Read Cooper for Free Online Page B

make him realise she wasn't worth knowing? There were so many things, she didn't know where to start. But in the end, all she could do was sniff and shake her head.
    "Tell me I'm wrong," he repeated, his voice wobbling dangerously close to tears, too.
    "I…I can't," she finally got out, unable to withstand him any longer.
    "Then meet me. Now. Right now. I'll come to your place. I can be there in…" he paused, "half an hour. I can meet you in half an hour. I'd throw pebbles at your window, or climb the tree next to it, whatever damn foolish romantic gesture I could come up with, but wheelchairs make a person pragmatic by necessity. I can't do those things. So meet me at my Toyota Sienna. It's a silver mini-van. I'll be outside your front gates in half an hour."
    Amy sniffed and nodded, then croaked out a yes . It was crazy. He was crazy. This would never work. She was mentally challenged; he was physically challenged. She was Guild; he was human. A man in a wheelchair would be easy pickings for her father. She was risking his life by even thinking of doing this.
    But she'd see him. Just so she could explain. It couldn't come from a phone call. She couldn't convince him it had nothing to do with his wheelchair unless she saw him face to face.
    "Half an hour, Amy. Don't leave me sitting in the cold."
    "Half an hour."
    She heard him disconnect at the other end and put her own phone down.
    What was she doing? Her father would kill her if he caught her sneaking out to meet a man. A non-Guild man with no power and no influence. She didn't even know what Cooper did for a living. Something worthwhile and important , he'd said.
    Dashing into the bathroom, she turned on the shower. There wasn't much time. She needed to repair the damage her father and her tears had inflicted. If she didn't want to scare him away at the very first sight of her, she had to do some major repair work. But it was night and the new bruises were all on her body, not her face. All she had to do was cover the blotching skin and red eyes, which she could do with foundation. What that didn't hide, darkness would.
    In twenty minutes she was dressed in warm jeans, shirt and cashmere sweater. Over them she put on the darkest coat she owned. Then, quietly, she snuck down the servant's staircase to the ground floor. It was late; all but one of the house staff would be in bed. Juanita had opened the door for her, so she must have the nightshift, staying up to take care of any needs her employers might have late into the night. Her father, she knew, would think nothing of calling for late night snacks if hunger stuck at any ungodly hour.
    There would also be a guard patrolling the house and one covering the grounds. Amy vaguely knew their patterns, although she’d never considered trying to get past them before. If she was caught doing so her punishment would be far more severe than what had been meted out half an hour ago. Her father would see this as an act of outright rebellion, flouting his orders in the worst possible way.
    And wasn’t that what she was doing? Rebelling? How could she even consider rebelling when her father was always right?
    What was wrong with her; sneaking out of the house like a thief in the night, to meet a man who was so totally wrong for her? But the alternative was worse. Cooper would be terribly hurt if she left him waiting in the cold. He would think it was because he was a helpless cripple. And she couldn’t stand for him to think that way.
    More and more choices. They multiplied exponentially from that one stupid decision to go out tonight. If only she had done the right thing and stayed in. Now she risked more pain, both physical and emotional.
    At the bottom of the servants staircase Amy paused, listening for movement. Off to the right was the kitchen, laundry-room and the small common room the staff used when on call. Juanita would most likely be in that room, unless Amy’s father required something of her.
    Would her father