Our waiter arrives before my thoughts can funnel very far, and we order an assortment of sandwiches and bread bowls before the girls are out of their seats and telling us they’re going to be at the gift shop.
“Ten million,” Cooper repeats, shaking his head. “Who does that?”
“He could go to prison for up to five years,” I tell Cooper, waiting for his reaction.
“Good. He should be going to prison for longer.”
I sit back in my seat, knowing Cooper’s history and dislike for the prison system. “He could potentially be charged as a felon.”
Cooper shakes his head, his eyes bright as he tears his eyes from following the girls and turns his full attention to me. “You’re feeling bad about possibly blowing the whistle on this guy?”
“He’s divorced, has two kids.”
Coop blows out a breath. “Look, this is only my two cents, you have to do whatever is going to allow you to sleep at night, but this guy is stealing a ton of money from you. If you need to, check to make sure his kid isn’t sick or his mom or whatever, but remember, ten million.” He shakes his head again. “Did he ask for more money? Did he come to you and ask for a favor? Tell you he needed the money for anything?”
I shake my head. “He’s a contractor, not an employee.”
“If he’d come to you and asked for the money and you turned him down, and he felt he had no other choice to keep someone in his family alive or safe, that would be a different conversation. If he’s spending this money on a mansion and cars and bullshit he doesn’t need, then I’d be pushing for a full sentence. My dad is serving twenty-five years for selling a few hundred bucks worth of weed.”
“It’s messed up.”
Coop shrugs. “It is, and yet, he was a lousy father, and all he cared about were his plants and money and getting high. I hate the prison system. I hate that he has to serve such a ridiculous amount of time in jail. I hate that I won’t know him at all by the time he’s out. And I really hate how prison has turned him into someone who I don’t even recognize and wouldn’t trust around Vanessa. But, in that same vein, sometimes I feel lucky that they took me out of that situation and placed me with my grandma because while she was probably too tired to raise another kid, I finally had some semblance of structure. I didn’t have to be a parent myself at ten to my lowlife father who nearly burnt our house down on more than one occasion and couldn’t hold a job to save his life—save my life. It just seems unfair that his life had to be ruined for mine to be saved. But that’s not the situation here. You’re not doing this to him; he is. Just like my father did it to himself. This guy knows what he’s doing is illegal, and you can’t tell me anyone assumes they can steal that kind of money without facing serious consequences.”
“That poker game I brought Chloe to, he was there. Blew twenty grand in an afternoon.”
Cooper winces. “Way to rub it in your face.”
From our table, I catch Chloe passing through the gift shop, laughing at something.
“Are you ready to return to reality and get to double practices and classes?” Coop asks.
I shake my head in small jerks. “Not even remotely. I feel like I blinked and we’re here.”
“You’ve been working a lot.”
“We could do this again,” I tell him. “Stay longer at different hotels so we could have more time to hang out in different cities. We could consider it research for how we can improve things for guests. We could spend all of next summer traveling.”
“I’d be game, but you might have your work cut out for you with Chloe. Change is hard for her, which is why you see her start sweating each time Vanessa talks about where she wants to move after school. Not going home for the summer would be a big change for her.”
“What if I throw in the Eiffel Tower and Rome?”
“Tell me you want us to go, and I’ll start laying hints now.”
I laugh, imagining the four of us abroad and then flipping to this year and spending time all together and alone with Chloe—having her in my bed, wandering through downtown Seattle to find coffee, having her in the stands with my number painted on her cheek, listening to her tell me about the laws of physics and how they apply with her major. “Vanessa’s right. This is going to be a good year.”
Coop nods, but before he can say anything, our food arrives at the table. I turn to look for Chloe and see her checking out, Vanessa at her side. She must feel my stare because she turns, looking at me as she waits for them to bag her purchase. She smiles, her fingers folding in a small wave.
We order a round of soft drinks to replace the water as the girls return.
“You didn’t buy bread to bring back, did you?” Cooper asks, eyeing Chloe’s bag.
She frowns at him as Vanessa starts to laugh. “I considered it, but I told Nessie if I did, you’d give me the hardest time, so no, I didn’t buy any bread.”
He laughs, turning to me. “She used to always buy food when we’d go to new places and then wouldn’t want to eat it because her souvenir went away.”
“Oh, watch me eat all the doughnuts tonight,” Chloe says, taking her seat beside me.
I move my hand across the plane of her back, my fingers catching in her hair that I slip my fingers through as I laugh. Those mesmerizing green eyes meet my stare, and I realize how this consideration regarding Avery may not have given me much debate without her. Admitting my feelings for her has seemingly destroyed my ability to not give a fuck. She leans forward, kissing me gently on the lips before pulling back, eyes still on me, as though she hears my thoughts and is trying to settle me from how overwhelming my emotions feel around her—about her.
“You guys might as well just roll me down the pier,” Vanessa says as we step out of the cafe, her hands clutching her stomach. “That was so good. So worth it.”
Coop slings his arm around her shoulders, following the train of people that are headed down to Pier 39.
We pass by more shops, the homeless population drawing Chloe’s attention. On the corners, street performers attract a crowd.
“This breaks my heart,” Chloe says as we pass a woman asleep on a piece of broken-down cardboard. “It seems like we should be able to do something to help these people and help prevent it for others.”
I kiss her temple, feeling the hopelessness that shines in her eyes and slumps her shoulders. “You’re right.”
“Guys! Come on!” Vanessa yells, already halfway through the crosswalk as cars inch closer. We run to catch up, seeing the ocean in the background. Music plays softly through speakers, bringing the mood up as we approach the mouth of the pier.
“This is so much bigger than I expected,” Chloe tells me, her gaze traveling over the two-story buildings that lead us down the pier, everything glowing with lights as tourists file around in groups.
“I’ve heard you say that before,” I say, squeezing her shoulder.
She slaps a hand to her forehead and laughs before wrapping her arms around my waist. “Thank you,” she says. “This has seriously been the best week ever.”
I slant my lips over hers, forgetting about Cooper’s warning that she doesn’t like change. We’re all afraid of change. Sometimes we just need the right motivation. I’m well aware of this as my lips dance across hers.