Brown eye slowly popped open, not wanting to move to much, just in case. There was not a weight of a arm across her and she took that as a good sign. It’s greenish hazel counter part popped open next, as her head lifted, auburn locks lifting off the pillow as she went. Turning her head, she realized that it was not safe, because a set of bright blues were looking at her, a lazy smile slipping over the man’s lips. Before he even spoke she knew that slow Texas drawl in the deep voice was not going to go smoothly with her plans. There was a reason it was called a booty call, you were suppose to leave afterwards, why didn’t he leave?
“Sugar…why do you look like your in such a hurry?” A slow grin formed over his lips, as he waited for a reply from her. There was no reason to be rushing around, and if it was like she told him she was going to be to busy for him, then he wanted to make sure she did not find someone else to fill the spot that he was rather thoroughly enjoying.
A deep breath was taken, as she spun on the bed, her hands lifting to grab the maroon sheet which she held against her chest. The down side or the upside depending on how one looked at it, was that meant the sheet was no longer covering his well defined chest. “Matt…I told you.” Then she let go of the sheet, and turned her back towards him, as she went to slip out of the bed. Only she did not quite make it from the bed, before he moved quickly and she found herself in between his arms, which were wrapping around her middle and tugging her back towards him. “Come on darlin’.” The rest of his words were lost as his lips found that spot behind her ear, and a moment after that, she knew all her plans for leaving early were lost.
Later…
The pale blue, gray where the paint had chipped away, 1945 Chevy Half Ton, was making it’s way down the high way. Both windows were rolled down, a suitcase and a duffle bag next to her on the seat, the sounds of Luke Bryan’s ‘Country Girl” with her own voice blending, as best as one could that was not a real singer. She only had thirty miles to go, but it was just her luck that when she was making good time, that something happened and traffic was pretty much at a slow crawl, as everyone moved into one lane.
It was enough of a slow down that she grabbed up her cell phone and glanced at the screen. Still not a single call back. Seriously! It wasn’t like she told the guy she wanted to crash on his couch. She wanted to know if he knew of any places she should not try to stay in New Orleans, or rather a good place to get a room, if worse came to worse she would find something on her own, but she just wanted a heads up. She used to go and visit some friends all the time, but that was before, it had been about 6 years since the last time she stayed over in New Orleans. Nor did she know how long this trip was going to last. Which just made her wish she could of left earlier, and maybe she shouldn’t of called Matt up last night, seeing he never seemed to want to leave afterwards.
Moving the phone up towards the steering wheel, she let go of the wheel for a moment, quickly punching in the numbers. Before lifting the phone, and securing it between her head and shoulder, her hand reaching out to turn down the music. It did not need to be so loud anyways with them moving like a inch worm. When she got the voice mail again, she grumbled, she was NOT going to leave another message. Her hand snatched her phone out from between her ear and shoulder, and pressed the button to end the call. “Damn it Cooper.” The phone was tossed down on the seat next to her as well.
Her mind was going a mile a moment, so maybe it was good they were moving at a crawl. Why hadn’t he gotten in touch with her. She left her number a few times, in case he lost it, he had to know that she was coming into town, and yet he couldn’t even just leave her a brief message, hell he could text and say..stay at such a such place but nooooo. Men! Either they ignored you or they were to possessive.
Finally the traffic lifted and she turned up the radio, and began to sing once more along with it, until she pulled into New Orleans.
Behind the closed door of his office, C.A. Pickett IV had his feet up on his desk, a pen twirling between his fingers, and someone of great personal interest on speaker phone who'd been talking nonstop for a good ten minutes straight. Cooper expected nothing less, considering who was on the other end of the line and what he'd just suggested to him. "And I understand the tenuous nature of your position, Your Honor, I absolutely do," he cut in smoothly when the caller finally stopped to taste some air, "Maybe better than Marie Shettfield did, God find her and return her to us safely if she's not in His Kingdom. You're talkin' to a man blessed with passin' his bar exam just over twelve years ago, but don't you be using that number to guess at my age. Point is, I have a deep love and respect for the laws of this fine state and this great country, and a deeper respect for folks like you who execute those laws as they were meant to be executed."
Here C.A. paused, not because that was all he had to say but because of the light vibration he felt against his chest. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled his cell phone out and took a look at who was calling. He smirked, he shook his head, and he leaned forward to put that phone on his desk unanswered. The Judge was trying to excuse his way off the call, so Georgia Grace would just have to hold her sweet horses. This time Cooper didn't wait for the Judge to take some air, he cut just right on in smoothly as any good lawyer worth his salt could do. "Now beg your pardon, Your Honor, beg your pardon but let me suggest what we might do. I know the notion of setting' up a secondary court system to try supernaturals on a different standard than us plain ole human folk is a pretty far out idea, not to mention intensive and yes, maybe even an expensive idea, but hear me out. You go about your business tomorrow, hell you go about your business for the rest of the week and just chew on what I've said for a time, and then you and I'll go out and have a hearty lunch next week somewhere out of the way where no one'll bother us as we talk this through."
Cooper nodded to what the Judge interjected, and continued nodding even if he couldn't be seen by the man on the other line, "Uh huh, uh huh, that's right. No politicians, no press and no eyes. Ab-so-lutely none but the cook in his kitchen who won't even know you from Adam. Don't you worry, I'll find us such a place." The Judge's answer made him grin. "Next Thursday it is. I'll give you a ring back later in the week. You take care yourself, Your Honor." Sitting up and putting his feet back on the floor, C.A. hit a button and officially ended the call. Didn't win the Judge over yet, but the lawyer hadn't expect to. There was nothing like an old-fashioned discussion while breaking bread to make a man hear what you had to say a little more clearly than before. It was worth the elbow grease, and time.
Now to deal with Georgia. Cooper took up his phone, pressed two buttons and put it to his ear. When he heard her answer, he made sure to get his silver tongue talking before she could have the chance to try to sass him up. "Sweet Pea, if the phrase 'blowin' up my phone' wasn't just slang for givin' me a call, I'd have gone through twenty phones by now with how much you've been dialin' me up. Didn't Casey Mae call you back?" Casey Mae was his Secretary. Some people got all high fallutin' and called them Personal Assistants, others got just downright silly calling them Administrative Professionals, but Cooper was an old-fashioned, traditional values kind of guy. He called it being a secretary, and the only ones who ever got hired where the ones who didn't bat an eyelash or wrinkle their pretty little nose at the title. And that's right, each and every one of them were women through his long and blessed career.
Old-fashioned, traditional human values. Just like the organization he represented. And yes indeed, Cooper had tried to get his secretary to handle Georgia Grace's call. Not that he didn't love the girl something awful, but unless she was fixing to crash on his couch he wasn't the concierge of this here trip she was taking. He intended to help her out in entirely other ways more befitting of his station.
While the outside of the old truck looked like it could use some T.L.C. the inside of the classic was restored almost back to factory. If she had wanted to it would have been nothing to get the truck a paint job, and have someone to take the small dent that had been in the front left fender since she got it, but she thought it gave the truck character. She could of brought a different car on this trip but she did not want something super flashy, she wanted something she was comfortable in, and if she needed the bed of the truck for some odd reason, it would be better then trying to stuff something into a too tiny trunk.
When she drove she often let her mind wander, even while paying attention to where she was going, and wander her mind was. Her father had been gone for a while now, mysteriously, though there was not a doubt that he had parted this Earth and God willing he was looking down on them all from above. But her father’s death was a mystery for another time, a mystery that she was unsure if she even wished to scratch the surface. Georgia Grace was just a female after all, a girl could not carry on the family name, a girl had to be protected, a girl was a pawn in the games that men played. Her father might of known that in the current year that women were no longer chattel, but that did not change his way of thinking, a woman’s place was in the kitchen or serving her husband, and that was how she was raised. Probably why she ran from anything that resembled a commitment. Those were not thoughts for one to dwell on, and she did not often think of him, at least not that she would admit out loud.
“Happy thoughts Georgia Grace, happy thoughts.” The words came out quietly, almost on a sigh, as her head shook from left to right, firmly. A gas station, there was a gas station, she would just pull in there, and see if maybe the local’s had a good idea of a good place for her to stay. Sure she knew that wasn’t always the smartest idea, but really what other choice did she have, at the moment? Using her blinkers, she was that sort of driver, she eased the truck into a empty parking spot on the left side of the station. Turning down her radio, getting ready to get out of the truck, when “ ‘Cause you and Tequila make me crazy, Run like poison in my blood. One more night could ki-’ “She knew whom it was calling without having to look at the caller id. She was that person that had a different song for every number that she had in her phone. Not that she advertised that, but she also never thought that someone she was near would be calling her on her cell so they wouldn’t have to know, right?
Before the girl could even get out more then a “Hello” Coop was going. Which despite the fact she’d been trying to reach him for over a week and a half, had a smile creeping over her lips, and her head shaking. Oh, she knew his charm nor was she immune to it, even if she liked to pretend she was. Casey Mae, Georgia Grace was sure hated her, and she had only met her once or twice. Every time that Georgia Grace tried to leave a message, if it fell into Casey Mae’s hands, there was never a return call. Part of her figured that the woman was jealous of the friendship between herself and Coop. She had never been rude or unpleasant to Casey Mae, in fact she’d been downright sweet to the woman. Harrumph! Turning her voice to something akin to a honey sound, “Coop, darling, if Casey Mae had returned my calls, the ones that could of made you go through twenty of them expensive cell phones you have, I wouldn’t of still been trying to reach you.” A bat of lashes that he could not see but the attendant at the gas station she had pulled into would see. A light pink tank top with spaghetti straps was also visible through the truck’s windows. When one used such a honey laced voice, certain mannerisms came out as well, even if the other person was simply on the phone, and not in front of her. “Everyone I used to know went and moved. You have your thumb on the pulse and I was wondering if there was anywhere I shouldn’t try to stay.” Friendly advice she would like to wake up in the morning in one piece, if possible. You know that danger sense some people had? Well, hers was broken.
Could you imagine her asking to stay on his couch, she would feel like a guilty school girl anytime she stayed out all night. Even just imagining him making a comment about his couch having not been slept on, caused a hint of a blush to creep to her cheeks, he made her feel like that awkward sixteen year old she had been at her ‘coming out’ party and thought him Gods Gift to females. Not that she would show it to him, unlike her friend Peggy Lou when she was sixteen, poor Beau couldn’t move without Peggy Lou dogging his every step, all dreamy eyed.
Hearing her voice made C.A. smile. It was sweet as candy on the tongue and music to his ears, especially after listening to the petrified and barely articulate ramblings of the Judge. Cooper leaned back in his chair, putting his feet up on his desk again as he relaxed into the fit and fine little fiddle that was Georgia Grace. Girl had come a long way since that coming out party. And if you asked him, the sun couldn't find a better sample of good, solid Southern womanhood to shine on. Especially right now. Buried in his job as he may be, he could never forget the hardships that had piled up recently on this sweet young lady's doorstep, and he'd bend over backwards for her like he would for no one else because of it. And out of respect for her Momma, who might very well be watching this whole thing from Heaven, Cooper couldn't forget that.
"Well of course my cell phones are expensive, Honey, they've got to be so I can make good and sure that each and every one of your calls comes through, don't I, even if I don't answer 'em?" His laugh was the only part of Cooper's grin that she'd be able to 'see', since they were just talking on the phone and all, but rest assured the man was grinning. Giving his head a shake, he leaned forward and picked up a glass on his desk that had about of shot's worth of scotch in it. After swilling it down he added, "And don't bother to waste a second's worth of thought on Casey Mae, that girl'd complain if Jesus Christ himself came down and handed her a five dollar bill, so you can only imagine how much complainin' I have to hear from her about her job."
The lawyer was being lighthearted in word about the fact that his secretary had once again dropped the ball when it came to Georgia Grace, but the glowering look he gave his closed office door was anything but. When he got off this call Casey Mae was going to have an appointment with the wrong side of Cooper, and only if she was as lucky as Mother Mary on a Sunday morning would she walk out of that meeting without a cut in her salary.
So it was a good thing Georgia Grace kept talking, it pulled Cooper's mind away. "Well I'd offer a room at Pickett Manor, Sweet Pea, but between my hours at the office and my refrigerator with a box of bakin' soda and nothin' else, I'm just afraid you'd have a lonely time of it there." Now of course he was exaggerating, somewhat at least. His estate, which had been in the family since before the Civil War, was large enough that the staff house did indeed still house staff, and that staff not only made sure that the property was cared for and the kitchen was well-stocked, but it was also their duty to keep guests happy, too.
"Because there's everywhere you shouldn't stay." While his voice was as smooth as it ever was there was a solemn note to it now, because what he was about to say, he meant business with every word. "New Orleans stinks to high heaven these days with supernaturals, even more so than before. You can't spit without hitting' one of them in the eye. So while I don't know what your plans are, I'd sooner lock you up high in a tower like Rapunzel than let you lay your head down someplace crawling' with that riff raff, because you and I know both know your Momma wouldn't stand for it." Hell, Marie Michelle would likely have him tied, tarred and feathered for such a thing. Georgia Grace's mother was one lady Cooper was not about to cross.
"There is one place I can think of, owned by one of our members, he's dedicated to keepin' the place humans only so he only houses out-of-towners from CAS. Now I can have Casey Mae call over there if she still has a job when I'm done with her, see if he has anythin' available, but I've got to be honest with you, Sugar. The Dogwood Mansion is drier than happy hour at the Betty Ford Clinic, so it's not the sort of place to cultivate a social life." While she'd left him a truckload of messages over the past week, she hadn't told him exactly why she was comin' to town, and he didn't want to assume.
-- Edited by COOPER ALAN PICKETT IV on Saturday 23rd of July 2011 06:15:00 PM
Coop was the only person that knew about most things, privy to quite a few of the secrets as well. She had never said anything to him or anyone else about the fact she had a society pages picture perfect family life. As in her family was perfect in pictures only. But that didn’t mean that Georgia Graces mom wouldn’t of said something to Cooper at some point of time. Nor did it say that he couldn’t tell from the spare time that he had spent around her family. Her father always missing in action unless it was something for the society pages. Georgia Grace always felt that her father was jealous of the time and dedication that her mother put into CAS. She had been helping with charity events for the CAS since she could remember, sometimes it was simply helping in the kitchens for a bake sale, other events were more hands on. Heck, even her coming out party was a big charity raising event for CAS. Females did not unburden themselves on males, and oddly enough no matter how drunk she had gotten in college, and he had probably been a few of her drunk dials, she never went there. If her momma was looking down from besides her momma’s household staff…Coop and the rest of the CAS would be all the family she had. God Bless their Souls.
She had been about to give him some of that sass at his words, but hearing Cooper’s laugh and picturing that smile he had to be wearing, had her laughing on her side of the phone. “Coop, you’re as slippery as a snake in the grass, knowing your about to get sass and you turn on that charm.” The words were infused with a tenderness as she called him a snake in the grass. Before his words went to a topic that was not her favorite. It wasn’t very southerly to say such, and she tried very hard to like the woman, she honestly did. “I know…I have enough on my mind, honestly. I just pray for her and hope that one day she finds the answer to make her less tart. Bless her heart.” That little phrase made everything all better right? You could go off on someone and as long as you Bless your heart…it made everything okay.
Of course she kept on speaking to him, she had wanted some of his information, and she was used to Casey Mae dropping the ball where Georgia Grace was involved. It was probably for the best that she not only had Coop’s work number but his other numbers as well, or she would never get through to him. That would never do, he was her main source now that her mother was missing, as to what had been done.
Even as he said the words, she was quick to speak up. “And I couldn’t ask that. I’d be wandering about that place like a ghost.” She wouldn’t ask anything to change, she was not here as his guest, she was here because she wanted answers. But how much of that could she say to Coop, especially over the phone, she did not think her phone was tapped but better safe then sorry. She wanted people to believe her trip to New Orleans was merely a pleasure trip, a way to get her mind off of everything that was going on in her life.
Hearing the words coming out of his mouth had pulled a soft frown over her features. Until she heard the reason why, we won’t say where her mind took his words, only that once he spoke more that frown was slowly leaving. “Are they having a convention here?” She often wondered if the supernatural’s were going for world domination. Let’s just wipe the humans out, or perhaps put them on an island say for instance Australia, like they used to do with prisoners. She did not want to wipe them out completely but she did think that they had to many rights, even if she wasn’t as vocal as some of the others. Rapunzel sounded like a fun game didn’t it, not that she would say something so ... forward. She was sure he thought of her like a kid sister sort. But before that thought could take hold she was grinning into the phone again, her head tilting a bit towards it. “We both know how my momma would feel about that.” It was enough to cause a shiver, and not because she was cold. Very likely he would be tarred and feathered even if he had nothing to do with it. That was just her ma.
“Coop, could you do that for me? I am sure that Patsy Sue, Bless her heart, just had a mix up of sorts.” Was she seriously defending the girl? “Not to sure how well staying in such a place will work, but it’s only for a few nights, while I check on Momma’s old home. And see if I can get it…livable.” Her fathers home was in Mandeville while her mothers was in the next town over. She knew her ma had kept the home for it had been her base for her CAS work. She was still unsure if staying in that house was a good or a bad idea, but she could not let the supernatural’s keep her from her future inheritance. She did not want to think of that though as a thought that said future could be now instead of in the future, she hoped she did not inherit for a long, long time. That whomever had taken her mother was just holding her trying to send a message to the CAS, and not because she had already passed through the pearly gates. She really hated to ask this next question, but she had to ask it.
“Coop…I know your busy with work and with CAS business but if you happen to have a lunch or a dinner open up, will you give me a call?” Maybe the fact she had things she wanted to say to him or ask him crept into her voice but her voice did not have a desperate sound to it.
"I don't know if that makes me slippery, Sweet Pea, but it sure makes me smart." Considering the organization he represented was full of strong opinions and had a lot of outside stronger opinions directed toward it, well he didn't make it to the ripe old age of thirty-eight being a fool that was born yesterday. As the scars around his arms and ankles would attest to, when you stood up for what you believed in and represented good honest folks who believed it too, sometimes it was a war out there. And while he didn't say it straight out to Georgia Grace, the more days that passed the more he believed her God-loving momma was the latest casualty.
Which is why he scoffed next and shook his head. "Don't waste your prayers on that bitter bird, Georgia Giggles, you've got more important things to put your prayers to." He hadn't called her by his pet name for her in a long time, considering he'd nicknamed her that when she was just a young thing, peeking around corners with her teenage friends to giggle about him whenever he came over to see her Momma about CAS business. He'd been fresh out of law school back then, and a member of Citizens Against the Supernatural for just over five years - one of the most loyal members Marie Michelle had the pleasure of knowing, which is why he'd moved up the ladder so fast. Maybe it was important to Cooper right now, since Georgia Grace was coming to town at a time when the town wasn't the safest and her own life was in an uproar, to remind her of how far back she and him went. If she remembered that, maybe she'd let him protect her just a little bit more.
His jaw tightened when she asked about the influx of supernaturals, and that tightness made it into his tone when he replied, short and sweet. "A convention is one way to put it." From what his field people had been observing, hell from what he himself had been observing, there was a lot of grouping up going on around these parts, more than he'd ever seen. It was enough to put a man in his position on edge. Because there was no telling what those damned creatures would do if they raised up enough numbers. Grabbing a pen, Cooper pulled his feet off his desk so he could write himself a note about it. That was something he'd best bring up with the Judge during their lunch next week. Perhaps there was some sort of law he could lobby for, which would limit the number of supernaturals that could gather in one place at once time in any public location. Anything was possible with the law if there was something that could be used as precedent.
Tossing his pen down, he frowned deeply when Georgia Grace told him she had aims to head out to her momma's. In his eyes, that was the last place in the world she should be going, but he wasn't about to start that tennis match with her on the telephone. So instead he'd go another route, for now. "I'll do you one better than that, darlin'. I will make damn certain the Dogwood has a room for you if I have to take a hammer over there and build it myself, and you call me as soon as you're freshened up and ready for dinner and I'll send a car over to come get you."
That's right, tonight. Sure, he'd have to shift some stuff around and it'd make some of his more pressing business a challenge to tend to in a timely manner, but hell. If the daughter of Marie Michelle Shettfield was in town it was his duty to make her top priority. For business, public, and personal.
She almost sounded offended when she replied. “Coop, ya know I think your one of the smartest men I have ever known.” It was not pretty flattery, it was the truth, she might call him names, she might not always agree with him, but she would never question his knowledge on something. Not that she would say he was the smartest of those she had met, because she had met quite a few college professors and some of them were rather smart men as well. She often tried not to say such things to him, but when one had most of their defenses blown due to outstanding circumstances, sometimes their thoughts came out without the filter that normally would of hidden them. The fact that not even a ransom note nor anything else had been given to the family, nor to CAS as far as she knew, had her mind working. But hope was free, and she was not ready to give up on hope, and those sweet miracles. Marie Michelle did her best to keep Georgia Grace behind the scenes, her going and getting her education in party planning was actually her momma’s idea, whom used the skill to help further the cause.
Moving her legs to stretch them in the truck, a glance was given inside the small station, where the gas satiation attendant was peeking out at her, almost as if he expected her to cause some trouble. Of course, she thought maybe he thought she was casing out the place, and she moved her head a bit to show a flash of the cell phone that was pressed to it, her free hand moving to point…at that very moment though would be when Coop used that name he had for her. Boy did that take her back, and it even startled a laugh out of her, not a full bellied laugh but one that had her head moving backwards with movement, her eyes rolling upwards, mouth opened, no hands moving to cover. It also brought back memories of her mother at that time. ‘Georgia Grace, mark my words, that Cooper Allan Pickett the Fourth is going places.’ ‘Georgia Grace, stand up tall, quit slinkin’ up and down the halls, trying to catch a peek. Think we don’t hear your giggles.’ ‘Georgia Grace, to bad your so young, that would be a fine pairing any southern momma would be proud of.’ Oh yes, matchmaking momma’s were alive and kicking in the south. And it did very well to remind her of just how long she’d known him. It had taken a moment, before she spoke up, “Oh, mercy me, those other things are not very far from my thoughts.”
She’d heard that tone before, and she knew it wasn’t directed at her, though whenever she said something that brought it out, part of her wished she would of just stayed silent. Almost without thought though her words slipped out, still sweet as honey. “Makes sense about ma then.” Sometimes she shortened the name down, unless she was speaking to Marie Michelle herself, the woman might have a French name but she was not so flippant about such things as proper manners.
He knew her well, if he had started that tennis match with her over the phone, she would of drove over there straight away, come Hell or high-water. Only after telling him she would keep her distance from the place, of course, wouldn’t do to cause him to worry. She really did not want to put more on his plate, that wasn’t what her trip was about, and if her friends had not all moved away, he might not even know she was here. Except for a social call, you didn’t go visiting without a social call.
“Thank you, Coop, I certainly appreciate the lookin’ out.” He was one of a small handful that did it in such a way that she had a hard time not accepting or rebelling against. That groups numbers had been quickly dwindling. If it was settled in his mind she was sure it pretty much was a done deal. “Once you find out if they have room, and get me some directions, I can be refreshed when it’s a good time for you.” When asking for a favor, sometimes it was best to be flexible, and she wasn’t about to push him today. She wished right about now that she had a land line phone, not the cordless ones, but the one that they had back home, with the curly cord, because she would be twirling her fingers in the cord. But she didn’t she had to settle for the thin chain that was hung around her neck, a small sparkling cross hung from it, her fingers left up to twist the cross lightly between her thumb and two fingers. She had had the small cross for ever, it was a gift that had been left with out a from tag, for her sweet sixteen, she’d worn it ever since.
"Well until you change your tune to the smartest man you know, I've got to keep lobbyin' for the top prize don't I? There's a certain reputation I've got to uphold, specially 'round these parts." He was joking of course, but if there was one thing that was true about Cooper Alan Pickett IV, it was that he wanted everyone to know just how smart he was, so that they'd think twice before trying to pull the wool over his eyes. Not that he'd ever expect Georgia Grace to do such a thing.
"And it sure does make sense, Sweet Pea, which is why it makes even better sense that you take real solid care of yourself while you're here." C.A. pushed his chair back, taking up his glass over to the tall antique hutch which his great-great granddaddy had built and finished with his own hands. Setting the glass down on the slender counter, he pulled the right door open to grab a bottle of scotch while he kept talking, not once missing a beat while he poured. "So if you're not fixin' to keep one of your eyes watchful on what the other eye's doin', then you best not mind me givin' you a second shadow for your time here in town."
He said that with the same sweet-talking charm he'd threaded through everything else during this conversation, but there was a sure sense of levity in his tone, too. The second to last thing Cooper wanted to do was scare Georgia Grace, but the absolute last thing he wanted to do (or not do) was anything that would end her up as lost as her momma, god bless her and keep her safe wherever she could be. But Georgia Grace was a grown woman now, a mighty fine one at that, and that's why Cooper would only give her second shadow if she said wasn't up to being careful of herself.
It was an act of trust, that he was doing that, a trust that might come back to bite him in the ass like a hornet on a hot day if something terrible happened to her. The CAS couldn't take another high-level disappearance right now, especially not one of Marie Michelle's own family. Ever since he stepped into that stolid woman's shoes not three weeks ago, he had a lot of responsibility sitting on his shoulders, so this was not the time for Cooper Alan Pickett IV to step in slop.
But those were thoughts he could have at another time. After he finished up this call with Georgia Grace, after calling over to the Dogwood, and most definitely after dealing with damned Casey Mae. So he checked his watch before settling this up. "I will hang up this phone, text you the address because I know you ain't the kind of girl to think about writin' while you're drivin', and I will have a car waitin' for you at the Dogwood to pick you up at seven thirty sharp. You get yourself to town safely now, ya hear?"
Seven thirty was probably over-shooting it some, but lord if he hadn't learned by now that when women get ready they like to take their sweet ole time.
If it had been any other guy but Cooper, talking about lobbying her reply would have been flirtatious, as it was she bit down on the inside of her right cheek just a second, when she heard those words. Because she had a idea, or three, on how he would win such lobbying. But instead her voice was as normal as it had been the whole time she was speaking to him. “ I am sure one day, you will win top prize.” Of being the smartest man she knew of course! While she would never try to pull a fast one over Coop, a girl has to have her secrets.
A small breath was released, as she spoke, her voice still had that honey quality but he would be able to hear the serious lilt to her words. “I’ve been a lot more careful since ma disappeared. It get’s tiring.” It did get tiring to have to always second guess things, or when you thought you heard a noise and nothing was there. Honestly truth be told, she figured that might be why Matt seemed all clingy now, even after she had the talk with him, was because she slept better when she wasn’t alone. Every little noise had her thinking, to the point to get good sleep she had to be thoroughly exhausted. But he did not need to know that. “I try, but sometimes, I think it’s okay for a little help.” That was her way of saying she did her best but she knew she wasn’t always good and she missed things. She could admit that.
She understood the situation. Perhaps it wasn’t the smartest idea for her to rear her head in the same city her momma went missing. But she was sick and tired of sitting at home, waiting for the phone to ring, to give her any shred of details surrounding her ma’s disappearance. She did not want to make things harder on Coop, but she couldn’t just keep sitting on her hands, and if anyone thought she could, they didn’t know the real girl. The girl that her Marie Michelle raised while in social settings could be as delightful and charming as anyone else, but the girl was as stubborn as mule when her mind got set on something.
She had to grin into the phone, when he said he knew she wouldn’t be writing it down and driving, because even if she hadn’t been driving when he gave the directions there was a good shot she still wouldn’t of wrote them down. By sending it via text, he had her number. “Thanks Coop, for all your help. And I will be ready by then.” Of course ladies liked to take their time with their preparations and look good for the gentleman folk. She wouldn’t need that long, but she figured it also gave him time to do what he needed to do, and therefore she wouldn’t protest. “I’ll see ya later on, and don’t worry none, I will get into town just fine.” And to the Dogwood Plantation.
Once the phone call was disconnected, she let go of the small silver cross she had been playing with, tucking it inside her shirt, the cross itself slipped and hid beneath the top of her shirt, though the chain was visible. As she had already rolled up the trucks windows, she now felt like she was in a sauna and was rather glad he gave her such time she could take a shower before meeting with him. Truck door was opened and after slipping from the seat, and shutting the door, before walking in the station, she raised her arms above her head, and stretched. Leaning to her right then her left, showing a bit of flesh between the shirts bottom and her blue jean cut off shorts. Lowering her arms she made her way into the station, a smile was given to the attendant, before she grabbed a bottle of soda. Taking the soda up to the counter to pay for it, and picking out a pack of bubble gum. After paying the man she made her way outside, and back into the truck.
It wouldn’t hurt to look around the town area until Cooper texted her with directions and that was exactly what her thought process was. But no sooner had she started that way that she felt her phone vibrate against her leg, from it’s place in her pocket. She moved her hips up from the seat, so she could get her hand into her pocket, tugging her phone out with her right hand while her left stayed on the wheel. A grin when she saw the address, she had an app for that. Once she was at a stop light, she quickly tapped it up, and got the directions.
Instead of searching around the town, she would do that later, for now she would head out to Dogwood Plantation so she could get settled in, a nice shower and hope her clothes were not to wrinkled.
