Read Chasing Dreams (Devil's Bend) for Free Online Page B

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    So
maybe Cooper wasn’t the smartest man on the planet, but he knew immediately
that what Adam just announced to his sister was not a good thing. As for why,
he had no idea.
    “Shit,”
Adam said, pulling his ball cap down low on his head before taking it off
altogether and turning to face the yard.
    “I’m
going to take a wild guess on this one, but I don’t think she took that well.”
Cooper’s statement was met with silence, and he allowed it to settle around
them for a few minutes.
    Not
only was he uncomfortable being there, Cooper was confused as to why he
was there and the answers didn’t appear to be forthcoming. Did Adam think that
bringing him along would lessen the sting of that blow? If he did, it damn sure
didn’t work.
    “Richie
died in the line of duty,” Adam explained, although Cooper had no idea who
Richie was. Not knowing what he was supposed to say to that, Cooper kept his
mouth shut.
    “Richie
was her husband,” Adam finally explained long seconds later.
    Oh,
shit. Well, that explained it all too well. Adam just informed his sister that he was
going to do the exact thing that got her husband killed? Shit.
    Cooper
wanted to ask Adam why he thought it was a good idea to do this. Or better yet,
why Adam thought it was a nifty idea to bring Cooper along when he announced
his intentions? How in the hell did he get caught in the middle?
    “I
need to talk to her,” Adam stated, but he didn’t move from where he stood.
    That
would probably be a smart idea , Cooper thought to himself. It was a
good thing that the filter was back in place because he knew for sure that he
shouldn’t get in the middle of this any more than he already was.
    Adam
suddenly turned and faced Cooper, a pained look on his face. Pulling his ball
cap back on, Adam said, “I’ve wanted to do this my whole life. I was actually
going to go into the academy with Richie, but when my stepfather got sick, I
decided not to go.”
    Cooper
knew that Adam’s stepfather had been sick several years back, but he wasn’t
aware that his illness had derailed Adam’s future. Nor had he been aware that
Adam had a brother-in-law. He knew Adam had a brother and a sister, both
younger, knew he had grown up in a small town and that he wasn’t close to
either of his parents. Besides the basics of their families, the distance over
these last few years hadn’t kept them as close as they had been during those
two semesters that they’d roomed together in college.
    That
was probably mostly Cooper’s fault because when he ventured into the music
industry full time, he’d essentially left most of his friends behind. He and
Adam talked from time to time, at least once every three or four months, but
obviously not enough that Adam felt close enough to share those personal parts
of his life. On top of that, Cooper knew Adam well enough to know the man
didn’t share much of himself with anyone.
    “Do
you think she’ll ever be ok with it?” Adam asked, and Cooper merely stared back
at him. How would he know? Cooper had never known the type of loss that Tessa
had obviously experienced, but he couldn’t imagine it would be easy to deal
with.
    A
second later, the screen door opened, and Tessa joined them on the porch, her
eyes red and puffy from crying. Cooper had a sudden need to go to her, to pull
her against him and shield her from all of the pains of the world.
    He
kept his ass planted on the porch swing.
    “How
about I go take a walk?” Cooper offered when neither sibling spoke.
    “No,”
Tessa whispered. “Please stay. I’m sorry for…”
    When
it looked like she was going to cry again, Adam moved toward her and pulled her
against his chest, holding her close. “I’m sorry, Sis. I know how hard this is
for you, but I need to do this.”
    The
silence returned for a few minutes, and Cooper was beginning to feel even more
uncomfortable sitting there. He was an outsider looking in, and he felt as
though he wasn’t invited to