The One Real Thing (Hart's Boardwalk) (40 page)

Cooper thought he saw a flash of concern on Emery’s face. “You think he’s looked into me?”

“Yes,” Jessica said grimly. “Speaking from experience, I’d say he’s looked into everyone in this room.”

“Bastard,” Bailey huffed and then winced apologetically at Cat.

“Is that settled, then?” Iris said, clapping her hands together. “We sign this damn petition, Vaughn plays the bluff, no one says a word about Emery’s grandma’s money.”

“That sounds about right.” Dahlia grinned at her concise summation.

“You don’t have to do this.” Cooper thought it bore repeating.

Iris shook her head at him. “You’re not talking us out of this. We’re doing this for you, son. But we’re also doing it for all of us. Ian Devlin is a town bully. You have to stand up to bullies or they’ll just keep coming back to steal your lunch money.”

And because Cooper supposed she was right, he gave in.

Jess took out the petition she’d written up and everyone signed it. After she’d promised to keep them updated, they all left to go back to their businesses, Bailey storming out first, Emery stuttering and blushing as Tremaine held the door open for her, and Dahlia laughing at whatever Iris and Ira were saying to her.

When they were gone Jessica walked over to him as Cat cuddled Joey into her side, whispering at him, probably about keeping quiet about what he’d heard.

“Are you mad?” Jess said, sliding her arms around his waist.

He smoothed his hands up her bare arms and shook his head. “No. It’s the only plan we have. Hopefully it works.”

“I think it will. This town depends on the boardwalk for tourism. There’s no way they will risk you all shutting your doors. The media would have a field day and that would open up a whole can of worms about bribery in the city office.”

“It’s smart.” He nodded, leaning down to press a soft kiss to her mouth. “Thank you.”

She grinned at him, bouncing a little in his arms in a giddy way that made him chuckle.

“Jessica,” Cat said.

The doc turned in his arms to face his sister and he felt her tense underneath his touch. “Cat.”

His sister didn’t waste any time smiling at her. “Thanks for looking out for my brother. I’m glad you’re staying.”

Jess immediately relaxed against him. “Thanks. Me, too. Although”—she shot him a grin over her shoulder—“I need more wardrobe space. Your second bedroom maybe?”

“Wait.” Cat stared at them, astonished. “You moved in together?”

Cooper hugged Jess close, giving his sister a look that said,
Back off
. “We didn’t see any point in waiting.”

“Of course you didn’t.” Cat shook her head in disbelief. “It’s never been slow with you two so I don’t know why I’m surprised.”

“Are you mad?” Jess said.

“Who cares if she’s mad?” Cooper huffed.

Jess frowned at him. “
I
care.”

At that Cat gave her a big smile. “Did I mention lately that I like you?”

“Me, too!” Joey cried. “Are you going to be my aunt?”

Now it was Jess’s turn to blush a little. “Not right this second.”

Cooper wrapped his arms around her shoulders and drew her back against his chest. “Someday, Joe. And you’ll be my best man.”

Joey smiled. “Really?”

“Of course. Who else?”

His nephew cocked his head to the side. “Will I have to wear one of those stupid penguin suits?”

Cooper flicked a look at Cat. She shrugged. “What? They are stupid penguin suits.”

“Probably,” Cooper told Joey.

“Oh. Okay. I suppose that would be okay.”

There was mirth in Cat’s eyes as she studied Jess, who had gone absolutely still in his arms. “Maybe you should stop freaking your girl out with the wedding talk.”

He winked at his sister and then pressed a kiss to Jess’s neck. “Okay. No more wedding talk. At least for a while.”

Jess relaxed at his teasing tone and shook her head. “It’s a good thing I’m a little crazy because you all”—she gestured around the bar—“are more than a little crazy.”

“Ach.” Cat grabbed Joey’s hand, striding toward the door. “What’s life without a little crazy?”

“Boring,” all three of them said.

Cooper grunted in amusement as his sister and his woman burst
out laughing, his nephew looking up at his mom, happy whenever she was happy because he was a good kid who loved his mom.

And that was when it hit him.

The piece of the puzzle that had been missing . . . he’d found it.

Because right then, standing in his bar with them, he finally felt like he had everything he’d ever need.

To say the chair of the city board of licenses appeared extremely uncomfortable with what Cooper and I had to say was an understatement.

“I can assure you that no one on my board would take a bribe,” Christine Rothwell said sternly.

“I’m sure you know that what we’re suggesting is not outside the realm of possibility,” I said.

She looked down at her desk. “And who are you proposing is bribing someone on my board?”

I found her avoidance of my gaze more than a little disconcerting. I hoped like hell that whoever had taken the bribe wasn’t the freaking chair of the board.

“You know we can’t say who,” Cooper said. “That opens us up to slander.”

“So let me get this straight.” Christine sat back in her chair. “Everyone who has signed this petition”—she gestured to it on her desk—“will close their doors if Mr. Lawson’s liquor license isn’t renewed?”

“Exactly.”

“This is blackmail. You could be arrested for this.”

“Maybe so,” I said. “But along with a huge hit to the town’s economy, there will be a media frenzy. That media, as well as the police, will look into our concerns and I’m not exactly convinced you want them looking into your board.”

“We have nothing to hide.” She lifted her chin in defiance.

“Are you sure about that? Because we’re sure someone on your board has taken a bribe and we’re sure we know who paid them off. And we’re willing to risk everything on this. Are you?”

Christine considered us, her eyes hard with anger. “Give me a moment while I retrieve your file, Mr. Lawson.”

They waited patiently as she typed away at her computer. She studied her screen, her eyebrows pinching together. “You reapplied a few weeks ago . . . and there is a notice on the application.” She shot us a wary look. “It has been denied.”

Cooper tensed beside me. “Any reason on there for it?”

“It states here that the police have been called to the bar on a number of occasions in the past year for antisocial behavior.”

“That’s bullshit,” Cooper said, sounding calm even though I knew he wasn’t.

I glowered at Christine Rothwell. “I’m sure all you have to do is make a few calls to the police for them to deny any such claims.”

“And all Mr. Lawson has to do is appeal to the state to have his license renewed.”

“That’s months in court,” Cooper said, sounding less patient. “Perhaps a year. I can’t lose out on a year’s income, Ms. Rothwell.”

“It’s the legal way to do this,” she bit out. “Not barging into my office to blackmail me.”

“We’re not blackmailing you,” I said. “We’re giving you a heads-up. Have you heard of Vaughn Tremaine, Paradise Sands Hotel? He’s signed the petition.”

“Of course.” She nodded, seemingly greatly unhappy to see his name there.

“He’s willing to supplement Cooper’s income and the income of all the businesses that will be closing their doors. He’ll do that while Cooper has to go through the courts to get this mess sorted out. But as I said, all that’s going to happen is the police will discover that whoever signed off on this”—I pointed to her computer—“took a bribe to do it. And then your whole office is under investigation.”

She studied us and then she nodded. “I happen to be friends with
Sheriff King. I’m going to call him. If you could wait outside in reception while I do so.”

Cooper and I did as she asked, waiting impatiently outside her office, sharing frustrated looks. Twenty minutes later Rothwell called us back into her office, looking harried and a little pale.

“Sit.”

Once we were seated she gave us a pinched look. “Sheriff King has confirmed there have been no such complaints or call-outs to the bar. He says you’re an upstanding businessman, Mr. Cooper.”

“I always liked Jeff King.” Cooper smiled at me and I gave him a relieved grin in return.

“Yes, well. I can assure you that this petition is unnecessary. Your license will be approved.” She waved at her computer.

“And whoever took the bribe?” I said.

She narrowed her eyes on me. “For all I know this is a clerical error. In any case it’s now an internal matter.”

Meaning she’d fire the asshole but neither that person nor Devlin would be pulled up to the law because she didn’t want the police investigating her office.

Cooper seemed to sense my indignation because he gripped my hand tighter. “That’s all we wanted, Ms. Rothwell.” He stood up and held out his hand to her. “Thank you for your time.”

She gave him a clipped nod and we walked out of there with me bristling the whole time.

“They’re going to get away with it,” I said as Cooper led me out of the building to his truck.

“That’s not our fight, Doc.” He held the passenger door open for me. “Our fight is with Devlin. And believe me, that’s enough to handle for the moment.”

On the drive back to his bar, I let his words sink in.

Unfortunately he was right. If Ian Devlin was willing to go to the lengths he had to steal Cooper’s place from him, then we needed to concentrate on our fight with him before worrying about anything else.

My cell rang, interrupting our usual comfortable silence. I frowned, not recognizing the number. “Hello. Jessica Huntington speaking.”

“Ah, Dr. Huntington,” a vaguely familiar male voice said, “it’s Dr. Paul Duggan here.”

My heart immediately started to race a little faster. “Dr. Duggan. It’s nice to hear from you.”

Cooper glanced at me and I grinned at him excitedly. He winked at me before turning back to watch the road.

“I’m sorry it’s been a few days, but I had to check your references out.”

“Right.” I waited, nervous.

“Your last employer isn’t too happy with you,” he said softly, and my heart plummeted into the pit of my stomach.

“I gathered.” I felt Cooper’s gaze on me at my sad tone.

“However, they did concede you were a good doctor . . . until you up and left with no notice.”

“Dr. Duggan, I can explain—”

“You don’t need to. This is a small town, Dr. Huntington, and word is you and Cooper are pretty permanent.”

“We are,” I assured him.

“I’m just going to go on faith that that will keep you here. And truth is, no one as qualified as you has applied for the position.”

My spirits immediately picked back up. “Are you offering me the job?”

“I am. Are you accepting?”

“Yes!” I cried out and he laughed at my exuberance. I grinned as Cooper reached over to squeeze my knee, smiling at me, happy for me.

“Then I’ll see you at the clinic on Sunday at ten a.m. so we can go over the ropes. You’ll officially start Monday morning.”

“I’ll be there.” I was relieved. So freaking relieved I couldn’t even explain it. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

We hung up and I bounced in my chair. “I got a job.”

“I heard,” Cooper said, amused.

“I’m going to be a doctor again.”

He swung a tender look at me. “You never stopped being one, Jessica.”

Relaxing back into my seat, I stared out at the town passing us by and I smiled. “Today is a good day.”

“Yeah,” Cooper agreed.

A banner hung from the ceiling in Antonio’s with the words
Bon Voyage, George!
printed on it.

The place was packed with people mingling over the buffet, drinking, and just enjoying their last night with George Beckwith before he left for Nova Scotia.

“I can’t believe I threw this party for you, George Beckwith, only to find out you sold your damn store to a chef! A chef! Like we need more competition,” Iris grumbled at him.

Her loud annoyance had jerked my gaze from Archie and Anita. They were sitting over in a corner with some people I didn’t recognize. Anita looked skinny and tired, but she was out and about and I took that as a sign of strength. A good sign.

As for Archie . . . he was drinking soda.

I leaned in to Cooper. “I’m going to go rescue George.”

He nodded, reluctantly letting me go, before turning back to Bailey and Tom.

I hurried over, slipping my arm around George’s shoulders. “How you doing?”

“Oh, thank God,” he said. “Rescue.”

“George!” Iris huffed.

“Sorry, Iris, this pretty lady needs a drink.” He guided me quickly away from Iris and over to the buffet. “That woman has always terrified me,” he confessed.

I laughed. “She is a force of nature.”

He grunted at that, picking up a pig in a blanket.

I studied him, feeling a little melancholy all of a sudden. Not
only had I grown fond of him in such a short time, but he and Sarah were the reason I was there.

Maybe Bailey and the rest of the town were right about this place and fate.

It felt like fate had brought me there in the guise of Sarah’s letters.

And I’d fallen in love on the boardwalk.

It was nice to think that maybe the legend was real after all.

“I’m sorry you’re leaving.”

George gave me a kind smile. “Did I thank you yet for bringing Sarah’s letters to me? Because thank you, Jessica. You’ll never know how much it matters.”

I looked over at Cooper and he seemed to sense my gaze, his turning toward me, so soft, so blue, so warm, so loving. “I think I do,” I said.

“Maybe it wasn’t all for nothing after all,” George muttered.

His words pulled my gaze from Cooper to him, only to find George was looking between Cooper and me. “What?”

He smiled. “Maybe it wasn’t all for nothing after all. Sarah and I.”

Still confused, I shook my head.

That made him smile bigger. “The bigger picture, Jessica. The bigger picture. Sometimes a story is only an important part of a bigger story.”

Finally, I understood, and it brought tears to my eyes.

He saw and nodded to the wine. “Drink?”

“I can’t,” I said regretfully. “Dr. Duggan is showing me the ropes tomorrow for work.”

“Oh!” a voice said behind me, and I turned to see Sadie Thomas pushing past a guy to get to me. “I heard you were going to be the new doctor.”

I blinked in surprise at her, considering that twice now I’d caught her flirting with my man. “Yes.”

“Doc,” Sadie said, “I’ve got a bit of a problem. I was wondering if you’d take a look at it when you have a moment.”

“Problem?” I frowned.

“Well, you see . . .” She slipped off her sandal. “Do you see my big toe? Does that look swollen to you? Because it hurts like a bitch. I think I broke it, Doc. What do you think?”

Suddenly I remembered what Bailey had said.

“I think you should put your sandal back on and make an appointment to see me in my office.”

She frowned at me. “Is this because of Cooper? Because I’ve backed off.”

I fought hard to hide my smile. “No, Sadie. It’s because I’m at a party, not at work.”

“Oh. Okay. Just thought I’d ask.” She shrugged and sauntered off, not limping, I might add.

George chuckled beside me. “Get used to that, Dr. Huntington.”

“Yes. Bailey warned me.”

“Think you can cope with it? Small-town life?”

I gazed around at everyone who had turned up to say good-bye to George, and then my eyes fell on Cooper, who was surrounded by his sister, Joey, and my friends. The only people missing were Vaughn and Emery, but I hoped that would change over the coming months.

Antonio’s was noisy, rambunctious, full of energy.

It was nothing like the soothing sound of the surf crashing against the shore.

And yet as I stood there, my eyes locked with Cooper Lawson’s, surrounded by the people of Hartwell, that feeling I’d gotten the first time I stood on the balcony at Bailey’s inn washed over me.

Peace.

At last.

“Yeah,” I said, “I can definitely cope with it.”