LITMIR.BIZ

       Three

      After dinner that night Cooper sat facing Loretta in the dining room while Lauren was in the kitchen, cleaning up. “That was about the best darn chicken soup I’ve ever had,” he said. “But don’t tell Marie I said so.”

      “I won’t,” Loretta answered, beaming. Apparently after her rest, Lauren’s mom had decided soup and homemade biscuits would be perfect on a rainy day. And she’d been right.

      “Thanks for cooking tonight.”

      “Of course. It’s my pleasure and the least I can do. What do you do when Marie isn’t here to cook for you?”

      “I scrounge around for leftovers. Marie’s pretty good about making extra for the nights she’s not here. Or I order in or scramble an egg or something.”

      “An egg? I can’t imagine that would fill you up at all, Cooper.”

      “Well, I don’t do that often. I’ve been known to meet up with a friend for dinner.”

      “A female friend?” Loretta asked coyly.

      He grinned. “Don’t have too many females in my life right now. Aside from you and Lauren.”

      “I think we’re probably all you can handle right now. Don’t you?”

      He grinned. “Absolutely. Listen, while I have you alone, I need to tell you something. Come into the study with me. I don’t want Lauren to overhear.”

      “Fine. I’ll follow you.”

      He led Loretta down the hall and into his study and promptly closed the door. He didn’t have much time, and he’d rehearsed how he was going to put this to cause her the least amount of grief.

      “Loretta, I have a confession to make. Please sit down.”

      She stared at him curiously for a moment and then settled on the sofa. He took a seat on the opposite end.

      “What is it?”

      “It’s just that when you approached me about Lauren and her decision to marry so quickly, it made me think of something Tony had told me just prior to the accident. I didn’t want to bring it up at the time because it could be painful, but now that we’re in this full speed, I need to tell you the truth.”

      “And that is?”

      “Tony told me that he didn’t trust Roger Kelsey. He thought his partner was cheating him and up to no good with the company. Tony was trying to get proof and confront him.”

      “You mean Roger was stealing from my son?”

      “Yeah, that’s what Tony seemed to think when he confided in me. Of course, he would’ve never approved of Lauren marrying the guy. It was the deciding factor in me helping to break up this wedding. Tony had good instincts and I trust that he was going to get that proof, but then the accident happened.”

      “Well, now...that makes it all the more important that Lauren break up with him.”

      “Yeah, that’s how I see it.”

      “What if we told Lauren about Tony’s suspicions?” Loretta asked. “Surely she’d take Tony’s word over his.”

      “We have no proof. If we tell Lauren now about Tony’s suspicions and she confronted Kelsey, it would give him time to cover his tracks and then we may never find out the truth. If the guy is that cagey, he’ll win Lauren over and prove that he’s straight as an arrow. Then she’ll...”

      “Blame us for interfering.”

      “Exactly. I’m sorry, Loretta.”

      She took his hand and squeezed. “No, I’m glad you told me. I only wish Tony would’ve shared this with me.”

      “I’m sure he didn’t want to burden you and, of course, at the time, Lauren wasn’t involved with Kelsey.”

      “That’s true. And I was always saying that I didn’t know a thing about real estate.” Tears dripped from her eyes. “I never showed much interest in my Tony’s business.”

      “He loved you, Loretta. And was so proud of you. He’d tell everyone you were the best nurse in the Lone Star State.”

      “Thanks, Cooper. I appreciate that, and I know that’s how Tony felt. He would tell me that often.” She straightened in her seat, no longer sorrowful. Instead a protective glint filled her eyes. “Now this sudden engagement makes all the more sense to me.”

      “Yeah.”

      “My Lauren is going to get hurt.”

      “I hope not. I’ll do my best to make sure of it.”

      “Thank you, Cooper.”

      “So, that said, I’m going to need to get into Tony’s laptop. Do you have it?”

      She thought a moment. “Yes. I think I do. Most of his personal things are in boxes in my garage.”

      “Great. I’ll need to get into that, if it’s okay with you.”

      “Of course, it’s okay. I’ll make some excuse to go home tomorrow and get it for you. Cooper, should we alert the authorities about any of this?”

      “Not now. We have nothing but Tony’s suspicions. And on the slim chance that this guy wasn’t cheating Tony, Lauren would probably never forgive either of us for going behind her back and causing her fiancé grief.”

      “Good point,” she said with a nod, although her shoulders slumped in defeat.

      Yeah, this was going to cause the Abbotts pain.

      No matter what Cooper found.

      * * *

      Lauren had been jogging ever since college, but keeping pace with Cooper this morning was proving harder than she thought. He took it seriously and, given that he was six-foot-two, his strides were much longer than hers. Ten minutes into the run, she broke out into a sweat trying to keep up. After another ten minutes she was lagging, but as soon as he noticed, he slowed his pace. “You want to head back?” he asked.

      “Not on your life,” she answered. “And don’t slow down for me. You can go on ahead.”

      He wasn’t hard to watch from behind. He wore a Rangers baseball cap flipped backward on his head, a black tank exposing thick, tanned, muscular arms and a pair of gray sweatpants. Stripped down like this, the cowboy could pass for a city dude.

      “Nah, I like the company.”

      “Don’t ruin your workout for me.”

      “You’re only making it better, Laurie Loo.”

      She laughed at his attempt at charm, but did appreciate him slowing down a bit. At this point, he’d taken her past his stables and corrals and then down a service road. The dawn air was cool but the sunshine overhead promised to dry out all the places the storm had muddied the day before.

      She was able to take in more of the Stone Ridge scenery at this much slower pace than during yesterday’s drive in the Jeep. They passed green pastures, lush from spring rain, with cattle grazing in groups. Every so often Cooper would lead her through a patch of shade from an oak or mesquite tree, providing temporary shelter from the dawn sunshine.

      As they were rounding a bend, the lake came into view, a picturesque vision of tall trees reflecting off the waters lit by a stream of sunshine. Glossy and smooth as glass, the small lake was postcard ready and a perfect place to speak vows.

      Lauren

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