would’ve done anything for you. And maybe if you’d told me what was going on, I could have helped you figure it out. You devastated my life. You think I cared in the end that she cheated on me? No. I cared that she cheated on me with you. That you betrayed me. And now I find out it was all to push me away, protect me? I don’t know if I get that. I don’t know if I ever will.”
Jack’s hope deflated.
He hadn’t realized how much he needed that forgiveness from Coop.
Neither he nor Emery trusted him.
Jack knew he deserved the consequences of his actions. Didn’t make it any harder to swallow.
“I should let you get back to Jessica.” Jack started for the front door.
“Jack.”
He glanced over his shoulder at Cooper. His friend exhaled slowly. “If you had come to me before I met my wife, I would’ve kicked you out on your ass no matter what the truth was.”
Jack waited as Cooper rubbed a hand through his hair.
“But I guess … I guess I don’t know if I wouldn’t have done the same thing—the pushing you away to protect you part, I mean. The sleeping with my wife part was just plain fucked up.”
“I wasn’t … It’s not an excuse … I just … I wasn’t in my right mind, Coop. I was in a messed-up place.”
“Yeah, I can imagine.” He took a step toward Jack. “Lucky for you, I’ve come to find a twisted sort of gratitude over the past few years for your actions. Because if you hadn’t done it, I might have been with Dana when Jess moved to town.”
That hope rose in Jack.
“I don’t know if it’ll ever be the same between us … but I forgive you, Jack.”
Tears he tried desperately to fight back brightened his eyes.
Cooper saw and his own glistened, his lips pinching hard.
“I’m so sorry, Coop. I’m so fucking sorry,” he choked out.
“Yeah, I can see that. I’m sorry too. For what happened to Rebecca. For what happened to you.”
Jack gave him a grateful nod, afraid if he spoke, he’d start fucking bawling. He pushed out of Cooper’s house and hurried down the porch steps.
He was just about to get into his car when Cooper called out to him.
Jack looked up to find his friend standing on the porch, a thoughtful frown marring his brow. “Yeah?”
“I can’t make any promises … I … this shit will take time … but … why don’t you come by the bar before it opens sometime. If you need to talk.”
It was a generous offer.
And it made Jack miss his old friend even harder than before. “I might just take you up on that, Coop.”
Cooper gave him a tight nod and strode back into his house to be with his pregnant wife.
His pregnant wife whom Jack knew he partly had to thank for Cooper’s willingness to forgive.
18
Emery
I barely slept that night. I fervently hoped that Cooper had been more receptive to Jack than I had been. Despite my need to protect my heart, I didn’t want him to feel as though he wasn’t worthy of forgiveness.
It was contradictory, I know.
However, as I drove to Ivy’s rental place on Johnson’s Creek, I considered offering friendship to Jack. It meant I could keep my heart safe from him but still extend forgiveness. An offer of friendship would let him know I didn’t think he was beyond repute. That perhaps trust between friends could bloom again.
Like most of Hartwell, the houses on Johnson’s Creek were all white clad with brightly colored awnings and old-fashioned porches. Except most of the houses were bigger than a lot of homes in Hartwell. Moreover, it wasn’t actually a creek but rather a lake.
Like most of South Hartwell, this was where the money was. A few homes on Johnson’s Creek were second vacation homes. Ivy’s two-story house was one of the smallest, even though it was slightly bigger than my beach house. The front faced onto the neighborhood, like most of the houses, and the back faced onto the lake.
I parked on Ivy’s driveway, and she’d opened the door before I’d even put a foot on the porch. To say she was surprised to see me was an understatement. She invited me inside, leading me through an open-plan living area much like my own, and out onto the porch facing the lake. Her house was perched on a slope over the water, and I could see she had her own private dock.