with a worried kind of expression. Cooper might have thought the dog was afraid of the storm, but Jock was mostly deaf and had never been bothered by them before, as far as he knew.
“What’s up? You don’t really want to go out in this, do you?”
The dog sat on his haunches, continuing to look expectantly at the door.
Jock always went out to the fenced backyard of the small house Cooper rented near the fire station, so why was he suddenly so interested in the front door?
Puzzled, Cooper went to the back door and held it open, despite the cold wet wind that blew inside. “I’m not going out in that, but if you need to, have at it.”
Jock didn’t budge, stubborn thing.
“Come on,” he said. When Jock still just looked at him, Cooper shut the door and headed back toward him.
“We’re not going for a walk right now,” he started to say, but just as he muttered the last word, the doorbell rang.
“How did you know someone was here?” he asked the dog.
And who the hell was at his door so late? He really hoped it wasn’t someone else with some other revelation that would rock his world.
Jock just looked between him and the door, as if wondering why he didn’t answer it. Finally Cooper pulled open the door and was astonished to find Olivia Harper standing there, hair drenched, looking bedraggled and wet and so beautiful she took his breath away.
Her face was pale in his porch light, her eyes huge in her face. She looked at him uncertainly, and he could see she was upset.
“Olivia. Come in. What’s the matter?”
She stepped inside and stood dripping on his mat. “I shouldn’t have come. This was a mistake.”
She reached for the door handle as if intent on leaving, but Cooper and Jock did a pincer move. Cooper closed it behind her, and his smart, wonderful dog approached her from the other side, then sat again, almost on top of Olivia’s wet shoes.
She looked down at the dog, gave a raw-sounding little laugh and reached to give him a pat.
Why was she here? What had happened?
“You’re soaked through. Did you walk all the way here in the middle of this storm?”
“No,” she said, her voice small. “I was...standing outside in the rain for a few minutes before I found the courage to ring the doorbell.”
He pictured her as he had seen her a few weeks ago outside the door of The Sea Shanty, her mouth trembling and her eyes haunted as she tried to convince herself to face the crowded tavern, nervous after that attack she had witnessed in Seattle.
What could she possibly fear inside his house?
“Let me find a towel for you.” He grabbed a fresh one out of the dryer off the kitchen and brought it to her, warm and fragrant. She stood holding it as if not quite sure what to do with it. She was shivering and he couldn’t bear to see it, so he finally took the towel from her and started drying her face, her hair, her arms.
“You’re upset. What’s happened?” he finally asked, when she remained quiet, as if trying to gather her composure.
She gave a raw-sounding laugh and took the towel from him. “What hasn’t happened today? This has been quite a day. And in other news, my mom has multiple sclerosis. She’s known for years but I just found out tonight.”
More shock rippled through him as he pictured the strong and resilient Juliet, keeping such a secret from her daughter. “Oh, Liv. I’m sorry.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t have told you that. It’s her diagnosis, after all. Her business, as she so plainly told me tonight. On the other hand, you’re her granddaughter’s father and she said herself you’re family now. There have been too many secrets in the Harper family. If she didn’t want you to know, too bad. She’ll have to deal with it.”
Was that why she had come here? To tell him about Juliet, because she needed a friend to confide in? He was touched and honored that she had turned to him, even as he ached to wrap her in his arms.
“MS is a serious condition but it’s not a death sentence. There are new treatments being developed all the time. Your mom is tough. She’ll deal with whatever comes her way with dignity and strength, like she’s done everything else in her life.”
She lowered the towel from her face and gave him a tremulous smile. “You’re right. She