. "Thanks dad!"

Jack started to speak and stopped, something that didn't happen to him much. He started again.

"Your grandpa didn't hand out praise much growing up. His way of showing he cared was a roof over our heads and a full belly. He's not a harsh man by nature, but he treated us like troops more than his children because that was the way he became accustomed to.

"That changed when we became adults, I think he saw too much of himself in us and he finally learned to open up more. I realize now I put a lot on your shoulders, because you and your sister are what I have to offer this family."

Jack took a moment and then put his hand on Coop's shoulder. "I'm proud of you son, I wish your mother were here to see the man you've turned into."

Coop was taken aback. He couldn't remember his father talking about his mother, not since after her funeral. Jack hadn't uttered her name since he stood in front of their family and eulogized his late wife. Coop stepped forward and hugged his father. He clapped his dad's shoulder after a moment.

Stepping back he used the back of his hand to swipe away an errant tear. "Well let's not use up all of our warm fuzzy quota for the year, you still got a bride to give away."

Jack smiled, nodding his head. "Right, we don't want you to miss your flight, make sure to give everyone my best." Coop walked inside the terminal, confident in the future.