GC

            “Cooper Bradley, is this place ever going to be done?” asked Abby from the lower half of the house.  Looking up to catch sight of Cooper – he was a handsome as sin young man with shaggy blonde hair.  Cooper, or Coop as he liked to be called, had a reputation for having slept with half of Gideon Circle, if it was true, Abby didn’t know.  All she cared about was getting this place in working order.  Her dream, her thoughts were all on one track, be a doctor, save the lives that she could, save even the ones that might not have a chance. 

            “When did you wanna have your offices done?” he asked with a smirk.  Cooper scratched his chin, giving her the once over and his mind instantly imagined her naked. 

            “Yesterday?” came the voice from below.  The tone snapped him from his fantasy, Cooper grimaced.  She was a handful, he thought to himself.

            “That’s a close time table there Doc, I don’t think I can turn back time, but, I can say I’ll be done by week’s end, but only the offices.  The living quarters are a wholly different story,” he said.  One of his crew called out to him, and Cooper held up a hand, leaving Abby in her entryway, hands on her hips, grumbling about men.

            “Doc?” called out Cooper from the bowels of her upstairs.

            “I’m waiting, why don’t you come down here?  So I can talk to you face to face?  I’m getting a kink in my neck. I’m a doctor, not a chiropractor so get down here,” said Abby with more sarcasm in her voice than she’d intended. 

Abby remembered Cooper from when she was a kid, he’d always been handsome and mischievous, a combination that always had the girls swooning.  Now, he seemed to use that charm with his workers and everyone else he laid eyes on.  Abby didn’t need him to be charming, she needed him to be fast and efficient, and hopefully cheap.

            “Coming,” he smiled. 

Cooper swung a leg over the ladder and began to climb down.  Three of his workers were building the staircase over again, and Abby saw the small sum of money in her savings dwindling away.  How much did a dream cost?  Abby sighed, hopefully people paid for good doctors services, she didn’t want millions, she only wanted to live comfortably.

“Where were we sexy blonde woman?”

            Abby groaned.  “Offices?”

            “Right this way, we hit a snag – I had to have all the electricity rewired.  You have a small portable x-ray machine that would have sucked the juice out of even me.”

            Abby said nothing about the joke, giving Cooper a cool look, her green chipped eyes bore into him hard.  Cooper realized he was getting nowhere, so he reverted back to his professional demeanor. 

“Coop, please,” sighed Abby dramatically.

            “Sorry, Abby.  So, the rewiring took two extra days, the flooring was fine, tile from wall to wall, all the equipment came in on time, and….,” he said, pushing open the double screen doors that separated her office section from her house.  He revealed her offices.  Complete, finished, on time and looking so much better than her imagination had allowed her to dream.  An office door that lead to the outside, one huge desk, something that she hadn’t picked out, but obviously someone had. 

            “Oh my god, Coop, this is…”

            “Orgasmic?” he offered with a wide grin.

            “Almost.  How did you get this done?  I mean, a month ago it was a garage, now – wow you out did yourself,” said Abby in awe, her voice taking on a more childish tone and Cooper smiled at it.  “How much is this going to cost me?”

            “What did I quote you for the whole house?” he asked as if he needed a reminder.  Cooper knew every penny he spent, made and quoted, but he liked the sound of Abby’s voice.  Making her talk was paramount right now, before she got angry at the price he was going to charge her.

            “Thirty-six grand,” she said.  The whole house had been rewired, new windows, new siding, new roof, a garage had been torn down, a huge waiting room, two offices, and a filing room had been added.  Then the kitchen and living room had been fixed and the third story master bedroom was going to be done.  Not to mention the stairs and plumbing, new furnace, Abby cringed at the dollar signs in her mind.

            “I’ll come in a little over that, you know we ran into some problems,” he said, hands on his hips.

            “You mentioned that already.  I asked how much?”

            “Forty and change, but listen, Matt over at Riverview said he’d knock off a few grand if you did full work ups on his crew.  Checkups for them and their families.  Then, I have the people who did the roof?  You wanted the metal roof, and that runs more.  His mom is in a nursing home, wouldn’t mind a home visit from you, he’s worried about her…  I can get you down to labor, this town is hopping happy to have a doctor moving into town.  We have the clinic, but you know how traveling doctors work?  Not at all, that’s how those guys work.  The hospital is an hour away in Addison, so…”     

“Bartering?  Do I get any chickens in the trade?” asked Abby with a grunt.

            “Do you want chickens?” he asked seriously, hands on his hips.  His lips curled up into a bright and charming smile.  He was definitely cozying up to having Abby around.

            “NO!” laughed Abby.  Cooper chuckled, looking down at his boots, then looking into her green gaze.  “What would I do with chickens?  Write all that shit down and I’ll see what I can do, good?  So, when is the rest of the house going to be done?  I do want to live here, you know?  I’m tired of being at my mom’s house.”

            “Give me two more weeks, at least.  I’ll be out of your hair by the end of April, how does that sound to you?  A May first opening for the new doc’s office?  It is the best I can do, unless you want it to run more money.”

            Abby grinned, looking at her feet for a minute, thinking.  “I think that would be nice, perfect way to start off the summer, don’t you think?”

            “I think so, Doc.  Now, if you don’t mind, I’m working for this stickler bitch who will cut my nuts off with a scalpel if I don’t get her house done in time, hope you don’t mind that I run off?” he asked with a rather sexy grin.

            “No, I don’t mind at all,” laughed Abby.  Not saying a word that Cooper had just called her a bitch, or a stickler, because Abby’d been called much worse in her lifetime.

            Abby watched him go back up the ladder, totally ignoring her and doing just as he said he was going to, he got back to work.

GC

            “I invited a few people over, Abby,” said Denise from the kitchen.  Her easy voice carried to Abby.  Denise was one of those people in town that knew everyone, but she had two favorite neighbors that she invited over all the time.  Denise was a first class chef, and everyone knew how good she was at creating succulent food, so being invited to Denise Bishop’s house meant you would leave not only stuffed, but satisfied. 

Abby was in the living room, chatting with friends in California on her computer.  The bright pink Dell sat on her lap, and one earbud was jammed into her right ear and heavy head banging music was thumping in her one ear. 

Two of her friends were driving her insane with questions, and one was begging Abby to make a return trip to California for a parade and music festival.  Abby was promising to think about it and to see if her schedule would allow it.  She almost hoped that she couldn’t, but then part of her wanted too.  Ah to be torn by as simple a decision as a vacation.  Music was something that fascinated Abby because she had no talent at all when it came to music, most of her friends liked the softer fare, while Abby preferred the heavy music.

            “What?” called Abby from the chair, her thoughts now torn away from what her mother had just said.  She clicked down the four chat windows as her mother came closer to her.  Not wanting her mother reading anything that any of them were talking about, that was a glimpse into her privacy that Abby certainly wasn’t comfortable with. 

            “I said I invited a few people over, Mabel, Victor…  Oh, and Cooper.”

            “Oh mom, please, Cooper?” asked Abby as she looked down at her keyboard, seeing the windows flashing, wishing her mother would go back to the kitchen.  Wishing her mother would stop with the innuendos about her finding a man.  Abby was also hating the fact that there was no wireless internet connection in the house, so that meant that if Abby wanted to be on her computer, she had to stay in the living room – and that was an annoyance.

            “Yes, he’s been working his ass off for you, it’s a meal, stop fussing,” said her mother.  Denise crossed her arms over her chest, staring hard at her daughter, feeling as if she didn’t know her at all at times.  The thought echoed in Denise’s mind, Abby sometimes felt like a virtual stranger to her.

            “But… mom?  Are you trying to set me up with Cooper?” asked Abby as she looked at her mother with pleading eyes.  After being independent for so long, Abby was having difficulty dealing with the fact that her mother still viewed her as a child at times.

            “It wouldn’t kill you to be nice,” said Denise as she wiped her hands on her bright red apron.  “He has been working very hard on your house, young lady, show him a little respect?”

            “I’m going to drain my bank account for him, what more does she want?” whispered Abby under her breath.  Then so her mother could hear.  “No, I’ll be nice, but mom?  I’m not going to date him, got it?  Period,” said Abby steadfastly.

            “Whatever you say, dear,” smiled her mother obviously not putting any stock into what she was telling her.  So, Abby pulled up a window and began to finish her chat with her friend, tossing looks at her mother every so often.  Denise would never learn, nor would she ever listen.

            All through high school Abby had dated one guy after another, nothing more than kissing and holding hands.  Simply because her mother had found it difficult to see Abby without a boyfriend, which was odd for a mother, but Denise wasn’t your typical mother.  In college, Abby had closed herself off and started to bulk every time her mother mentioned men or dating, but Denise, being who she was, never let up.  Denise had always putting it off to Abby being focused on her studies.

            Abby wondered when, if ever, she was going to be able to tell her mother just who she was.

GC

            “I’m stuffed,” lamented Cooper as he got up from the large table that Denise had set up.  Victor and his wife, Mabel, who were Denise’s next door neighbors, echoed his sentiments. 

            “You know, us older folk are going to sit back and play some cards, why don’t you two go for a walk?  It’s nice outside,” smiled Denise.

            “It’s like 50 degrees,” growled Abby but it was too late, her mother was fetching their jackets off her bed, which was where she put jackets when there was company for some unknown reason. 

            “You need the exercise,” countered her mother.  “You don’t want to start getting flabby, do you?”

            Abby didn’t say a word, she suspected that the 200 sit ups that she did every day didn’t count as exercise for her mother.  Or the fact that she jogged almost daily, no, to her mother, that wasn’t exercise.  Walking with a guy was exercise though, maybe her mother was hoping for some other type of exercise, as in the sexual type of exercise.

            “You know, you aren’t going to win with her, right?” asked Cooper as he leaned over and whispered into Abby’s ear.

            “I never did,” said Abby, faking a smile to her mother as she snatched her coat from her.  Abby stomped her way to the door, motioning for Cooper to follow her.  He was laughing behind a cupped hand at Abby’s antics.

            Walking outside, hands in the pockets of her leather jacket, Abby kicked at the melting snow on the side of the road.  Water was creating small streams, cutting through lawns, making the side of the road, making for a muddy walk.  Abby filled her lungs with the clean fresh air, spring was in the air and it filled Abby with some glimmer of hope. 

Cooper wasn’t saying much, he felt intimidated by the young doctor for some reason he couldn’t quite fathom.  “You don’t talk to women much, do you?” asked Abby.

            “No, I do, just in bars and grocery stores,” answered Cooper with a smirk.

            “Grocery stores?”

            “Yeah, great place to pick up some fresh meat,” he chuckled.  Abby gave him a cool look.  “Ok, so I’m a little tactless sometimes.  I’m not used to the whole mother setting me up thing, most mother’s warn their daughters away from me.  So I have an odd sense of humor sometimes.”

            “Sometimes?” asked Abby in a mocking tone.  “No, I’d say all the time, but maybe women like that in you, it’s… your charm…”

            “My big…,” began Cooper, now strutting, walking backwards so he could look at Abby’s pretty face.

            “STOP!” yelled Abby with a laugh, covering her ears.  “I do not need to know the size of your member, thank you very much.”

            “I was going to say big bank account, now who is being crass?” he laughed looking down at his worn work boots. 

Cooper was a hard worker, who made a tidy profit by not bilking his clients and by doing great work.  He was also the town male slut, he had a habit of charming his way into the pants of anyone he wanted, and then after the chase was done, the fun ceased.  Cooper knew that he wasn’t ready to settle down; he also knew that Abby wasn’t either, maybe they were the perfect match.

            “Oh,” said Abby blushing, feeling her cheeks getting bright red.

            “Your mom really expects us to go out on a date or something, you realize that, right?  I mean, you are cute, actually, pretty sexy, and you don’t take my shit, which is a change…,” began Cooper.

            “I’m gay,” said Abby blurting it out before Cooper asked for a date.  She closed her eyes, wondering why in the world she was trusting this very straight man with information that could damn her. 

Abby had always been very quiet about her sexuality.  When she’d finally admitted to herself – in college – that she was gay, but here she was, just blurting it out to the first man that her mother tried to set her up with.  Maybe, Abby thought, she was getting tired of the closet she had hidden herself in for so long. 

            Cooper stopped, and Abby walked two more paces, and then turned to look at him.  “Seriously?” he asked once Abby found his eyes.

            “I haven’t told my mom, because, face it, you know my mother, I was gone for a while and she’s really stoked that I’m back…,” sighed Abby.  “She talks about grandkids and me having a husband and right now, all I want is to get my practice up and running.  I’m not looking for any emotional entanglements.  My mom, she’s all about the entanglements and I can’t see myself telling her, at least not right now.”

            Cooper didn’t move – his face was caught between horror and surprise – finally after Abby stood watching him for a full minute. “Does this mean we’re not going to get nasty in your new digs?”

            Batting her green eyes, Abby burst out laughing. “Yes, it means we are not going to be getting nasty.  Cooper, you have to keep this to yourself, please?  I don’t usually tell anyone, so please this is between me and you please,” begged Abby, her hands in front of her, begging.

            “Abby…,” he said with a winning smile, swinging his arm around shoulder, “… your secret is safe with me.  If you will do one thing for me?”

            Abby’s eyes flickered in uncertainty. “What?”

            “Please give me all the insight you can muster about women?  Please?”

            Both of them laughing, they continued to walk until the day waned into night and they made their way to the center of town.

            “So you don’t want to tell her,” asked Cooper.  “I totally understand that.”

            “Did you announce to your parents that you were straight?” asked Abby with a glint in her eye.

            Cooper frowned.  “No.”

            “Then why do I have to announce that I fuck women to my mom?” asked Abby seriously.

            “I never thought…,” whispered Cooper.  “But, it’s a bigger deal if you’re – err – gay or lesbian, or – oh you know what I mean,” sighed Cooper.

            “It shouldn’t be,” said Abby.  “She is religious and I don’t want to deal with that right now.  I just want to start my life-life and I’ll deal with my love-life later.”

            “I totally understand, your secret is safe with me,” said Cooper. 

            Abby finally began to relax.  “Thanks.”

            “I do know gay people, it’s not like I don’t know a few, so I get what you are saying, I do,” nodded Cooper in total understanding.

            Abby smiled, well; at least there was that, one person who understood her.