“The thing is, we were only friends when she left,” he continued. “I knew I felt more for her and I was trying to figure out how to tell her. I was terrified she wouldn’t feel the same way. I thought I had time to figure it out, though. I didn’t want to lose her as a friend, but I wanted so much more.”
Cooper’s tone was measured. “She left because of the psychic thing, didn’t she?”
Nick nodded. “She did. She was afraid to tell me, thought it would change how I felt about her. She cut me out because it was easier than having me walk away from her.”
“You guys obviously survived.”
“It wasn’t easy. When she first came back after her mother’s death, the first time I saw her, it was like being punched in the gut. I was determined to keep her out of my life.”
“That obviously went well.”
Nick’s lips quirked. “I barely lasted two days before we were involved in an adventure. Then ... then she almost drowned and I thought my heart was going to explode. I knew by then. I’d basically stumbled across the truth and she confirmed it. I recognized remaining separate from her wasn’t an option.
“I’m not telling you this just because I like the story, though,” he continued. “It’s just ... once Maddie and I were in front of each other again we were like magnets. The thing is, I had a girlfriend at the time.”
Cooper snickered. “Uh-oh.”
“Yeah. It was ... ugly. Maddie went on to be a nurse down south after graduation. I became a cop ... and proceeded to work my way through the female population of five different towns.”
“Because you were pining for her,” Cooper surmised.
Nick bobbed his head. “I missed her so much I ached. I didn’t realize it, though. I told myself she wasn’t worth my time. Despite my best intentions, I knew I wasn’t boyfriend material. I dated a woman for three months and then cut ties.
“During those relationships, I made sure to avoid meeting their families and never attended any town events that might draw too much attention to us,” he continued. “It was a running joke in town. I thought everybody knew ... and yet when I heard Maddie was coming back I extended the relationship I was in because I needed that buffer.”
Despite the fact that he knew the story had a schmaltzy ending, Cooper found he was enthralled. “I’m guessing that didn’t go well.”
“No,” Nick agreed. “She assumed that I extended the relationship because somehow, against the odds, she was the one who finally tamed me.”
“When in reality you thought you needed protection from Maddie.”
“That’s it in a nutshell,” Nick confirmed. “That night she almost died, when I had to breathe oxygen back into her lungs, I knew. I needed her in my life. She was all I ever wanted.”
“And you were together that night.”
Nick shook his head, taking Cooper by surprise. “Not exactly. I managed to fight the inevitable for another couple of weeks, but I didn’t put a lot of effort into it. I broke up with the woman in question, professed my love to Maddie, and that was it. We didn’t spend a night apart from then on.”
“That’s kind of sweet.”
“Only from our perspective. The woman I broke up with proceeded to stalk me and terrorize Maddie, with a little help from Maddie’s high school nemesis. It was an uncomfortable couple of months.”
“It sounds like it.” Cooper stroked his chin as he pulled onto the road that led to Casper Creek. “Is there a message in this story?”
“Just that Astra is your mistake. She’s not just going to let you go because it’s the right thing to do, the sane thing to do. She at least thinks she loves you. That’s why she enjoys messing with you.”
“I wouldn’t disagree with that,” Cooper said. “I love Hannah, though. There was something that ... clicked, I guess that’s the best word ... when we met. It was as if all the pieces of my life suddenly slipped into the correct places the second I saw her.”
Nick smirked. “I know the feeling. You need to be careful of that Astra woman, though. She’ll cause problems.”
“Your relationship mistakes obviously caused problems for you and Maddie.”
“Not as much as you might think. Those mistakes, though, were almost deadly at times. Just ... be careful. You don’t want to lose Hannah because you weren’t vigilant.”
“I won’t lose Hannah for anything.”
“I feel the same way about Maddie.” They lapsed into companionable silence for a few minutes and then Nick stirred. “Do you believe her about Velma? I mean, could she be our suspect?”
“It doesn’t feel right to me,” Cooper admitted. “I would never pretend that Astra is a good person. She’s not. She’s a horrible person, in fact. There’s always a method to her madness, though.”
“She seemed to have strong feelings about Velma.”
“She did. The thing is, Astra is the sort of person who would prefer to torture Velma, make her uncomfortable. Why kill her when there’s no benefit?”
“That’s a fair point,” Nick acknowledged. “The thing is, can we be sure there was no benefit? It seems to me that whatever announcement Velma was going to make plays into this. Maybe there was a benefit.”
“Yeah. We really need to figure out what that announcement was going to be.”
BOONE WAS AT THE SALOON WHEN NICK AND Cooper returned. He’d brought lunch and was pulling takeout containers out of a box when the two men made their presence known.
“Anything?” he asked.
Hannah, who was filling glasses full of iced tea behind the counter, lifted her head. “What is he talking about?”
Cooper scorched Boone with a dark look before focusing his full attention on Hannah. “You’re going to be mad,” he started.
“Oh, good. I love it when we have conversations like this in public,” Hannah groused under her breath.
Cooper managed a smile, although it didn’t make it all the way to his eyes. “Nick and I were following up
