Nicole Edwards - Chasing Dreams

His heart felt like Jack had just seared him with a cattle prod. Why did Cooper have to be such a dumbass?

Only now, as some of the anger subsided, could he rationally see how his behavior was beyond aggressive, and he hadn’t even understood what had happened. Realizing he’d all but accused Tessa of starting the fight only to find out she had been defending him, Cooper turned his attention to Jack and asked, “What started it tonight?”

“Chad likes to talk shit. From what I gathered, there’s some news crew out there asking questions. It’s no secret that the two of you are hanging out. Hell, I heard the reporter myself. They’ve been stalking her house and yours.” Jack’s expression hardened. “My guess is Chad thought this might be his chance at another fifteen minutes of fame.”

“Fuck.”

“That about sums it up,” Dalton added, pushing himself off the wall. “I’m going to see if I can help the guys get things settled down.” Dalton turned to Jack. “Let me know if I can do anything.”

“Let’s just hope the bastard doesn’t press charges,” Jack added as he followed Dalton out of the house, leaving Cooper standing there staring after them.

Spending a night in jail was the least of Cooper’s worries at the moment.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Tessa could barely see through the tears to drive. She continued to wipe them away as fast as they fell, but she never managed to get them under control.

Her face hurt, but worse, her heart ached from Cooper’s reaction. Had he really assumed she was the one to start the fight with Chad? Why would he think that? And did he honestly think she’d want to draw attention to him? She’d been standing up for him, and this was the thanks she got.

Her jaw was swollen, but she didn’t think it was broken. Thankfully – if there was anything to be thankful about – Chad had hit her with an open hand rather than his fist.

Pulling into her driveway, Tessa immediately looked around, making sure no one else was there. Not that she expected anyone to be. If Cooper was a smart man, he’d stay far, far away from her after his accusations. She didn’t care if he was pissed or not, they were supposed to have established some trust between them. Hell, she’d given it a try, had actually fallen for the man.

That would teach her.

The second she walked in her front door, every ounce of Tessa’s strength drained right out of her. After letting her dogs out and back in, she locked the doors, ensuring she wouldn’t have any uninvited guests, and went straight for her bedroom.

The ringer on her cell phone was the next thing to be taken care of, and when the icon showed silent, she tossed her phone on the nightstand. Stripping off her clothes, she fell into bed, pulling the blankets up to her neck as she rolled into the fetal position.

Unfortunately, sleep didn’t come nearly as easily as the tears had. And now, as the morning sun peeked through the narrow slats of the blinds, Tessa felt as though she’d been run over by a freight train and then hit by a military tank. Twice.

Every single muscle in her body hurt. Including her heart. And now, morning was upon her and she had nothing to look forward to, except for the aches and pains. Rolling her head to the side, Tessa eyed her phone, wondering whether she’d missed any calls. Figuring she was going to look at some point anyway, she grabbed the offending piece of machinery and tapped the screen to life. Her heart lurched into her throat at what she saw.

Five missed calls.

Ten missed text messages.

Flipping through the screens she saw that three of the calls were from Izzy, two from Jack. The same went for the texts: five from Izzy, three from Jack and two from Eric – probably Izzy as a last resort to get her to answer.

Not a single text or call from Cooper.

Dropping her phone on her pillow, she rolled over, hugging herself, closing her eyes and wishing sleep would take her.

Unsure why she expected Cooper to come after her, Tessa was more than disappointed by the fact that he hadn’t. Then again, she walked out on him. Rather than staying to talk, she ran. After accusing Cooper of running from something, Tessa did essentially the same thing. And the fact that he didn’t care enough to call was probably what she deserved anyway.

Ten minutes later, when sleep wouldn’t come, Tessa embraced the fact that the tears had stopped. Her tear ducts were probably dry because heaven knew she didn’t feel any better. Forcing herself out of bed, she made her way to the living room, meeting her rambunctious dogs along the way and letting them out. While they were out sniffing and searching, she opted to take a shower. That should help her to feel better.

For the rest of the day, menial tasks never helped her mood, but at least she felt more human. The bruise along her jaw notwithstanding.

After her phone continued to ring and the texts continued to stream in, she responded to both Jack and Izzy, letting them know that she was fine but that she wanted to be alone. Neither of them seemed happy with her response, but Tessa didn’t have it in her to argue, so she turned her ringer back off.

Once again, Tessa felt entirely, miserably alone.

One week later…

Cooper was dripping sweat as he moved another pile of boards, wondering just when summer was going to take a backseat to fall. He was in Texas, and he’d been warned by more than one person that summer generally morphed directly into winter, but that wasn’t until February. So, based on his calendar, he still had another four months of hell to go through.

But the back breaking work was good for him. It kept his mind focused. The barn and the stables were underway, the concrete foundations poured and curing. Once that was done, the next step was getting the structures up. He was looking forward to the final product, needing something to keep his mind occupied. Right now there were no horses, no tack. Nothing to show what his plans were. But it was coming together.

For the last few days, he had contemplated his plans for the farm. Hell, for a couple of days there, he had even considered packing his shit up and going back to where he came from.

Only that wasn’t what he wanted, and a phone call with his father had reminded him of that. He had plans, and although part of those plans had been ripped right out of his hands thanks to his own sanctimonious attitude, he still had something to prove to himself.

During the days since the benefit concert, Cooper had spent his time consumed by back breaking work. By his own choice. When he wasn’t doing something outside, for at least a few minutes each day, he would have a phone conversation with his father, who was now his manager, trying to lay out a plan for his career. Now that they had worked out a deal, Cooper had set his schedule accordingly and soon enough, he would have to start working on his next album.

Feeling like he was running out of time, he knew where his focus needed to be. He only had a month to get things in order at the farm. Not that he expected a finished product, but he wanted to at least see progress. He had more help than he knew what to do with. Between Dalton remaining in Devil’s Bend until things died down and the generous folks in town, the work didn’t seem quite so overwhelming. But there was still a lot to do. The road into the farm was going to be laid in the coming weeks, but until then, there was only so much they could do.

Since the debacle last Saturday, Cooper had worked at the bar two days, – Thursday and Friday – having missed Monday because he had still needed time to cool off. If it hadn’t been for the promise he made Adam, Cooper might’ve called it all off because seeing Tessa, but being unable to speak to her, to hold her in his arms, Cooper was slowly going out of his mind.

He had no one to blame but himself for that either. He’d all but accused her of drawing attention to him. Even if she hadn’t meant to, that’s exactly what happened. The fight with that jackass Chad Harper had been just the beginning. It was a damned miracle Cooper hadn’t ended up in jail, but thanks to Jack, Eric and Izzy, the bastard hadn’t pressed charges. But neither had Tessa.

For now, everything seemed to be simmering down. The reporters were finally getting bored. He had refused to talk to anyone, and from what he heard, Tessa’s friends were keeping her shielded from their onslaught. His father had made a public statement that if they wanted a story, they would have to come to Nashville and talk to him. Surprisingly, no one had heard from Marcus, which Cooper did not consider a good thing.

Sure, Cooper was grateful that his father was willing to take the heat off of him, but he knew he should’ve faced the music. Not only with the press, but with Tessa as well. She deserved so much more than he gave her. Part of him wanted to explain just why he hadn’t made a single attempt to talk to her in the past week. Because he had wanted to, even if he thought she would tell him to go to hell.

He was being an ass, proven in the way he reacted to her, the way he ripped her world apart, all but stealing her dreams, and then the way he threw it all back in her face.

He managed to talk to Izzy once, but she wasn’t as forthcoming as he would’ve hoped. Tessa’s friends were a protective bunch, and he both appreciated and hated that fact. As much as he wanted to know that Tessa was being taken care of, he also wanted to know how she was doing.

A couple of times he’d had to stop himself from going over there just to see for himself. But more than their relationship was at stake at the moment. At the bar, she rarely even looked at him, and she didn’t speak to him. Everything she had to say to him – and vice versa – was handled through Eric. Or Jack.

Cooper wiped the sweat from his forehead with the t-shirt he had shrugged off an hour ago and grabbed the jug of water that was now half empty. In another hour or so, he would have to go in and eat, or he risked passing out in the heat.

He was downing what was left of the water when he noticed dust blowing up along the driveway, the identity of the vehicle obscured momentarily. He watched as an old red Ford came into view and he dropped the jug on the ground as he moved at a rapid pace toward the truck.

“What’s wrong?” he asked Izzy as soon as she jumped out of her truck, making her way toward him like her ass was on fire.

She was out of breath when they met in the middle, and he grabbed her arms, holding her upright as he stared into her eyes. “What the hell’s the matter?”

Panic was filling him, and she hadn’t spoken yet.

“It’s – It’s… Tessa,” she huffed, trying to draw in deep breaths. “I need you to… Just come… with me, ok?”

Cooper grabbed her arm, all but dragging her along with him. Once they were back at her truck, he reached into his own and grabbed the extra t-shirt he’d left in there the day before. Pulling it on over his head, he made his way to the driver’s door, effectively forcing Izzy to scoot over because there was no way he was riding shotgun. She’d be able to explain as he drove.

“Talk to me, Izzy. Where am I going?”

“To The Rusty Nail!” she squealed. “Just drive!”

Cooper glared at Izzy momentarily but then refocused his efforts on the road. His heart was pounding like a bass drum on steroids, and his hands, which were currently gripping the steering wheel, were white knuckled and shaking. He wanted to press her to talk, but he was more interested in getting to Tessa. Even if he had no idea what he was walking into.

After taking several turns on two wheels, Cooper hit the straightaway that would lead directly to town. When the truck hit sixty, the piece of shit started to shake, so he had to let off the gas. Izzy really needed to get a new truck.

“Holy fuck,” Cooper growled when the parking lot for The Rusty Nail came into view. There didn’t appear to be a single empty space throughout the entire lot. The satellites were up and aiming skyward, antennas were like sky scrapers hovering high above the mayhem.

Glancing over at Izzy, he saw that her eyes were just as wide as they had been earlier. “What’s going on, Izzy?”

When she turned to look at him, her gaze went from worried to burning mad in an instant. “She’s being hounded. Your fucking manager gave an exclusive to the press this morning announcing that you two have severed ties. I hope you’re happy, but her entire life story is front page news.”