Weekend Goal

Chapter 23: Someone to Listen

I won't be able to concentrate at work today, so I call in sick. If I go there, I'm not sure I will be able to keep my emotions in check or doing something productive. I could go for a jog or a walk, but I know my brain won't stop making scenarios. I won't go by his work. I'm not the kind of person that enjoys making a scene.

I manage to unlock my phone with trembling fingers and type a message to Rose.

Can we meet now? I can meet you at the club, the café, wherever you want. I also need to talk to someone before my head explodes.

A response comes almost immediately.

I'll meet you at your place and we can walk from there. I should be at your building in ten.

I make me a cup of tea while I wait and stare at the phone on the table. Trying to unlock it will be
pointless as it only works with Lachlan's thumbprint. When my phone signals with a message, I
almost let it drop. I head downstairs and find Rose waiting at the door. She looks pale, but further she's the image of elegance and determination.

"Hey, are you okay?" I ask.

"I should be asking you the same. What's going on?"

"You first. It's only fair since you messaged me first."

"Okay," she blows some breath. "The short story is that I brought my son back with me. His father filled his head with empty promises, and his grandmother, although meaning well, was not ready to raise a teenager she barely knows. I'm hiring someone to take over my job and my plans for solo travel have gone to shit because besides having my son at home, I'm also pregnant."

My mouth opens and closes but no sound comes out.

"Come on! Say something!"

"Is the father... Cooper?"

Rose stares ahead and shrugs. "Who else?"

"Does he know?"

"Not in so many words. He keeps running away, you know? We both had shit fathers who left us, but in my view that should be an incentive to do better when you have your own."

I only nod. I've been in the same situation and when I have a child of my own it will have all my love and attention. I just don't know if I want that with Lachlan after keeping secrets from me.

"What about your job?"

"Too late I guess. I'll have to find something new. Good luck to me with that with two kids."

"I'm really sorry Rose. Please let me do if I can do anything for you. I'm a good babysitter."

Rose gives me a small smile. "Well, I guess that my plans to leave at the end of the season are becoming a reality. When I had my son I was back to training in no time. This time around I'll make sure to spend more time with my baby."

"Are you sure you want to go to the club now? We can go somewhere else."

"It's okay, Cooper is rarely in on Mondays. Plus I heard they have kick ass avocado toast and I'm craving it. But tell me, what did you need to talk about with me?"

I tell her about the message Lachlan received and my worries about his past behaviors.

"Greenwood is a huge city and probably there are other women called Willow living here. For
what I've seen, Lachlan seems to spend every moment he isn't working with you. I've seen how he looks at you. That's a man in love and he won't risk losing you."

"Do you think I should go by his apartment tonight?"

"I think you should have a calm conversation with him before jumping to conclusions."

When we take a turn in the street, blue and red lights call our attention.

"That's at the club! What's going on?" Rose says before sprinting towards the club.

I follow and up close we see police cars and an ambulance. Two of the club's volunteers talk with two policemen and look visibly shaken.

"Where's Cooper?" Rose shouts at no one in particular.

"Ma'am, you can't go in there." A policewoman blocks our way and I don't think that's smart, knowing how strong Rose is.

Before she can push her way in, paramedics roll a gurney towards the ambulance. My body turns cold when I see an unconscious Cooper, clothes bloody.

Rose looks as if she would faint at any moment and I hold her.

"A man came in and shot him," one of the volunteers say. "He took nothing. Said nothing. Just walked up to Cooper and shot him."

My stomach churns as the ambulance takes Cooper away. My protective instincts kick in and I call an Uber to bring us to the hospital. Rose doesn't talk while we wait or on our way, but the moment we reach the hospital front door she strides through it. She commands the receptionist for information and looks like someone you don't want to cross.

"She doesn't have more information besides that he's in with the emergency room doctors," she
says while searching into her bag for something.

Once she finds her phone, she starts calling, messaging and organizing everything and everyone in Cooper's life. I watch her in awe. If this was Lachlan, I would have been a wreck.
Lachlan... this puts things into perspective.