Page 56 of The One Before

Helena had mentioned a music festival. At least that lines up, but I need more. I need to believe Coop is telling me the whole truth. “And that’s it? She went to some festival and was never heard from again?”

“I don’t know.” He stands and paces between the bed and the bathroom. “I spent a good chunk of my college years trying to find out. My family hired private investigators. We tried to track her down. She was just… gone.”

“Did you cooperate with the police?”

“Of course. She was my girlfriend. She… she was the first girl I really loved, you know? Not like what we have, but I cared about her. I couldn’t stand the idea of her being in danger.” His cheeks are red and he’s on the verge of crying. Coop never gets emotional, and yet this conversation is bringing it out of him.

“Why wouldn’t you tell me about her? If she was this important to you, why wouldn’t you mention her?”

“Because at some point, I had to let go. It was driving me crazy. Thinking about her. Where she was. Where she might have ended up. I had to move on with my life.” He takes a deep breath and bites his fist. “I like to think she just walked away from me and everything. That she’s out there happy, living her life somewhere.”

“Is that what you think happened? That she just walked away?”

He stops walking and stands with his arms crossed. “No. I think some monster scooped her up from the music festival. Or maybe grabbed her from a gas station she visited on the way there. Maybe she had car trouble, and someone took her then. Or maybe she was hit by a car and someone panicked, got rid of her body.” His eyes are cold. “Trust me, Madison. Any sick scenario you can imagine happening, I’ve thought of it. I simplypreferto think she walked away from her life. That she’s alive and happy.”

It’s hard to see Coop grieve like this, to hear the unlocked possibilities that have tortured him over the years. I can’t imagine what that must be like. I don’t know what I’d do if one day Coop, the person I loved, failed to come home and I was never given a reason why. But he could have told me about this, just like he’d told me about every other major event in his life. Celia’s death. His father’s death. His love/hate relationship with this stupid town. Why hide Laura?

“You should have told me about her. We can overcome anything together, but only if you let me in.”

“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to look at me the way you’re looking at me now!” he shouts, stretching his arms in front of his body. “You think I had something to do with her disappearance.”

“I didn’t say that.” Not with words, at least. But this entire confrontation has been geared toward finding out if Helena’s suspicions about Coop are true. I can’t be sure. Because while I love the man standing in front of me, I don’t know the Cooper Douglas who once dated Laura Price. He didn’t give me that chance.

“It’s like I’m cursed. First Celia died. I thought I’d found happiness again with Laura, then she went away, too.” He’s crying now, not even attempting to shield his tears. “I just wanted the past to stay in the past.”

I understand that, wanting to walk away. It’s how I felt in Atlanta when my ‘Chrissy’ story was exposed as a lie. Or how I felt here when I learned people still believed my fiancé was responsible for Celia’s death. I’m about to attach my life to this person and all his prior indiscretions. Be his partner. Bear his children. I need to know everything I’m getting into, the good and the bad.

“I shouldn’t have found out about this from Laura’s mother. You should have told me.”

“I’m sorry for that,” he says, walking toward me. “I should have been upfront from the beginning, but it’s been so long since I thought about her. And I’ve not seen Helena in years.”

I scan the collection of pictures on the bed, finding it hard to believe he no longer thinks about Laura. I look at him and pull my legs closer to my chest. “Helena didn’t just tell me Laura went missing. She thinks you had something to do with it. She thinks you killed her.”

He rubs both sides of his face with his hands. “I know she thinks that. She’s no different from Celia’s mother. She’s grasping at straws, trying to find someone to blame. Any mother would be desperate for answers, and they think it must be the boyfriend, right?”

I look away. Most people would blame the significant other, especially if there’s a pattern. That’s what Helena sees, and I see it, too. “There’s nothing else you can tell me? Nothing else I need to know?”

“I never thought Helena would go to such lengths to try and destroy me. She was persistent in the years following Laura’s disappearance, then she just went away.”

“She didn’t go away! She’s inserted herself into our lives, and now I’m forced to defend my fiancé, not about one woman, but two!” I’m angry with Coop and Helena and everyone involved in this situation. I deserved all this information before I uprooted my life.

“I’m sorry, Madison. I’m sorry for what you must endure by being with me. But I love you. I love you more than anyone I’ve ever met.” Coop kneels in front of me. I try to wrestle away, but he won’t let me. He grabs my hands and holds them. “I hate myself for putting you through this, but you have to believe me. I didn’t harm Celia, and I don’t know anything about Laura. I love you, Madison. I’ll do anything to prove it.”

From downstairs, we hear banging on the front door. Coop stands quickly and looks out the window.

“Who is it?” I ask, afraid Helena has returned to confront Coop herself.

“Regina,” he says, annoyed. “She can wait.”

“No.” I stand, walking away from him and to the packed bag I’d hidden in the closet.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m getting out of here.”

“You can’t do that, Madison. You can’t leave.”

“I need time to process everything. Give me that.” I hold my hands in front of my body, trying to keep my distance. Downstairs, the banging continues. “She left her phone here last night. She’s not leaving until she gets it.”

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