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Cooper Crazy
(8/14/05 12:01 pm)
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Giving In - Chapter 17
“Mommy, can I watch a movie?” Zach asked as he crawled up into her lap after his bath one night.
“Sure. If you tell Grandpa which one, I bet he’d put it in for you,” she answered.
“What do you want to watch bud?” Buzz asked as he got off the couch and went over to the entertainment center.
“Hmmm….Cinderella! I wanna see Gus-Gus!” Zach giggle and snuggled up in Harley’s arms as Buzz popped in the video.
“Mommy?” Zach began a little ways into the movie.
“What sweetie?”
“When is the real Gus coming back?” he finished and Harley kissed the top of his head.
“Hopefully soon, because I miss him,” she answered.
“Me too. I like playing with him,” Zach added.
“I know you do. He likes playing with you too.”
“He does?” he asked with a huge smile on his face.
“He sure does,” she nodded and Zach settled into her chest with a proud grin on his face while he watched the rest of the movie.
He almost made it to the end when Harley heard his studying breathing in her arms. She thought about taking him up to bed, but decided to snuggle with her little boy while he still liked to sit in her lap.
“You can shut this off,” she told Buzz who quickly reached for the remote and put on a baseball game as the phone rang.
Harley reached over and picked it up, answering quietly, “Hello?”
“Hi. Did I wake you?” Gus asked in response.
“No, Zach’s sleeping in my lap though. Hi,” she smiled and Buzz knew right away who she was talking to.
“Oh. Do you want me to call you back later?” he asked.
“No, I want to talk to you,” she replied. “Actually, I’ve been waiting impatiently to hear about your meeting this afternoon. Did you get a lead on the case?”
She heard Gus sigh on the other end, “No, not a lead. That little meeting was to inform me that I’ve been taken off the case.”
“What? Why?”
“Apparently I have too many other cases to work on,” he answered, clearly annoyed.
“Hmm…that’s weird. I would have thought this case was more important,” she thought out loud.
“Yeah me too, but oh well. Besides, that just means I have one less case to finish before I get out of here, and that’s definitely a good thing,” he replied.
“Yes it is,” she nodded. “So what else is going on?”
“Well, do you remember what we talked about last weekend?”
“I remember not talking a whole lot,” she teased and Buzz groaned. “Yes, I remember, why?”
“Well, I was looking online today and I found two properties that are for sale in the area that sound promising. They just went up today and since I can’t come to see them, I was hoping you could check them out for me and if they’re good make a bid,” he suggested.
“Well, I can do that, but don’t you want to see them for yourself before you make a decision?” she asked.
“I trust you,” he replied. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to…”
“No, it’s not that, I just don’t want to make a bad decision for you. That’s a lot of pressure!” she laughed.
“Honey, I trust you. I’m just looking for something big, flat, and cheap with a nice view.”
“Alright. Give me the info, I’ll call tomorrow and make appointments,” she agreed.
“Thank you babe, you got a pen and paper?” he asked.
“Daddy, can you write this down for me?” Harley asked and Buzz wrote down what she told him from Gus.
“Lakeview is a nice road, I wonder where that property is,” she said as she looked at the addresses. “I know where the one on Crocker is though and I think it’s in a pretty wooded area.”
“Well, that could be nice. If you want, give me a call while you’re there so you won’t feel like you’re making a decision by yourself,” he replied.
“I think I will do that. I’ll call in the morning and get there as soon as I can.”
“Thank you. So what exciting is going on there?” he asked.
“Nothing much. Just movie night with Zach and Dad. Zach wanted to watch Cinderella to see Gus-Gus. And then he asked me when the real Gus was coming back,” she told him.
“Ouch,” Gus sighed. “Not soon enough. I thought this was Phillip’s weekend?”
“It was, but he had some business meeting, so we switched,” she explained.
“Oh. Well, I’ll let you go and you can put him to bed or whatever. Call me tomorrow okay?”
“I will,” she replied. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Good night,” he said before they hung up.
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By eleven o’clock the next morning, Harley was driving down Crocker Road to the first of the two properties she was going to look at for Gus.
“This might be moving a little too fast, Gus…” she muttered as she pulled along side the road of an empty lot behind another car.
“Hi, you must be Ms. Cooper. I’m Diane Ward,” the woman standing beside the car introduced herself.
“Yes, hello,” Harley replied.
“Well, this is it, feel free to look around or ask me any questions you have. It is one acre, you can see the line markers at the boundaries,” she pointed out
“Thanks. I’m just going to call my boyfriend, if you could give me a few minutes,” Harley suggested.
“Absolutely, take your time,” Diane said and went back to the car while Harley dialed Gus’s number.
“Hey babe,” he answered.
“Hi. I’m on Crocker Road,” he said.
“And?”
“And…it’s not too bad. It’s an acre. It’s nice and big. About one third of it is flat though, which looks like it would be a side yard. The front has a bit of a hill and the back has a pretty big slope down to the woods,” she told him.
“Oh, well I really wanted something completely flat. But what do you think of it besides the slopes?”
“It’s not bad. I mean, there are the woods and it’s quiet out here. It’s nice if you don’t mind the…non-flatness,” she answered.
“When are you going to see the other?” he asked.
“An hour.”
“Okay. Tell her we’ll think about it and get back to her. Hopefully the other place is better,” he said. “That okay with you?”
“It’s your property,” she replied.
“Harley…” he began, but decided not to continue his thought. “Alright. Call me when you get to the other place.”
“I will, bye,” she replied before she hung up and went to talk to Diane.
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“Oh my god Gus, you should see this place. It is beautiful!” Harley exclaimed when Gus picked up his phone an hour later when she got to the other property.
“It is? Tell me about it,” he replied, getting excited too.
“It’s flat, completely. It’s huge. It has a few trees, but nothing too dense. And it has an amazing view of the lake,” she described.
“Okay, go to wherever on the property the back porch would be,” he instructed and she walked forward a little before she told him she was there.
“What do you see from there?”
“The lake. There’s a trail that leads down to a beachy type area beyond the property.”
“Can you see yourself sitting on the back porch with a glass of wine watching the sunset?” he asked.
“Absolutely,” she smiled. “Gus, if you’re really serious about this, I don’t think you’ll find anything better than this for the price. And the realtor said she has three other people interested who are all seeing it today too.”
“I am serious about it,” he replied. “Make a bid.”
“Okay, I’ll give her your bid and then your number so she can call you directly. And I brought my camera so I’ll send you pictures as soon as I can,” Harley said.
“Oh wait…no, don’t send me anything until I know if I get it or not. I’d hate to fall in love with it then be outbid,” he replied.
“Alright, I’m going to go, call me later,” she said then hung up and went to talk to the realtor.
Harley sat at her desk late that afternoon, tapping her pencil, staring at the phone. Earlier that morning, she was freaked out about picking out property for a house that she knew Gus had planned on living in with her someday, but when she saw the lot at the lake, she got excited and couldn’t wait to hear back from Gus.
Her impatience finally got the best of her and she dialed Gus’s cell phone.
“Hello?” he answered anxiously.
“Hi, have you heard anything?” she asked.
“Oh. No, I thought maybe this would be the realtor,” he replied.
“Sorry. I was getting impatient,” she said.
“Tell me about it. And I haven’t even seen the place yet.”
“Honey, you’ll love it. It’s beautiful,” she gushed.
“Just wait until it has a big house on it,” he replied.
“Now…exactly how are you affording this land and big house?” she asked.
“Honey, I’ve been alone for the past twenty years. I’ve lived in a studio apartment or a motel since I was eighteen. I’ve saved a lot,” he explained. “And I have a trust fund from my dad that I haven’t touched yet. I planned on never using it, but I think he would want me to use it for something important like a house.”
“Well, I had no idea my boyfriend was independently wealthy,” she teased.
“Oh, so now you just want me for my money.”
“And the sex,” she added quietly and he laughed.
“Yeah, but there’s too little of that.”
“Tell me about it. But the faster I get you back here, the faster we can take care of that part.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” he smiled as he heard a beep in his ear. “Honey, I have another call. I’ll call you back, hopefully with good news!”
Harley hung up the phone and tried to keep herself busy. She was just about to go talk to Franklin about something fifteen minutes later when her phone rang.
“It’s mine! I got it!” Gus exclaimed when she picked up the phone.
“Oh, I’m so happy for you,” she replied with a smile on her face.
“Okay, I have to call the bank and take care of some other things, I just wanted to let you know. Thank you, baby. I love you,” he added.
“I love you too,” she replied, laughing at his excitement. “Bye,” she said and they hung up.
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“Cooper, phone for you," the desk sergeant called out to Harley as she poured a cup of coffee. "Line three."
"Thanks Patrick," she said then picked up her phone and pressed a button, "Detective Cooper."
"No need to be so formal, I have seen you naked," she heard Gus's voice on the other end of the line.
Harley laughed and sat down, "Hey, you," she smiled, trying not to be too obvious. "What are you up to?"
"I'm up to my eyeballs in paperwork," he answered, "but I wanted to hear your voice. And I wanted to see if you could meet me in Chicago this weekend."
"I thought you said you wouldn't have time?"
"I wouldn't except I just got an email that I'm expected at meetings in Chicago this weekend to get my replacement caught up," he replied.
"Well, I have the boys this weekend, I'm not going to be able to get away," she sighed.
"Can't Phillip and Rick take the boys?"
"Well, yeah they could if I would have had a little more notice."
"I'm sorry, I called you as soon as I found out."
"I know you did, but that doesn't mean that I can get someone to keep the boys on this short of notice," she argued.
"Fine, then I'll come down Saturday for the night. Excuse me for wanting to spend more than a few hours with you," he replied shortly.
"Stop…"
"Well, what do you want me to do, Harley? I'm already working 80 hours a week so I'm back there in two months instead of six. I'm doing the best that I can."
"I know...look, I'm sorry. I know you're trying to squeeze everything in so you can come back here and be with me. This is just a lot harder than I thought it was going to be," Harley replied.
"Tell me about it. I miss you," he said. "I don't know how I stayed away for all those months."
"Well I did a pretty good job pushing you away," she sighed regretfully.
"Are you still pushing me away?" he asked quietly. "Are you having any doubts about us?"
"No," she answered quickly. "Look, if I could get someone to keep the boys, I'd hop on the interstate as soon as possible, but there's a good chance I'm not going to be able to and we won't get to see each other again this weekend."
"No, I'm not going to be that close to you and not see you. I can come down Saturday night, but if my meetings run into Sunday, I'd have to leave early again. Unless…could you bring the boys with you?" Gus asked.
"Well, I guess I could, but that won't give us a very romantic weekend with two little kids crawling all over us," she replied. "Let me call Phillip and Rick, I'll see what I can do and I'll call you back."
"Okay," he replied. "Hey, was that our first fight as a couple?" he asked.
"Oh, honey, that wasn't a fight," Harley laughed.
"Well whatever it was, I didn't like it, so let's not do that again, okay?"
"Alright. I'll call you back in a little bit. Are you at your desk?" she asked.
"Oh yeah, I'm not going anywhere for awhile. At least not until I dig my way out of this paperwork," he answered. "I'll talk to you later. Bye," he added and they hung up.
His phone rang a half hour later and Harley told him she got Phillip to switch weekends with her, and Rick was happy to get his son for another weekend. He was on call, but assured Harley that someone would be around to watch Jude if he had to go to work.
"So, that means I get you this weekend?" Gus asked.
"That's what it means," she smiled.
"Good, because I miss you so much.”
"I miss you too," she replied. "When do you have meetings?"
"Well, I'm flying in early Friday morning, I have meetings all day and then I have meetings at least Saturday morning. Maybe longer," he answered.
"I'll come up Friday night, what time do you think you will be done?"
"We'll be done by seven Friday. How soon can you be here?"
"I can leave here around three and be there by seven," she answered.
"Good, do you want to get dinner then or we could just get room service later," he suggested and Harley laughed.
"Let's go to dinner. Somewhere nice so you can wine and dine me before I give in to your advances," she teased.
"Sounds good. There's an Italian restaurant across the street from the station. I'll get us reservations for seven fifteen and I will be out of that station by seven, I promise."
"Okay, just let me know what hotel you'll be at and I will go there first and drop off my stuff. Oh and spring for a nice hotel room, huh? I want to share the bed with you, not cockroaches," she said.
"Only the best for you," he replied. "I'll get us reservations and call you with the details. I gotta go though, my boss is on his way out here with a determined look on his face. I'll talk to you tonight, I love you."
"You too," was all Harley could reply as Franklin walked by her desk. "Bye."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Whoa, Cooper, looking good. Got a hot date tonight?" Patrick asked as he and Frank passed Harley in the hall on her way out of the ladies room that Friday.
"I sure do," she smiled, "I'll see you guys Monday," she added and kissed Frank's cheek before heading out of the station.
"Who's she so happy over?" Patrick asked and Frank sighed.
"I’ve been sworn to secrecy. And even if I could tell you, trust me, you don't want to know..."
“I figured it wouldn’t be too long before some lucky guy got her,” Patrick replied.
“What does you mean?” Frank asked.
“Well, she’s smart and funny and beautiful…he’s a lucky guy.”
“Is there anyone in this place that doesn’t have a crush on my sister?” Frank asked and Patrick shook his head ‘no’ before he walked out of the station.
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GusH Fan Fic & Slideshows
In Company of the Coopers
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because at least the poor kids should be allowed to swim!
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