Beneath the Country Sky

Chapter 9: Daisies and Despair

The morning air was crisp as the sun began to rise, casting a soft golden hue across the fields. Cooper had just finished his morning chores, the ache in his heart now a familiar companion. He clutched a bouquet of fresh daisies-Isabel's favorite-wrapped carefully in twine. His routine hadn't changed in weeks. Every morning, without fail, he sent her flowers, hoping the gesture would pull her back closer to him. Yet, her replies had been distant, polite, and lacking the warmth they once shared.

That day, however, something felt different.

Cooper's stomach twisted in knots as he drove into town, his old pickup rattling along the dirt road. He parked outside the school where Isabel worked, the bouquet cradled in his hand. His eyes scanned the schoolyard, but Isabel wasn't there yet. Instead, his attention was drawn to two figures standing a little further down the street.

There she was, Isabel, with her back turned to him, her familiar figure unmistakable. But it wasn't just her. Standing next to her, too close for Cooper's comfort, was Chris-her high school boyfriend. They were laughing. A laugh that Cooper hadn't heard from Isabel in months.

He felt the ground beneath him give way as he stared, frozen in place, unable to move or think. It was as if someone had punched him in the gut, knocking all the air from his lungs. His knuckles whitened around the bouquet, the delicate daisies bending under the pressure.

Isabel's hand briefly touched Chris's arm, a small, almost innocent gesture, but to Cooper, it felt like a betrayal. Every single day he had poured his heart into those flowers, hoping they'd be a bridge back to her, but here she was, with him-Chris. The jealousy inside him boiled over, raw and ugly, filling his chest with a heaviness that he couldn't shake. It was unbearable.

He wanted to storm over, confront them, ask her why, but he couldn't. His feet were stuck to the ground. Cooper had never felt more powerless. Instead, he watched from the shadows, his heart pounding in his chest, each beat reminding him of the growing distance between them.

Eventually, Isabel and Chris walked away together, their voices fading into the noise of the street. Cooper stood there for what felt like an eternity, his body stiff with tension. He glanced down at the daisies, once beautiful and full of hope, now crumpled and wilting in his hands. Slowly, he let them fall to the ground, the flowers scattering across the sidewalk like remnants of a broken promise.

Cooper didn't move for a long while. The world around him continued, but for him, time had stopped. He felt the overwhelming weight of Isabel's absence, more present now than ever before.

The betrayal wasn't in what he had seen, but in the realization that, despite everything, Isabel had changed. She was slipping away from him, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

---

As Cooper drove home that afternoon, the sky had turned a pale blue, stretching endlessly above him. His mind was racing, the image of Isabel and Chris looping over and over. He felt like he was suffocating, trapped by his own emotions. There was a time when he thought love was enough to fix everything, but now, that certainty was fading.

Back at the hacienda, Scarlette was waiting on the porch, her arms crossed, impatience written all over her face.

"Took you long enough," she muttered, eyeing him as he stepped out of the truck. But Cooper barely acknowledged her. His usual sharp retorts were gone, replaced by a blank stare that unsettled Scarlette more than his words ever could.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked, her voice tinged with annoyance.

Cooper stopped for a moment, his shoulders slumping. He hadn't planned on telling Scarlette anything, but the weight of everything he was carrying was too much to bear alone. "I saw Isabel today," he said quietly, his voice breaking the stillness of the air.