Charlie's Guide to Life

I woke up later that day and filled Stevie and Lex on most of the details from the date. I left out most of the "emotional stuff." I hoped that maybe he would call. Stevie said that she had given him my number before the date. But as the days passed, I thought I had just struck out again. That is until I happened to eavesdrop on a conversation.

I was about to walk into the kitchen when I heard Stevie on the phone: "You weren't supposed to actually like her. I just wanted her cheered up, willing to date again." Typically, I'm not a snoop but I decided to pick up the other extension.

"But I did like her. I mean I do. What is so wrong with me asking her out again?" A familiar male's voice asked.

"She's not your type. I mean, she's just not what you're looking for."

"How do you even know what I'm looking for. She's amazing, you know that. Amazing is my type." It was Cooper.

"She's not gonna put out Coop. I'm not even going to barely let you take advantage of her."

"I'm not an idiot Stevie. She's got it written all over her face. I know that she's a virgin."

"You do?"

"Yea, I do."

"Oh. And you still want to go out with her?"

"Well yeah. Do I have your permission?"

"Just think about it for a couple weeks, and then you can ask her."

"Yeah, because that'd really be the way to her heart."

"It's already been five days. She thinks you aren't going to call."

"Even more reason for me to call now."

"Fine. You hurt her and I'll make sure your dad kills you. Then I'll dig you up, revive you, and kill you again."

"Okay, okay." They talked for a few more minutes and she issued many more threats before they hung up. I appreciate Stevie trying to protect me but still.

Not even five minutes later, my cell phone rang. "Hello," I picked up thinking that it surely couldn't be him.

"Hey you."

"Cooper?"

"Do you have many other guys calling you?"

"Well no but..."

"I know, sorry it's taken me so long to call you back. I don't really have a good excuse. Well other than the uncertainty of conning a few more hours out of you."

"It's fine. You called."

"Can I have a few more hours?"

"As long as it isn't another all-nighter. "

"Okay, I'll pick you up tomorrow around noon."

"That didn't sound like you were asking."

"I'm too afraid to give you a chance to say no."

"What do I wear?"

"Jeans and a tee. Flat shoes."

"If I asked you what we were doing, would you tell me?"

"Never. See you soon."

"Bye." What had I gotten myself into?

The next day came fast. I dressed according to my instructions. I was surprised at how nervous I actually was. When the doorbell rang, I nearly had a heart attack. Stevie beat me to the door.

"Thanks Stevie," I said when I made it to the door.

"No problem," she smirked.

"Hey Charlie."

"Hey Cooper."

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah."I said as I walked out the door. "Bye Stevie."

"So are we taking another road trip?" I asked as Cooper opened by door.

"Haha, no. Not this time." He said as he got into the car.

"Good, you know long car rides don't really work for me..."

"You mean you can't remain conscious on long car rides?" He laughed.

"So how long do I have to play nice? Not 12 hours I hope. I don't know if I can be nice that long today."

"Today? I don't recall you being nice that long last time."

"Maybe nice wasn't the right word."

"How about you just cooperate for the afternoon? Is that doable?"

"I guess so..."

"Good."

We drove for about 30 minutes into the country. Finally, we arrived at our destination. It was a BIG colonial home, well mansion actually. It was surrounded by acres and acres of land. The driveway had a big rod iron fence. I had no clue where we were.

"So..." I questioned.

"You'll see..." We parked at the house. He even opened my door. "This is my parent's place." He must have seen my face because he added, "Don't worry. They are on vacation. Come on."

We walked into the house. His maid (yes maid), well his parent's maid, handed him a picnic basket. I wondered why we have driven all the way to his parent's house just to have a picnic.

"Come on," he said leading me outside. "We have a little walk. I hope that's okay."

"Yeah, that's fine..."

"Well come on then." He said grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the house. We started walking toward the mystery location, but he never let go of my hand.

"Define 'little walk'."

"About a mile. Think you can handle it."

"I dunno...That's pretty much a marathon."

"I think you will survive." He said squeezing my hand. He finally stopped in the middle of a clearing that looked just like the past mile. "See, that wasn't so bad."

"Not to be Debbie downer, but what is so special about this particular field?"

"Absolutely nothing."

"Okay, then why walk a mile?"

"So we could be closer to the next surprise."

"So is every date going to be a surprise?"

"You mean I get another one?"

"Maybe. It depends how good the surprise is." He sat down the picnic basket and walked toward me. He was so close I thought he was going to kiss me.

He put his lips on my ear as he whispered, "In that case, I'm not worried." He put his hands on my waist and kissed my cheek. It took everything I had not to kiss him back. "Let's eat."

"Okay." I said almost too stunned to move. And then we ate. And we didn't even talk much, which in a way was interesting. We didn't have to talk. It wasn't awkward at all. I didn't feel like I needed to try so hard like I did with Macon. It just felt natural.

"I know it's probably corny but I brought champagne."

"Champagne," I laughed. "What are we celebrating?"

"You."

"I think that you're just trying to get me drunk."

"I would never do that..."

"Uh huh. Sure" I said as he opened the champagne and poured two glasses.

"To you..." he said as we both took a drink. I tried unsuccessfully not to giggle. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing. So what's next?"

"We drink the rest of this bottle?"

"You are trying to get me drunk." We finished the bottle and then he put everything back into the basket.

"Well, let's go..."he said. He linked his fingers around mine.

I leaned closer to him. Maybe it was the alcohol or maybe it was just me. I took him about 5 seconds to drop the picnic basket and turn toward me. He put his hand on my face. His lips were less than an inch from mine.

"Hi." He said barely breathing. He wrapped his other arm around my waist.

"Hi back." My world was spinning. I closed my eyes, and he pulled me closer to him. He sighed and backed away. He kissed my cheek and picked up the picnic basket. What had just happened? We started to walk again and he picked up my hand. "We're almost there," he said smiling. My heart was still racing.

"What are we doing?!" I demanded. And then I saw the stables and two beautiful horses.

"Horseback riding." He said as if it should have been the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well of course." I said sarcastically.

"Shh you." He slid his arm around my waist and pulled me tight. "When I planned this, both horses were healthy. Now, only one is—so we are going to have to share one..."

"Share a horse?"

"Uh yeah. Is that a problem?"

"No...I guess not. I think that it's just an excuse to get close to me, though."

He chuckled. "It's quite possible."

I'm no horse expert, but I could tell that he was no ordinary horse. He was white with brown spots, almost like a leopard. Cooper threw out some fancy lingo about him being an 'Appaloosa'—because that really meant something to me. When I told him that, he just laughed at me and me that his name was Ranger. He had blue eyes. He was gorgeous. And the horse wasn't the only gorgeous creature there. I found myself staring at Cooper. HIS blue eyes. Short, wavy blonde hair. He wasn't tan but wasn't pale either. He was 6'3" with the right amount of muscle. And his smile was out of this world. I couldn't stop staring at him. I didn't get why he was so determined to be on a date with me.

"What is it?" He asked. I hadn't realized how close he had gotten while I was daydreaming.

"Just you," I said as I leaned closer to him. "You're too good for..."

He shut me up with a finger on my lips. "Hush. You are too..." But he never finished. He started to turn away as if he were trying to resist. I grabbed his arm and pulled him back. I put my hand on his face. I didn't have to do anything else. He pulled me close to him. It was inevitable. His hand reached up to my face. His lips slowly moved to mine for what felt like an eternity. And then his lips met mine. I swear I felt a spark. First a hard short kiss then one long, slow kiss and he pulled away. It was the kind of kiss that left you wanting, no needing, more. He un-entwined himself from me.

"I...I'm. I'm, umm..."He stammered.

"Please don't apologize unless you really are sorry."

"I'm not sorry at all," He said as he kissed my cheek then my nose then my forehead. But I had been so cold for so long and I needed more. I had been hiding from myself, hiding from the truth. Because I knew that if Macon had really liked me, he wouldn't have done what he did. And I knew there had been someone else. I had heard Lex and Stevie whispering about it one night. That was the real reason I had shut myself off.

So I kissed him again and he didn't seem to mind. He put his hand on my face and kissed me as if he would never get another chance. He had his arm around my waist keeping my close. I finally broke away.

"I. Uh...I." I really didn't know what to say. He just laughed.

"You ready for the horseback riding?" He was grinning from ear to ear. I just nodded. The stable boy or stable man or whatever the politically correct term for the person who takes care of the horses helped us get on Ranger. I got on first and then Cooper got on behind me. He had to reach his arms around my waist to reach the reigns. I could almost feel electricity running from his arms every time he would brush against me. I leaned back so that my back was flush against his chest.

"I can do that if you want. I have ridden a horse before." I said pointing to the reigns. I knew he wouldn't let me. In fact, I was hoping he wouldn't take me up on my offer.

"I've got it," he said kissing my neck. I felt my whole face flush. I was doing what I said that I would never do—I was falling for someone, again. I couldn't help it. This time I didn't have to convince myself that he really liked me or that I liked him. It was obvious. And that made it even more difficult. "Just relax." He said as he let go of the reigns with one hand and wrapped it around my waist.

"I am relaxed."

"No, you were relaxed until you started thinking."

"Sorry." I laughed.

"So...Tell me more about this boy that broke your heart."

"Why?"

"Because I am smart enough to realize that there is something that you aren't telling me..."

"He cheated on me."

"What?"

"He cheated—the last month he was screwing someone else and I didn't have a clue."

"But why?"

"Why what? Why was he screwing someone else? Probably because I wouldn't. Why didn't I realize? Probably because I didn't want to..."

"Does Stevie know?"

"Yeah. No one know that I know though...well, except for you."

"I'm sorry."

"Please don't. We only dated three months. Not three years."

"So because I was hurt 'worse' I shouldn't feel bad for you or even hear about it."

"That's...that's not what I meant."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. I just, I guess I still have a few issues to deal with myself."

I didn't really know how to respond. Cooper didn't really seem like the type to share his emotions like that. I never had to find a sensitive response because while I was processing my emotions I saw a snake in the path. I had no idea what kind of snake it was so I wasn't overly concerned. Cooper never saw anything. Ranger, on the other hand, did see the snake. And as good of a horse as Ranger is, the snake still scared him and he still bucked. Maybe if Cooper had realized what was going on he could have calmed Ranger or even braced. But he didn't. Ranger threw both of us off—violently. I flew off into a tree and Cooper landed on top of me. All I remember was feeling lots and lots of pain. Then everything went black.

"Charlie....CHARLIE...Charlotte." I jolted awake. "Hey. You were starting to scare me."

"Are...are you okay?"

"Am I okay?! Are YOU okay?"

It made sense to me that I asked if he was okay. I knew I wasn't. The sharp, piercing pain in my leg told me that much. "I'm fine. You?"

"I think I dislocated my shoulder." He said as I touched his arm. "Shit...I definitely dislocated my shoulder."

"We might have a problem."

He was lying right beside me. He put his hand on my face. "I think I will survive."

By now the pain in my leg was sending me close to blacking out again. I knew it had to be bad. "I hurt my leg. I think I might have broken it."

He must have heard the desperation in my voice. He looked at my leg. His face gave it all away. "Umm. Yeah. It might be broken. I don't think you are going to be able to walk back to the house. And I can't carry you."

"Is it that bad."

"No no no. But I just figured you wouldn't be able to walk."

"Cooper. Please don't lie to me."

"Charlie. It's broken. It's a compound fracture."

"My...my bone. It's sticking out?"I said trying to sit up to look.

"Don't try and look. Just lay down. Ranger is right here. I'm gonna ride back to the stables and get him to call an ambulance. In the meantime, I'll bring the truck back to get you."

"You're hurt too."

"I'll ride to the hospital with you. I have some friends that will take care of it."

"I don't want to be here alone."

"I'll be right back." He kissed my forehead and he was gone.

It seemed like he was gone an eternity. The pain hit in waves. I would think that the pain was gone and it would come back again. Finally I heard the truck. I was ecstatic to see Cooper again. I could tell that someone had set his shoulder. His arms were both hanging at his sides and he showed no sign of pain.

"I told you I would be right back. The ambulance is on its way but it will be a little while. We are going to take you to the house." He said as he started to pick me up.

"Wait. Your shoulder!"

"It's back in and it doesn't hurt too bad." He answered as he lifted me up the rest of the way.

"I guess this date turned out to be an adventure too."

"That it did. I feel bad about your leg. I'm so sorry. Ranger isn't usually so spooked. I don't know what got into him. If I had only..." I stopped him midsentence. I grabbed his face with both of my hands in kissed him. He seemed quite surprised but he kissed me back. I was just happy he didn't drop me.

"If only you had what? Killed all the snakes in the woods before our date? You know it's not your fault."

His only response was a smile. He carried me back to the truck. The "stable person" was waiting there. They put me in the bed of the truck and Cooper got into the back with me. We drove very slowly back to house. As we were pulling to the front of the house, I heard the ambulances off in the distance. That's when it hit me. I started to get really scared. I didn't just break my leg. I had a compound fracture. I would most certainly need surgery.

"Relax."

"I think I've heard that before. Perhaps just a little early today? I don't really think it helped anything."

"It's won't be as half as bad as you think. I promise." He said squeezing my hand. "I'm going to make sure that you get the best orthopedic surgeon and nurse anesthetist possible."

"One with a dislocated shoulder? That makes me feel much better."

"Shh. I think the pain is making you delusional."

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[More chapters coming soon ;o) ]