dinner,” he insisted and Blake looked to me, seeming unsure.
“Of course we will,” I said with a firm nod. Saint would likely shit a brick, but what the hell? Cooper looked starved for company and I wanted to know more about the man who had raised Blake.
We sat down for dinner at a table overlooking the incredible view of the city and ate our way through what was definitely the best vegetable lasagne I’d ever had in my life. The time slipped away and I learned all about how Blake had grown up in some huge manor on the outskirts of the city which Cooper and his wife had bought when they were only in their twenties. He’d become a seriously successful entrepreneur straight out of college, and it looked like money had just snowballed his way ever since. But when he spoke about Blake’s mom, all I saw was grief in his eyes and I knew that he’d trade every dime he had to get her back. He and Blake both would have. And after I opened up a little about the loss of my dad and Jess, Cooper announced I was officially part of his family. Admittedly that was after several glasses of wine, but still. It seemed like he finally liked me. And I liked him a helluva lot too.
We headed to the elevator as the hour got late and we couldn’t stay any longer.
“We’ve really gotta go Dad. I’m sorry,” Blake sighed. “But hopefully when we do what we’ve got to do, it won’t be long before this vaccine gets out to everyone in the world.”
A deep crease formed on Cooper’s brow as Blake pulled away and my heart tugged at having to leave him here alone.
“Your mom would be real proud of you,” Cooper said, clutching Blake’s hand in his as his throat bobbed with emotion.
“Her son is going to help save the world,” I added with a grin and Blake ran his fingers through his hair with a low laugh, but I didn’t miss the way his eyes darted to his Dad in hopes of approval.
Cooper’s gaze swirled with some thought I couldn’t read. “Wait here a sec, I’ve got something for you both.” He headed away through a door and Blake gave me a tight smile.
“I hate leaving him here,” he muttered. “He’s lonely.”
“The sooner we get the vaccines to someone who can help create more of them, the sooner he’ll be able to get back to his life,” I said with a sad look.
“Yeah,” Blake said. “I just wish he had Mom.”
I wrapped my arms around him and he rested his chin on my head as the weight of our grief washed between us for a moment. We’d both lost parents, we both knew the taste of that pain all too well. And I also knew there was nothing I could say that would ease it. It was what it was. And at least we had each other to lean on in moments like this.
Cooper returned with a little wooden box in his hand, his cheeks a touch red. “When I met Blake’s mom, we were juniors in high school,” he spoke to me. “I was the captain of the football team, and a complete asshole might I add.” He laughed at himself and a smile tugged at my lips. “Anyway, Blake’s mom was the quiet type, dedicated to her studies. She wanted to be a lawyer and there was nothing in the world that was gonna stop her. I spent so much time playing football that I basically started failing a bunch of my core studies. So the principal insisted I get a tutor. My dad was gonna hire in some top of the range, Harvard guy and I refused because, well I was an asshole remember?”
“Dad,” Blake groaned like he’d heard this story a thousand times and was already embarrassed by it.
“I told the principal I wanted Blake’s mom to tutor me,” he said. “I’d been crushing on her for weeks after she’d done this speech on drunk driving in an assembly. She was so…passionate.” His eyes glittered for a moment, but then his pain was masked and he went on. “I’d been looking for a way to get close to her for ages and I finally had a chance to do it. And the principal convinced my dad it was a good idea after showing him the straight As she got in everything. Anyway, I wooed her heart out