Page 20 of One-of-a-Kind Bride (Home to Texas #1)

“If you want to clean up some of this siding, you know where the wheelbarrow is.”

“Clean up, again?” she droned.

“I’m afraid you’re too late to do anything else today.”

“It’s okay. I’ll do it.”

“Thatta girl.”

Coop stuffed his kerchief away and noticed that Taylor was off the phone. He walked over to the patio table. “Lemonade looks good.”

“Have one,” she said. “They’re for you and the crew.”

“Thanks.” He grabbed one and took a sip. “Mmm, best lemonade in five counties.” Coop would always give the same compliment to Julie’s mom.

Taylor smiled. “Aunt Suzie loved when you told her that.”

He nodded and took another sip. “Are you busy? I noticed you on the phone.”

“No, not busy. I was just talking to an old friend.”

“Blake Charles?”

“How did you…oh, Cassie must’ve overheard.”

“So, how is old Blake?”

“Old Blake?” She chuckled. “He’s your age. And he’s doing fine. I bumped into him at Java Time the other day. We had coffee together.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

She clamped her mouth shut then. Had old Blake finally asked Taylor out on a date? Coop took a deep breath, reminding himself it was none of his business what Taylor did in her private life, yet the pangs inside weren’t going away.

“Actually, Coop. If you have a minute, I do have something I want to ask you. Can you meet me in the kitchen? I’ll take these lemonades over to your crew.”

“Sure, I’ll see you inside.”

Coop entered the house and finished his lemonade, placing the glass in the dishwasher.

Julie’s home had been like a second home to him, especially during the summers.

And when he’d returned to Last Stand, Julie made sure to tell him nothing had changed.

Their friendship had picked up where they’d left off and that was another reason he was glad he’d come back to Texas.

The town had embraced him and his daughter.

But seeing Taylor again put him off balance. He didn’t like it, not one bit.

Taylor entered the room with a brilliant smile on her face. “Thanks for waiting. I think we only have a minute or two before Cassie comes in.”

“This is about Cass?”

“Well, yes. I could tell something was bothering her and with a little coaxing I was able to find out what it was. Apparently, she’s embarrassed about wearing the flower girl dress.

She thinks people will laugh at her since she’s known around town as a tomboy.

She told me she doesn’t wear dresses. Ever. ”

“Wow.” Coop sucked in a breath. All this was news to him and it caught him off guard, a sucker punch to his gut. How had he not figured this out on his own? “I had no idea. So that’s what’s gotten into her. Every time I mention her being in the wedding, she clams up.”

“I don’t think it’s all that bad. She just needs something to give her a bit of courage.

Something to make her feel strong and comfortable.

When I explained how wearing my mother’s necklace gives me strength,” Taylor said, drawing his eyes to the gold locket around her neck she was touching tenderly, “she told me her mom had a special necklace, but she wasn’t sure she was allowed to wear it. ”

“Gosh, if it helps, of course she can wear it.” Coop shook his head.

He wasn’t going to give the necklace to Cassie until she turned sixteen, but if it would make her more confident, it was all hers.

“I think this is all my fault. I didn’t realize I was doing my daughter a disservice.

I didn’t think it mattered that she didn’t wear dresses or want fancy things.

I had no idea she was feeling self-conscious.

I should’ve known. She never puts a dress on.

She probably doesn’t have one that fits anymore. ”

“Coop,” Taylor said, reaching out to touch his arm. The slight caress went deep to comfort him and ease his doubt. “Cassie is who Cassie is. You didn’t do anything wrong. Her mother died, and you and your father have done your very best with her.”

“I don’t know.”

“Trust me, I know. All girls go through something like this. They get embarrassed, they get shy, they feel unsure. Women are complicated beings.”

Coop couldn’t believe she admitted that and he chuckled. “Man, you’re good, Taylor. Very good.”

“I made you smile, didn’t I?”

Their eyes met and held for a long moment. “You always could.”

Taylor blinked a few times. There was history between them that couldn’t be denied or forgotten. Coop was feeling it more and more. “Thank you for this, Taylor. I was clueless and you helped to open my eyes.”

“That’s another thing us women are good at,” she replied, flashing him a sugary sweet grin.

He scratched his head and wondered what other clues he was missing when it came to Cassie. “I guess so.” Still, he was uncertain.

“Don’t beat yourself up, Coop. Most men are in the same boat. You haven’t done anything to ruin Cassie’s life. If you ask me, she’s well-grounded and happy.”

Taylor pushed her hair up and away from her face in an absentminded way, not realizing how pretty all those glossy dark strands looked falling back into place.

Coop’s throat hitched a bit. Being around Taylor again was affecting him.

In a good way and he didn’t want it to end.

She made him feel good about himself, easing his doubts and, well, just being Taylor. “Have dinner with me tomorrow night.”

“Wh-what?”

Her green eyes grew wide. Apparently, he had the power to open her eyes too. “I think you heard me. I’m asking you out for dinner.”

“Like…a…date?”

Hell no. Yes. “Think of it as two people sharing a meal together.”

“Why?”

“Because, first of all, you’ve been great with Cassie, making her dress, giving her pep talks. Clueing her father in on all things female and, secondly, because you want to.”

Taylor put a finger to her chest. “Me? I want to? How would you know that?”

“I just do. You love food, and this place has the best.”

Taylor thought about it for half a second. “Sounds too good to pass up, okay.”

Okay? Man, he hated how thrilled he was that she agreed. It scared him silly. “Okay, then. Dinner, tomorrow night, seven p.m.”

“Yes.” She smiled.

He smiled back.

And just like that, he had a date with Taylor Preston.

Wonder what Blake Charles would say about that.

Coop walked out of the kitchen, wondering if he knew what the hell he was doing.

And more importantly, why he was doing it.

*

Taylor looked at her reflection in Julie’s hall mirror.

She must’ve changed her clothes half a dozen times before settling on a solid cinnamon red dress with a V-neck, cinched at the waist only to flare out some.

Maybe she should’ve opted for something more casual.

Something that wouldn’t give him the wrong impression.

Julie came up beside her and glanced in the mirror. “You look amazing.”

She made a face, wrinkling her nose. “It’s too much, isn’t it?”

“No way. It’s perfect.”

“But I only agreed to this dinner because it seemed important to him to thank me. He was beating himself up about his fathering skills. And I—”

“You want to go, Taylor. Otherwise, you wouldn’t give a fig about how you’re dressed. Just go with Coop and have fun. I think this is your first date, in what, a year?”

Just hearing the word date in the same breath as Coop put her nerves on edge. “I’m not going to think of it as a date. We’re just two old friends having a meal.”

“Okay, use whatever device you need to make yourself feel comfortable. But promise me you’ll take it one step at a time and see where the evening leads.”

Taylor nibbled on her lower lip. “One step at a time? Sure, I can promise you that.”

“Good, because once Coop takes a look at you in that dress, you’ll knock his boots off.”

Goose bumps climbed up her arms. “It is too much. Do I have time to change?”

The doorbell rang.

Julie grinned. “Nope.” She kissed her cheek and then vamoosed, as they said in Texas.

Taylor gave herself a talking to. This was no big deal.

A friendly meal and an early night. That would be it.

With that in mind, she opened the door to find Coop standing at the threshold.

He swept his gaze over her, raised his brows as approval lit on his expression.

In that moment, she was totally grateful she hadn’t changed out of this dress.

Coop stood tall and handsome as ever, clean shaven but for the shadowy scruff along his jaw that was just enough to make him look dashing.

His smiling sea blue eyes didn’t hurt the look either.

Add in a pair of black slacks, a snap-down tan shirt under a dark sports jacket, topped off with a felt hat, and she had one rather mesmerizing Ryan Cooper, cowboy style.

Coop may be a contractor, but he was pure Texan through and through.

“You look very nice,” he said.

“Thanks, so do you.”

“Are you ready?”

She grabbed a black clutch purse from the hallway table. “Now I am.”

Coop pressed his hand to the small of her back and guided her to his car. Every time he touched her, warmth traveled through her veins and a sense of longing she’d shoved to the back of her mind emerged. “Where’s your truck?”

“Not here, that’s for sure. I figured you’d be more comfortable in Dad’s SUV.”

“That was thoughtful, but I’m okay in a truck.”

Coop smiled as he opened the door for her. “Not in that dress, you’re not.”

The compliment was in his tone, rather than his choice of words, and it felt really nice hearing it. Maybe she really did need a night out.

He got in the car and started the engine. “The last time I picked you up in a dress, you were wearing a frilly wedding gown. Looked like a fish out of water. With all the flopping around you were doing.”

So much for his compliments. “Gee, thanks. What a visual.”

He grinned like the devil he was and pulled away from the curb. “You know what I mean.”

“Sorry, next time maybe I should let Muffy get completely lost.”

“I had no trouble getting her to mind.”