Page 22 of One-of-a-Kind Bride

“What? Of course it is.”

“I don’t know, Taye. You and Coop have so much history together.”

She shook her head. “It would never work. Besides, I think he barely tolerates me.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that.”

Taylor peered out the window and saw Coop on bended knee speaking with his daughter, thoroughly engaging her in conversation. Taylor couldn’t hear what he was saying, but there was no mistaking the love between the two of them or the hero worship in Cassie’s eyes. Coop was meant to be a father, and she had no doubt he was a very good one.

“You can’t take your eyes off of him,” Julie said.

She gave her cousin a withering look. Was she serious? “Julie, do you want me to march my way back to New York on foot?”

“You know I don’t want you to leave. Ever.”

Taylor shrugged. “You’re impossible.”

“But you love me.”

“Like a bratty older sister.”

“I’m only older by two months.”

“And I never let you forget it.”

*

Coop had mixedfeelings about tearing down the gazebo. It held some really good memories for him. He’d spent a lot of time in this backyard, playing with the girls. They’d been a threesome, until one day in his seventeenth year it dawned on him that waiting for summer to arrive hadn’t just meant no school or homework or getting up early. It meant Taylor. Seeing her after a long separation, being with her during those hot, sultry Texas evenings, holding her hand, kissing her. He’d fallen hard for her, his heart open and bursting with love. It pained him that he’d had to work with his dad part-time that last summer, but it only resulted in his time with Taylor being more precious, more valuable. And they’d made every second count.

Now, his crew was ripping down that part of his past and hauling it away.

“Cassie, you be careful with that. Those planks have nails in them,” he called to her as she struggled with a partially full wheelbarrow.

“Okay, Daddy,” she called back.

He couldn’t resist smiling. She was determined, and strong, the beautiful result of the powerful love he had with Francine. Her memory, her spirit was always with him, reminding him how fragile life was. How one moment, he was doing something as mundane as deciding what to have for dinner, chicken or pork chops, and the next, a horrendous car crash takes her life. Francine had been vital and young and she hadn’t deserved what happened to her.

Her death was a shock, a blow that destroyed him. It had been his fault and he would always live with that guilt. After Francine passed away in the hospital, he’d had to break the news to Cassie. He’d had to tell her the unfair news that her mommy hadn’t survived the accident. She’d hung on for days but she just didn’t have any strength left. He’d had to tell his little girl her mommy wasn’t going to tuck her in at night. She wouldn’t be there for any more dinners, or baseball games, or school concerts. She wouldn’t be there to see her graduate from college or see her walk down the aisle at her wedding. It was a robbery, a cruel crime of events Coop had trouble dealing with, all the while trying to pretend to his daughter everything was going to be all right.

“Hey, boss,” Toby said, walking over holding something in his hand. “I found something in the gazebo remains. You might want to take a look at it.”

Coop came out of his thoughts to focus on what Toby was saying. “What’s that?”

“It’s a box of some sort, though it’s pretty beat-up. Looks like it’s handmade.”

Coop immediately recognized the box. It was the one he’d built for Taylor after that summer they’d made up the promise game. It was supposed to be Taylor’s treasure box, but they’d found it served a better purpose holding their yearly promises to each other. Those promiseshad beentheir treasures. They’d bonded them through the years. Julie had never wanted to participate in their game, and that’d been fine with them. Coop had crafted the box in his father’s barn, home of Cooper Construction, and had etched their initials into the oak, TP and RC, and then stained it a walnut brown. It had been a source of pride to him and something just between him and Taylor.

Coop stared at it for a few seconds before Toby handed it over.

“Do you know what it is?” Toby asked.

“Yeah, I do. Did you open it?”

“No, sir.”

“Fine. I’ll take care of it. I know…who it belongs to. Thanks.”

“Sure thing.”

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