She looked over at Cooper and then back at Mia, confusion on her face. "No. I don't understand what's happening here."

"I'll tell you what, I'll leave you two alone so he can explain exactly who he is. And then I want him off my property and out of my life."

Mia turned and walked back in the house, went up the stairs and slammed the door to her bedroom.

Chapter Eleven

Kate stood there, staring at Cooper as he leaned over, his elbows on his knees, running his fingers through his hair.

"Are you going to answer me?" she asked, as they sat on the front porch.

"Look, I'm really sorry about all of this. I didn't know you were Mia's sister."

"Well, I didn't know that until recently either. What's going on? How do you and Mia know each other?"

"I've known Mia since she moved here. We met when we started middle school."

"Then what in the world is going on? Why does she hate you so much?"

“I was kind of… a jerk… back then.”

“What does that even mean, Cooper?”

He groaned, as if he didn’t want the words to come out of his mouth. “I guess you would’ve referred to me as a… bully.”

“Oh no,” Kate said.

“Yeah. I picked on her a lot because of her height and her squeaky little voice.”

“Why would you do that?” Kate asked, standing up.

“Because I was an idiot teenage boy who thought he was cool. I feel horrible about it now.”

“Then why haven’t you apologized?”

He stood. “Kate, I’ve tried. Really, I have. Every time I saw Mia around town, I’d try to talk to her. She wouldn’t listen at all, and then I left a few years ago for work.”

“You need to leave.”

"You're probably right," he said, standing up. "Before I leave, I want you to know that I think you're really nice, and I'd still love to have that dinner by the river with you. But I understand if you can't do that."

"Listen, I just met Mia myself, but she's my sister. And I feel a strong connection to her and to this place. There's no way I'm going to screw that up over any man. I hope you can appreciate that."

He nodded his head. "I respect that." He started to walk away, turning back one last time. "If you still need my help with this property, I'm just a phone call away."

She laughed under her breath before turning to walk in the house.

Mia stood at the kitchen sink, her hands gripping the counter until they were red. Something about seeing Cooper again after all these years made rage well up within her.

"Hey." She turned around to see Kate standing there. She didn't know how to feel. Anger? Resentment?

"Hey."