Sessions 20 - Love Walks In

Ooh, and there she stands in a silken gown
Silver lights shinin' down

And then you sense a change
Nothin' feels the same
All your dreams are strange
Love comes walkin' in

~Love Walks In - Van Halen

Bay View - Lakin's Beach House: Monday, 7:42PM

Aidan walked gingerly across the sandy driveway that stretched out in front of Lakin's bungalow grateful that he had put the top up in his Jag before driving over. Although it was warm, rain pelted down on him and he considered going back to the car to grab his jacket but by then he would be thoroughly soaked.
Gingerly taking the stairs, he tried the door which Lakin never locked and entered. Her house was small, no, it was tiny. He asked her to move in with him after they got engaged but she loved this place and wanted to stay through the end of her lease.

Aidan found her sitting at the small table in her kitchen, probably doing the crossword, and smiled. He could be happy living here with her in spite of the size of the place. It was quiet, peaceful, and remote. He didn't need a mansion, he just needed her. It made the news he brought with him all the more bitter.

"Hi baby," Aidan's soft-spoken voice greeted her. Lakin looked up, briefly distracted, and then returned the warm smile.

"Hello yourself," she set down the paper and continued, "Are you drenched?"

She rose and gracefully walked over to him sliding one tanned arm around his waist and the other gently grasping his chin and planted a kiss on his mouth. "I was just looking for DJs in the paper."

"You might want to hold off on that baby. I'm afraid I have some news."

Aidan walked out to the deck beyond the kitchen and stared out over the long stretch of deserted beach and ocean. They had changed their wedding plans a few times already and Aidan wished he had just taken her away and married her the minute he popped the question. Giving her a spectacular wedding meant a lot to him but something always derailed their plans.

Lakin followed him out there, put her arms around him and murmured against his back, "Whatever it is, we will deal with it Aidan. I love you and I don't need all the glitz. I just want to marry you, anywhere and anytime."

Rain danced off the freshly painted wood railing, dripped rhythmically from the gutters as the surf pounded against the shore. Aidan still felt somehow like he was letting Lakin down and allowing their wedding to take a back seat to all the drama with Cooper and Mercury Rising. She deserved better and yet she took it all in stride. He was a very lucky man.

Aidan turned to face her. Disappointment and regret was all written all over his face. "I hate having to keep postponing. At some point, we won't even be able to rent a venue for the reception when they see us coming. I don't want to wait any longer Lakin."

She stared up at him eyes shining in the soft light. "Aidan, let's just elope. I don't want to wait either. We can run off and just do it."

"I was sort of hoping you would feel that way. Are you sure Lakin?" He searched her face for any hint of sorrow.

"Of course I'm sure. We'll pick a date tonight and nothing will stand in our way. I've never been to Vegas, you know. We could do it there!"

Aidan lifted her and spun her around in his arms, joy shining through his wide smile. "I love you, you know that?" He kissed her thoroughly, hoisted her up onto his shoulder and carried her to the bedroom

South Beach - Mitchell Residence: Wednesday, 1:17AM

Unable to sleep Peri pulled on a sweater and jeans and slipped downstairs pausing to watch Saffron, her new little kitten, as she slept under the stairs. Saffron was curled up in a tiny ball of fur, the massive bed she slept in making her look even smaller than she was. It was not unlike how Peri felt surrounded by huge empty rooms of the massive house she had shared with Heydon and their children.

She switched on the desk lamp in the library and booted up her computer. Peri had been frequenting chat rooms. She was successful and outgoing and didn't need to hide behind the anonymity, but she enjoyed the playful atmosphere and had met some nice people. One of them was a man she knew as metrognome. To her surprise, they had made an instant connection. In the months they had been chatting, she had come to learn many things about him including the fact that he was smart, recently divorced, and an art and music lover. He made her laugh, something she hadn't done in a long while, and Peri looked forward to their online time together.

Logging into the site, her heart leapt when she saw the immediate private message from him pop up on her screen.

metrognome: Hi there semi-precious...can't sleep?
semi-precious: Insomnia. You?
metrognome: I'm a night owl, remember?
semi-precious: LOL! Yes I remember.
metrognome: We really have to stop meeting like this...
semi-precious: You want to stop chatting? I understand...
metrognome: No that isn't it. I want to stop meeting like this. I want...
semi-precious: You want what?
metrognome: To meet in person.

Peri stared at the flashing cursor on her monitor. He wanted to meet. Thinking about it, what did she have to lose, she was single and she liked the guy. What harm would there be in meeting? As she thought about it another message popped up.

metrognome: Are you there?
semi-precious: I'm here...I don't know...you could be a stalker or serial killer ;p
metrognome: Do you really feel that way?
semi-precious: No...but I could be an ugly fat ogre with warts.
metrognome: I wouldn't care. You're beautiful to me already. Meet me.

Bay View - Seaside Bistro: Thursday, 2:09PM

The next afternoon Peri walked confidently toward the cafe feeling lighter than she had in months. She arrived early, excited and eager to meet the man who had entranced her online. He told her he would be dressed in blue, his favorite color. She told him she would be dressed to kill. Her eyes swept through the crowd expectantly when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. Smiling, she turned to face him.

"Danny! What are you doing here?" Peri hissed as she brushed his hand away.

"I have a date." Danny grinned at her, that same boyish charm chipping away at her resolve, tearing down the walls that she used to keep him at arm's length. He was infuriating, really. "You look incredible Peri; you always knew how to turn heads." His eyes slowly travelled over her body. She felt her cheeks flush slightly at the thrill it gave her.

Peri tried to shake off the feeling; after all, she was meeting another man, a man that she felt connected to. "A date...really...in the middle of the afternoon at a cafe? You expect me to believe that? Do the women you date even come out during the day? Well for your information I also have a date so if you will excuse me..."

He cut her off mid sentence, "Peri, it's me." Danny reached toward her and Peri withdrew from his touch.

Exasperated and somewhat irritated, she released a sigh and snapped, "What are you talking about? You know what I don't even want to know. I'm meeting someone Danny so go away, leave me alone."

Anxious now, Peri scanned the crowd of people that wandered along the street and in the cafe. Her heart was pounding and her thoughts grew increasingly muddled and confused. Why was he here of all places? She exhaled once more, trying to regain her composure, trying to shove down the misgivings that began to creep into her head.

"Peri, it's me," Danny repeated more softly. "Metrognome."

Peri struggled to keep her warring emotions in check. There was no way that Daniel Whitney was the man she talked with for hours on the nuances of texture and motion, of willow and vine. "You?" she gasped. "How could you! You jerk! You ass!"

Danny laughed. "I thought it was pretty clever..."

"You think this is funny? Why would you do something like this to me?" Peri pushed him back but Danny didn't move.

Peri tried to walk away but Danny stopped her by placing his arms firmly around her. His face finally grew serious, almost pained as he spoke. "It was the only way I knew you would let me in and see who I really am. You always used that screen name, you think I could forget that...or anything else about you? You liked the man you got to know online Peri, he made you laugh, made you feel wanted and that's why you're here. I am that man. I love you, I always have. Please give us a chance."

She stood silent for several moments. What she needed was distance; she couldn't think clearly with him so close. The hopeful expression he wore turned to defeat and then to resolve. "I won't give up Peri. I'm going to fight for you as long as it takes."

He released her and began to walk away when she gently laid her head against his back and placed her hands on his bare shoulders to keep him from leaving. "Don't go," she murmured quietly.

When Danny turned around Peri's expression no longer held anger in it. Her eyes shone brightly like the gemstone her mother named her after as Peri smiled up at him and teased, "Metrognome...that was the best you could come up with?"


Las Vegas, NV - Candlelight Wedding Chapel: Friday, 9:26PM

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Sessions 19 - It Only Hurts

It only hurts when your eyes are open
Lies get tossed and truth is spoken
It only hurts when that door gets open
Dreams are lost and hearts are broken.

~ It Only Hurts - Default



Bay View - Marina District Midnight


He should have come up with a better way to handle that. Cooper headed back down Lyon Street toward his bike, mentally reviewing the confrontation with Stevie, already second guessing himself.


He still hadn't decided how to discuss it with Beth, but he knew he had to include an apology. She'd insisted there was a problem. She'd been angry and frustrated, and she'd been right. He was going to make things right and get the hell out of here for a while, take her on vacation somewhere, maybe just the two of them if he could find someone to watch the twins for a few days. As difficult as they'd been the last couple of weeks, that might not be easy.


Pausing next to his bike, Cooper glanced down the sandy boardwalk as the neon sign on the restaurant sputtered and buzzed. Street lights splashed across beach grass and illuminated a strip of stores, deceptively low key and downscale. The marina at the far end was dark at this time of night, but the beach bar was open and crowded, the laughter and music rising above the slap of the waves against the marina pier. Cooper hesitated, tempted, considered stopping in for a drink, thought maybe not, he wanted to go home, when the light by the bicycle rack caught a shock of red hair.


Cooper sucked in a quick breath, but it wasn't McDermott, just some skinny kid locking up his bike and leaping up the steps, shaking the sand off his feet. Cooper watched him, wondering again where McDermott had gone - he'd made some private inquiries, uneasy about not knowing, but had come up blank.


He started to shrug it off, looked back once again and there was Heydon, leaning back in a chair and engaged in an intense conversation with Tyler. Heydon's back was turned to him, but on the other side of the table lounged Cam, and she definitely saw him.

He hadn't said more than half a dozen words to Heydon since the blow up and didn't want to take the time to say anything now. Heydon was one of his oldest and closest friends though. He could take five minutes to say hello, then get out of here. Cooper reluctantly started down the boardwalk toward the bar.


Cooper made it up the first step, avoiding discarded sandals, suntan lotion, very large squashed bugs. "Hell yes I'm looking at options," Tyler was saying. "Shaun may be able to keep it together but I'm tired of the damned drama. Coop can't keep his hands off Stevie and it's coming apart. I don't want to be locked up on some bus with the two of them while this shit is going down."

Heydon, bare feet touching Camilla’s manicured toes, set a glass of dark beer down on the table and shook his head. "I don't know man, you're taking a big risk. You're sure you can't put up with it?"


Cooper froze. Camilla snared him with her gaze, holding it, tight and relentless, and let fly a ringing tangle of words. "Hi Coop come on over here and say hi are you alone I don't see Beth." She paused, and added, "Or Stevie."

Heydon moved abruptly, getting to his feet, while Tyler turned and stared and looked trapped and embarrassed. "Hey Coop," he muttered. "I'm just ah going somewhere. I was going home because I have something I need to do there. At home."


Camilla smiled, although the smile was directed not at Tyler but at Cooper. "Bye sweetie and don't forget to turn off the stove next time because that's how you burn down things, when you leave things burning you should have turned off. Coop are you going to sit down with us or are you going to stand there or maybe you left something burning too."


The tall beach grass fluttered behind her, dry and rattling in the breeze off the bay. Like a sniper nestled in the grass, her target directly in the cross hairs, she didn't drop that smile one inch. Cooper ignored her, glanced at Tyler's broad retreating back, and turned to Heydon. "I was in the area," he said. "I thought I'd say hi, maybe buy you a drink."


Heydon rubbed the back of his sunburned neck and studied him in silence for a long, uncomfortable moment. "Suit yourself," he finally returned.


Cooper’s temper started to flare. He struggled with it, shutting it down. Maybe he'd acted too precipitously, maybe he should have discussed it first, but he still didn't intend to go back to a full tour schedule. Heydon needed to get over it, find another way to make up his cash deficit.


"You know what, I'll talk to you later," he said to Heydon, and looking pointedly at Cam, "I really want to get home."


Camilla leaned way back in the chair, scraping wood against wood as the chair hit the deck rail behind her and sending an empty beer ran rattling down across the deck into the dry grass. "Now why would you want to go there, Coop? Beth moved out. I think it was today actually it was tonight or this afternoon sometime today because I heard she got out after you left to meet Stevie. You think she knew you were meeting Stevie? You do know she left. Don’t you know that?” The sniper squeezing the trigger and firing, and waiting, watching the strike.


Cooper's breath caught in his chest. Was she jerking him around? No, Cammie didn't make up shit like that but that couldn’t be true, and how the hell would she know. Beth wouldn’t do that to him; she would have yelled, said she was leaving, she would have called. If she’d found out he was meeting Stevie and tried to call…his cell...he'd turned it off this evening before he'd met Stevie. If she'd tried to call, she would have gotten a terse message and no response.


Heydon glanced at Camilla, then back at Cooper, and his expression subtly changed, a shadow of sympathy crossing his face. "Maybe you should give her a call," he offered quietly.


Yeah, he should definitely do that and right now. His voice stiff, Cooper ground out, "Later."


The boardwalk yawned before him, a long empty stretch between him and his bike and some small measure of privacy where he could call without looking like an ass in front of god knows who. Cooper rigidly controlled his pace, forcing himself to walk, sand crunching under his boots, ten more steps, five.



He broke into a run, ducked into the shadow between the restaurant and the dark street, and grabbed the cell out of his pocket. For a split second he hesitated and looked back in case someone was following him, and then swore under his breath, fuck them, all of them, anyone and all of them. None of it mattered if she was gone. He hit the speed dial.


It rang. And rang. Ten times. Fifteen. Nothing but long, soft purrs, signals going out and landing nowhere.

Rockwood – 14 Bridgewater Drive, 1 AM


“Did you leave that note?”

From behind him, standing in the overgrown driveway, Eric answered his twin brother in a quiet, firm voice, “No, I dumped it down the disposal, just before we left. Mom didn’t go back in and look for it.”


Eric took a few steps across the broken stone, shivering, glancing at the suitcases still left waiting for them to bring inside. They’d already hauled a ton of shit in there. Nate was staring at something across the dark road that might be a barn and an old house with a broken porch. Trees were growing up right through them. Things rustled, plants or animals or something, maybe something large. Were there bears out here?


“What about the cell?” Nate pressed his brother. Turning his back to whatever might be out there in the dark, Nate leaned back against the hood of the car. It might still be warm.

Why was he the one who always had to execute these plans? Whatever...“Took care of that too. She won't even know it's not working.”


They both looked back at the house. Rayne had been in there a long time, until a few minutes ago when she tore off and drove over the mailbox on her way out, leaving them to prop it back up again. Their mother had crossed back and forth in the light for a while, pacing, then went out back or upstairs but they couldn’t see her now. “Asshole,” Nate muttered. “Fucking asshole. He’s gonna be fucking out of his mind.”


Eric let it go for a minute. He was on board with this but it hadn’t been his idea, and he still wasn’t convinced it was going to work the way Nate thought it would. “You don’t think he'll run off with Stevie?”

Nate shrugged, straightened and ran his hand through his hair, sparing another suspicious glance at the deep shadow under the trees. Neither of them liked this place. It was supposed to be temporary and couldn’t be temporary enough. “I don't give a damn if he does. We talked about this. He won’t do it. You think too much.”


Eric shoved at a clod of dirt with the toe of his boot. They usually agreed on almost everything but he wasn’t as certain about his father’s intentions as his twin seemed to be. Nate blew up faster. “Maybe not but you know what we saw.”

“Get real,” Nate scoffed. “She's not the only one. He’s not running off with her."


“She's the one he keeps going back to,” Eric pointed out again. “She's the one with her hands down his pants in the men's room.”


Nate tossed his head back and looked irritated, looked like their dad when he was pissed about something. And the thing was, he had the voice and the hands, and the freaking talent, and they both knew it. He strode off toward the back of the house, skirting the pile of suitcases and the car, and turned and growled, “I was there, Eric, looking through the same window as you. I’m telling you, he won't be thinking about her, not when he can't find us. Let her try to take his mind off that.”


Cold, edged wind blew through the pines, moaning like an unhappy animal. It was really dark. Off in the distance a few lights blinked but they might as well have been a hundred miles away in another town, and that surf was as cold as the wind. They looked at each other.

“We did good this time,” Nate assured his brother. “He didn’t even answer the phone tonight. You know he was with her. We did good. Payback for Mom.”


Eric watched the lights across the water, a whole lot of nothing out there. Whatever happened, none of this was good. Nate was waiting. Nate wanted him to say it. “Yeah,” he agreed, reluctantly, still not sure he believed it, pretty damned sure he didn’t believe all of it, but he said it. It wouldn't take their dad long to work through this, so he wasn't even sure how effective it was going to be, but Nate was right about one thing, it was payback.


Whether or not their mother even wanted it, whether it should have been directed at their dad in the first place, and when was he going to stop going along with everything Nate wanted to do, all of that…it was all too late now.

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Sessions 18 - Hangnail

My hopes just fell, and I can't see
The reason why, why there is blood on my sleeve
And all this time, I thought it mine
But it's not, it's yours...

~ Hangnail - Nickelback



Bay View - Harbor Place 10 PM


Cooper moved fluidly down Harbor Street each heavy footfall echoed the steady beating of his heart as the aroma of garlic wafted from the nearby Italian restaurant. Stopping briefly at the corner Cooper inhaled and took a hard left heading for the crosswalk.


It had been a long time since Cooper had been in this part of Bay View but it hadn't changed much. Making his way around the corner, he headed toward Lyon Street and stopped before he reached the intersection and considered what he was about to do. The kiss he shared with Stevie, that kiss had been a bucket of ice water thrown squarely in his face. It was not his intention to seduce her, never what he wanted. Acutely aware of what his actions had put in motion, he needed to deal with it hard and fast.


She was waiting at the bistro sipping a coffee and looking pensive. Cooper hesitated, maybe this wasn't the best idea after all, meeting her like this, and he considered leaving when she looked up and smiled at him warmly.


At that moment he realized that everything was going to change for all of them. His impulsive decision to quit touring, made in one heated moment when he had challenged McDermott, had not brought him closer to his wife or his family. It seemed to have had the opposite effect. Beth was distant and wary, Rayne openly confrontational. The band was coming apart; he was losing his closest friends. And now this thing with Stevie, an undeniable and ominous shift in their relationship from friendship to groping in the men’s room in a photographer’s studio.


Cooper glanced to his left and then made his way toward her more aware than ever of what he wanted, what he needed, and what was best. Stevie rose from her seat and reached out to embrace him, an embrace he did not return.

"Is everything all right?"


Whether it was concern or confusion on her face Cooper was not sure. His reply was as stiff as his posture, "Everything's fine. Walk with me."

Stevie hesitated, and then grabbed her bag hurrying to catch up. "Sure. Where are we going?"


Music from a dance club above them filled the streets as they walked in silence. Whatever conversation passed between them was nothing more than casual pleasantries, constant chatter mostly from Stevie, awkward and uncomfortable. They moved further down the street through people, past myriad shops and closer to the wharf until Stevie stopped short and grabbed Cooper's arm.


"This is ridiculous," she snapped. "Don't put what happened at the photo shoot all on me Cooper. You were in the moment as much as I was. So if you have something to say about that, just say it but do not pretend it didn't mean something." She stood arms folded and waited.


Cooper pulled her toward a corner of the patio before responding. "We crossed a line Stevie, it never should have happened. What the hell were you thinking anyway, that I was going to take you right there in the men's room? If I hadn't pushed you away..." Cooper looked away, irritation bordering on anger lacing his words.


“If you hadn't pushed me away, you just might have. You wanted it at that moment as much as I did," Stevie's voice was low and steady. "Did you ever consider what would have happened between us if I had come for you when you left Julia for good?"


Agitated, Cooper paced back and forth and then leveled his gaze on her. When had this happened? Had Stevie been thinking about ‘what if’ for all these years? He hadn’t suspected it, always assumed she understood that the flirtation was nothing more than that. He didn’t want to hurt her, but this had gone past flirtation into something he didn't want to deal with.


Releasing an exasperated breath, Cooper pulled her toward him and firmly held her shoulders, and then dropped his hands to his side. “Stevie, I’m going to be honest; I never considered it, never thought about going back to you, and it wouldn’t have gotten you anywhere if you’d come after me. If I’d wanted you, I would have done something about it. Listen to me - I take responsibility for behaving like an ass, giving you the impression I wanted more than friendship, and that damned ‘moment’ in the men’s room, doesn’t matter how much I might have wanted to take you, that was not going to happen. I have the woman I want. I love her, I married her, and she gives me what I need, everything I need. I don’t need you and I don’t love you.”


Stevie held his gaze for several moments. "I don't believe you Cooper. Beth isn't equipped to understand this lifestyle and that is why you gave up something that makes you thrive. What you needed was someone who would have fought hard to make you see that. Maybe you need to think about that."


His mouth tightened as he stared down at her. The slam pissed him off. Equipped? Of all people, Stevie should realize how fucked up he’d been when he’d split with Julia, and how far he’d come, and he hadn’t made it on his own. “I don’t know where you get the idea that she doesn’t understand what she’s dealing with. She let me know what she thought about my decision – she’s capable of making her point – but it was my decision. I’m going to make this very clear - no one, not you or anyone else, is in any position to tell me who I should have married or what I need.”

Stevie dropped her gaze, her hands clenched. Cooper expected her to come back at him, she always did, but not this time. She looked down and said nothing.

Cooper abruptly turned. "I said what I came to say. I'm taking you back to the bistro."


They walked back in silence until they reached Lyon Street again. Cooper stopped, took Stevie's arm and turned her toward him. "I don’t need you to fix me anymore, Stevie. Whatever issues I have, I’ll work those out with my wife. But you and I...this ends right now." He shook his head, brushing away any regret, and swept cold, hard eyes back to her. "Goodbye Stevie."



Bay View - Holloway Residence


Shaun finished cleaning the kitchen and stood at the sink rinsing his hands when he saw her reflection in the window. Without looking up he greeted her. "You're home late. Do you want something to eat?"


Stevie walked silently to the kitchen table and sank into a chair. "I'm not hungry, thanks. Is Dev asleep?"

Walking over to her, he placed his hands on her shoulders, bent down and kissed her head and replied, "Yeah, he's asleep. You're tense baby; come on, get up and I'll give you a massage." As he began kneading her shoulders Shaun idly asked, "So where've you been?"


Shaun felt her tighten again as she rose and turned to face him. "I met Coop downtown; he wanted to talk."

Struggling to keep his face neutral Shaun stepped back and placed his hands on his hips. "Is that so...and you neglected to tell me this before?"


"Something happened..." she started.

"No shit!" Anger in his voice slowly began to make its way to his face. Whatever the something was, he’d been anticipating it, holding off saying anything to Cooper about it, figuring she would listen to him when he asked her to stay away from him. And that, he thought, watching her avoid looking at him, that had been a mistake.


"Shaun just let me explain before you go assuming the worst." He followed her to the living room and waited, silent and angry, for her to continue.

Stevie let out a breath and went right into it. "The other day, at the photo shoot, things got a little out of hand. Cooper lost it, stormed off, and I followed him." She hesitated briefly and then finished, "I kissed him, Shaun. It didn't go any further than the kiss. We...he broke it off. I wish I could say it didn't mean anything to me but I can't."


Shaun stood with his back to the stairwell and held himself still for a moment, a long moment. The damned dishwasher cut in behind him and churned, churned like his stomach. Cooper lost it and stormed off. When didn’t he lose it? His wife had come onto Coop because he stomped around looking unhappy and waiting for Stevie to fix it for him, that’s what he’d done. That’s what he always did. Coop got mad or his wife fucked up or some kind of shit happened, and there was Stevie, picking up the pieces for him, and it looked like she wanted to keep doing it.

His voice eerily quiet, Shaun asked, "So this big talk you had...are you two running off into the sunset? Is that what this is about?"


Stevie hung her head and replied softly, "No. He ended it, the friendship, all of it. I made a terrible, terrible mistake. I'm sorry Shaun, I never meant to hurt you and I do love you, I just..." She stopped mid-sentence as Shaun turned his back on her and ran his hands through his hair.


I just…it was always I just with Cooper. Whatever Cooper needed and whatever Cooper wanted but the deal was, Cooper didn’t need shit. Cooper knew exactly what he was doing. His face was hard, his eyes cold as ice, "I hope that kiss was worth the price Stevie, worth your marriage, your family. But it sure wasn't worth it to Coop."

"Shaun, I'm so sorry," she pleaded, "we can work this out. I swear I will make this up to you, make things right again."


"I can't even look at you right now. Would you have run off with him if you had the chance? You know what; I don't even want to know the answer to that. I've had it. I'm out of here."

"Shaun, please..."


He'd heard enough, and had enough. Without looking back, he held his hand up to stop her, pushed open the door and walked away.

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Sessions 17 - No Surprise

It came out like a river once I let it out
When I thought that I wouldn't know how
Held onto it forever just pushing it down
Felt so good to let go of it now
Not wrapping this in ribbons
Shouldn't have to give a reason why

No Surprise ~ DAUGHTRY

Downtown Industrial Area - Rowan Photography Studio

On edge, irritable and arriving earlier than necessary, Cooper approached the photo studio and stopped just outside. It was converted from an old rundown spa, a smaller, more private place located in the industrial area downtown.


Increasingly frustrated over the constant tabloid articles and being hounded for a sound bite about his personal life, he had chosen this place over the others to shoot an upcoming feature for Rolling Stone. The photographer and staff were carefully screened; at the least it would insure that no mishaps like the one with Asteria would occur.


Pushing through the door Coop approached a girl who stood in the foyer. She glanced up at him, knitted her brows, and then addressed him. "You're a bit early; we weren't expecting you for another 30 minutes."


"I know I am. I'll wait." Cooper snapped at the girl.


"You can change over there, room on the right. We have a few things laid out for you. Makeup and hair is waiting to your left." She gestured toward the area above him, " They are still shooting Stevie but you can go on up. Whenever you're ready."


When Cooper finally ascended the stairs he found a small group milling around one of the staging areas.


No doubt it was Stevie who had captured their attention. Seeing him, a couple of the men stepped aside as he moved toward the front; at least none of them had cameras.



Cooper folded his arms and smiled as he watched appreciatively, and watched her watching him.


"Stevie knows how to work a camera. Bring back memories for you or is that still fresh in your mind?" A deep growl behind him pulled Coop out of the moment and he turned visibly angered and looked straight into source of that rumble.

"Why are you here Rafe? You really want to stir up more shit with me?"


"I'm just here for the story, doing my job.” Rafe glanced at Stevie, then turned back and casually added, ”Which reminds me, I was going to ask you how you like the whole house husband gig? Got any recipes I can share with my wife?"

Trying to appear unfazed Cooper smiled at Rafe. Even if Rafe managed to get a rise out of him, he'd be damned if he was going to let him know it. "Maybe I ought to stop by one of these days; as I recall your wife finds me rather entertaining."


Rafe smiled right back at him, more teeth and cold eyes than amusement. "I'd be real careful if I were you, Cooper. I don’t like you, and I’m not Shaun; I won’t put up with your wounded animal act with my wife. I’ve got a real good friend who doesn’t find it particularly entertaining either, and she’s got options. You’re not the only damned act in town.”


Angry, frustrated, uneasy, and determined to blow it off, Cooper turned his back to Rafe and strode over to Stevie. His face relaxed into an easy smile as his eyes swept the length of her. She was barely dressed, her outfit revealing more of her than Shaun would probably like, but she was every man's fantasy. He stroked her bottom lip with his thumb and watched her smile. "You look hot Stevie."


"So do you." She ran a hand through his hair, fingers sliding through the silky texture and continued, "I like what they did with your hair. It's sexy."


Turning serious for a moment Stevie glanced at Rafe, who met her gaze straight on, and then back to Cooper.


"You know you shouldn't let him or any of them get to you," she told him softly.


"They aren't, not really. I'm just weary, going stir crazy."


Draping his arm around her bare shoulder, he turned Stevie away from the crowd and whispered, "You're a good friend Stevie, and I appreciate your support. It means a lot." She didn't respond but slipped her arm around him and squeezed gently.


"Stevie, we want to get some shots of you and Cooper together. If you can give us a few more minutes we can start there and finish up with Cooper's session." The same girl from the foyer, she must be some sort of coordinator, was smiling, almost patronizing, as she watched the couple and waited for one of them to respond.

Smiling once more Stevie answered, "Sure, I have time."




As much as he tried, Cooper could not get in the spirit of the photo shoot. Increasingly resentful of the constant judgmental glare from Rafe, the heat from the lights, and the irritation he brought with him in the first place, they had to keep retaking the shots if they got any at all.



"All right, let's just take a quick break and regroup shall we?" The photographer approached Cooper, if he had been irritable he certainly didn't show it, and spoke quietly, "Look, I am supposed to be shooting sexy rock stars. I don't know what the problem is but I need you to perform here, with Stevie. I need these shots before I can let her go and now we're getting backed up. Now I've seen the sexual chemistry you have with her, it's explosive, so can we cut through the bullshit and see some of that?"


Cooper glanced around the room once more. They were all still there, watching, waiting, and whispering, their lascivious thoughts exposed in their expressions. This photo shoot was like having sex in front of an audience and while he wasn't modest, he didn't like it, not this time and not with Stevie. Hell, they all thought he was fucking her anyway; what was he supposed to do?


More furious than ever at the assumptions, he wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary, so why was everyone making such a big deal out of it now? He was tired of it, the innuendo and the gossip, all of it. Fuck them all.


He reached the end of his rapidly unraveling patience as he sucked in a breath. As the photographer began to walk away, Cooper lost control. "You want explosive? How is this?" Cooper went for the lights knocking them over in a loud clatter as they popped one by one. "Did that get your attention? How is this?" Cooper kicked the motorcycle with his boot dumping it on its side.


Wheeling around, he took clear, hard aim at the photographer.


"I told you I wanted a closed set. You clear these people out of here now and if you're lucky, I won't call Rolling Stone and have your ass fired. Now get the fuck out of my way!"


Nudging Rafe hard with his shoulder as he shoved past him, Cooper stormed off the set incensed and infuriated as he thundered away from everyone.



"Cooper..."

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Sessions 16 - By the Way

By the way
You left without saying
Goodbye to me
Now that you're gone away
All I can think about is
You and me
You and me

By the Way ~ Theory of a Deadman




Bay View - Twin Bridges Cafe, 9 PM


Cooper paused outside the café while Rayne described some concern she had over the Gibson he’d bought her. He had made reservations here a week ago, going out of his way to ensure she was available, taking the time to make sure the maitre d' understood he would be there and would do whatever they could do to keep it quiet.


He listened while he watched her talk, the way she talked, the way she looked, a lot like her mother, the same skin, the same great mouth, and the same challenging attitude. It felt good to be here with their daughter. Rayne had never required the kind of attention Wyatt had needed from him. He had let it go, let her grow up, and was only now realizing that he didn't know who she was, or how to reach her.


"That Gibson doesn't quite work for me. It's like butter when I play it. The pickups are weak," she said, continuing the conversation as she strolled behind him toward the table.


"All right," he responded, leaning across the table toward her, wanting to connect and help. "What's the problem with it? You've got the Pro II pickups, warm and smooth, great clarity. It's a classic SG with an innovative pickup."

She was opening up, leaning in towards him, explaining in detail what she wanted. "I don't like warm and smooth. I want something grittier, harder. I want it to scream. I barely get a whimper out of it. I'd rather move to the Kramer; it's versatile. I can shred a Baretta as good as you can, Dad."


Cooper regarded his daughter briefly; his tone was almost patronizing as he responded, "I'm sure you can Rainie, but you need to perfect your sound on any guitar, make it yours. Listen to how Wyatt does it; he uses the Gibson and the Kramer and works them both. You've got to work on it, practice, until you get a sound that is uniquely yours."


She drew back, doors slamming behind those eyes. Every time he mentioned her brother, Rayne shut down on him. They seemed to get along; he didn’t understand it. "I’ll have plenty of time to do that since I’m going to be staying right next to him. You chose that place because it's next to Wyatt, so he can watch me. Not because it's what I want or need."


Cooper took a deep breath; not this again. She’d been moping and sulking about that damned rental for months, and there was nothing wrong with the place. She'd been running wild, he knew that. Beth had mentioned something about a guy Rayne had been hanging with, something she didn’t like about him. He did want Wyatt to keep an eye on her.


"You're where I want you to be," he told her, sitting back and taking her in, everything about her. If he was missing something, some critical factor, he couldn't see it. As far as he could tell, she simply wanted to have what she wanted with no restrictions, and he was not giving her that. "You're there for a reason, Rayne. I want to know you're safe. Don't you understand that?"


“I don’t need a babysitter,” she huffed. “Ryan taught me how to take care of myself.”


What the hell was she trying to do, get a rise out of him? McDermott, even the sound of that name burned through him, infuriating, and probably deliberate on her part. He struggled against the anger, trying to think how to pull the conversation back without engaging in an argument with her, put this shit aside, the rental, Ryan, all of it and talk to her, when a familiar voice greeted him. “Hey Coop, how are you?”


He recognized Stevie’s voice before he looked up at her, and drew a long breath of sheer relief. “Hi there, are you here by yourself?”

“Shaun’s joining me in a few.” She glanced at Rayne, who was sitting there glaring at both of them mutinously. “Hi Rayne.”


Rayne laced her hands, making a fence of them in front of her face, a Rayne stockade, and swept her gaze across them. “Hi,” she responded in an expressionless voice. She seemed to have some kind of antipathy for Stevie, something else Cooper didn’t understand.


Cooper rose and reached out to Stevie, allowing his hand to glide slowly up her bare arm. Leaning in he smiled, dragged his lips along her cheek and lingered near her neck before placing a gentle kiss there. “Come on, sit down with me.”


She laughed, placing her hand against the rough stubble on his face and smiled at him. “I’d like that.”



With one swift and angry gesture, Rayne shoved back her chair, stood up, and without a word, strode away toward the back of the café. Embarrassed, Cooper managed to grind out, “College nerves.”


“I’ll go talk to her, Coop,” Stevie offered. “Maybe she needs to talk to a woman about what’s bothering her.”

“Thanks,” he replied, uneasy, watching his daughter stalk off. This did not feel right. The evening had gone wrong, gone wrong in a big way, and sending Stevie out there after her…he wouldn’t stop her if she wanted to try it, but no, it did not feel right. He should go after her himself. What the hell, he hadn’t been able to say what he wanted, make it happen the way he wanted, maybe he was wrong about this too. He’d let Stevie take a shot at Rayne. She couldn’t make the situation any worse.

~~~~~~~


Stevie pushed through the iron gates leading to the patio at the back of the café, knowing the way. It was kind of a favorite, right on the water, between the bridges, and the owner was good about keeping things quiet. The gate squeaked a little as she opened it. This was where the girl had gone, wasn’t it?


It was. The patio overlooking the embankment was dimly lit, but Stevie saw her down at the western end under the long sweep of the Bay View Bridge. Rayne was looking off into the distance across the bay, her back turned to her, poised in that familiar stance she had often seen Cooper take.


Hesitating, Stevie took a moment to study the girl. She knew very little about her, and, despite her offer, she wasn’t sure what to say to Rainie. Was she leaving a boyfriend behind? And if she was, what could she say to her about it? Get over it? Stevie had never had many female friends, and she certainly had no experience with emo teenage girls.


She approached her, walking past the fountain, stopping at the line of shrubbery between the patio and the embankment, and, in a cheerful tone said, “Rayne, want to talk about it? Your dad’s kind of concerned, but if there’s something you don’t want to share with him, I’ve been around. Can I help?”


Her face half lit, Rayne seemed to stiffen. As a child she had resembled her mother more than her father, but the young woman standing there was now strikingly like Cooper. Strong and unexpectedly mixed emotion swept through Stevie. The same fire and passion in her eyes, the same strong jaw line, even her hair, the silky texture, the way it fell across her face, it was disconcerting. She could still feel Cooper’s touch on her skin from only moments ago; looking at this girl…it brought back memories.


Before she had a chance to deal with it, Rayne crossed her arms, her expression cold and closed, and said, “You want to help. You came out here after me because you want to help?”

Stevie took a deep breath, already realizing this wasn’t going to be easy, and tried again. “I thought there might be something you didn’t want to share with your dad, something that’s bothering you. Like a guy? Somebody he doesn’t know you like? If there’s something going on, I really would like to help.”


Rayne took a step closer, her hands clenched in fists against her chest. She was pissed as hell about something. Fireflies blew around like sparks cast off from that anger. Her voice low and tight, a whip coiled ready to crack, Rayne retorted, “You have got to be kidding me. I didn’t step out of a candy box, Stevie. I know what’s going on. Whatever you’re getting from my dad, I don’t come with the package.”

This was definitely not what she had anticipated. College nerves? This wasn’t college nerves. The girl was what, jealous? Scared? Did Coop have any idea what was going on here? Stunned and off balance, Stevie stammered, “Rayne, that’s not – there’s nothing – you don’t understand.”


Stevie’s attempt to try to explain fell into some kind of volcano and it erupted with a bang. The girl freaked, started shouting, her long hair falling in her face as she slammed her hands together, long-fingered hands, Cooper’s hands, and raged out on her.

“Oh my god do you think I’m stupid! You want Cooper and you’re stepping right over my mother and right over me to get to him! And then you have the fucking nerve to come out here and make nice with me?! I don’t want to talk to you! I don’t want to see you anywhere near him!”


If she had been concerned about anybody hearing the kid lose it…well fuck that! This child, this brat, was going to get in her face? After everything she and her mother had put Coop through? No way was that going to happen! Stevie squared off, setting her hands on her hips, and staring her right down, let it fly.

"You listen to me, little girl. It is because of your mother and you that Cooper gave up a part of himself. You are too spoiled and too self-absorbed to see that but I'm not. He isn't getting what he needs from either of you. I know him. He is my friend and I will be there for him; I'll give him what he needs whenever he needs it!"


Rayne did not react, blink, didn’t appear to even draw breath; she just stood there, sizing her up, a long and thorough assessment. Something about the girl, it was like she was looking for the next move in a game, strange and kind of unnerving. That wasn’t Coop; from what Stevie knew about Rayne’s mother, that wasn’t her either. She was backed up against the fountain and felt the water spray on her shoulders and hair, making her even more irritable and angry and uncomfortable.


Then Rayne unexpectedly smiled, tilting her head, another old and familiar gesture somehow rendered very different on her.

“Hello, Shaun,” she chimed, her voice sweet and cool. “Stevie was just telling me about my dad, how they’re such great friends that she’ll give him whatever he needs anytime he needs it. Isn’t that nice?”


That was not what she meant, not the way Rayne made it sound. She’d taken it out of context; she’d turned everything upside down. She’d used her own words against her. Furious, shaken, caught between wanting to slap the girl and try to explain, Stevie looked around and directly into Shaun’s luminous eyes. He gazed back, silent and unreadable.


The little bitch was still smiling. “Bye Stevie,” Rayne cooed. “Don’t forget me. I totally won’t forget about you. I promise.”

Bay View - Holloway Residence - 11 PM


Stevie dove into the pool, her body slicing gracefully into the warm crystal water as ripples cascaded out toward the edge. Her face broke the surface and she looked up into the midnight sky. It was a warm night and the water felt good against the heat of her body.

Turning over Stevie floated aimlessly staring at the stars that were strewn above her. Hearing the garage door open she smiled and called out, "Get those clothes off big guy and join me in the pool. We can work on our synchronized swimming."


Shaun walked toward the edge and knelt down allowing his hand to sweep across the surface of the water. He was unusually quiet as he crouched in the darkness. Stevie turned and swam toward him playfully splashing as she teased, "Since when did you get all shy? Come on baby; get in the pool with me! What are you waiting for?"


Rising, Shaun walked toward the diving board, sat down on it and looked over at her. "Stevie get out of the pool please. We need to talk."

Stevie grabbed the ladder and pulled her body out of the water. The confrontation and subsequent "discussion" on the way home from the restaurant came seeping back into her thoughts. Stevie thought they had resolved it; maybe she was wrong. "Shaun what is it?"


Moving away from her past surf boards, clay pots and sports equipment, Shaun stared at the ground before speaking. "I've always loved you Stevie, even when we weren't together, I loved you. So what I am going to ask you is hard for me..."

Stevie walked toward him as her face turned serious. "Shaun...I love you too. Whatever is bothering you, whatever it is, just ask. I've always been honest with you."


"Have you?" Folding his arms, Shaun looked down on her, hesitated as if trying to form the words, and spoke quietly. "When Coop was John, that day at your old loft, if he hadn't remembered who he was or hadn't run back to his wife, who would you have picked?"


Stevie's jaw dropped, her voice sounded incredulous. "What?! You can't be serious! Shaun I picked you! How can you even ask me that?" She exhaled sharply, "So you're jealous? Is that it? You don't seriously think I would pick him do you? Shaun, do you?"


"How can I ask you? That's easy, Stevie; you never really got to choose did you? He ran back to his wife, end of story. I can't help but think if he hadn't run off, hadn't remembered, you would have stayed with him."


Stevie turned her back on him and walked away clearly angry and confused. "This is ridiculous Shaun. I love you, married you, and had your baby." Looking back over her shoulder she continued in a barely audible voice, "I don't love Cooper. He needs a friend, that's all."

"He has friends Stevie and he has a wife, a fact you seem to have forgotten or maybe you're just overlooking that fact."


Stevie whipped around eyes flashing anger. In a scornful tone she responded, "You mean a wife who cheated on him and then stood by and let him rip his heart out of his chest for her?"

"You don't know that Stevie!" he shouted, "No one tells Cooper Stanfield what to do, no one, you know that and I know that! You're making assumptions about something that is none of your damned business! I'm not going to sit by and watch him hang all over my wife because he made a bad decision and needs to feel good!"


"What are you saying...that's ridiculous...no way he...Shaun, that's not...it isn't like that!" Stevie stammered, paused to catch her breath, compose herself and continued, "I am just trying to help him find his way back where he belongs. You would do the same thing if your male pride wasn't getting in the way of your judgment."


Shaun was silent. His face was partially hidden in shadow but the lights reflecting off the pool lit his eyes which were focused on Stevie. He moved closer to her, never taking his gaze from her face. "You're holding onto him just like you did before, your pet project. I remember how it was baby; I was there the first time. He isn't a stray puppy who needs to be taken care of anymore. He's a grown man who knows who he is and what he has. If he wants to fuck it up, let him figure it out."


He turned, brushed a stray lock of silky black hair out of his face and headed for the house leaving Stevie stunned and speechless. Before going in he hesitated and spoke without looking back at her, his face was hard and his voice resolute. "You can't keep trying to fix him Stevie. I'm telling you to let it go, let him go. Make your choice."

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Sessions 15 - Sacrifice

Everybody expects me to break
but I'll never break down again
Everybody expects me to give up
but you'll never see me giving in
Everybody wants me to lose
but I'll never lose who I am

Sacrifice ~ Theory of a Deadman



Ocean Beach Arena - 9PM

Cooper wandered around back stage with Rayne trailing behind him as he pointed out various things and people out to her. It had been the first time he had been in an arena since he told his family he was going to quit touring. But this was no tour; it was a benefit, so technically he was keeping to his word. Despite the strong pull from the stage, the sounds of the crowd, he would prove to himself and to them that he could do this.

"Rainie, come with me, over here." Cooper led his daughter to the edge of the stage as they dodged stage hands and crew. As the crowd focused on the band that was warming up the audience, he drew Rayne's focus on them. "Watch the crowd, pick people out you can relate to on some level and use that connection to draw them in when you're on stage." He stood behind her and pointed while Rayne's eyes swept the crowd almost as if she was looking for one face in particular until she drew a quick breath and smiled.

Leading her back behind the stage he continued, "Never speak to the crew and they should never speak to you. Do not engage them in a lengthy conversation. If you need something done you'll have people for that so use them. That is what they're paid to do."

"You're acting as if I am already a star, Dad."

Watching the crew move around him like a well oiled machine, Cooper drew a breath as the rush of adrenaline pumped through him like an intense charge of electricity. Pulling his attention back to her Cooper frankly spoke, "By the time you get here you will be a star Rayne. You need to know what to expect and how to handle yourself. If you don't, people will take advantage of you."

"Did you give Wyatt the same lessons I'm getting?"

Cooper stood still absorbing the familiar sights and sounds that surrounded him. The intense rush of a live performance, even if it wasn't his own, overwhelmed him briefly.

"Daddy," Rayne gently interrupted his thoughts, "Did you?"

Cooper answered distractedly, "No I didn't Rayne. Look it's...different for Wyatt. People will treat you differently because..."

Rayne cut him off, "Because I'm a girl. That is so wrong Dad." Two stage hands laughed in the background as they hurried to setup the last of the equipment for Storm Warning.

Cooper sighed, "Of course it's wrong but that's how it is. It's up to you not to let the stereotype dictate who you are and what you become." His eyes were drawn toward Beth who stood out of the way of the crew looking tired and extremely uncomfortable. She had desperately attempted to convince him not to quit, distraught and in tears. He had rarely seen her cry but she had that night as she pleaded with him in vain.

Maybe it had been a mistake to insist Beth come with him but he wanted to prove to her that he was committed to his decision and to his family. Beyond her he noticed Stevie laughing easily with Shaun by her side. They were about to take the stage.

Rayne walked with him toward her mother and stood by as he kissed Beth gently on the forehead. Brushing a stray tendril of hair from her face he asked, "You ok?" Beth nodded once and smiled. His gaze quickly drifting to Stevie and back, Coop turned toward Rayne once more, "Wait here with your mom. I'm going to check on Storm Warning."

Myriad emotions played on Rayne's face, in her eyes. Unexpectedly, Rainie threw her arms around her father's neck. "That should be you going out there Dad. You belong on the stage, not behind it. Go out there, you really should. Please. For me.”

He wanted it, felt it, that overwhelming need to be in the spotlight working the crowd pulling at him hard. But he had been adamant about quitting, for them. "No, Rayne Drop, not this time." Cooper's mouth curved in a slight smile. He turned on the heel of his boot and walked away.

~~~~~


Hurrying down the stairs, Rayne slid between the rail and the stage, deliberately slowed her pace, and approached the boy who waited there.

He was watching her, leaning back against the stage, the stage lights crossing and recrossing his face.

“You made it,” Rayne greeted him, trying to breathe normally and not act like she was going to pass out or something from excitement. They were messing with the lights before Storm Warning came on, red and blue and yellow. She walked up between his legs and looked down at him. He looked exactly the way she remembered except maybe better. He wasn’t, he couldn’t be, the person she remembered. That was a long time ago, if it ever even happened, and he was her age.

“Yeah, I said I would try to get out of work. Got here as soon as I could.” Cruz slid off the deck as the stage lights flashed off. She blinked in the sudden dark. He smelled warm, like he’d been driving in the heat, or the smell of sunburned skin. He didn’t look sunburned. He looked like he never sunburned or maybe he was just permanently sunburned, dark tanned skin and those shocking blue eyes still focused directly at her.

She’d barely eaten, slept, thinking about meeting him, wondering if he would actually show up. Now that he was actually here, Rayne couldn’t come up with a single thing to say. She stepped back mentally, telling herself to wait, wait until he said something else. His attention wandered as he looked past her into the shadows backstage. “Damn,” Cruz remarked, “is that Cooper Stanfield? What’s he doing here?”

Rayne didn’t know the answer to that herself. She was still considering exactly how to tell him who she was when her father noticed her, aimed a brief grin and pointed in her direction before turning away.

Cruz evidently caught it because he stiffened, studied her carefully, and asked in a stunned voice, “Your name...Cooper…you’re related?”

The relation strode out onto the stage, stood there poised, his head thrown back, laughing into the crowd.

The place exploded in excitement. So, Rayne thought with satisfaction, maybe he would take it all back. Maybe he wouldn’t quit after all. She’d felt so guilty, like it was all her fault, and couldn’t imagine what he would do hanging out at home all the time. Was he going to mow the lawn?

“He’s my father!” She had to shout over the roar, the ripping opening guitar riffs.

Cruz said something; she couldn’t hear it. She had planned, if Cruz showed up, to get out of the place with him, but she waited, watching her father. He was prowling across the stage, his attention fixed on…she drew a sharper breath.

He’d been watching her the whole time, and he was still at it. Stevie. And he was like right on top of her. Now that had to be some great view down the front, unless she accidentally hit him in the face with her sticks, and that seemed like an interesting possibility.

And beyond, there in the dark behind the stage, stood her mother. Rayne looked up; Beth looked down. Their eyes met and held.

Rayne folded her arms and considered the woman she’d resented so intensely. What was going on? He’d said he wasn’t going out there; he’d made both of them feel like shit about it. Yeah she’d told him to get out there and she meant it but not if he was doing it because of Stevie Holloway. That was fucked up.

Cruz had been following the exchange in silence. He slid his right hand around her waist, one of the pyro effects exploding right next to them, heat blasting her face, leaned into her and said, “You want to get out of here?”

Cooper was working the other side of the stage. Beth had vanished back into the shadows. “Yeah,” Rayne muttered sourly, “let’s get the hell out of here.”

~~~~~


Stevie pushed past Tyler and Shaun, laughing, holding out her hands. “Come on!” she insisted, grabbing Cooper’s arm. “You’re coming out there with us! No way am I letting you hide back here with the crew!”

Beth watched him halfheartedly shake her off. She stared at the woman, looking over her husband’s shoulder right into her eyes, and Stevie met that gaze directly. Something in it was anything but friendly. I didn’t do this to him, Beth thought, suddenly angry. It wasn’t my idea.

She expected Cooper to decline and say something about commitment and making the decision; that was why he had insisted she come, so he could prove he meant it, that’s what he’d said.

And she’d come and stood around, knowing what she was going to face, the silent bullets, Tyler and Shaun staring at her, pinning her to the wall, pinning the blame on her. They didn’t know Coop if they believed she could make him do anything he didn’t want to do.

But he didn’t decline.

He hesitated. He did hesitate, then he moved, striding right out there with Stevie, the two of them sharing something, Cooper laughing, his face lit up, as they ran out together onto the stage to the explosive response from the crowd.

Stunned and confused, Beth started to edge back into the shadows behind the control booth when she saw Rayne standing at the foot of the stairs beside the stage. A boy stood close beside her, watching her, and then both of them lifted their eyes together and looked at her. She could see anger in Rayne’s face, anger duplicating her own, and for probably the same reason. Her father had turned down her plea to change his mind but it looked like he’d do it for Stevie.

She turned her back to them and paced down the length of the deck, stepping over cables, until she reached the railing at the back where she stopped, took a deep breath, steadying herself, and gazed out at the ocean. Big dark bluffs and that view, always that view, everything and nothing, water like sky and sky like water, nothing but dark blue with no end and no beginning one dark blue space….


She felt sick. I’m going to throw up. She was pregnant. She hadn’t told him. It would be one more reason for him to quit. She wouldn’t give him that reason. No more reasons. Beth leaned over the rail and wished she could just put her face against it, was it cold, was it at least cool. The crowd, noise like an animal, pressing and hot and sweating and right behind her.

What was she going to do? Nothing. There was nothing she could do. Not this time. The rail was gritty with sand. It got under the rim of her ring. The diamond he’d given her and she looked down at that diamond and watched the light sparkle down to the bottom of that fragment of ancient coal compressed and pressed and squeezed until somehow it became this thing of light and value, a symbol of love and enduring commitment. A symbol she had violated first.

Someone bumped her, a jolt so hard and so unexpected she almost lost her footing.

She straightened, made some sort of effort to push her hair out of her face and stared at the guy irritably. He didn't seem to notice or care. “Aren’t you Beth Stanfield, Cooper’s wife?”

In the dark and the flashing light and the flashing sound, Beth looked at him. He didn’t look like crew. Who was he? If he was wearing a press tag, she didn't see it. It didn’t matter. “No,” she said flatly. “She left a long time ago, if she was ever even here at all. And I can't think of one single reason why she would be.”

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