Sometimes, Forever (Sometimes Moments #2) (9 page)

Megan:
We need to talk about your birthday party.

Cooper:
My birthday is three months away, Megs. I’m really busy today.

Megan:
I need to plan your birthday party so it doesn’t coincide with my wedding.

Cooper:
Really, Megs?

Megan:
Yes, Cooper.

Cooper:
I’m busy at the farm. I don’t think I’m going to be back in time for my birthday. So you get free rein of whatever date you want in October.

Megan:
I bet you anything that if Margot asked, you’d come home in an instant.

Cooper:
Don’t be like that. I would not.

Megan:
You would, too. She’s ALWAYS been your favourite. If I have my wedding on your birthday, will you care? It’s the only date free at the Winter Garden.

Cooper:
No. Because it is YOUR wedding. And I love you both. Don’t be like that, okay? I’d drop everything for YOUR wedding. But I don’t care about my birthday.

Megan:
You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m just going insane. I don’t even want my wedding on that date. It’s your birthday. I’m sorry, Coop.

Cooper:
Don’t be. Stressful times, I know. I gotta get back. I’ll call you later.

Once he had locked his phone, Cooper set it next to him and let out a sigh. He glanced up to see Peyton’s raised brow and the half-smile on her face.

“Everything okay?” she asked as she handed him a plate with a blueberry cheesecake on it.

He nodded. “My sister, Megan, is getting married. The only date available at the Winter Garden is on my birthday.”

“Tell her to avoid them.”

“What? Why?”

Peyton sat back into her chair. “I know the wedding industry, Cooper. Trust me, she does not want her wedding at the Winter Garden. Their facilities suck and the food isn’t that great either. I know the owners and they’re good people who try.” She paused and cut into her cheesecake. “But a wedding is supposed to be the greatest day of a couple’s life. She could try the Perry’s or the Coretta. They’re some of the state’s best venues. I can make some calls and get her any date she wants.”

Cooper blinked at her. She would go out of her way to get his sister a wedding venue. She didn’t know Megan. In fact, if she did, she wouldn’t go to such extreme lengths.

“Why didn’t you recommend the Spencer-Reid?” he asked.

Peyton set her forkful of cheesecake down. “What?”

“The Spencer-Reid is one of the state’s most beloved wedding venues. This place was in the top three, wasn’t it?”

She nodded. “It’s number two. But I didn’t want you to think I was trying to get business out of you and your sister. The Perry’s is number one for a reason. I can get her a date.”

“You would really do that for my sister?” he asked, surprised.

“Of course, she’s your sister.” She smiled. “Plus, Jane, who is the owner at the Perry’s, owes me a few favours.”

“You’re amazing, Peyton Spencer. You know that, right?”

His compliment brought the return of her pink cheeks. He’d caused her to blush, and his heart swelled at the thought. Peyton didn’t reply as she picked up her cup and stared at the tea inside. That exact moment, the way she got lost in her thoughts, was beautiful. And he wished she could see just how beautiful she really was. Cooper reached into his work bag next to him and retrieved the Polaroid camera. He had to be quick to take proof of this moment. He switched the camera on and held it up. Through the small glass window, he could see Peyton’s lips part as she was about to say something.

And at that moment, he took her picture.

The bright flash causing her to lift her chin and stare at him.

Her wide and very surprised eyes bore into him, and he loved it.

Loved her the moments just before, during, and after the Polaroid had been taken.

She didn’t call him out on his picture taking as she blinked and quickly composed herself. Cooper set the camera on the table and slipped the picture into his bag. He’d show her someday. If there were ever a day she doubted herself, he’d show her.

Peyton smiled at him as she brushed her hair behind her ear. Then she cleared her throat and asked, “Are you coming to the cherry blossom festival tomorrow night?”

Cherry blossom festival?

“This town has cherry blossom trees? I haven’t seen many.”

“Daylesford only has a handful. They’re mostly in people’s backyards. The festival is here at the hotel. We’re welcoming winter. We have fake cherry blossom trees with pink fairy lights wrapped around them. I have Nigel constructing them out back now. June Sinclair will be here.”

Cooper’s mouth gaped. “You know June Sinclair? The singer. That June Sinclair?”

A light laugh passed her lips. “We’re actually friends. You should come to the festival tomorrow, and I’ll introduce you to her. Also, during the day, the market is opening as well. Almost everyone from town is coming, so you’ll have people to talk to.”

“Almost everyone?”

“Jay Preston won’t be coming,” she said.

“Why?”

“He refuses to. It’s a long story.”

“One you’ll tell me someday?”

Peyton took a sip of her tea and then nodded. “Someday. So tomorrow? I don’t really want to pressure you to come, but I’d love it if you did. It’s the first festival the hotel’s going to be hosting, so I could really use you here.”

Because sometimes he doesn’t think his actions through, Cooper reached up and took hold of Peyton’s hand in his. The immediate surge from their contact completely consumed him.

Like when he had first met her, his heart and his brain knew.

It
is
her.

She was the one.

Cooper stared into her beautiful eyes and nodded. “I’ll be there.”

“Wow,” he breathed as he stepped out of the hotel and into its main garden. Trees upon trees wrapped in pink and white fairy lights were scattered throughout the garden. They looked like cherry blossom trees. It was bright and beautiful. Peyton and her hotel had outdone themselves. It was just after five p.m. and the sun was on its way to setting, making the light shimmer across the lake perfectly.

“Well, well, well,” he heard Madilynne Scott say to his right.

He turned to see her with a champagne glass in her hand, her eyes roaming up and down. “Hey, Mads,” he greeted. “Where’s Graham?”

“With my dad. You look quite nice this evening, Coop.” The smirk on her face had him looking down at his dark grey chinos and light green T-shirt. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to dress for a town festival. But he thought with what he had packed, he looked presentable.

“Was I supposed to wear a shirt with the farm’s logo on it? I can go back home and change,” he said to his boss’ wife.

Mads laughed and then took a step towards him. “You look fine. Better than fine. Are we impressing a certain woman tonight?”

And that was where it became uncomfortable for him.

He liked Madilynne. She was not only his boss’ wife, but she was also Peyton’s best friend. Whatever he said, he was sure she’d repeat. He didn’t want to screw things up with Peyton because the last two weeks with her had been amazing. But he wanted a lot more than friendly tea and chats every day.

“Thought people should see me in something other than my work gear.”

“Suuuure, that’s the reason,” she deadpanned and led him to the table of food. “The hotel looks pretty, huh?”

“Yeah,” he agreed.

“She made this place her own. He’d be proud of her.”

Cooper looked at her. “What?”

“Nothing,” Mads muttered. Then she shot him a smile. One he saw right through. “I’m going to go find my husband. Enjoy tonight, Coop. Take this all in.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to welcome the woman of the hour and my inspiration, Peyton Spencer, on the stage. Come up here, Peyton!” June Sinclair said through the microphone, gaining his immediate attention.

He swung his gaze to the stage to find Peyton in a beautiful pink dress that fell just past her knees smiling at June as she took the mic. She took a deep breath and then turned to the audience. “Hi, everyone. I’m Peyton and I’m the owner of the Spencer-Reid. I just wanted to welcome you all and thank you for coming to the first ever cherry blossom festival. I hope you all have fun and enjoy June’s amazing voice.”

Then the crowd on the dance floor clapped and cheered as Peyton returned the mic to the singer. Cooper watched as she walked down the stage’s short steps and mingled with people. He decided that he would wait until she was free and done with her hosting duties before he’d see her. He wanted her to find him when she was ready.

“Drink, sir?” a waiter asked, blocking his view of the dance floor.

Cooper took the beer off the tray and thanked the worker. As he took a sip, he tilted his head up at the pink and white lights that created the cherry blossoms.

They were beautiful.

They reminded him of her.

“Hey,” Peyton said once she had stood in front of him. It had been almost a half hour since she had made the speech. Cooper didn’t mind. Many of the townspeople that he’d delivered to had stopped to chat with him.

They all asked how he liked Daylesford.

The same questions to which he gave the same reply.

“You did well up there,” Cooper said as he set his full beer bottle on the table behind him.

She let out a nervous laugh. “I winged it. Jenny was supposed to do the welcome greeting, and there was more to it, but she had to deal with one of the guests.”

“Well, you did really well for winging it.” He couldn’t help the smile he made. It was her allure. Her pull. It was all her that made it happen.

Peyton let out a heavy exhale and tilted her chin up at him. “Would you like to dance?”

It was
the
moment Peyton Spencer rendered him speechless.

So he nodded.

She reached out and held his hand in hers. That little reminder in the back of his head echoed. The voice that told him Peyton was the one. However, as they headed towards the middle of the dance floor, and she turned to face him, those echoes became sirens.

It’s Peyton.

The music slowed its tempo and the flash in her eyes had him in awe of her.

“This is my favourite song of June’s,” she confessed in a soft voice.

Cooper stepped forward and brought her in close to settle his other palm on her hip. Peyton made a small gasp. After a few seconds, she set her hand on his shoulder.

“What’s this song called?” he asked, not recognising it.

She smiled. “It’s a song she’s never released. She wrote it last year. It’s called ‘Sometimes
.
’”

“It sounds sad.”

“Because it is. It’s about someone losing someone they loved. And all the could-have-beens and the life they were supposed to have together,” Peyton clarified.

“That’s pretty sad,” Cooper said as he began to rock them into their first ever dance together.

Peyton didn’t take her eyes off him as she said, “I don’t think it has to be sad. I think she’s trying to show the beauty in it.”

His heart clenched when her lips pulled into a sincere smile.

“You have a beautiful outlook on it,” he said. “You have a beautiful outlook on …
everything.
”

He noticed that she swallowed hard and her eyes glazed over.

“I never used to,” she admitted. “I held on to a lot of hate and anger.”

Cooper stopped their dance and his hands left hers. In the middle of the dance floor, he stared at this beautiful, vulnerable, and guarded woman.

“I think that’s what makes you even more beautiful. You held on, you let go, and you saw the beauty in things people don’t see.”

“Cooper,” she breathed.

“No, I’m serious, Peyton. I think you’re incredible, and I don’t even know your entire story,” he confessed and took her hand.

Her lips slowly parted as if she were about to say something, but Cooper decided that this was his all-or-nothing moment.

He yanked on her hand, bringing her close, and then cupped her face in his palms. He gave her no time for second thoughts as his lips found hers. Cooper had watched her eyelids flutter close before he clenched his shut, enjoying, loving the feel of her lips on his.