Chapter One

 

 

Cora Wells filled the last of the four vials of blood she was taking from her patient. After she set the vial on the nearby tray, she carefully taped the small catheter against the older woman’s arm to secure it for use as a future IV. “There we go, Mrs. Sayles. See, that didn’t hurt too much, did it?”

Karen Sayles gingerly pressed the tape as though she were afraid it would come loose. “Well, it did hurt, but it was better than I expected. At least you didn’t use a square needle this time.” Her eyes sparkled with humor.

Cora chuckled. “I should hope not. Where did someone use a square needle?”

“The lab on Main. My arm was bruised for a week.”

Cora finished putting her patient’s ID stickers on each of the tubes of blood before regarding her with a sympathetic look. “That’s not good. Hopefully that tech’s skills have improved drastically since then.”

Mrs. Sayles nodded. She pointed to one of the pockets of Cora’s scrubs. “That’s a beautiful pin.”

Cora’s hand brushed the metal angel that she always kept pinned to her scrubs. “Thank you. It reminds me that God sends us help when we need it, even if it’s not always the way we expect.” She never hesitated to tell her patients the true meaning of the pin she wore, but she also found out that not many people asked about it unless they had similar beliefs.

“That’s a lovely thought,” Mrs. Sayles said as she leaned her head against the hospital bed. The poor woman had come into Denton Regional Hospital’s emergency room with several unusual symptoms, including intense pain in her lower back. Upon initial examination by Dr. Coalson, the cause was uncertain. He’d ordered blood work and, because of Mrs. Sayles’ high blood pressure and heart rate, a bag of saline to make sure she was properly hydrated.

Cora patted the older woman on the hand. “I’m going to take these to the lab. I’ll be back to get you hooked up with some fluids to help you feel a little better.”

“That sounds good. Any chance you could add a little painkiller to those fluids?”

Mrs. Sayles had indicated a high pain level when she was first brought into the ER. Cora smiled kindly. “I’ll check with the doctor for you.” She moved the control within reach. “Remember, just push that green button if you need me for anything. I won’t be long.” With a last comforting smile, she left the small triage room.

After making sure the blood was delivered to the lab, Cora tucked a wayward blond lock behind one ear and headed for the nurse’s station at the center of the ER. She’d French-braided her long hair first thing that morning and used some bobby pins and hair spray to preserve the hairstyle for as long as she could. Her hair was so straight and fine, though, that it always managed to escape at some point during the day. As her coworker, and fellow nurse, Jen, would say, it was a good problem to have. Especially compared to Jen’s curly hair that often turned frizzy.

Jen handed Cora a steaming mug filled with coffee from the coffee maker in the break room. Cora took one sip and tried not to grimace. “George must’ve made it this morning.”

Jen nodded. “Yep. Someone needs to teach that man how to make a real cup of coffee.” She took a tentative sip from her own before pushing it away. “That’s not going to happen. The vending machine it is. You want anything?” When Cora shook her head, Jen stood. She patted her curly hair with a frown. “I really wish it weren’t so muggy today.”

Cora doubted her friend would mind the warmer weather so much if her hair didn’t take on a permanently frizzy look in the heat.

“Okay, I’ll be right back.” Within five minutes, she’d returned with a can of Dr Pepper. She sat down again before opening it and taking a swig. “It’s going to be so strange not seeing you on Friday. I swear, you’re practically always on shift. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you take an unscheduled day off.”

That was an exaggeration, but not a huge one. It was true Cora took as many shifts as she could safely work. She liked to think of it as dedication as opposed to not having enough of a life like Jen often accused her of. Well, that and a need for money to pay for her apartment and insurance. She may not have grown up knowing she wanted to be registered nurse, but now she knew this was totally her calling. “It will be weird. But I’ll be back to work again on Monday.”

Cora spotted Dr. Coalson come around the corner. She flagged him down and told him of Mrs. Sayles’ request for pain medication. The doctor agreed and wrote orders on the patient’s chart.

“As soon as we get that blood work back, I’ll come in and speak with her again.”

Cora nodded. “I’ll let her know.” She looked at Jen. “I’m sure you all will get along just fine without me.”

“Maybe so, but I can’t help but wish I were going with you. Aspen, Colorado would be an amazing change from all of our heat and humidity.”

Jen frequently made it clear how much she disliked the warm summers in Texas. According to her, it was practically a sin for the temperatures to remain above sixty into the second week of November. It seemed as though fall was nearly non-existent this year. While Cora sometimes missed the pretty autumns she’d seen in other locations, she didn’t miss the nasty winter weather. As far as she was concerned, it was a good trade-off.

“Cooler weather would be nice. I plan on curling up by a roaring fire while reading a good book.” Cora smiled. She’d told Jen about the trip a while ago but kept the details to a minimum.

“Well, you should definitely get out a little. Learn how to ski. Something.”

 “I promise I won’t stay a hermit the entire time,” Cora said with a smile.

“Good. I’m going to hold you to that. It’s a free vacation, and you need to take advantage of that. So, tell me about your ex-husband’s family. You must’ve been close if you were invited.” Curiosity shone in Jen’s eyes.

Cora resisted the urge to sigh. It always seemed to baffle Jen that Cora didn’t want to spill about her personal life. Especially when Cora probably knew more about Jen and her family than she’d ever wanted to know.

Besides, just thinking about Grey Jackson had Cora’s heart aching. “I spent most of my time with his family through high school. There’s Grey, his younger brother, Dare, and his older brother, Flynn. I guess their dad took off before Dare was born, and Flynn always kind of filled in the protector role. He never did like me. My parents were so messed up, and Grey’s mom and grandfather kind of took me under their wings…” Her voice caught. She’d spent a lot of time visiting with Grandpa Jackson. It was still hard to believe he was gone.

She’d attended his funeral several months ago and stayed at the back of the church. Other than saying hello to Grey’s mom, Maria Jackson, she hadn’t really spoken to anyone else. She’d watched Grey from a distance as he grieved with his family but didn’t think he realized she’d attended at all. Which was probably for the best. Grandpa Jackson’s funeral was not the place to reopen old wounds.

“I guess this is some sort of gathering to remember his grandfather. Some kind of last wish. I wouldn’t even consider attending except that Grandpa Jackson included me in the list of people he wanted to invite before he died, and I respected the guy too much to turn the invitation down.” Not to say she hadn’t regretted her decision to go at least a dozen times. She might have escaped the funeral without facing Grey, but it was highly unlikely she’d be able to do the same when they were all in a big cabin together in the mountains.

She shrugged as though it were no big deal. Truthfully, it’d touched her heart more than she could say to have Grandpa Jackson remember her like that. As much as she dreaded seeing Grey or dealing with Flynn’s disapproving stares, she did want to honor Grandpa Jackson’s memory.

She still wondered what possessed him to plan such an interesting event in his final weeks. Attending this reunion would be anything but easy, though.

Jen touched her arm. “It sounds like he was a really nice man.”

“Yeah, he was.”

“How long has it been since you’ve seen your ex?”

Cora forced a casual smile. She hadn’t spoken to Grey since they’d signed the final divorce papers over five years ago. “Probably not long enough.” They laughed, although Cora really felt like crying. Or drowning the memories in a big bowl of chocolate ice cream.

Grey and his family lived in San Antonio. She’d moved to the Dallas area shortly after their divorce and now lived in Denton. Texas was a big state, but she supposed it was inevitable that they’d run into each other again. She never would’ve guessed it’d be in Colorado, though. 

She wondered if Grey had changed much. Had he attended the funeral with another woman? Cora went over everything in her mind and didn’t remember seeing anyone. That meant nothing, though. He was probably remarried now, and his wife was somewhere watching over their kids. For the first time, she regretted not keeping track of him over the years. She’d considered checking up on him several times but decided that it wouldn’t do her any good. She’d needed a clean break back then, and time didn’t change that.

Still, it would be nice if she knew exactly what she was getting into this weekend. Pushing that thought away, she chose to focus on her job. She might not be able to do anything about her own painful past, but she could at least lessen her patient’s discomfort.

 

~*~

 

Grey Jackson sighed as he went over his list of things to accomplish by the end of the day. He knew his manager, Brody, could handle everything while he was gone. At the end of the day, though, Defending Yesterday was something he’d built from the ground up, and it wasn’t a secret how much the store meant to him.

He’d worked for his mom and grandfather in their family’s antique shop in San Antonio since he was in high school, traveling frequently in search of collectibles for them to sell. Once he’d saved up his own money, he’d opened a shop of his own in Fort Worth. Flynn, eight years Grey’s senior, had been less than happy about Grey moving away from home instead of continuing to help Mom and Grandpa run the family business. Grey had to get out of San Antonio, though, for a variety of reasons. He hated that it’d put strain on his relationship with Flynn, but he’d never regretted his decision.

While Mom and Grandpa focused on household antiques and kitchen collectibles, Grey was more interested in modern as well as antique guns, knives, and anything that could be used camping, hiking, or in survival situations. Those first few months after the store opened were slow until word got around that Defending Yesterday often had items that couldn’t be found elsewhere.

The bell over the door rang as a customer came into the store. Grey recognized Abe, a long-time customer who had been coming to the store since it first opened. “Hey, good to see you, man.” They shook hands. “I’ve got it right over here.”

Abe’s eyes danced with excitement as he rubbed his hands together. “I appreciate the call. I’ve been looking for one of these for years.”

“Not a problem.” Grey unlocked the glass case where he displayed the handguns he had for sale. As his hand closed around the Colt 1911, he was instantly aware of the history that he held in his palm. He’d only seen the classic from World War II once or twice before. It was also exactly what Abe had been looking for.

He demonstrated the gun was unloaded before handing it over to Abe.

“She is a beauty.” Abe took his time inspecting the gun, but there was no doubt he was happy with it. “You don’t see one of these every day.”

“No, sir, you sure don’t.” It’d cost Grey a lot when he’d traded for it earlier that week, but he knew he’d make his money back and then some. Deals like this were what he thrived on.

Abe examined it for several more minutes before nodding definitely. “I’ll take her.”

Grey grinned. “Fantastic. Okay, let me get the paperwork. While you fill that out, I’ll get everything together for you.”

He carefully packaged the gun in a plastic gun case. After getting payment squared away and allowing Abe to inspect the gun and agree that all was present, Grey reached for one of the plastic bags he had hanging up next to a sign that read, “Prayer is the most powerful weapon in your arsenal.” He handed the bag over. “It was great doing business with you, Abe. You’ll have to come back and let me know how it shoots.”

“You’ve got it, Grey.” They shook hands. “You have a good day.”

“Yep, you, too.”

The door closed behind Abe as Brody, the store’s manager, walked up. “Impressive sale, Boss Man. It kinda hurts to see that gun leave.”

“That it does.” If it hadn’t been for the high price tag, Grey would’ve kept the gun for himself. “I think that was the last thing I had hoped to get accomplished today. You sure you don’t mind if I leave early?”

“Nah, I’ve got it all under control.”

“Great. Remember, if you guys need anything, feel free to call. I’m not sure what kind of reception I’ll have at the cabin. They’re predicting a blizzard, so getting in touch may be tricky. I’ll try to check messages frequently.”

“Don’t worry about it, Boss Man. We’ve got this,” Brody said, his voice tinged with amusement. “Like I said, if there’s a problem I can’t handle, I’ll call you. Meanwhile, enjoy getting away for a while. And try not to break a leg on those ski slopes, huh?”

Grey chuckled. “Yeah, I’ll do that.”

There was a time when he was constantly traveling around the country in search of items to bring into his store. Now, he mostly left that up to Brody or waited for things to come through his door. Even though he didn’t travel often, he was certainly no stranger to packing for a road trip.

This one to Colorado, though, was full of the unknown. Sure, Grey had been to Aspen several times growing up when his family went for vacation. He needed warm clothes and all his winter gear. But it wasn’t the cold weather or the snow he didn’t know how to prepare for.

There were a lot of things that he and his older brother, Flynn, didn’t see eye to eye on, and Cora was at the center of that. Normally visits were short and sweet. The idea of being in the same house as Flynn for an entire weekend made Grey cringe.

As far as Flynn was concerned, Cora had never been good enough to marry into the family. The fact that she was poor and had no real familial ties of her own automatically made her a gold digger. It wasn’t that Grey’s family was particularly wealthy: His father walked out before Dare was born, and their mother struggled to provide for her three sons along with Grandpa’s help. Because of that, Flynn was protective of the money that they had worked hard to accumulate. Flynn was confident Cora only wanted someone to provide for her monetarily, and he never did let that go. Especially when Grey agreed to give Cora half of everything when they got divorced.

The best Grey could figure was that Flynn equated Cora leaving with half the money to their father walking out on the family. Their situation wasn’t even remotely similar, but Flynn never would listen to reason.

This weekend wasn’t going to be easy on several different levels.

Mom was looking forward to this trip and finally getting all three of her sons together again under one roof. He didn’t want to disappoint her, and he really didn’t want to get in a fight with Flynn over the weekend. It was more than that, though. He’d be seeing Cora again.

She was the woman he’d loved since high school. The woman he’d married and thought would be a part of his life forever. The two years following their wedding had been some of the most amazing, painful, and confusing of his life. Ultimately, he’d lost her, and he’d had to learn how to rebuild his life.

He hadn’t spoken to her in years. There was no way he could adequately come up with a list to cover all the scenarios that might possibly crop up over this weekend.

When he’d first found out about the trip his grandfather had put in his will, Grey had been shocked. Sure, Grandpa talked about a trip to reunite their family and get them talking again, but Grey had thought it was just the musings of a sentimental old man. A man who often spoke about how much Aspen meant to him. If Grey heard the story once about how Grandpa and Grandma had met there, he’d heard it a million times. It always made Grey smile. In fact, Aspen was where his grandparents married only months after that first meeting.

Grandpa had put in his will that his last wish was for the family to gather at the large cabin in Aspen for his birthday. How was Grey—or anyone else—supposed to say no to that? Grandpa always had said it was better to face your problems than run away from them. Grey suspected this was Grandpa’s way of making them all do that.

It was some time later before Grey discovered that Grandpa had included Cora on the invitation list. Grey shouldn’t have been surprised. Cora was at his family’s house nearly as often as he was through high school. Grandpa had seen the hurt Cora experienced growing up and knew that she needed someone to play the grandparent figure in her life. With her own family highly dysfunctional, and bordering on abusive at times, Cora spent as much time away from her own home as possible.

Cora and Grandpa had become close. So, when Grey spotted Cora at the funeral in San Antonio months ago, hanging out at the back of the church, it felt right for her to be there. But his heart had still leapt in his chest, and all the amazing memories that included her, collided with the painful ones.

He’d given her space during the funeral and never spoke to her, which was probably for the best. Except now he thought it might have been easier if that first conversation—no matter how brief or awkward—was already behind them.

They were going to be in the same cabin together for the weekend. Throw in Flynn, who he figured was probably livid that she’d been included, and it was not a good combination. It was unlikely he and Cora could avoid each other forever. Not for the first time, he prayed they’d all make it through this reunion without fistfights. If for no other reason, to make Mom happy and honor Grandpa’s memory.