Page 30 of You Can Make Me (Carnival of Mysteries #28)

“We’re giving West Hollywood a chance,” Cooper said.

“If he starts getting hives or pulling his hair out, we’ll regroup.

” He elbowed me, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of him.

He’d come such a long way from what he called his troll phase.

There was enough Cooper in there to switch on the charming, charismatic man that was comfortable in just about any setting.

“Can’t imagine it being too tough, now that you’re a retiree. What’s it like?”

“Gene asked me the same thing. I’ll let you know when I figure it out.”

“He’s kind of had his hands full,” Cooper cut in. He leaned over and kissed my cheek, and, unlike Gene, Walter just smiled warmly at me. He understood because he’d been there.

“I can imagine life has been quite tumultuous for the two of you over the past few months,” Cooper said to Dane. “When we met, you had just come to learn some pretty big things about your past. How are you adjusting?”

Guess Cooper was going to jump right in.

Dane had been about to take a bite of his gumbo, but he put his spoon down and cleared his throat. “You could say that. I’m doing fine. But then, you’ve had a difficult time as well.”

Cooper opened his mouth to speak then shut it with a smile.

“Wow, I’m sorry. I’m not here as a journalist, and yet it’s hard not to fall back into old patterns.

” He ducked his head and took a bite of his food.

The shift was jarring. He was still trying to find the balance of Cooperness he could be comfortable with.

“No, I’m sorry, Cooper. I understand.” Dane pushed up his sleeves…and exposed deep scars on his forearms.

Cooper stared at them—and his eyes filled with tears. He leaned back in his chair and I handed him a tissue. I kept them in my pockets at all times now.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice a whisper. “Stupid tears.” He took a moment to get his breathing under control, and Dane smiled kindly at him. He reached forward and touched Cooper’s hand with his scarred one.

“Why don’t we eat before we dive into this discussion? I think we’re going to need our strength,” Walter said, reaching for Dane’s other hand, and I noticed a new piece of jewelry.

“Why don’t we,” I said. “And while we’re doing that, maybe you tell me about your new bling there, Junior?”

Walter’s cheeks reddened, and Dane barked out a laugh that had us all in stitches.

“Yeah, we drove out to Santa Barbara for Stacia’s graduation last weekend and we stopped at Charlene’s.”

My smile fell a bit. “How is the old broad?”

Walter’s mustache quirked up on one side. “She’s good. Ornery as ever. You should check in with her.”

“Who’s Charlene?” Cooper asked, and I sighed, knowing there would be no postponing the inevitable. But as I started to speak, Dane broke in, telling their tale excitedly.

“She’s a psychic, man. We talked to her…

about things…and then she told us we had obstacles to face, and we’d be stronger when we were wed.

We went out back and she had this cool altar set up on the side of the hill, all surrounded by vines and boulders and candles, and we just did it.

Got hitched.” He beamed at Walter. “We still need to do it officially…”

“It was so woo-woo, Denny, you would have groaned the whole time.” Walter held up his beer bottle, and Denny tapped his to it.

“Come on, I get down with the woo-woo now.”

“Do you?” Walter said with a laugh. “We’re going to have a party when the kids get back from Europe. Oh, Stacia says thanks for the graduation present, by the way. Don’t worry, I told her Uncle Denny apologized for not making the party.”

“She worked hard. I sent her a chunk of change. My honorary niece gets whatever she wants from Uncle Denny, and so will her brother when he finishes.”

I caught Cooper gazing at me wide-eyed, and I shrugged. “What? They’re the only kids I’ve been able to spoil, so I do it frequently and generously.”

Cooper touched my foot with his under the table. “You’d make such a great dad.”

“I would have liked that,” I said, feeling that hollow sensation encroaching. “It wasn’t meant to happen for me.”

He rolled his eyes. “Oh, right, old man. You act like your life is over.” He leaned close and rubbed noses with me. “Maybe it’s just starting.”

“Yeah, Den. You can join AARP at the same time you’re doing your baby registry.”

I flipped Walter off as I continued staring at Cooper. Thoughts crept into my mind that I had long ago dismissed. I had really wanted to be a dad. Emma and I weren’t ready, but I’d made it clear to Renee that I wanted kids. She’d always just shrugged and said, “We’ll see what happens.”

“You better brush up on your diaper changing,” I said to Walter. “You might be a grandpa soon, Junior. Stacia and Jose seem pretty close to getting married.”

“Yeah, yeah. Fuck me. Lisa’s already preparing me that the damn kid is going to propose. I haven’t even retired yet. I’m too young to be a granddad.”

“Right. You tell your daughter that, see how well she takes it.”

The rest of dinner consisted of Cooper razzing me and Walter about all the places we could get senior discounts in town, until Dane nearly fell out of his chair laughing.

I liked this. I’d missed Gene and Walter so damn much over the past few months, missed being able to run things by them when shit got real with Cooper, and now…

I was thinking about regular dinners, kids and grandkids, even vacations together.

My life didn’t have to be over now that I’d retired. I’d been given a fresh start with an incredible man, and if I played my cards right, I could have him for many years to come.

We eventually retired to the living room, which was full of musical instruments, and Dane and Walter took the couch opposite from us. Walter looked happier than he had in the twenty-plus years I’d known him with Dane tucked under his arm.

“You’ve got some amazing instruments here,” Cooper said, peering around the room at the piano and the half-dozen guitars, both acoustic and electric.

There was even a mini drum set, and a whole board for mixing.

The cords were pushed out of the way, but it was obvious the gear was getting used frequently.

“Thanks. I’ve been working on songs with Ryan and Kal. We’re calling ourselves The Travellers.”

“They sound great,” Walter chimed in. “I get my own private concerts all the time. It’s awesome. You play?”

Cooper gazed longingly at the piano. “I haven’t played much since college.”

“I didn’t know you played, baby.”

He grinned shyly and scooted closer to me. I wrapped my arm around his shoulders and gave him a squeeze. He seemed to be flagging a bit, and I wondered if I needed to get him home. I didn’t want to overdo it on his first outing.

“Mom insisted on lessons as a kid. I majored in journalism, but I took all the music classes I could fit in. I went through a phase where I planned to become the next editor-in-chief of Rolling Stone . It was mostly to piss Dad off, as he wanted me to follow in the Harris footsteps and go national news network. Anyway, when I was offered an internship at KTLA, where I met Sam, I decided investigative journalism was truly my calling.”

“Give it a shot,” Dane said, gesturing with his head toward the piano. “Play something for us.”

I patted Cooper’s shoulder. “Want to?”

“I think I do,” he murmured. “Don’t expect much. It’s been years since I did anything other than poke around on Mom’s piano on visits home, and…” He knocked on his head. “Well…you know.”

He pushed himself up with his cane and moved cautiously toward the shiny black grand piano as if he were afraid of being rebuked by the magnificent instrument. He lowered himself carefully onto the bench and stretched out his fingers.

Dee Dee stood. “Anyone want cake?”

“Dee Dee’s cake is delicious,” Walter said, grinning at his love.

“Yes, please,” I answered absently, but my attention was fixed on Cooper.

He played a few scales while Dane served the cake slices. Dane handed mine over and then sat beside me. Cooper launched into a familiar tune and hummed along. Was that Billy Joel?

“I want to tell him the truth,” Dane whispered to me.

“Are you sure?”

He shrugged. “You love him. You two are a part of our lives. And I think he needs to know about the bad thing that happened to me.”

I looked to Walter and back to Dane.

“I can’t guarantee he won’t say anything, but I know he wouldn’t intentionally hurt you.”

“I know. You wouldn’t be with him if he was a hurtful person.”

I’d only spent a few days with Dane, but we must have trauma bonded for him to put so much trust in me.

There was something celestial about him, supernatural kinda.

Maybe it was the carnival, maybe it was just the fact that he was older than me but still appeared to be a young man.

He’d lived through such a monumental time, and as a result, held so much knowledge of the past in his mind.

He was a history book come to life, the personification of a time that happened before I was born, and yet to him, it was a few months ago.

He wasn’t jaded by age. His memories weren’t tarnished by time.

All of a sudden, Cooper’s playing became more insistent, and his humming turned into full-throated singing. The song, Billy Joel’s “You Can Make Me Free,” wasn’t one of his biggest hits, but the words, the sentiment…a better song couldn’t have been written for the two of us.

Cooper’s singing voice wasn’t showy or fancy, but it was smooth and honest. He played and sang as if he were alone somewhere, in his own world. I was grateful that this wasn’t yet another thing he would struggle with after his injuries. He was so brave. He had no idea.

I didn’t think I could love him any more, but the depths of his strength continued to amaze me.

He revealed more of himself every damn day.

I worried my old man heart couldn’t take much more.

As he sang, I knew. We had the kind of love people wrote songs about.

This extraordinary man, so handsome, so strong, had made me laugh, cry, and fall deeper than I’d ever thought possible.

He’d given me a new lease on life, and my heart was going to have to be strong enough to take it.

When he finished, we all clapped, but Cooper didn’t turn to face us.

“Baby?”

He still didn’t move.

Dane sat beside him and noodled on the keys. “Billy Joel opened for us when we played in New York. Must have been…seventy-four? ‘Piano Man’ was hot, and he didn’t like it much, having to open for a bunch of hippies from California. I did always like that tune ‘New York State of Mind.’”

I held my breath as Cooper slowly turned his head to stare at Dane.

Dane grinned and started to play the aforementioned song.

“That’s one way to do it,” Walter muttered. “Want another beer?”