“What are you talking about? You handle the entertainment. Why would we need him?” Tessa stared at her brother, trying to comprehend what he was telling her. Or rather what he wasn’t telling her. She knew there was something, but for the life of her she couldn’t put it together. The look on his face told her she wasn’t going to be happy with his news.

“I’m going into the police academy.” Adam’s calm tone sounded as though he were trying to soothe her which meant…

And then his words registered.

Police academy.

Tessa’s heart stopped beating in her chest and she felt faint. Somehow, although her body was hardly cooperating, she managed to put her coffee cup on the railing beside her because she wasn’t interested in wearing what was left of it. Staring up at Adam, she couldn’t get a single word out of her mouth.

“Tessa…” Adam began, sounding as though he were going to start explaining.

“Don’t,” she demanded harshly. “Don’t. I… I don’t even know what to say.”

Pushing to her feet, Tessa forced her legs to move, forced herself to go inside before she lost every ounce of her decorum right there on her front porch in front of God and everyone.

And Cooper Krenshaw.

* * *

So maybe Cooper wasn’t the smartest man on the planet, but he knew immediately that what Adam just announced to his sister was not a good thing. As for why, he had no idea.

“Shit,” Adam said, pulling his ball cap down low on his head before taking it off altogether and turning to face the yard.

“I’m going to take a wild guess on this one, but I don’t think she took that well.” Cooper’s statement was met with silence, and he allowed it to settle around them for a few minutes.

Not only was he uncomfortable being there, Cooper was confused as to why he was there and the answers didn’t appear to be forthcoming. Did Adam think that bringing him along would lessen the sting of that blow? If he did, it damn sure didn’t work.

“Richie died in the line of duty,” Adam explained, although Cooper had no idea who Richie was. Not knowing what he was supposed to say to that, Cooper kept his mouth shut.

“Richie was her husband,” Adam finally explained long seconds later.

Oh, shit. Well, that explained it all too well. Adam just informed his sister that he was going to do the exact thing that got her husband killed? Shit.

Cooper wanted to ask Adam why he thought it was a good idea to do this. Or better yet, why Adam thought it was a nifty idea to bring Cooper along when he announced his intentions? How in the hell did he get caught in the middle?

“I need to talk to her,” Adam stated, but he didn’t move from where he stood.

That would probably be a smart idea, Cooper thought to himself. It was a good thing that the filter was back in place because he knew for sure that he shouldn’t get in the middle of this any more than he already was.

Adam suddenly turned and faced Cooper, a pained look on his face. Pulling his ball cap back on, Adam said, “I’ve wanted to do this my whole life. I was actually going to go into the academy with Richie, but when my stepfather got sick, I decided not to go.”

Cooper knew that Adam’s stepfather had been sick several years back, but he wasn’t aware that his illness had derailed Adam’s future. Nor had he been aware that Adam had a brother-in-law. He knew Adam had a brother and a sister, both younger, knew he had grown up in a small town and that he wasn’t close to either of his parents. Besides the basics of their families, the distance over these last few years hadn’t kept them as close as they had been during those two semesters that they’d roomed together in college.

That was probably mostly Cooper’s fault because when he ventured into the music industry full time, he’d essentially left most of his friends behind. He and Adam talked from time to time, at least once every three or four months, but obviously not enough that Adam felt close enough to share those personal parts of his life. On top of that, Cooper knew Adam well enough to know the man didn’t share much of himself with anyone.

“Do you think she’ll ever be ok with it?” Adam asked, and Cooper merely stared back at him. How would he know? Cooper had never known the type of loss that Tessa had obviously experienced, but he couldn’t imagine it would be easy to deal with.

A second later, the screen door opened, and Tessa joined them on the porch, her eyes red and puffy from crying. Cooper had a sudden need to go to her, to pull her against him and shield her from all of the pains of the world.

He kept his ass planted on the porch swing.

“How about I go take a walk?” Cooper offered when neither sibling spoke.

“No,” Tessa whispered. “Please stay. I’m sorry for…”

When it looked like she was going to cry again, Adam moved toward her and pulled her against his chest, holding her close. “I’m sorry, Sis. I know how hard this is for you, but I need to do this.”

The silence returned for a few minutes, and Cooper was beginning to feel even more uncomfortable sitting there. He was an outsider looking in, and he felt as though he wasn’t invited to witness what was transpiring between the siblings.

When Tessa spoke, Cooper immediately looked away.

“I know you need to do this,” she sobbed against Adam’s chest. “This has been your dream. I get it.”

When Tessa pulled back, the movement caught his attention and Cooper glanced over, noticing the tears once again streaming down her pale cheeks as she continued. “I wouldn’t want to get in the way of that. Doesn’t mean I won’t be scared every minute of every day.”

Adam sighed and pulled her back against him, leaving Cooper once again sitting on the porch swing feeling like a third wheel who clearly shouldn’t be there.

“When are you going?” she asked, taking a step back and staring at Adam, her hands scrubbing away the wet streaks on her face.

God, the woman did something to him. There was just something about her that made Cooper want to grab her up and ease some of her pain. Even when her eyes were swollen and her nose was red from crying, Tessa Donovan managed to steal his breath.

Forcing himself to look away, he stared out into the yard, watching the dogs napping in the shade of an enormous oak tree as he listened to the conversation.

“The next class starts next week. I’ve been accepted, so I don’t want to wait,” Adam informed her, but then paused.

“What aren’t you telling me?” Tessa asked.

Unable to not look, Cooper glanced over at Adam again. The man appeared as though he had some more unpleasant news to give Tessa and Cooper wished that the damn porch would open up and swallow him whole. He did not want to be there for any more unpleasant news. Hell, he didn’t think he should’ve been there for any part of it at all.

Adam smiled sadly as he looked down at his sister. “I’m going to Dallas.”

“What? Why? Why not Austin?” Tessa questioned him, her eyes wide.

Ok, so Cooper could guess at this one. Austin was obviously closer to Devil’s Bend than Dallas. Like thirty minutes, as opposed to three hours.

“Austin doesn’t have any openings for a while. I’m ready to do this, Tessa,” Adam said, taking her hands as he shifted on his feet. “When and if I make it through the academy, they’ll hire me on. At that point, I’ve got to give it a couple of years, but then I promise, I’ll be back.”

“First of all, there is no if.” Even as Tessa spoke, Cooper could see the tears reforming in her eyes, but somehow she managed to hold them back. “I’ll miss you.”

“I know you will. Which is why I want Coop here to help you out at the bar. He’ll be here permanently, and I know him, he’ll get bored.”

Bored?

Cooper noticed that Tessa didn’t look his way. Not that he expected her to. If she had, she might’ve seen the surprise on his face. At least he understood the reason behind the random questions Adam had fired off earlier at breakfast.

Cooper contemplated what Adam was saying, and he fought the urge to smile. He wasn’t so sure he’d ever get bored with all the work that would have to be done on the house he was in the process of buying, but he got the impression Adam knew that. Instead of interjecting, Cooper sat quietly, continuing to watch the exchange between Tessa and Adam.

There was a series of emotions that played across her extremely expressive features, but Tessa didn’t say another word to Adam. She stood there, her arms crossed over her chest as she regarded her brother for long moments. Cooper wished he knew what was going on in that pretty head of hers.

“So, when do you plan to start?”

Realizing the question was directed at him and that he’d been busted while he was mentally noting every detail of her sweet, lithe body, Cooper glanced up to see Tessa studying him.

“When do you want me to start?” he asked.

He had to admit, it felt a little strange to be accepting a job offer of this sort, especially when his regular life in Nashville was still up in the air. But it didn’t mean he wasn’t looking forward to it.

Whether or not he would admit it to anyone directly, Cooper wasn’t just looking for a place to start over. He was looking for something that was missing from his life. Recent events had changed his course, and he needed something more than what he was currently getting. According to Marcus, happiness came with a price, but it seemed like the more he paid, the less he got.

Stardom had its downside and one of them was the loneliness that came along with it. He wasn’t referring to the women necessarily either. They were a dime a dozen, but that novelty had worn off years ago. No, Cooper was referring to the interaction with other people on a much more intimate level. Unless he was with his parents, Cooper rarely spent time with anyone who actually knew him. And that included his manager, who seemed to think he knew what was best for him, despite Cooper’s frequent disagreements.