Page 29 of The One Before

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Madison. I just hate you’ve had so much anxiety since we moved here.”

“In a lot of ways, what you went through explains why I fell in love with you. Why you’re guarded and thoughtful. But it’s not fair the people here were so cruel.”

“It wasn’t just the people here. Celia’s mother was the worst.” He drains his drink and stares at the fireplace. “The woman had a lot of problems, which is why Celia lived with her aunt. She was in no position to raise a child.”

“If they weren’t close, why was she so awful to you?” I understand she was Celia’s mother, but Coop makes it sound like parenting was more of an afterthought.

“Her mother was the queen of revisionist history. Some people gravitate to drama. Raising a young child didn’t sound like much fun to her, but grieving the loss of a teenager? That gave her a much-desired spotlight.” He takes a sip of his drink, flipping his hand through the air. “I know that sounds harsh, but it’s hard for me not to hold a grudge considering everything she put me through.”

“What did she do?”

“Celia’s mother exaggerated everything already being said. She’d listen to anyone, as long as that person was against me. When chasing down the media didn’t work to her advantage, she became more reckless. She started visiting Whisper and vandalized theGazettebuilding downtown. Showed up drunk to my mother’s house. It became so intense we took out a restraining order against her.”

“That’s terrible,” I say, squeezing Coop’s hand. He’s always been modest. It’s understandable why such public acts of ridicule would weigh on him.

“That’s part of the reason my parents hired their own team to look into the case. If they could prove Celia’s death was accidental, maybe her mother would stop harassing us.” He looks away, peeling back the layers of armor he’s built around the topic. “For a while, it worked. The last time I saw her was the worst. When I graduated college, Mom hosted a party at some Italian restaurant; it’s gone belly up since then, but it was the place to be back in the day. Anyway, everyone that was anyone in Whisper was there. Halfway through the night, Celia’s mom showed up and created a spectacle.”

“Spectacle?”

“She stumbled into the place and interrupted my mother’s speech, shouting, ‘He’s a liar,’ and ‘He’s a murderer.’ I’d never been so humiliated in my life. I can only imagine how my parents felt.”

“What happened?”

“The police were called. They arrested her, but my parents dropped the charges.”

“Why?” I ask, slamming my glass against the counter. “It sounds like this woman deserved a punishment.”

“She lost her daughter,” Coop says, looking away from me. “That’s punishment enough in one lifetime, even if she never deserved Celia in the first place.”

I admire Coop’s willingness to forgive. It’s harder for me to hear these stories and feel empathy. I love Coop. I’d rather someone lash out against me than him. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“I was so young then, still wrapped up in what others thought of me. What happened to Celia was a tragedy, but I didn’t cause it. Eventually, I realized I knew the truth and that’s all that mattered.” He pauses and smiles. “My family really stood by me through it all. They still do. At least I walked away knowing I’d always have someone in my corner.”

I smile too, having found a greater appreciation for his family. They can be meddlesome, but at least they support him. “And she hasn’t bothered you since?”

“It’s been years. Celia’s aunt doesn’t even live here anymore. The more time passes, the more the whole ordeal fades away.”

I don’t feel that way, but perhaps it’s because I’m hearing all this for the first time. I’m just now encountering these places and faces that forever colored Coop’s world. In time, maybe Celia Gray will fade from my thoughts, too. I won’t always feel connected to this beautiful girl I never met.

“I still worry sometimes though,” Coop continues, placing his empty glass on the table. “It’s hard not to be paranoid when an irrational person makes it their intent to ruin your life. A part of me worries she’ll never really be gone. That these long periods of silence are just her gearing up for her next move.”

“It’s been years since she did anything,” I say, trying to comfort him. “I’d say she’s moved on.”

“I’d like to think she’s off getting wasted somewhere, that Celia and I are nothing but distant memories to her now.” He squeezes my hand and looks away. “I guess only time will tell.”

Twenty-One

June 16, 2006

Regina arrived at the dock with the intention of being alone. When she saw Cooper and Celia, she groaned.

“Afternoon, Gina,” Celia said. She always pronounced the nickname with a long I, so that it rhymed with vagina.

Each time Regina heard this, her skin crawled. She wanted to lunge forward and scratch Celia’s pretty face, but she wouldn’t do that to Cooper. He was her older brother and she respected him. They were Douglases, and she respected that. Still, none of this made being around Celia Gray any easier.

“Don’t call her that,” Cooper said. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard Celia say it, but it was the first time Regina remembered him coming to her defense.

“I’m just kidding around,” Celia said, skidding her foot through the water and splashing Cooper. “We’re all friends here, right?”

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