People had been saying she resembled her mother and her sister most of her life. She didn’t see it. Natalie had been tall, willowy, gorgeous, with long wavy blond hair and compelling, classically lovely features.
Olivia felt like the awkward clone rendition of Natalie, as if the mold that created them had been slightly damaged by the forging progress and was starting to wear out. They shared the same high cheekbones, the same hazel eyes, but Olivia had never reached Nat’s height and her hair wasn’t quite as vibrantly blond. It was also annoyingly frizzy, until she’d grown tired of trying to straighten it and just adopted beach waves or messy buns.
Most important, Natalie had carried herself with an assurance Olivia had never felt.
Would Olivia have grown into her skin a little better if her father hadn’t died so abruptly and if Natalie’s life hadn’t spiraled out of control shortly after? She didn’t know. She only knew that by the time her sister died, Natalie had no longer looked like the classic beach beauty. Her hair was dry, falling out, and her weight had dwindled so much that her bones showed and her skin had become sallow and loose.
Cooper hadn’t been there to see it, of course. He had been off saving the world. He and Natalie had been best friends, but when she had needed him most, Cooper hadn’t been anywhere around. If he’d stayed, maybe he could have stopped that downward spiral. None of the rest of them could.
“I didn’t know you were back in town.”
“Yes. Barely.”
“Your mom and niece will be so happy to see you. Have you stopped by the hospital yet?”
“On my way now. I only stopped to see if Mel could babysit for me.”
He looked surprised. “You have kids? I had no idea! How many? How old?”
“One. Otis. He’s about three, at least according to his veterinarian, but I can’t be sure.”
He smiled slightly and she ordered her stupid hormones not to react. “None of the human variety?”
She thought she would by now. She’d been with Grant for four years, engaged for two, and they’d talked about possibly having one and adopting another child or maybe even siblings out of the foster system.
That had been her one regret when she broke off the engagement.
“No. And I understand you don’t, either. Mel likes to talk about you.”
His sister was justifiably proud of Cooper, who had been a hero before he left town and who continued that pattern in the military, from what she heard.
“How’s your mom doing? That was one hell of a nasty fall.”
“You were there?” That didn’t really surprise her. Cape Sanctuary had a small paid staff of emergency medical technicians and EMT-paramedics. Most of the volunteer firefighters were also trained as EMTs, as her father had been.
“I was on the ambulance that responded. It was scary for the first few minutes, until she regained consciousness.”
“Unconscious! Nobody told me she was unconscious.”
“She fell pretty hard. We were worried about a spinal injury, so it took us a while to stabilize her. Your mom was a trooper, though. Asking about the guys’ families and when Lindy Melendez was having her bridal shower.”
“Yeah. That’s my mom.”
Everyone loved Juliet Harper. If her mom ever decided to run for mayor of Cape Sanctuary, she would be a lock.
“Well, thanks for helping her.”
“It’s part of the job,” he answered with a smile that left her feeling dazed.
She was sleep-deprived from driving all night, worried about her mother and stressed about leaving her doggy. That was the only reason for her ridiculous reaction. She certainly wasn’t still pining over her best friend’s older brother, no matter how gorgeous the adult version of Cooper Vance might be.
“I guess I’ll see you around,” he said, with another of those lethal smiles.
She nodded, which was all she could manage, climbed into her vehicle and drove away, vowing to do her very best to make sure she saw him first and prevented that from happening.
4
COOPER
Olivia Harper.
Cooper watched her drive away in a little silver SUV, feeling as if he were the one who had fallen off a ladder.
How many years had it been since he had seen Olivia? He couldn’t remember. It even might have been before he left town for good. Melody had mentioned her a few times over the years. He remembered Melody telling him when Olivia graduated from college, when she got a job in tech somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, when she started