Page 110 of Songbird: Black Kite
“Of course I’m not sure,” I replied, unbuckling my seat belt and reaching for the door. “But I’m still doin’ it.”
“We should just get her mother.”
“How would you like me to do that, Charlie?” I asked, turning to him. “You have her number?”
“You know I could get it.”
I did. Charlie could get anything I asked him to.
But there was still something inside me that was telling me I needed to be the one to talk to Cooper. I should be the one to explain my absence for the last fifteen years and answer any questions she might have. I wasn’t sure if Wren would agree with me, but my gut was telling me this was what I should be doing.
“I got it, Chuck,” I said, exiting the vehicle. “It’ll be alright.”
Closing the door, I picked my way across the rough grass, dodging logs and stumps while heading for the water’s edge. The school had a big rack containing a number of canoes in a fenced off area, and beyond that, some sort of storage shed that was locked up tight. I looked left and right, then figured that farther from people was better, and started walking in the direction that took me farther from the school. Once I passed the shed, the grassy area narrowed, forcing me deeper into the trees as I tried to keep the lake in sight.
I had only been walking for about three minutes when I found her, her small form seated on the ground, back against a tree trunk as she stared out over the water, a pair of headphones plugged into her ears.
She looked so lost, her knees pulled up to her chest tightly, as if she was trying to make herself smaller, to go unnoticed, and I hated that.
Cooper should be as bold and outrageous as she pleased, not hiding away in the woods, morose and alone.
I approached slowly, letting myself be seen well before I reached her so I didn’t startle her. When she noticed me, I was offered another of her eye rolls, and this time, I let myself smile.
When she didn’t get up and leave, I simply sat down, settling beside her and looking out over the lake as the sun continued to sink.
I knew she was waiting me out, wanting me to be the first to speak so that she could react, but I was prepared to be patient. After about five minutes, she finally tugged the headphones out, the heavy drums and guitar piquing my interest before she thumbed her phone and killed the music.
“Did she send you?”
“No,” I replied honestly. “She actually freaked out and told me to leave before rushing off to see if you went to church.”
Cooper snorted.
“I bet Pastor Groves is gonna love that conversation,” she snarked. “He already hates me. Can’t imagine what he’ll think if he believes I’m a teenage runaway.”
“Hates you? How the hell could anyone hate you? You’re awesome.”
“You don’t even know me,” she ground out, hugging her knees even tighter, her words striking me right in the chest.
“You’re right. I don’t. But I’d like to.”
“Why now?” she asked, getting straight to the point. “You had years to come see me. To get to know me. But you didn’t.”
“Cooper,” I said, my mind whirling with all the things I wanted to say and trying to pick the one that I thought Wren would actually approve of. “I’ll be honest with you. There’s a lot of stuff that has happened since the night I met your mom.”
“Thenight?” she gasped, gaping at me. “I am the product of a one-night stand?”
Fuck.
“Uh, I mean...”
“Oh, my god,” she whined, picking up her phone and typing rapidly. “This is insane.”
“Listen, Cooper,” I tried again. “I want to be as honest with you as I can, but I need to talk to you about something important first.” She paused her rapid typing, looking at me with suspicion. “My life is a bit, uh, crazy. There are some things you need to know, and I promise I’ll tell you everything, but it’s going to be important that you can keep our private lives private.”
“Right,” she huffed, sounding like she didn’t believe a word I was saying.
“You might hear some stuff about me, things I did or said in the past—”
