Chase Cooper—Patrick

Chase Cooper’s relationship with Patrick is a complicated form of fatherly attachment: Chase is not Patrick’s biological father, but he once cared for him more than Patrick’s actual father did, and their renewed contact brings back both affection and obligation. Chase initially resists taking responsibility for the boy when Shannon Watts turns up at his home, yet his concern for Patrick repeatedly softens that boundary. He ultimately tries to make room for Patrick in his life without mistaking care for a claim of parenthood or a reason to resume his relationship with Shannon.

An early bond complicated by paternity

Patrick was three when Shannon left Chase. During the period when she and Chase were together, she had been seeing Luke Phillips, Chase’s first detective partner. When she became pregnant, she tried to make Chase believe the child was his; Luke insisted on a DNA test, which established the true paternity. Chase had not asked Shannon to leave when the pregnancy came to light, in part because he saw her as vulnerable. The resulting bond with Patrick was therefore formed under a false account of the boy’s parentage, but it was not emotionally false: Chase had spent more time with Patrick than Luke had.

The separation leaves Chase with a specific sense of loss. He thinks he missed Patrick more than he missed Shannon, a contrast that distinguishes his attachment to the child from his resentment toward his former partner. When Shannon returns years later, Patrick is around eight and has been away from Chase for so long that Chase expects he may not recognize him. The boy’s place in Chase’s life is unsettled: he is not Chase’s son, but neither is he simply a stranger arriving with Shannon.

A reluctant welcome

Shannon arrives at Chase’s house asking for somewhere to stay for herself and Patrick. Chase says no at first, then suggests that Luke might take them in, pointing out that Luke is Patrick’s father. Shannon reveals that she has already used an old key to enter the house and that Patrick is waiting inside, settled under a blanket in front of the television. Faced with the prospect of turning the boy away, Chase agrees to let them stay for one night and tells Shannon she can go to the Women’s refuge if she has nowhere else to go.

His decision is an act of immediate care, not a reconciliation with Shannon. Chase privately considers that company at home might be welcome and imagines teaching Patrick to ride a bike. But when he gets home, he finds Shannon asleep in his bed, making clear that she has treated the temporary shelter as an opening to return to Chase’s life. He sleeps in the spare room and asks her to find another place to stay the next morning. His boundary with Shannon is firm even as his concern for Patrick remains.

Trust built through small acts

At first, Patrick is wary of Chase. The boy does not remember the first three years of his life, the period when Chase had been part of his world, so their past does not give them an automatic intimacy. Chase spends time showing him a few magic tricks. Patrick’s fear finally eases when Chase hands over his detective badge, a concrete token that helps the boy engage with him. Chase promises that they can play cops and robbers when he gets home from work.

These gestures establish their renewed relationship through attention and shared play rather than explanations about adult history. Chase’s plan to teach Patrick to ride a bike, his magic tricks, and the detective game all imagine ordinary time together. The badge matters not as proof of legal or biological authority, but as something Patrick can handle and use to enter a game with Chase. The boy’s growing ease is gradual, and Chase recognizes that a connection must be rebuilt rather than assumed.

Making room for Patrick’s father

Chase also sees Patrick’s need for a dependable relationship with Luke. He knows Luke has tried repeatedly to obtain custody, but that Shannon has left before those efforts could establish a stable arrangement. Chase considers Patrick’s presence in town a possible opportunity for Luke to seek custody and become a responsible adult in his son’s life. That hope does not erase Chase’s own attachment; it shows that he does not treat affection as a reason to compete with Patrick’s biological father.

When Luke asks whether Patrick is with Shannon, Chase confirms that he is and invites Luke to visit. Luke doubts Shannon will let him into the house, so Chase offers to arrange a time when he is home and let Luke in himself. He tells Luke that Patrick needs his father in his life and makes clear that Shannon’s conflict with Luke is not his to continue. Chase also says he is not interested in taking Shannon back and has already asked her to leave. His role is thus both personal and practical: he protects his own boundary with Shannon while using his access to the household to make contact between Luke and Patrick possible.

That arrangement has limits. Chase’s promise to play with Patrick is displaced when events pull him away, and he feels guilty for letting the boy down. Even so, the lapse does not cancel the pattern the book establishes: Chase notices Patrick’s uncertainty, offers him small acts of attention, and tries to connect him with the father who has been absent. Their bond remains shaped by separation and competing adult responsibilities, but it is renewed through care that Chase chooses to give without claiming Patrick as his own.