Nicole Edwards - Chasing Dreams

“Trust. It’s too hard to trust anyone. The only person I should’ve ever trusted was Richie.” Nothing short of the truth. Richie had loved her, protected her. He had never hurt her.

“Remember that time when you and Richie broke up and you found him talking to Annie Metcalfe?”

Glaring over at Izzy, Tessa’s mouth fell open. “Are you serious right now?”

Izzy stared back at her like she’d lost her mind. “You didn’t trust him either, did you?”

Shit. No. Not after that. But they were just dating, and they were teenagers, and it didn’t matter anyway. Her brain was getting carried away, the alcohol buzzing and making the memories fuzzy. Was that what it was? Were her memories of Richie just that fuzzy that she only thought he was perfect.

“He wasn’t, Tessa. You and I both know he wasn’t perfect. No one is.”

Oh, crap. Had she said the words out loud?

“You’ve got to give Cooper a chance to explain,” Izzy said, her cool hand on Tessa’s arm a reassuring gesture.

“I gave him a chance, Iz,” Tessa admitted a few minutes later. “He broke my heart, but I gave him a chance.”

Izzy’s arms flew around Tessa, and she let her friend hug her for long minutes. The pain was there, but the vodka had at least dulled it. Tessa knew it was only temporary, but for now, she’d take it.

There would be more time later to let the crushing weight of another broken heart consume her.

* * *

Cooper pulled his hat off of his head and thrust his fingers through his hair. He’d been standing in the parking lot with Marcus for the last half hour arguing with him. Not that it was doing a damn bit of good. If Marcus was anything, he was stubborn.

Then again, so was Cooper.

“I’m not going back,” Cooper restated, unsure why Marcus couldn’t just grasp the concept.

“Unacceptable,” Marcus barked. “I’m tired of playing these fucking games with you, man. You’re coming back to Nashville because we’ve got obligations. You can’t just run away.”

“Bullshit,” Cooper growled, forcing his hat back on his head and closing the gap between him and his manager. “I can do whatever the fuck I want to do. I know what my obligations are, and I fully intend to take care of them.”

“How?” Marcus exclaimed. “How the fuck do you plan to do that all the way out here in bumfuck nowhere?”

Cooper abruptly turned away. He had to calm down because the repercussions if he didn’t certainly were not worth it. He was seconds away from planting his fist in Marcus’ too perfect face.

Obviously his manager understood he needed to give him a minute because he let him be. Finally, when Cooper turned back to face him, he noticed the cocky smirk on Marcus’ face which was almost enough to send his fist flying.

“You don’t have anything keeping you here,” Marcus told him, the taunting smile on his face didn’t disappear.

“I’ve got more here than I do in Nashville,” Cooper told him. He had everything keeping him there. Namely Tessa. And the farm. After the last few days, Cooper wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to go back to where he came from. Not if it meant he would risk losing Tessa for good. He couldn’t even picture it in his mind.

“I do know that,” Marcus said snidely. “You know that little girl in there that you’ve been making it with?”

Cooper’s hands immediately balled into fists, but he forced them to remain at his sides. “Don’t do it, Marcus. Don’t you dare disrespect her like that,” he growled.

“That’s all moot, my friend,” Marcus said with a bigger grin. “Ten bucks said she hightailed it out of there after she found out that this is a consistent thing for you.”

Cooper’s heart pounded against his ribs. Once, twice. The roaring in his ears deafened him as he stared back at the asshole manager he should’ve fired years ago. “You didn’t.”

“I did,” Marcus confirmed. “It’s a phase, Coop. You know it. I know it. Now she knows it. It’s time to get back to reality.”

Cooper’s vision was hazy, a red film shading the world in front of him. “This is my reality,” he ground out.

“Is that what you said last year? You remember the time, don’t you, Coop? Does Arkansas ring a bell?”

Cooper turned away, pacing the parking lot and hoping like hell he could rein in his temper before he pounded Marcus into the gravel.

“That wasn’t the same thing, and you fucking know it,” Cooper declared, not bothering to look Marcus in the eyes.

God, he needed to get inside to see Tessa. He needed to talk to her. To explain. What happened in Arkansas wasn’t the same as this. In fact, it was completely the opposite. Not that she would believe him.

“Ahhh, but see the details are irrelevant,” Marcus told him. “What’s important is that you get back to Nashville, and we’ll move on like this never happened. You’ve got an album to make, and you can’t do that from here.”

Cooper stopped pacing. He took a deep breath and turned to look at Marcus. “You’re fired,” he stated with every ounce of pent up frustration that boiled in his gut.

Marcus’ eyes widened, but for the first time since he showed up, the man didn’t have a comeback.

Grabbing his phone off of his belt, Cooper didn’t wait for Marcus to respond. It was over. He should’ve fired him years ago. And now that he had, the weight of the world seemed to lift off of his shoulders. He dialed the familiar number, listened as it rang twice.

“Hey, boy.” David Krenshaw’s powerful voice reverberated through the phone.

“Dad,” he greeted his father. “Remember the last time we talked? When I said I might be looking for a new manager?” Cooper didn’t wait for his father to answer before he continued, “You still interested?”

“You son of a bitch,” Marcus’ words echoed through the parking lot. “You’re gonna regret this!”

Cooper didn’t react to Marcus’ rant, knew it wouldn’t make a difference if he did. Marcus Evergreen was a vindictive son of a bitch and yes, firing him was bound to have some repercussions, but at this point, Cooper would much rather deal with those than to deal with the man himself.

Focusing his attention on the conversation with his father, Cooper filled him in on what was going on. Both his mother and father knew exactly where he was. They both knew what he was doing even, and they’d been supportive ever since he called them when he had been on the road to Texas, not even knowing then what he was set out to do. In fact, Cooper had talked to them every day since.

After Cooper gave his father the specifics of his location, they hung up. At least his best interests would be taken care of at this point. Now, he just had to figure out how to fix what Marcus had already broken. And then he had to prepare himself for the aftermath that was sure to come.

“Where is she?” Cooper asked a seriously pissed off Eric a few minutes later. He had come inside the bar to find her gone. To confirm his suspicions, he had made a beeline for the back door. When he didn’t find her truck, he knew she’d run away.

Damn that Marcus.

“You need to leave her alone,” Eric ground out, his eyes spitting fire.

Cooper sighed heavily. He didn’t want to do this right now. He appreciated the defensive friend routine, but he needed to talk to Tessa before she had time to come up with a million scenarios that weren’t even close to the truth.

“I just need to talk to her,” Cooper explained, trying to keep his composure. He was already pissed off, the last thing he needed was to go rounds with someone he would like to consider a friend.

“Give her a break.” Eric’s tone was almost pleading. “She’s been down this road before and I don’t want to see her go through it again.”

Down what road? Cooper doubted Eric had a clue what actually went on, but he wasn’t going to hang around and try to explain either.

“I’m out,” Cooper declared as he retrieved his truck keys from his pocket and headed back in the direction he came in. More than likely, Eric was going to warn Tessa that he was coming, but he didn’t have much of a choice. If she wasn’t at her house when he got there, he didn’t have any problems waiting for her until she showed up.

Ten minutes later he was pulling into Tessa’s driveway. Her truck was there. And so was she because he could see her sitting on the front porch. With Izzy.

Great. Not exactly what he wanted to have to deal with tonight. If Eric was defensive, he could only imagine what her best friend was going to be like.

Taking his time and trying to collect his thoughts, Cooper slowly got out of the truck. Not that it mattered because the second his feet hit the ground, Izzy was standing directly in front of him. He ground his back teeth together, reluctant to say anything until he got the chance to talk to Tessa first.

“You need to talk to her,” Izzy said, sounding surprisingly calm. “I don’t know what happened, and don’t ask me why, but I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt.”

Staring down at the tiny woman, Cooper battled the urge to glance over at Tessa.

“You don’t know all that she’s been through, but I can assure you that it’s more than she ever should have. I don’t know what she is to you, but… Just make this right, Cooper.”

The plea in Izzy’s voice clutched at Cooper’s heart. He nodded his head in understanding, unable to find any words. He waited as she turned to go back toward her house, but before he moved even one step, Izzy was turning back to him.

“Oh! And she’s drunk. So, um… good luck with that!”

Why did it sound like Izzy was laughing at him?

Cooper didn’t make any sudden movements. He took his time getting to the porch, petting the dogs when they came out to greet him. Surprisingly, Tessa was still sitting on the porch swing, but she had yet to look his way.

Drunk, huh? This was going to be interesting.

As he approached the porch, he said hello but was met with silence. So she was going to be stubborn as well? Why would that surprise him? Figuring he’d let her be the first to say something, he moved up the stairs and then propped himself up against one of the cedar posts that held up the roof over the porch. He never took his eyes off of Tessa, unless glancing down to see the half empty bottle of vodka sitting on the ground by her feet counted.

“Did you have a good conversation with Marcus?” she asked after several long minutes of silence.

“I don’t think you could describe it as good, but yeah, I talked to him,” he answered honestly.

“So when are you leaving town?” she asked, her words coming out slurred. She might appear to be stone cold sober, but she was certainly intoxicated. That was likely the reason she hadn’t stood up yet. He’d bet money that her world would tip sideways once she did.

He waited until she looked at him before he answered. “I’m not going anywhere, Tessa.” It was the truth. As far as he was concerned, Devil’s Bend was his new home and he had no intention of leaving.

He was going to wait for his father to call him back next week to figure out the logistics, but he’d been adamant that this was where he wanted to be. Then again, if Tessa tossed him to the curb, Cooper might have to rethink that decision. As sure as he looked at her now, he knew that he probably wouldn’t be able to spend the rest of his life in the same town as she was if he couldn’t have her all to himself.

“Well, you should. Probably a nice woman waiting for you in the next town you sneak off to.”

Cooper didn’t say anything. That’s the story Marcus had told her and right now, with her being drunk, he knew it wasn’t going to go well if he told her the truth. Which he fully intended to do. Tomorrow. When she woke up beside him.

“I’ve got some things to explain to you, Tessa,” he began and held up his hand when she started to interrupt. “And I fully intend to explain, but not tonight. Not like this.”

“So why’d you come here then?” she asked, her words running together more.

When she reached for the bottle of vodka, Cooper intervened, stopping her. She’d had more than enough. “This isn’t going to help, and you know it,” he told her, holding her hand in his as he leaned over her.

Without waiting for permission, which he knew he wouldn’t get anyway, Cooper settled onto the swing beside her, pulling her against him. When she started to fight him, he held her tighter. “Don’t,” he commanded softly. “Just sit here with me.”

The alcohol’s effect was probably the only thing that kept her there, but Cooper considered it a win. He’d have hell to pay tomorrow, but for now, he was going to hold her. That’s all he wanted to do anyway.