A Heart's Desire - Book 1 of the Crossing Midian Series - A Christian Romance

Chapter 19

Wesley and Coop had been friends their entire lives, and that's not stretching the truth at all. Ruth babysat Coop when he was an actual baby. When Coop's mom died in childbirth, her mother was already in poor health. She passed less than a year after her daughter, leaving Hank to raise Coop all alone.

Without a second thought, Ruth stepped in and practically begged Hank to let her watch over a baby Emmett while Hank worked. This continued for years and when the boys started school, Coop got off the bus at the Anderson's and stayed until Hank picked him up each evening. It worked out for everyone, especially Coop and Wesley, who naturally became best friends.

In all that time, the two boys had only ever had one honest to God fight. They much preferred to fight for each other instead of against each other.

Kelsea Dunbar had caused that fight when, in tenth grade, she moved from her hometown of Seattle to Decatur. Immediately, both Coop and Wesley fell head over heels for her. But, little did either of them know, she had been pitting them against each other the whole time.

After several weeks, it all came to a head when Coop and Wesley got into an all out fist fight in the middle of the school cafeteria, both insisting that he was the one that Kelsea liked. The fight broke up fairly quickly, but not before Coop had a busted lip and Wesley was sporting a black eye.

While in the Principal's office, after a long discussion, they got to the bottom of everything that had been going on. They were sent home with their parents and the next day, Coop came over and he and Wesley hung out as if nothing had ever happened. That's the way it had always worked with them. They simply couldn't stay mad at each other for too long.

But this time was different.

This time, there was no Kelsea Dunbar fueling the fires or crazy teenage hormones to blame the fight on.

This time, it was just Wesley.

Which was why, after two days of wrestling with himself, Wesley finally conceded that he would have to make the first move and talk to Coop. He had made absolutely no progress with Anna, but maybe, just maybe, he could work things out with his best friend.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the door to the feed store and walked inside. He saw Coop sitting behind the counter, two pieces of copper wire in one hand and a pair of pliers in the other. A quick glance around and he saw that no one else was in the store. Coop didn't look up as Wesley skimmed his hand across the barrel of peanuts and made his way to the front.

"You gonna pay for those today?" He asked quietly.

Wesley smirked. "Nope." He answered, leaning against the counter. "I've never paid for peanuts here in my life and I see no reason to start now."

"You see no reason to do a lot of things." Coop said shortly, as he used the pliers to twist the two pieces of wire together into a braided strand.

Wesley nodded. "I know. And I'm sorry." He put the peanuts in a small pile on the counter before picking one up and cracking it open.

Coop's hands stilled, but he stubbornly refused to look up at his friend.

"You were right, Coop." Wesley said, "It was wrong to join up without talking to anybody about it, but I definitely shoulda told you. You're my best friend and it wasn't right for you to be the last to know. Not that I meant for you to find out last or anything." He added quickly. "I didn't mean for anyone to find out how they did. I made a mess out of everything."

"You got that right." Coop muttered, finally looking up to meet Wesley's eyes.

"If it makes you feel any better, you busted my nose good."