Falling Like Leaves (Bramble Falls, #1)(45)

I crash the second my head hits my pillow.

Despite yesterday’s disappointment with Dad, it’s been the longest—but best—weekend.



* * *



The Caffeinated Cat is dead on Thursday evening. Cooper is working behind the counter, but aside from taking my order, he hasn’t said two words to me.

In fact, he’s barely talked to me at all since homecoming.

I don’t know why—and I don’t have time to analyze it—but it’s probably for the best.

Surely crushes die if left deprived of attention, right?

A calico cat hops up on the round table where my papers and laptop are scattered. He bats at my pen until he knocks it to the floor next to a mammoth Maine coon named Marty.

“Jerk,” I mutter, affectionately petting the calico’s annoying little head.

“We’re closing,” Cooper says, picking my pen up off the floor and setting it on the table. Marty nudges his head against Cooper’s leg, begging for attention.

I tap my phone to look at the time. 7:59 p.m.

“Really?” I drop my head on the table, startling the calico. He leaps down. “Stay open until eleven for me.”

“Wish I could. The best I can do is give you cookies and coffee to go.”

I perk up, lifting my head. “Yeah?”

“Sure.” He peers down at my papers. “What are you working on over here?”

“I volunteered to make the scavenger hunt list for Aunt Naomi, but it’s harder than I thought it’d be.”

“Don’t you just need a list of things for people to find?” he asks.

“Yes, but I wanted to spice it up a bit,” I explain. “I’ve been trying to come up with clues and write riddles people have to solve to know exactly what to find. I have an easy, family-friendly list and a list for those who want more of a challenge.”

“Leave it to you to go above and beyond.”

“Yeah, but I told Aunt Naomi I’d have it to her by tomorrow morning, and I’m nowhere remotely close to done.” I sigh. “But I don’t want to give up and just hand her a list of items. I volunteered so I could make it more exciting for everyone. This means a lot to Aunt Naomi.”

He studies me a second, then says, “Okay. Pack up your stuff. I have to count the drawer real quick, but then we’ll go to my house.”

“What?”

“I’ll help you,” he says over his shoulder.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, why not? With both of us working on it, I’m sure we can knock it out,” he says.

Alarm bells go off. Bad idea, Ellis. Distance yourself, girl.

“Okay.” I internally shake my head disapprovingly at myself as I pack up my computer and Cooper does his closing duties.

This cannot end well for me.





Chapter Twenty-One




The last time I was in Cooper’s room, I was kissing him.

But I try not to think about that as we lie on our stomachs next to each other on his bed.

“?‘I’m orange and roundish and can be found in a patch,’?” Cooper says.

I stare at him.

“What?” he says.

“That’s way too easy! I’ll add it to the family-friendly list, but we’re supposed to be starting with the challenging ones so we can get them out of the way before we get too tired to think.” I type his riddle into the document. “Try something less obvious, like ‘I’m tall when I’m young and short when I’m old. What am I?’?”

“Doesn’t everyone get shorter when they get older?”

I frown. “It’s a candle, not a person.”

“Ah, yeah, okay. Maybe we can put a hint with it, like something about being in a jack-o’-lantern.”

I make a note. “I’ll consider it, but then it’ll probably have to go on the easy list.”

“All right, let’s see. ‘I’m the color of shit, and I fall from trees. What am I?’?” Cooper says, grinning at me.

“A stick?” I guess. “A twig? A branch? An acorn?”

“A brown leaf, Ellis,” he says.

“Wow. You actually really suck at this,” I tell him with a laugh.

“It’s a perfectly good riddle. Not my fault you couldn’t solve it.” He rests his forehead on his arms and talks into his comforter when he says, “Okay, how about ‘I have two legs but can’t walk. I have a mouth but can’t talk. The sun doesn’t bother me, but I wear a hat. I scare birds, but I’m not a cat.’?”

I slap his shoulder. “That’s a good one!”

He looks up and flashes his dimple at me. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” I force myself to look at the computer and type his scarecrow riddle. “What about ‘What asks but never answers?’?”

He draws his eyebrows together. “I have no idea.”

“An owl.”

“That better be going on the challenging list,” he says. “Are you actually expecting people to find an owl?”

“They don’t have to find a living owl. They can get creative. I know for a fact there’s a taxidermy owl in the hardware store and a painting of one in the arts-and-crafts store.”