Worst of all was the realisation that had driven him to drink the night before: as he’d stood in her hotel doorway, taking in her fluffy bathrobe and handing her the stupid phone charger she’d left behind again, he’d realised he wanted to kiss her.
And that was, put simply, the worst idea anyone had ever had. Ever.
He reminded himself of that several times over breakfast: every time she tried to start a conversation with him that hit too close to the personal, when she smiled and thanked their waiter so graciously, and especially when she licked syrup off her lip with more enthusiasm than Cooper felt was really necessary.
Although, they were damned good pancakes. Even his bad mood couldn’t hide that.
They’d been on the road for almost two hours before Dawn tried talking to him again; apparently his grumpiness at breakfast had warned her off, as he’d intended. But a couple of hours of open road and Claudia purring through the landscape had improved his mindset, as he reminded himself he just had to take what he could from this experience and focus on helping his brother at the end of it. Everything else could go hang.
‘You know, the world’s biggest time capsule isn’t far from here, in Seward,’ Dawn said, her tone tentative. ‘I mean, if you fancied swapping drivers anyway...’
‘You want to stop and see it?’ Cooper asked. Time capsules weren’t really his thing. Although the idea of locking up the past and forgetting about it appealed, the thought that he’d have to dig it up and re-examine it again one day was less enjoyable.
‘Well, I just thought...it could be interesting, that’s all.’
Cooper didn’t answer. But, when he saw the turn-off for Seward, he took it, all the same.
* * *
Dawn tilted her head as she stared at the large, white concrete pyramid set in the garden of a house in suburban Seward, Nebraska.
‘The plaque says the original time capsule was buried in 1975, then the pyramid was added on top eight years later.’ Cooper peered closer at the bronze plaque. ‘Apparently there’s even a couple of cars in there, for some reason.’
His tone held the same disinterest it had all morning, and Dawn wondered for the hundredth time what it was she’d done to force that distance between them. She told herself she only wanted to know so she could make sure to keep doing it—the last thing she needed was to give in to any fleeting attraction to Justin’s brother.
But the truth was she wanted the camaraderie back. The way they’d been the second day or so of their trip, when everything had been new and exciting and she’d been focused on her goal.
Before she’d started staring at Cooper’s lips when he talked.
Before she’d ever imagined what it might feel like to kiss him.
Did he know? Was that why he was pulling away?
Or did he really, truly have something against time capsules, since her suggestion to visit this one seemed to be what had set off this particular round of his hiding-behind-his-shades, don’t-touch-me vibe.
Dawn really hoped it was the time capsule. Otherwise, it was going to be a very long few days to the Hamptons and Justin.
‘What would you put in your capsule?’ she asked, hoping to draw out any childhood traumas with time capsules that might be affecting him.
Cooper just shrugged. ‘I don’t know. What are you supposed to put in these things?’
‘Items that represent your life right now, I suppose.’ Dawn glanced at the plaque, hoping for guidance, but it was no help. It just told her that the thing wasn’t to be opened until 2025.
Where would she be by then? Dawn had no idea, but it almost certainly wouldn’t be Seward, Nebraska.
‘Then probably the work file for the latest deal I’m working on,’ Cooper said with a shrug.
Dawn turned away from the pyramid to stare at him instead. ‘Seriously? That’s the only thing you can think of? Nothing personal at all?’
Did he really have no personal life? She knew from Justin’s few comments that Cooper was the ultimate workaholic, but surely even the most dedicated CEO had to have some friendships, hobbies or interests outside of the office?
‘A pair of running shoes?’ Cooper tried. Because of course he stayed in shape. Even she’d noticed that. Okay, so she’d noticed that quite a lot, since his new wardrobe of thin cotton tee shirts and jeans did rather more to show off his body than the suit and tuxedo she’d seen him in before.
‘Let me guess, exercise is important because it helps you work longer hours, right?’
‘And live longer,’ Cooper added. ‘Thus staving off retirement by a few more years.’
‘Of course.’ Dawn sighed. The man really was hopeless. ‘So, no friendships or relationships you want to commemorate?’
Cooper’s expression turned contemplative. ‘I suppose I could throw in my wedding ring and a copy of my divorce decree, but I don’t think that’s the sort of upbeat, inspiring content you’re looking for here.’
‘I don’t suppose it is,’ Dawn said quietly. What had happened to make this man so bitter about people—especially love? He’d be amiable enough when they chatted about nothing in the car, or in the various diners they stopped in en route, but the moment she got close to anything personal he’d clam up. He liked to pretend that he cared for nothing and nobody outside the office, but here he was escorting her across the country to find his brother and her closure.
She didn’t understand him.
But she really, really wanted to—even if she wasn’t ready to admit why, yet, even to herself.
‘What happened with your wife?’ This was the closest Cooper had really got to talking about her since they’d met, and Dawn wasn’t going to miss the chance to find out more—to obtain another piece of the complicated puzzle that was Cooper Edwards.
‘Actually, it was rather like your parents’ story. And yours and Justin’s, to a point,’ he said. ‘Whirlwind romance, sudden wedding—except in my case it featured an even more sudden divorce.’
‘At least you got to the actually married stage,’ Dawn joked. Cooper didn’t laugh.
She swallowed uncomfortably before asking, ‘Where is she now?’
‘Last I heard, she’d moved to Seattle with a wealthy cosmetic surgeon and was planning another wedding.’ Cooper didn’t look at her as he spoke, and his words were completely devoid of emotion. Dawn felt sympathy welling up inside her.
‘You must have loved her very much,’ she said, trying to imagine Cooper ever feeling enough for anyone to propose—let alone falling desperately in love in just a few weeks. She couldn’t.
‘Rather more than she ever loved me, as it turned out.’ He flashed her a bitter smile. ‘I don’t suppose that’s quite what you were expecting from marriage.’
‘Well, for starters I was expecting my groom to show up,’ Dawn pointed out. ‘But beyond that, yeah, I guess I was expecting true love. The “for ever” kind. Like my parents have.’
‘I’m not sure mine ever did,’ Cooper admitted. ‘Even before Dad died, things were tense between them. And Mom...she knew what she married into with the Edwards family and she’s always played the role perfectly. I guess I believed Rachel would do the same.’
‘But she wasn’t interested?’ Dawn guessed.
Cooper’s smile fell away. ‘Not exactly. But enough about her. What about you? Would you be truly happy playing at being Mrs Edwards, matriarch and upholder of Edwards family values once Mom is gone?’
The question sounded too pointed to be just a casual one, and Dawn resisted her natural urge just to laugh at it. For some reason, this mattered to Cooper. He really wanted to know her answer. So the least she could do was consider it properly.
‘I don’t know,’ she said slowly, surprised by her own admission. If anyone had asked her the night before her wedding, she was sure she’d have said yes in a heartbeat. As it was... ‘I guess I
never really imagined that far ahead. I just thought about me and Justin being together, blissfully happy. Perhaps with a family—a couple of kids, a boy and a girl. I thought about summers together at the beach house, and Christmas together, one year in Britain the next over here. I thought about quiet moments, just the two of us. But I didn’t think so much about the Edwards legacy or any of that.’ She gave him a rueful smile. ‘Maybe, in my mind, I sort of assumed that you’d get married again and your wife would take care of all that.’
‘Well, that’s never going to happen. So maybe it’s for the best that Justin didn’t show up at the altar.’ Leaving her speechless, Cooper walked back towards Claudia, whose robin’s-egg-blue paintwork was shining in the midday sun. Apparently the conversation was over.