Page 40 of The One Before

“What they said to each other was hurtful, but true. I tried my best to diffuse the situation.”

“Is that your role in all of this? Peacemaker?”

He laughs. “Tonight, I was. With siblings, you’re always switching roles.”

“You kept your cool tonight. It helped me keep mine.”

“The wedding is in eleven weeks,” Coop says, pulling me close. “Hopefully my family can avoid killing each other until then.”

“Speaking of the countdown,” I say, dancing my fingers across his chest. “Are we still going to make our little pact?”

Coop rolls his eyes. “Are you going to make me go through with it?”

Before the move, I’d suggested we agree not to sleep together in the weeks before the wedding. Modern relationships tend to lose the intrigue couples had in previous generations. It would be nice for our wedding night to feel special, different. Coop agreed to the idea, but it’s a harder promise in practice.

“Let’s give it a try,” I say, holding his hand. “Beth and Matt stopped sleeping together weeks before their wedding. Lots of couples do it. At this point, it’s one of the few traditions we have left.”

Coop smiles, looks down and releases a heavy sigh. “The countdown to the wedding just got a lot longer.”

“We still have time,” I say, kissing his lips. “According to my calculations, we have a few weeks before we start abstaining.”

“Let’s make the most of it.”

We shuffle up the stairs and push open the door. Within minutes, we’re disrobed and celebrating in a whole different kind of way. Afterward, Coop takes a shower. I pull on one of his hoodies, relishing in its masculine smell. All I can think about is how patient Coop is. How understanding. He’s the type of man to defend my honor, the type of man to diffuse his family tensions. He sees the best in others. The awful things people have said and written about him over the years couldn’t be further from the truth. Those people don’t know the real Coop Douglas, and it’s their loss.

Twenty-Nine

June 16, 2006

Celia stared at Regina with contempt. “You have the worst timing. Anyone ever told you that?”

“It’s my family’s dock,” Regina said, sheepishly.

“My family’s dock,” Celia mocked. “You think you’re special because of your parents? They don’t have enough money in this world to make you important in this town.”

“That’s not true,” Regina said, her voice stronger. “I’m important.”

“Yeah, right.” Celia hopped up, brushing debris from her legs.

“Cooper’s my brother. You could at least try to be nice to me.”

“Listen here, you little lezzy—”

“Don’t call me that,” Regina shouted. Why did Celia have to be so mean? Regina had never done anything to her except exist. She hated being labeled while she was still in the process of finding herself. Girls like Celia could never understand. It’s like they were born bloodsuckers. Cruelty came naturally to them. “You’re such trash.”

Celia’s jaw dropped, then she did something Regina never expected to be so painful: she laughed. The courage Regina had mustered to say those words had no effect on Celia. It was just another joke.

“Call me that again and I’ll knock the class out of you.” Celia took a step forward. “I don’t care if your brother is my boyfriend.”

“Which brother?” This time her words stung. She saw the light leave Celia’s eyes.

“What did you say?”

“I know you’re not cheating on Cooper with Steven Burns.”

Celia backed away from Regina, stepping closer to the dock’s edge. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes, I do. You think you can weasel your way into this family.” Regina stomped her foot on the dock, casting vibrations through the weathered wood. “I’ll never let that happen.” She stepped forward, tightening her fingers around the book.

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