In Dreams (18 page)

“You don’t know that. She could be wrong.”

“But she knew about you. And Cooper. And...”

Austen cut her off, “I know. I heard. But the future can be changed, Katherine.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Nothing is set in stone. Events may be headed in one direction at the time, but you can change your course. And that changes your direction.”

“So then it doesn’t have to happen the way she said?”

“No,” he said reassuringly.

“So it can all be changed then?” Katherine breathed in relief.

“Yes.”

“Well, that’s good.” She looked into Austen’s eyes and suddenly changed her tone. “How are you?”

He laughed at the question. “I’m good. How are you?”

She laughed as well at the absurdity of the question. “Better now, but I have a random question for you.”

“Shoot.”

“Have you seen Taylor at all? You know, since I left?”

He smiled, “Yep.”

“And? How is she?”

“She’s fine. She’s Taylor. But she misses you.”

“I miss her, too,” Katherine glanced downwards.

“It’s going to be okay, Katherine.” He turned her face so she could watch him speak. “Once you get back to school, everything will be the way it was before.”

“How do you know that? What if everyone hates me for how I’ve acted?” her eyes started to well up.

“Listen to me.” She didn’t move. “No one hates you. Do you hear me?” She wanted to believe his words. “No one hates you,” he spoke clearly and slowly.

“I have been such a jerk to Taylor. And I’ve completely ignored Cooper.”

“But not since you’ve been back home, right?”

She shook her head, “No.”

“See, everything is already getting better.” He smiled at her lovingly.

“I guess so.”

“Katherine. When people care about you the way Taylor and Cooper do, it doesn’t take much for them to forgive you. They’re just worried about you. Of course Cooper has no idea what’s going on, so he’s just really confused.”

It still made Katherine cringe when Austen brought up Cooper’s name. She never understood how he could be so calm about the whole thing. She expected him to hate Cooper, or at least want to hate him. But he didn’t seem to.

“You’re right,” she said.

“Finally, something we can both agree on.” He half smiled and she smiled back.

****

Her eyes opened to the sound of grocery bags being set on the counter and her mother’s voice calling her name. “I’m out back, Mom.”

Her mom poked her head out the back door. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be back from the beach yet. How was Sophia?”

“She’s great. Do you need help?” Katherine started to get up out of the oversized chair.

“No, no. I’ve got it. You enjoy the yard.”

Katherine repositioned herself and grabbed her cell phone. She was nervous but relief immediately washed over her when Taylor answered the phone excitedly. They spoke briefly, but it was enough to set Katherine’s worried mind at ease. She apologized again for her behavior and Taylor accepted without hesitation. Austen had been right. It wouldn’t take much to mend their relationship because it hadn’t truly been broken in the first place.

****

Katherine felt like she truly knew the meaning of the saying “
Distance makes the heart grow fonder
” as the days flew into weeks. She missed Taylor’s company every day and she was surprised by how much she genuinely missed Cooper.

She thought of him often, but never told him. She knew she owed him so much more than a stupid text message after everything that had happened and she wasn’t about to have that conversation over the phone. Everything she needed to tell him needed to be said in person.

Katherine packed up the last of her things, gave her mom one last hug, and waited as her dad backed up the car.

“Call me when you land.” Her mother gave her another squeeze that took the breath out of her.

“You’re going to squeeze me to death, Mom,” Katherine choked out.

“Have fun at school, but not too much. Get your grades back up.”

“I will. I promise.” Katherine had reassured her parents many times that her lapse in grades was only temporary and she’d work extra hard to get them back up to where they needed to be.

“I love you,” her mom said.

“Love you too, Mom,” Katherine walked toward the car where her father waited.

Chapter Fourteen

Taylor picked Katherine up from the airport and when they saw each other, they squealed and then cried.

“I’m so sorry for the way I acted before break, Taylor.” Katherine felt like a horrible friend.

“I know. No more apologies,” Taylor waved her off.

“I am so happy to be back here. I totally missed you.”

“Me too.”

The girls were quiet in the car for a few minutes before Taylor broke the silence. “I know this is probably a long shot but, we’re going to Cooper’s lake house this weekend. You should really come with us. The lake is completely frozen over and we can ice skate on it and stuff.”

Katherine didn’t respond so Taylor asked, “Have you ever seen a frozen lake before?”

Katherine laughed, “No.”

“Please come. It will be fun, I promise.”

“Who’s going?”

“Me and Danny, of course…um, Cooper and a couple other guys from the hockey team. I think that’s it.”

Katherine pondered the details of the weekend. It
would
be the perfect place to finally talk to Cooper. She nodded and asked, “Do you think Cooper will mind if I go?”

“No way,” Taylor answered, overly reassuring.

“Okay. I’ll go. It sounds fun.” Katherine agreed with a hint of excitement in her voice. “Are you sure Cooper won’t mind?”

“Are you kidding? That kid asked about you a hundred times over break. He’ll be fine.” Taylor’s voice hitched.

“You’re positive?”

“I’m positive. Besides, you two have to talk eventually. What better time than this?”

Katherine was grateful that the first week back at school was less than challenging. She had a lot of extra work to make up in her classes since she had slacked so badly before the break. Her parents threatened to bring her home if she couldn’t handle living on her own. And going back home was the last thing Katherine wanted. She was determined to make up all the work she’d missed and get her grades back up.

When she saw Cooper in class, he was cordial, yet distant. Things had definitely changed between them. Long gone were the days when he greeted her with a kiss. He didn’t try to hold her hand or show her any sort of affection. He barely made eye contact and she was convinced he hated her.

Seeing Cooper still tied her stomach in knots. One glimpse into his green eyes and she struggled to remember where she was. Sitting next to him made it hard for her to concentrate on anything other than him.

When class ended, she noticed him turn toward her and then quickly turn away. She looked around the classroom for him, but he had disappeared just like he had on that first day.

She turned to Taylor. “That was…weird?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“He knows I’m coming this weekend right?” Katherine asked, concerned. If her presence was going to ruin the whole trip, she didn’t want to go.

“He knows,” Taylor answered in an annoyed tone.

“Are you sure he’s okay with it?”

“He is. I promise. I talked to him.”

Katherine’s ears pricked up at the last statement. “You talked to him? When? What did he say?”

“He’s happy you’re coming, Katherine. I think he just...I don’t know, isn’t sure how to deal with you right now. You know?”

Katherine looked down at the ground, “Yeah. That makes sense.”

Taylor pointed at Katherine. “Uh-uh. I know that face! Don’t even think about backing out of this trip. You
are
coming.”

“I’m not...backing out,” Katherine stumbled over her words.

“I know you better than that. I promise it will be fine. You guys just need to talk about everything. Get it all out in the open, you know?”

Katherine agreed.

“Not to change the subject or anything, but do you still dream about my brother?” Taylor wondered.

A huge smile crept over Katherine’s face and her eyes lit up. “I do.”

“What’s changed, then? I mean, not for nothing, it just seems like you want to patch things up with Cooper. Or am I reading this totally wrong?”

“Um...your brother and I have had many conversations about how we have to stop what’s going on. We both know what we have to do, but neither one of us can actually do it. At least, not yet. But it’s coming.”

“So then...”

Katherine interrupted her, “So it’s not about getting back together with Cooper so much as I owe him an apology and an explanation. Your brother talks about him all the time. He makes me crazy with the constant Cooper chatter.”

Taylor laughed, “What does he say?”

“He just always brings him up. Says how Cooper’s a good guy who really cares about me and stuff. He tells me that I should be with him. It’s so irritating.”

Taylor smiled, “That sounds like Austen. He’d push you to be with Cooper because it’s the right thing to do. And because it’s the best thing for you.”

“You sound just like him.”

Taylor’s face softened.

“What’s wrong?” Katherine sensed Taylor’s pain.

“I just…felt bad for my brother for a minute.”

“Why, ’cause he irritates me?”

Taylor chuckled, “No, because I imagine it must be so hard for him to let you go and watch you love someone else…no matter how much he claims to like the guy.”

Katherine sighed, “I don’t know how he can stand it. He’s a much better person than I could ever be.”

“He always has been.” Taylor looked at Kat and quickly recovered, “Not better than you. Just a better person, in general. He was always that way.”

Katherine grinned at her friend reassuringly. “I knew what you meant.”

****

Katherine shivered as she waited in the cold winter air for Cooper and Danny to arrive. When she saw the black Jeep Wrangler pull into the parking lot, she thought to herself how different it looked with the hard top on. The guys hopped out to grab the bags as Katherine avoided Cooper’s eyes. She was scared to look at him.

“Hey, California,” Cooper’s voice sounded different. Damaged or broken, somehow.

“Hey, Coop.” She couldn’t avoid looking at him any longer. “Thanks for letting me come along.” His eyes revealed hurt and longing that made her feel even worse.

“Any time,” he faked a smile.

Once they were on the road, Katherine wondered where the rest of the guys were. “So who else is coming?”

Cooper glanced into his rearview mirror and locked eyes with her briefly before looking away. “No one anymore. They couldn’t make it after all, so it’s just the four of us.”

Katherine was both relieved and nervous.

When they pulled into the driveway she was immediately happy she’d come. She’d never seen a house more breathtaking. It was three stories of light gray paint with white trim and she counted at least two separate chimneys rising from opposite ends of the house.

Cooper parked the Jeep in the large three car garage. The first level had been converted into a huge game room. There was a pool table, foosball, pinball machine and a big screen TV with three separate gaming systems.

“This is amazing,” Taylor said breathlessly.

“Thanks,” Cooper replied politely and then glanced toward Katherine.

Cooper led them upstairs to the second level, where sunlight streamed in from every angle. Katherine immediately realized why there were so many windows. Views of the lake greeted her from each one. A balcony spanned the entire length of the second floor.

“May I?” Katherine asked.

“Of course,” Cooper responded and then watched as Katherine stepped outside and breathed in the crisp, winter air.

She noticed a matching boathouse down below and smiled. It was perfectly charming. Katherine shivered and instantly remembered she wasn’t wearing a jacket. She turned back into the warmth of the house and found Cooper in the kitchen making coffee.

“There are two bedrooms on this level and three more upstairs. You can look around and take your pick if you want,” he said.

“Thanks.” She fell in love with the first room she walked into. Large windows lined an entire wall and faced the water. Katherine allowed herself to get lost in the beauty when Taylor bounced in and nearly scared her half to death.

“Isn’t this place amazing? My God,” Taylor commented, her voice giddy and childlike.

“It is ridiculous. Did you see the boathouse down there? It matches this house!” Katherine laughed.

“Really? How cute!”

The girls headed into the kitchen and the guys talked about driving around on the ice. Katherine interrupted, “Can we really go on the lake? Like, it will hold us and stuff?” She felt dumb for asking, but she didn’t know anything about frozen lakes.

Cooper looked amused, “Oh, California, you’re so LA. The lake is frozen so thick that we could probably drive my Jeep out there if we wanted too. We have snowmobiles in the boathouse. We’ll take them out later.”

“Really? That is so cool.” The whole concept was foreign to her. “I have no idea where I’d find anything completely frozen over back home.”

“You probably wouldn’t,” Danny sassed.

“I am SO excited!” Taylor squealed. “I love snowmobiling. So.Much.Fun.” She hugged Danny and he twirled her around.

“I love you,” Danny told her softly, but Katherine heard.

“I love you, too.” Taylor tilted her head up and gave him a kiss.

Cooper watched Taylor and Danny with a pained expression. “California, did I do something wrong? What happened between us?”

“Well, that didn’t take long,” Taylor commented, as she looked at Cooper.

“Well I can’t take it anymore,” Cooper admitted. “It kills me not to be with you, Katherine. I can’t pretend I’m fine just being your friend.”

“Danny, let’s go downstairs and I’ll kick your butt in pool.” Taylor grabbed his hand and pulled at him.

“I’d rather stay and listen to this, though,” Danny half joked.

“Come on!” She yanked his arm. “Good luck, you two!” Taylor shouted from halfway down the stairs.