I was just writing down my new ideas for the second verse when Tyson burst through the back door to the kitchen. He marched right over to where I leaned against the kitchen island and punched me in the shoulder.
“Deep breath, Ty. Don’t have a heart attack on me,” I joked.
Tyson sputtered but stopped to catch his breath. Then he stabbed a finger into my chest and said, “You made her walk all the way to town?”
“What?” I slapped away his hand. “Cora? So, did you finally figure out where you know her from?”
“You kicked her out, and she walked all the way back to her mother’s,” Tyson said.
I stood up. “All right, I may have overreacted. Wait, did you say Cora’s mother is from Murtaugh?”
Tyson ignored my question. “You realize she was trying to help you, right?”
“By lying to me?” I roared.
My manager didn’t even blink. He pushed his barrel-chest closer and scowled at me. “Living in a glass house there, Sean.”
“All right.” I held up both hands. “Rough start, rough end. I’m just glad it’s over. I don’t need any more distractions.”
“Weren’t you always the one reminding Ian that distractions are life?” Tyson asked.
I put one hand on my friend’s chest and shoved him away from me. “I’m nothing like my father.”
Tyson stopped me before I crumpled up the music I had been writing. “Exactly. You used to be able to balance your life. You never hid behind your money or your passions.”
“I’m not hiding, Ty. I’m just not taking advice from people who lie to my face,” I snapped.
He stepped in front of me and blocked my way. “Fine. Then what about me? I’m not lying to you, and I’m telling you that Cora is everything you want.”
I snorted. “You make the absolute worst matchmaker.”
“Just think about it, Storm. Her photos showed real talent. So what if she lied about suffering through a day job? You saw the real her.”
I scrubbed the back of my neck. “I don’t know her at all. Do you?”
“Her mother is Caroline, from the art gallery on Main Street,” Tyson said.
“Oh, my god.” I leaned back against the kitchen island, realizing that was where I first saw Cora taking photographs. Suddenly, everything Cora had said about her mother made perfect sense.
“Someone who has half a chance of understanding what your father was like. Someone with local roots who loves this town. Someone who fit right into your life. That’s what you threw out,” Tyson said.
“So, I just forget she lied?” I asked.
Tyson shook his head and pointed to the back door. “You go ask her why she lied.”
He was right. I had been torturing myself about that all morning. I needed to know why Cora had crashed the party in the first place. I held out my hand for Tyson’s car keys.
“Oh, no way. You’re walking just like she did,” Tyson snapped.
“You know why she lied?” I asked.
My friend tipped his stubborn chin up in the air. “I do.”
“And you’re not going to tell me?”
Tyson shook his head. “And with the way you overreacted this morning, I wouldn’t be surprised if she doesn’t tell you either.”
I ground my teeth together. “Give me the truck keys at least.”
“Sure. They’re in the truck,” Tyson said.
I couldn’t tell if he was lying or not, so I had no choice but to start walking across the back lawn. The old pickup was parked next to greenhouse, and I had no choice but to revisit the place Cora and I had first made love.
I was lost for a moment in those memories when Cora herself rounded the old greenhouse and ran smack into me.
She stumbled back and pressed both hands to her blazing cheeks. “Oh, Storm! I’m so sorry. I was just coming up to apologize.”
“And get your stuff?” I was still defensive.
“I’ll come back.”
I caught up to Cora in the orchard. “Wait! We need to talk about all this.”
Cora reluctantly turned back to me with tears in her eyes. “Can I just explain why I came up here in the first place?”
I wanted to hear what she had to say but seeing tears in Cora’s eyes pushed all rational thought out of my head. I pulled her into a rough hug against my chest. It felt so good to have her back in my arms.
“I don’t care, Cora. I’m sorry, too. I lied to you that very first night, but it doesn’t matter anymore.” When she looked up, I kissed her. “We started over once, remember?”
I kissed her again and then again. Finally, a bemused smile stole over her lips. She still muttered about the reason she crashed my party in the first place, but I didn’t care anymore. All I cared about was her body pressed against mine and our breath mingling between kisses.
Despite everything she’d done wrong, Cora still felt right. I had felt off-balance all morning and as soon as I saw her, it was as if the world had come back into focus finally. That was the real Cora, the one I kissed as if I didn’t need air anymore.
Cora responded with equally immediate passion. She was molded so closely against me that I easily levered us both to the springy grass of the orchard.
She wrapped herself around me, but then paused and pushed me back. “Wait. Please let me tell you why I lied.”
I dropped my hot head to the cool skin of her shoulder. I knew I should be ready to listen, but it was impossible to breathe steadily with her cradled underneath me. My blood pounded in my ears.
“You convinced Tyson and that’s good enough for me,” I told her.
We kissed again, hotter than before, but then the sound of a speeding car distracted us both. Instead of kissing Cora again, I let loose a string of obscenities.
“It’s my supposed ‘business partners,’” I told Cora.
She squirmed around in the grass and caught sight of the limousine careening up the formal front drive to the mansion. “Good,” she snarled. “I want to talk to them.”
I helped Cora to her feet and then plucked leaves out of her unruly blond hair. “Maybe you can let me take care of my own business until we know each other a little better?”
Cora’s dark blue eyes glittered. “They messed with you, they messed with Murtaugh, and no one messes with my hometown.”
I laughed. “Yeah, about that—”
I didn’t have a chance. Cora was shorter than me by almost a foot, but she was fast. By the time I realized she was veering off the path, she had burst through the wildflower border and onto the driveway. She caught Chip and Alex before they reached the mansion’s front steps.
“You only came back because you think this is a done deal?” she called out.
Chip’s smile was immediately smug. “We signed the papers last night. We’re just here to toast Storm’s bright future.”
“There’s the man!” Alex cheered. “Here’s to new ventures, right?”
“By ‘new ventures’ he must mean robbing people blind with total scams.” I strode up behind Cora, but she stopped me with one small hand.
Chip held up his hands. “Now, the jitters are to be expected. We get it. Let’s sit down and see if we can talk you out of some of those irrational fears.”
Cora stopped me from taking a swing and stepped forward herself. She looked both well-dressed, smarmy men up and down with a withering glance.
“See, they think they’re safe. They were going to come back and drink a little more of your expensive booze and enjoy their victory,” Cora said.
“Hey, if now’s not a good time, we just came to tell you we have a flight out of NYC tonight,” Alex said with a casual shrug.
“That’s not a good plan.” Cora pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number.
I was ready to leap past Cora and confront the con artists with my fists. They looked like that was the sort of scene that they liked: one final dramatic showdown before I realized there was no recourse. Chip and Alex both stood at my front steps like vultures.
“Papers are signed, honey. There’s no one you can call,” Chip said.
“Who are you calling?” I asked Cora.
She grinned and mentioned a name that made both Chip and Alex go pale. “He just happens to be a good friend of Susie Q’s. She’s got him on speed dial,” Cora explained to me.
We all heard the big-shot attorney’s booming voice say, “I’m here, Cora, and I’ve got a list of charges any judge would love to hear them answer for.”
The con artists spun around and headed for their car. I was certain that no matter whose connections we used, my money was gone, but I had the satisfaction of watching Cora make them run.
“I’m sorry about the money,” Cora said when the dust from their car had settled.
I held out my hand. “Hi, I’m Storm. You seem like someone I want to get to know better.”
Cora shook my hand. “Nice to meet you. Again.”
I pulled her a few steps closer and couldn’t help but smile. “Want to have dinner with me?”