Kara Lennox - Reluctant Partners

“You aren’t the only one. Even Cooper didn’t anticipate this decision.”

“We can appeal,” Arlen suggested.

But Allie couldn’t stand the thought of dragging this out any further.

She couldn’t start a fishing charter business from scratch, not without a huge influx of capital. On the other hand, Cooper would have a hard time running a fishing business with no boat. He would have to buy a new one.

She knew what she had to do. But she wasn’t ready to do it.

“Send me a bill for the remainder of what I owe you,” she said to Arlen. “It may take me a little while to pull my finances together, but you’ll get paid.”

“Now, now, I told you not to worry about that. But I do have one more matter to take care of.” He reached into his jacket and extracted a sealed envelope with her name on it. “Cooper came to my office yesterday. He asked that I give you this once the hearing was over, no matter which way it went.”

She was almost afraid to touch the envelope. “What is it?”

He shrugged. “I have no idea. But I’m curious as hell,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “The boy seemed agitated when he gave it to me.”

She glanced over at the opposing counsel’s table, but Cooper and his cousins were already gone.

Allie slipped away from the courthouse through a back door, fearing she would run into Cooper otherwise. She only went to her car when she was sure the Remingtons were gone.

But she didn’t return to the B and B. She drove to the beach. She wanted to read the letter somewhere where no one could see her, because she suspected it was going to make her cry.

Anyway, she did her best thinking near the ocean, where the sound of the waves crashing on shore soothed her and the smell of salt air cleansed her mind.

Port Clara’s public beach was small. Soon the tourists would cover the sand with their towels and umbrellas, but today it was cloudy, windy and deserted. Not the best sunbathing weather, but it suited her mood.

Allie took off her shoes and walked barefoot in the warm sand, then sat at the base of a sand dune, letting the natural surroundings calm the roiling inside of her.

She pulled her knees into her chest and propped the letter across them, staring at her name. She was terrified to open it.

She’d have to sell the Dragonfly to Cooper. Or maybe, if he didn’t have the capital to buy it outright, she would lease it to him. The one thing she wouldn’t do was hold on to it out of spite. If she did, she might kill off Johnny’s legacy for good.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been sitting there, minutes or hours, when a shadow moved over her.

“Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you? I was afraid you’d gone and drowned yourself.”

Cooper.

“I appreciate your concern,” she said, meaning it, because he really did sound distressed. “Is that the effect you thought your letter would have?”

“I hope not,” he said with some alarm. “Have you even read it?”

“I haven’t. But I really need to do that alone.”

“Yeah, well, it’s a public beach and I have every right to sit and watch the ocean.” He sat down beside her, and she was surprised to see he was wearing a disreputable pair of cutoff jeans and an Old Salt’s Bar & Grill T-shirt. He looked a lot more beach bum than corporate lawyer.

“I suppose you want me to pay you back for all the money you put into the Dragonfly .”

He sighed. “No, Allie, for the third and final time-I hope-you don’t owe me anything. If you would just read the damn letter, you would know what I’m thinking.”

“The decision surprised you?” she asked, stalling.

“Yeah. I feel like an idiot for not anticipating it. I’m supposed to be the hotshot lawyer around here.”

“Are your cousins upset?”

“Truthfully? They both think the judge should have given it all to you. Johnny’s intentions were clear, even if there was a slight oversight in his will.”

“And what do you think?”

“I think the boat’s no good to you without the business.”

“And the business is no good to you without the boat,” she countered. “Which is why I’m offering to sell you the Dragonfly . It’s the only solution that makes sense.”

He appeared truly surprised. “You’d do that?”

She nodded, resigned but sincere. “Johnny wouldn’t want it all broken up.”

Cooper frowned. “I hate to burst your bubble, but I don’t have the money to buy a boat. I’ve put almost all my liquid assets into Remington Charters already.”

Now she was the one who was surprised. She’d been thinking of Cooper as having an endless supply of cash. “I could lease it to you until you’re ready to buy.”

“Actually, I have another idea. But I don’t want to get my head bitten off again.”

She put her face in her hands, deeply regretting the drama-queen hissy-fit she’d thrown in Houston. “I’m really sorry about that,” she mumbled between her fingers. Then she looked up at him. “I understand now you weren’t trying to cheat me or manipulate me. You really were trying to find a solution that would benefit everyone.”

He shrugged. “I’m not that honorable. The truth is, when I proposed the partnership, I was looking for some way we could be together. I didn’t want to lose you. But I ended up saying the one thing that would alienate you for good.”

Allie was touched at the vulnerability in his voice. How could she have gotten it so wrong? “I wasn’t alienated for good,” she assured him. “Sara made me come to my senses. But I figured by then I’d burned my bridges.” She paused, hoping he would deny she’d done any such thing.

But he didn’t.

“Cooper, who’s Heather?”

He looked surprised at the mention of the name. “How did you hear about her?”

“I overheard Derek say something about her when I went in to get him a beer. I wasn’t listening on purpose, but I couldn’t help hearing.”

Cooper took a deep breath. “I was once engaged to Heather. She ripped me off for close to a quarter million dollars before disappearing into the night.”

Allie gasped. “That’s horrid! Did you put her in jail?”

“No. She got away clean. I imagine she’s happily fleecing some other sucker by now.”

Allie knew how it felt to be fleeced and betrayed by someone who was supposed to love you. But Cooper was the last person she would call a sucker.

“Would you read the letter?” he said impatiently.

“You were going to tell me your idea for solving all our problems.”

“It’s in the letter. But it’s so obvious, I don’t know why you haven’t thought of it.”

“You…you still want to set up a partnership?” she asked, afraid to hope. She’d figured that possibility was off the table.

“A very special kind of partnership.” He took her hand and placed something in her palm, wrapping her fingers around it. It was cold and hard, and it had sharp edges. “Since you won’t read the letter, I’ll tell you what’s in it. It says, Allie Bateman, I love you with all my heart. I think I fell in love with you that first day I saw you, when you threatened to get your gun and shoot me. Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

Allie couldn’t breathe. Honestly, she thought she was going to pass out. Her ears were buzzing and her head felt like it was about to float away from her body.

But then she remembered to inhale, and her vision cleared. She opened her hand and looked at the object Cooper had given her. It was a diamond ring. An enormous square diamond ring.

“I’ll give you Remington Charters as a wedding present,” he added. “Reece and Max agree.”