“You heard me,” she yelled. “I need to go.”

Before he could stop her, Tessa disappeared out the front door, and she was making a run for her truck. He tried to follow her, but his ribs protested, forcing him to stop and breathe through the pain. With no choice but to let her go, he watched until her taillights disappeared at the end of his driveway.

Sonuvabitch!

A few minutes later, Dalton and Jack came inside the house.

“Where is she?” Jack asked as soon as he stepped into the living room.

“Hell if I know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“Just what I fucking said,” Cooper yelled, taking a step closer to Jack.

“Hold on now,” Dalton stated, pushing an arm between the two of them. "Tempers are hot right now. You two need to calm down.”

“Fuck you, Calhoun.” Cooper turned his wrath on his friend.

“Chill the fuck out, Coop. This ain’t helping, and you know it.”

“She was defending your sorry ass,” Jack stated, his voice low and laced with venom.

“What?” Cooper’s head jerked back toward Jack as though his neck were a rubber band. “Defending me? What the hell did I do?”

“Nothing. That’s the damn problem.”

Cooper felt like he’d been sucker punched. Again.

Jack thrust his hands through his hair as he turned to pace the room. “His name is Chad Harper,” Jack said by way of explanation a minute later.

“Chad Harper?” Dalton asked incredulously, his tone causing both Cooper and Jack to turn to face him.

“You know him?”

“Not personally, no. He was supposed to open for a friend of mine. Some sort of favor or something. The only reason I know is because they said the bastard was crazy.”

“Yeah, you could say that. The asshole thinks the world owes him something. It doesn’t surprise me that he’d go off half-cocked. Again.” Jack glared at Cooper.

Why the fuck didn’t Jack tell him all of this last time Chad pulled this shit at the bar? If he had, maybe Cooper could’ve protected her.

Sonuvabitch!

“What the hell does he have against Tessa?” Cooper asked.

“Chad spent almost a year in Tessa’s bar, bragging about his almost fame. He never actually made it. My sister dated him for a while. About a year or so ago. She said he didn’t beat on her, but sometimes I wonder. He was abusive in every other way that I could tell. When she finally kicked him to the curb, he started talking shit about her. Being this is a small town, and considering Tessa’s past,” Jack’s eyes went to the floor, “the rumors flew and people swallowed them whole. Wasn’t a good time for anyone there for a while.”

His heart felt like Jack had just seared him with a cattle prod. Why did Cooper have to be such a dumbass?

Only now, as some of the anger subsided, could he rationally see how his behavior was beyond aggressive, and he hadn’t even understood what had happened. Realizing he’d all but accused Tessa of starting the fight only to find out she had been defending him, Cooper turned his attention to Jack and asked, “What started it tonight?”

“Chad likes to talk shit. From what I gathered, there’s some news crew out there asking questions. It’s no secret that the two of you are hanging out. Hell, I heard the reporter myself. They’ve been stalking her house and yours.” Jack’s expression hardened. “My guess is Chad thought this might be his chance at another fifteen minutes of fame.”

“Fuck.”

“That about sums it up,” Dalton added, pushing himself off the wall. “I’m going to see if I can help the guys get things settled down.” Dalton turned to Jack. “Let me know if I can do anything.”

“Let’s just hope the bastard doesn’t press charges,” Jack added as he followed Dalton out of the house, leaving Cooper standing there staring after them.

Spending a night in jail was the least of Cooper’s worries at the moment.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Tessa could barely see through the tears to drive. She continued to wipe them away as fast as they fell, but she never managed to get them under control.

Her face hurt, but worse, her heart ached from Cooper’s reaction. Had he really assumed she was the one to start the fight with Chad? Why would he think that? And did he honestly think she’d want to draw attention to him? She’d been standing up for him, and this was the thanks she got.

Her jaw was swollen, but she didn’t think it was broken. Thankfully – if there was anything to be thankful about – Chad had hit her with an open hand rather than his fist.

Pulling into her driveway, Tessa immediately looked around, making sure no one else was there. Not that she expected anyone to be. If Cooper was a smart man, he’d stay far, far away from her after his accusations. She didn’t care if he was pissed or not, they were supposed to have established some trust between them. Hell, she’d given it a try, had actually fallen for the man.

That would teach her.

The second she walked in her front door, every ounce of Tessa’s strength drained right out of her. After letting her dogs out and back in, she locked the doors, ensuring she wouldn’t have any uninvited guests, and went straight for her bedroom.

The ringer on her cell phone was the next thing to be taken care of, and when the icon showed silent, she tossed her phone on the nightstand. Stripping off her clothes, she fell into bed, pulling the blankets up to her neck as she rolled into the fetal position.

Unfortunately, sleep didn’t come nearly as easily as the tears had. And now, as the morning sun peeked through the narrow slats of the blinds, Tessa felt as though she’d been run over by a freight train and then hit by a military tank. Twice.

Every single muscle in her body hurt. Including her heart. And now, morning was upon her and she had nothing to look forward to, except for the aches and pains. Rolling her head to the side, Tessa eyed her phone, wondering whether she’d missed any calls. Figuring she was going to look at some point anyway, she grabbed the offending piece of machinery and tapped the screen to life. Her heart lurched into her throat at what she saw.

Five missed calls.

Ten missed text messages.

Flipping through the screens she saw that three of the calls were from Izzy, two from Jack. The same went for the texts: five from Izzy, three from Jack and two from Eric – probably Izzy as a last resort to get her to answer.

Not a single text or call from Cooper.

Dropping her phone on her pillow, she rolled over, hugging herself, closing her eyes and wishing sleep would take her.

Unsure why she expected Cooper to come after her, Tessa was more than disappointed by the fact that he hadn’t. Then again, she walked out on him. Rather than staying to talk, she ran. After accusing Cooper of running from something, Tessa did essentially the same thing. And the fact that he didn’t care enough to call was probably what she deserved anyway.

Ten minutes later, when sleep wouldn’t come, Tessa embraced the fact that the tears had stopped. Her tear ducts were probably dry because heaven knew she didn’t feel any better. Forcing herself out of bed, she made her way to the living room, meeting her rambunctious dogs along the way and letting them out. While they were out sniffing and searching, she opted to take a shower. That should help her to feel better.

For the rest of the day, menial tasks never helped her mood, but at least she felt more human. The bruise along her jaw notwithstanding.

After her phone continued to ring and the texts continued to stream in, she responded to both Jack and Izzy, letting them know that she was fine but that she wanted to be alone. Neither of them seemed happy with her response, but Tessa didn’t have it in her to argue, so she turned her ringer back off.

Once again, Tessa felt entirely, miserably alone.

Chapter Thirty Three

One week later…

Cooper was dripping sweat as he moved another pile of boards, wondering just when summer was going to take a backseat to fall. He was in Texas, and he’d been warned by more than one person that summer generally morphed directly into winter, but that wasn’t until February. So, based on his calendar, he still had another four months of hell to go through.

But the back breaking work was good for him. It kept his mind focused. The barn and the stables were underway, the concrete foundations poured and curing. Once that was done, the next step was getting the structures up. He was looking forward to the final product, needing something to keep his mind occupied. Right now there were no horses, no tack. Nothing to show what his plans were. But it was coming together.

For the last few days, he had contemplated his plans for the farm. Hell, for a couple of days there, he had even considered packing his shit up and going back to where he came from.

Only that wasn’t what he wanted, and a phone call with his father had reminded him of that. He had plans, and although part of those plans had been ripped right out of his hands thanks to his own sanctimonious attitude, he still had something to prove to himself.

During the days since the benefit concert, Cooper had spent his time consumed by back breaking work. By his own choice. When he wasn’t doing something outside, for at least a few minutes each day, he would have a phone conversation with his father, who was now his manager, trying to lay out a plan for his career. Now that they had worked out a deal, Cooper had set his schedule accordingly and soon enough, he would have to start working on his next album.