The Hero (Page 16)

She laughed and shook her head. “You can’t possibly give me one more thing, Cooper. You’re giving me your life, your beachfront property...you’re taking on my brother and supporting us both....”

“It’s just something for you to wear to bed on our wedding night....”

“Aw, that’s very sweet...”

He pulled a small box out of his pocket. He popped it open to display a pair of diamond stud earrings. She sighed and touched one. “Not a nightgown?” she asked.

“We have absolutely no need for a nightgown. Just these.”

She pulled her earrings out of her ears and began inserting the diamond studs. “There are a bunch of Coast Guard down there as well as more townies than I can count. It might be very late before you get to fully appreciate these earrings.”

“No, it won’t,” he said. “I don’t care how much they eat, drink and dance—we’re going to escape and lock the door. Spencer and Landon have charge of Austin. Carrie, Gina, Mac and Rawley have charge of the party. They’re under orders—shut it down before dawn.”

“Dawn?” she asked with a laugh.

He lifted her chin and put a soft kiss on her lips. “I want everyone to remember this night as much as I will.” He put out a crooked arm. “Come on, Mrs. Cooper. Let’s tie the knot. And start our new lives.”

She slipped her arm through his and went downstairs. Before exiting the bar, Cooper stopped and flipped the lights on the deck on and off a few times. Then when they stepped outside, the music changed abruptly and the band began to play “The Way You Look Tonight.” As they descended the stairs to the beach, their guests applauded. There were a few whistles and catcalls as well, making them all laugh.

And then they stood in front of the floral arch, facing the preacher in the Hawaiian shirt and ponytail. The young man said a few words about commitment and partnership, the standard vows were exchanged, promises made, and then, per Sarah’s request, a Native American blessing.

And then Cooper was invited to kiss his wife and the beach came alive with cheers. Mac, the best man, was handed a glass as were Cooper and Sarah. There was no elaborate toast, just a brief salute to Mr. and Mrs. Henry Cooper and followed by many a “Hear! Hear!” And then the funky little band made up of middle-aged men broke into “I’m in the Mood for Love,” punctuated by the popping of champagne corks.

While Sarah and Cooper stood in front of the arch, there were the flashes of cameras and most of the guests made their way over to congratulate them. When the receiving line was exhausted, Sarah and Cooper were first in the buffet line. A neat stack of beach blankets were stacked at each end of the long serving table and Cooper handed a plate to Sarah, grabbing a blanket at the same time. He spread it on the sand near the bottom of the stairs to the deck and soon others joined them, while still others continued to stand or spread their blankets on the other side of the band. A group of eight or ten teenagers including Landon and Eve took their blankets and set up some distance away from their parents and elders. Gina and Mac ended up beside them and when Cooper caught sight of Spencer trying to corral Austin as well as a couple of plates of food, Cooper motioned them over to join their party.

Not everyone needed blankets—there were several rocks and driftwood trunks scattered around that made for handy chairs. And before the first wave of guests had enjoyed the food, the dancing began—mostly by those people over the age of thirty. The music was not the teenagers’ style at all. Cooper’s mom and dad twirled around the sand a little bit and once the eating was mostly done, Cooper took his wife onto the outdoor dance floor.

Cooper didn’t have possession of her for long—her USCG friends and coworkers were present and wouldn’t let her rest.

After dancing with his mother and sisters, Cooper gratefully returned to the blanket, sitting down beside Spencer. He noticed that Austin had already abandoned them for Landon’s party, a safe distance away.

“I guess you couldn’t convince Rawley to come as a guest tonight,” Spencer said.

“Not a chance. I’m lucky I got him in that shirt, the only thing that identifies him as part of the wedding party. But have fun? Never.” Cooper laughed. “He’s a cautionary tale,” Cooper said, nodding at the man behind the serving table. “He’s exactly what I was destined to become if I stayed as solitary as I’d been.”

“You throw a good party,” Spencer said. “You should do beach parties regularly, even when you’re not getting married.”

“Makes sense,” he said. “I have to hand it to Carrie—she sure can pull a party together under difficult circumstances, can’t she?”

“Where’d she get that band?”

“They’re a bunch of local guys. One’s a mailman, one’s a crabber and I don’t know who the third one is. Not exactly American Bandstand, but you can’t complain about their tone, right?”

“If you like ballroom music.”

“Get out there, Spencer,” Cooper said. “Wrap your arms around something soft. Give Sarah a whirl, because after tonight you can’t touch her.”

Again Spencer laughed, shaking his head. “Yeah, I think I’ll just enjoy the view.”

“Looks like the new doc is circling a target,” Cooper said. He nodded toward the other side of the bandstand to where Scott Grant reclined on a beach blanket and Devon was kneeling in front of him, talking animatedly with her hands, making him laugh.

Spencer had seen them arrive together. They came to the beach arm in arm. Then she held his hand, pulling him all over the beach, introducing him to people he hadn’t yet met. Then they spread their blanket together.

Were they already a couple? he wondered. It would only make sense. They spent every day together. And Dr. Grant—he seemed like a pretty nice guy.

But Devon, she was something else. Her transformation since the first day he’d seen her was remarkable. She had arrived here as a skittish and shy runaway from some kind of cult or something. She didn’t know he had overheard her when she was telling—or rather, trying not to tell—Rawley that first morning. By now Rawley might know the details, but Spencer didn’t. Still, the changes in the girl were impossible to ignore. Or forget. She’d become a cute, efficient, fun-loving sprite with a quick wit and spontaneous smile that just lit up her whole face. She must be feeling safer, more confident. She had a glow about her and he was inexplicably drawn to her.

She’s a blonde, he thought. His wife had been blonde. Maybe he was just hot for blondes....

And of course, that was the last thing he was in the market for. He’d laid his young wife to rest just a few months ago, after a long and ravaging illness. Now he was concentrating on raising his son, starting a new career, making a new home. There was no room for romance, especially with a woman hiding a weird and mysterious past.

Someone approached her—one of the Coast Guard guests, he believed. He gave her a half bow that made her laugh, held out a hand and took her out in front of the bandstand to dance. There was a little more laughter, some barefoot twirling. He found himself smiling, glad she was having a good time. He couldn’t believe there was anything creepy or sinister about her—she seemed so transparent, except maybe for that part of her life she was fleeing. For no logical reason whatsoever, he was glad her flight had brought her here, because he believed this to be a safe place and populated with the kind of men who had the strength to protect her and her little girl, if that became necessary.

He shifted his gaze to Cooper, who was making the rounds, dancing with the women in his family and with friends from town. Sarah was being passed around pretty liberally as well—lots of cutting in going on out there. Then there was Gina and Mac, the newlyweds, locked together in a sweet, close sway...until they were disrupted by Mac’s aunt Lou and her steady, Joe, and partners were exchanged. But that didn’t last long—they were back together for the next song.

He looked for Austin, who hadn’t moved in quite a while. He was still sitting with the teenagers, Landon, Eve, Ashley James and a young man by the name of Frank. When Spencer had decided to come to this town, he had no idea it would include kids like Landon. He was an expert on high school kids, especially athletes, and Landon and his friends were A-list, no question—smart, healthy, responsible and very patient with ten-year-old Austin. Landon was bunking with Spencer and Austin while Cooper’s parents borrowed the RV as their guestroom and he was a perfect houseguest.

Spencer wandered over to the outdoor bar for another beer and, while standing there, he talked with a number of folks from town. Yeah, this was a town excited about football season and it made sense. Their high school teams did well and were worth bragging about. People wanted to warn him about competing teams and ask him if he had some secret weapon. They wanted to go over details of performance in previous years and talk about their stars. Finally he was dragged out to dance by Ray Anne and, with beer in hand, he spun her around a little bit.

“Wow,” she said, “you can even dance!”

“I’ve chaperoned a ton of high school dances,” he explained.

She tapped his beer bottle with a long, pink, manicured finger. “No beer at those dances, I bet.”

“Not where I could see it,” he answered with a laugh.

“Hard to believe times have changed so little since I was in school. It’s been a couple of years.”

“Has it now?” he asked, playing dumb.

Dance over, he found himself standing around with Coach Rayburough, Cliff and Mac. The talk was football, of course. And his eyes kept drifting to Devon—she either danced or visited with women friends or sat on the blanket. It wasn’t late, but inevitably the party dwindled—people started leaving.

Spencer was tackled around the legs by his son. Austin looked up at him and said, “Can I go home on the Razor?”

“Who’s driving?” Spencer asked, joking.

“Ha, ha. You know.”

He looked around and saw Landon was saying his goodbyes, shaking Cooper’s hand, giving his sister a kiss on the cheek. Then Landon was striding toward Spencer. “Eve and I are going to head out. We’ll take Austin home in the Razor, if it’s okay with you. If it’s not, I’ll walk him and Eve will drive the Razor. Or we could leave it for you.”

“As long as he has his seat belt on and you go slow,” Spencer said. “Don’t hit any wedding guests. That’s bad luck.”

“For sure.” Landon laughed.

“We’ll swing by and grab Eve and Ashley on the way home,” Mac said. He glanced at his watch. “Half hour or so?”

“Come on, Mac, it’s Saturday night!”

“You gonna bring ’em home?” Mac asked.

“Yeah, later! After Spencer gets home.” Then he looked at Spencer and said, “There’s no hurry on that....”

They were walking off in the direction of the far side of the beach, Austin with four teens. And then the saxophone player spoke into the microphone and said, “We’ll give you a couple more, then this old band is packing it up....”

Spencer handed Mac his beer bottle and said, “Excuse me.” He walked across the dance area. He was thinking, Get a few beers in me and I’ll do any stupid thing. In front of him Devon was talking with Scott Grant as he folded up that beach blanket. “Almost missed my chance,” he said, holding out a hand to Devon. “The band’s shutting down.”

“Aw, that’s nice,” she said, putting her hand in his. Then she looked at Scott. “If you want to go, I’ll see you in the morning when I come for Mercy. I can get across the beach on my own.”

“Got your whistle?” he asked.