Tyler studied him for a long beat and then smiled. “Thank you. I would appreciate if you stopped beating yourself up, though. I’m not talking about that part of it. I know you’re sorry ... and I’m not taking anything you said personally.
“If you remember, I believe I said something horrible about you and Hannah and that outfit she wears to tend bar,” he continued. “I deserved a beat down for that. Do you think I meant it, though? Do you think I really believe those horrible things I said?”
Hannah was taken aback. “What did you say about me in my barmaid uniform? Wait, I don’t want to know.” She held up her hand and shook her head. “I’m telling you those uniforms are the worst. I look like a prostitute in mine.”
“You look hot in yours,” Cooper countered. “And don’t you worry about what he said. Honestly, I’d forgotten about it until he brought it up just now.”
“That’s because you know I didn’t mean it,” Tyler prodded. “I know you didn’t mean what you said either. It’s okay. I forgive you, and I think we’d both be happiest if we could put this behind us.”
Cooper held his friend’s gaze long enough to search for hints he was lying and came up empty. “Let’s put it behind us then.”
The friends briefly clasped hands and bobbed their heads, making Hannah grin because it was such a “man” way to react. “So, let’s go back to what I was saying,” she prodded. “I still think Cooper managed to control his urges. I mean ... he obviously couldn’t completely stop the magic, but he managed to fight off part of it, and that’s not the first time either.”
“Excuse me?” Cooper was understandably confused. “What are you talking about?”
“The first time Frank tried to control you,” she replied, not missing a beat. “It was when Rob was killed. You were fired up, but when I made a suggestion to you, I could see your mind working. You wanted to shoot me down at first, but something inside had you thinking better of it and you agreed with me. You fought him then and I think you fought him this afternoon.”
“I ... don’t know that I believe that,” he hedged, conflicted.
“For what it’s worth, I think Hannah is right,” Tyler offered, grabbing more tacos. The rustling wrappers had Jinx raising his head, but when no one offered him a treat, he made a grumbling sound and turned so his back was to the group.
“You think Hannah is right about what?” Cooper prodded.
“All of it. She mentioned the thing with your attitude when she visited me at the paddock earlier. She told me then that you seemed to be fighting something. Then, this afternoon, you could’ve killed me with one arm tied behind your back.
“Don’t bother denying it,” he continued. “We both know it’s true. You’ve been trained and I haven’t. All I have under my belt are old episodes of Alias because I love Sydney Bristow.”
Hannah brightened considerably. “Me, too.”
“We’ll totally have a marathon one rainy weekend,” Tyler promised on a wink before turning back to his best friend. “As for you, I know you’re beating yourself up because you can’t help yourself, but the truth is that you could’ve killed me with one punch. You were being forced to fight, but the level at which you fought is up for debate. I think you had a certain amount of control.”
“I ... .” Cooper was at a loss so he went back to staring at his taco. He had no idea what he was supposed to say.
“It’s okay,” Hannah offered, her hand moving to his shoulder as her eyes drifted to the front window of the saloon. There, Jacob stood with a tape measure as he took another gander at the spot where Rob Linus had died. “It’s not a bad thing, Cooper. We’re both proud of you for what you managed to accomplish.”
“Especially me.” Tyler offered up a cheeky grin. “I might be dead if you hadn’t managed to exert some control.”
“It wasn’t enough, though,” Cooper argued. “I mean ... look at your face.”
“I hate to break it to you, buddy, but your face is a mess, too.”
“I think you’re both handsome,” Hannah countered. “You’re just more colorful today than you were yesterday. Um ... what do you think he’s doing?” She couldn’t drag her attention away from Jacob. He seemed intent as he used the tape measure, occasionally jotting down notes in a journal before measuring something else.
“He’s trying to make sense of Rob Linus and what happened to him,” Cooper replied, annoyance returning with a vengeance. “He refuses to accept that there was no bullet.”
“He can’t accept that,” Tyler argued. “It’s out of his wheelhouse. He has no imagination. If he accepts there was no bullet then he’s going to also have to accept that something extraordinary happened ... and he’s simply not an extraordinary guy.”
“I guess.” Cooper rubbed his chin. “I don’t like the idea of him skulking around out here at night. I’m pretty sure he’s going to try spying on us.”
“Good luck with that,” Tyler said. “I plan on eating my weight in tacos and then locking myself in my apartment, where absolutely nobody will care if I pull a Jinx.”
It took Hannah a moment to realize what he was saying, and when she did, she burst out laughing, to the point where her whole body shook. “Oh, my ... .”
Cooper joined in on the laughter. “We’re quite the family, huh?” he said as he wiped cheese from his friend’s cheek.
Tyler didn’t protest the statement. “All families have issues. Our current issue just happens to be mystical furies bent on killing us. It’s no big deal.”
“We need to discuss your definition of ‘no big deal’ at some point,” Cooper warned.
“Sure. Not tonight, though. Tonight I’m taking a long bath
