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.

"How about tonight?" she asked, glancing back and forth between him and her brother. She was obviously changing the subject and Cooper was grateful for that.

"Tonight's good." He was in the process of buying the Deluth farm, which meant he had some time to kill before he could actually move in and get started. Working at the bar would help him to get familiar with the people in town, as well as give him something to do with his spare time. And the added bonus was that Cooper now had an excuse to spend more time with Tessa.

"It's settled then," Adam's smile looked both satisfied and concerned, but Cooper didn't say anything more.

There would apparently be plenty of time to figure out how this was supposed to work.

Chapter Five.

Cooper wasn't sure what Adam's idea of settled was, but clearly it wasn't the same as his, that was for damn sure.

Several hours later, he was sitting on a stool in The Rusty Nail, doing absolutely nothing except talking to anyone who approached him. When he had asked Tessa what it was that he could do to help out, she'd flat out told him to do what he did best. When he simply stared at her, she had followed it up by telling him to find a chair and look pretty.

He'd laughed it off at first. Until he realized she was serious.

The bar was slowly filling up, although he noticed they didn't have quite the impressive turnout as the night before. There wasn't an act on stage, but Cooper's mind was whirling with possibilities. If he was going to be in charge of the entertainment, he was going to ensure that every Friday and Saturday night had live music. Why the hell shouldn't they have someone on stage drawing in the crowds? There was plenty of new talent that would love the opportunity to play in front of these people. And he had a few friends who would surely get a kick out of playing in the small town bar.

To his surprise, he'd found out that The Rusty Nail was only open Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday nights. When he asked Adam for the reason, he was told that they didn't bring in enough business during the week. Devil's Bend was a small town, and it was saying something that they managed to draw in a lot of their patrons from the bigger neighboring towns. Based on Adam's explanation, Tessa liked the part time schedule.

"Hey, handsome," a sultry voice sounded from behind him and Cooper turned to see a tall, willowy brunette standing within just a few inches of him.

Cooper smiled at her, giving her a slow once over. Before she said another word, he was already predicting how this conversation would go. Had he been just a random cowboy in a bar, he'd at least have the pleasure of going through the preliminaries with a woman, but he doubted this conversation was going to go that way.

When the brunette's hand quickly trailed up his thigh, he couldn't hide his grin. Too easy.

"What do ya say we get outta here for a while?" she asked, batting her fake eyelashes and letting her hand wander freely as though he'd actually invited her to touch him.

"Why would I want to do that, ma'am? I just got here." Considering he had nothing else to do, he figured he might as well indulge her for a few minutes. After all, he didn't want to be rude. He just wasn't interested.

It wasn't that the woman wasn't pretty. She was. But, based on her wandering hand, he could tell there was another man who thought so too if her wedding band was anything to go by.

She giggled, and Cooper fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"But, I think I could find us a place a little more private if you know what I mean."

What? No dinner and drinks? No candlelight and romance? A night out at the movies? Shit, Cooper knew chivalry wasn't dead, but based on some of the come on lines he got he was beginning to wonder whether courting a woman was even necessary anymore.

"I'm not sure I do," he told her.

The crease in her forehead told him that she wasn't used to rejection, but Cooper had no intention of going home with any woman he met. Not tonight or otherwise. He'd spent the better part of the last decade doing exactly that and look where it'd gotten him. Right here on this barstool with another random woman looking for a quick hookup.

"Lacey, you know your husband's gonna be here soon. He ain't gonna be too happy that you're on the prowl, and I'm not looking for another altercation tonight."

Saved by the bartender.

Cooper noticed Eric watching the woman with the wandering hand carefully from across the bar top. The look on his face said he wasn't at all impressed with whatever she was up to. It didn't take long for her to get the hint and Cooper watched as she marched away, putting a little sway in her backside as she did.

"Thanks." Cooper turned back to face the bar, grabbing the beer Eric placed there.

"No problem. You'll want to watch out for that one."

Cooper didn't need the warning, but he tipped his hat at Eric anyway.

"So, I figured there'd be paparazzi chasing you down by now," Eric said, leaning his forearms on the bar.

"Let's just say, I'm MIA at the moment." Cooper hadn't even told his manager where he was going when he disappeared. His phone was currently turned off for the simple reason that he didn't feel like explaining himself. And because he was pretty sure Marcus had outfitted it with GPS.

When he woke up that morning, shortly after he told Adam he'd meet him at the cafe in half an hour, he had made a half ass attempt at checking his voicemails, but Marcus' messages quickly became repetitive he was ruining his career, he was walking away from fame and fortune, he couldn't be serious so he had deleted them all and hadn't thought about them again until now.

"Well, considering the word is out that you were here last night, I figure it won't be long before the country is aware of where you are. I can only assume it ain't gonna be pretty."

No, it probably wasn't, but for the time being, no one would know that he was staying in Devil's Bend, just that he had been seen there. Not that he actually gave a shit. The only thing he wanted to do was sit right on his bar stool and look at the cute bartender who was doing her damnedest to avoid him at all costs. Cooper found it amusing that she barely spoke to him, although he was almost certain he had caught her sneaking a peak a time or two.

"You're not being hounded by the locals either?" Eric asked, obviously trying to make conversation.

Grinning, Cooper glanced over at Tessa, then back at Eric. "Not much, no. I signed a couple of autographs this morning at the cafe down the road, but for the most part, they kept their distance."

"Interesting," Eric said as though contemplating what that meant.

Cooper knew it meant that either people didn't recognize him, or being this was a small town, they were just used to keeping to themselves. He let his gaze stray down the bar to land on Tessa who was watching him. When their eyes met, she instantly turned to face Eric.

"I'm gonna take a break," Tessa said, not looking back at him.

Cooper kept his gaze trained on her as she moved out from behind the bar, then he followed the sensual sway of her hips with his eyes as she moved toward the hallway at the back. He thought about giving her some space... for all of about fifteen seconds.

Not wanting to miss the opportunity to talk to her, he informed Eric that he would be back and headed in the same direction she had. He wasn't sure whether she had disappeared into the restroom or out through the exit door, so he opted to check the latter. He was interested in talking to her, but following her into the bathroom was pushing it a bit too far. A quick peek out the door told him that his luck hadn't run out on him yet.

"Hey," he greeted, closing the door behind him quietly so as not to alert anyone inside that someone had gone out.

Tessa looked somewhat startled, but she quickly masked her expression, her eyes darting away. When she didn't say anything, he moved closer, standing directly in front of where she was leaning, one booted foot flat against the wall. She still didn't look at him.

"Hey, you ok?" he asked, tipping her chin until she had no choice but to look him in the eyes. Surprisingly, she didn't pull away as he expected.

Her soft green gaze met his and Cooper's heart squeezed in his chest when he realized there were tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Not that he expected her to talk to him, but he couldn't very well leave her out here when she appeared so upset. She probably wanted him to, but Cooper wasn't built that way. If she asked him to go, he'd go. Until then, she was stuck with him.

"Nothing," she said with a forced smile.

So she clearly wasn't going to open up. Then again, why would she? She didn't know him. Still, he made it his mission to try and remove those tears that were threatening to fall.

"Ahhh, I get it," he said, forcing himself to sound serious.

"You get what?" Those brilliant sea green eyes fixed on his, and her curiosity got the best of her.

"If you're worried about that ol' married gal inside, you don't have to."

That made her laugh at least.

"Trust me, I'm not worried about Lacey. She's been around the block more times than a school bus. I'd warn you away from her, but who you spend your time with isn't any of my business."

"What if I want it to be?" The question came out before he gave the words permission to escape.

"Well, don't." Clearly a warning.

Cooper still had his finger and thumb on her chin, and he wondered if she even noticed. He damn sure did. Where his fingertips touched her skin, a flash of heat sparked just beneath the surface.

"Why not?"

Tessa pulled away from him then, pushing off the wall and putting distance between them. Cooper didn't move away, but he didn't move toward her either.

"Because I'm not interested in a fly by night fling."

"Fly by night? Who said I was going anywhere?"

"That's what you famous types do, ain't it? You're just around until the next big break," she answered, looking away.

Cooper wondered whether she actually knew this from experience or if she was simply assuming. Knowing that she probably had met her fair share of country music up-and-comers, he couldn't help but wonder if she'd encountered that in the past. He knew she had been married, but years had gone by since her husband passed away, so it was possible. By the way she tried to keep herself emotionally distanced from those around her, at least as far as he could tell, he couldn't determine for sure.