Chapter Twelve

 

 

Grey knew people’s priorities might shift once the electricity came on. To see Flynn, though, you’d think the cabin was on fire and he had to do everything he could to get out at that very moment. He was on the phone and pacing back and forth between the dining room and living room.

Abby put the kids to bed. Now that the electricity was on, they didn’t have to light a fire in the room, and Emma was in the portable crib. Abby brought the baby monitor downstairs so she could listen in case either of the kids got up. She kept looking at Flynn anxiously as he continued to pace.

Cora was nestled into one corner of the couch, Pogo lying on the floor at her feet, while Dare sat at the opposite end. Grey finally plopped down between them. He looked over at Mom who was sitting in the recliner with an afghan spread out over her lap. The corners of her mouth pulled down a bit and there was a sadness in her eyes.

Flynn ended the call and stuffed the phone in his back pocket. “I just spoke to someone who said the airport is back up and running, and that they’re going to try to get everyone’s flights swapped around so people can get home as soon as possible. But there’s no guarantee that we’d get a flight tomorrow, or if it’s going to be Tuesday.” He turned to look at Abby, desperation oozing from his pores. “It’s going to be first come, first served. I wish we could get the kids and try to make it down there tonight.”

Dare blinked in surprise. “That’s not a good idea, man. The roads between here and there are as treacherous as they were before the electricity came on.”

Cora nodded. “Remember, Grey and I couldn’t even make it halfway here because the roads were so bad. I know you’re in a hurry to get home, but if you get stuck out there somewhere in the middle of the night—”

Flynn whirled and fixed her with a stern look that bordered on anger. “Just because you patched up Zac’s finger doesn’t mean we’re good here, Cora. I suggest you stay out of my family’s business.”

Cora stood from the couch, her brows drawn together and her hands in fists. “I’ve put up with a lot from you over the years, Flynn. Listen to yourself! Who are you to lecture me about staying out of someone else’s business? Did it ever occur to you that you may have had a small part in the avalanche that led to what happened to Grey and me?”

Now it was Grey’s turn to be surprised. He looked from one of them to the other. “What are you talking about, Cora?” He knew Flynn had been less than supportive of their marriage, but this seemed to be something else. When neither of them replied, he stood. “Cora?”

Cora stared at Flynn as though daring him to tell them first. When he said nothing, she finally took a breath and turned to look at Grey. “Flynn came by the house one evening while you were traveling. There was a lot of tension between the two of us, and everyone in the family knew it. He told me it was all happening just like he said it would, and that I was responsible for your unhappiness.” Her voice broke as she stared at Flynn. “I knew better than to listen to you, but I wasn’t exactly full of self-esteem back then.”

Flynn didn’t deny her words.

“Flynn Carson!” Mom’s voice spoke of her shock and disappointment.

By now, Abby’s face was filled with a combination of dread and embarrassment. “Flynn, maybe we should go get some sleep…” She reached for his hand.

Flynn held it gently but kept his gaze locked with Grey’s. “You go ahead, Abby. I’ll be up in a few minutes.”

The poor woman only stood next to him, unsure what to do.

It took everything Grey had to keep his own hands at his sides. “You had no right to go to our house and talk to my wife like that. If I’d known…”

Mom jumped up then and stood between them. “This isn’t the way to solve anything.” She pivoted to face Flynn. “This is our last night here. Why are you ruining it like this? What’s so important that you’re talking about trying to get to the airport tonight? You should listen to Cora and Grey. It’s not safe.”

Flynn’s ears turned red. He looked Grey in the eyes. “You and Cora have no idea what it’s like to take care of a family, to make sure the kids have proper insurance, food on the table, and clothes on their backs. When you’ve had some of that worry, you come talk to me.” He was still holding Abby’s hand when he turned toward the stairs.

Cora took two steps forward and planted her hands on her hips. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.” Her voice was wrapped in anger as she crossed her arms in front of her. She glanced back at Grey as though asking for permission. His nod gave it to her.

She started to speak and her voice broke. She cleared her throat and tried again. “We were going to have a baby, Grey and I. We were planning to announce it at Christmas, but it ended up being an ectopic pregnancy.”

There were tears in her voice now. Grey moved to stand beside her and reached for her hand. He met Flynn’s eyes. “Her tube burst, and they had to perform emergency surgery to save Cora’s life. She was so upset and worried. Between the little support she got from her parents, and you, she thought it would be better if we didn’t tell anyone.”

He saw Mom put a hand over her mouth as a tear rolled down her cheek.

Grey wasn’t done yet. He pointed a finger at Flynn. “We may not have had the experience of raising kids like you have, but I know what it’s like to lose my child and nearly lose my wife. Don’t talk to me about what it takes to care for your family, to pay off hospital bills.”

Cora took a shaky breath. “That night you came over and said those things, Flynn, I was still recovering from the surgery. I was already feeling all kinds of guilt over not being able to give Grey our child.” Her voice broke again and this time, she covered her face with her hands.

Grey had no idea she’d felt that way. He stepped in front of her and put a hand on each of her shoulders. “I never blamed you. Not once.” She only nodded. A moment later, she turned away and raced up the stairs with Pogo following on her heels. He was going to go after her, but Mom stopped him.

“Let me, Grey.” She shook her head at Flynn. “I don’t even know what to say to you right now.” With that, she followed Cora.

Dare got to his feet and stalked across the room to the fireplace and back again.

Truthfully, Grey would’ve decked Flynn more than once if it hadn’t been for Abby. He had no intention of doing that in front of her. His thoughts shifted to Cora, and he wondered if he should go find her anyway.

The four of them stood there for several minutes until Mom came back downstairs. She nodded to Grey. “She’s going to be okay. She opted to go to bed, and I can’t say as I blame her.” She regained her spot in the recliner and stared at her oldest.

Abby stood on tip-toes and whispered something in her husband’s ear. He looked like he was going to argue before his shoulders finally dropped. This time it was his turn to sit on the hearth. Abby joined him. “I need to get back home before tomorrow afternoon because I have an interview.” He paused. “I was fired from my previous employer two months ago and have been finding it difficult to locate a new job.” From the sound of his voice, it was near torture to have to utter those words.

Grey knew it was hard for any man to admit what Flynn just had. But for Flynn, it was even more so, seeing as he was one of the most prideful men Grey had ever known. He understood now why Flynn so desperately needed to get back in time, but even if they got to the airport first thing in the morning and flights were figured out by noon, it’d be a miracle if Flynn and his family made it home in time.

Dare was the first one to speak. “You were stuck in a true blizzard. Now that you have cell phone service, you can call the company you’re interviewing with tomorrow morning and explain that. I’ll bet they can reschedule your interview.”

“Maybe.” Flynn looked doubtful. “But I need this job, and it wasn’t easy to get the interview lined up in the first place.” He ran a hand over his face. “Look, I think we’re going to call it a night, and we’ll see if we can get things figured out in the morning. Who knows? Maybe they’ll clear the roads first thing and we’ll have a shot at getting out of here early.” He did, at least, have the good sense to give Mom a look of contrition. “I’m sorry.”

“So am I.” Mom’s voice was quiet. “I’m sorry that people in this family feel like they have to hide things from each other instead of relying on each other for help.” She sounded sad.

Flynn kissed her on the cheek, took Abby’s hand, and the two of them went upstairs.

Now that it was just Grey, Dare, and Mom, the living room seemed huge and empty. They sat staring at the fire that continued to crackle and burn in the hearth.

 

~*~

 

Cora couldn’t sleep. She was still angry at Flynn, upset with herself for losing her temper like she did, and completely spent after such an emotional admission downstairs. She had to admit, though, that it felt better to have finally told everyone about the baby. A tightness in her chest seemed to finally ease a little.

She’d processed her emotions surrounding the loss of the baby, but all this tonight had opened that back up again. Everything felt raw.

A half hour later, she finally gave up trying to sleep. Redressing, she slowly made her way down the hall and partway down the stairs. She’d tried to leave Pogo in her room, but he’d have none of it. Rather than risk him barking and waking the kids up, she motioned for him to follow. There was no sign of Flynn or Abby, but Dare, Grey, and Maria were still sitting in the living room.

One of the stairs creaked bringing Grey’s attention to her. He got to his feet as his face filled with concern. She wrapped her arms around her waist.

“Can’t sleep?” Mom asked. Cora shook her head. “I can’t imagine why not.” Mom offered her a small smile. “You know, we do still have plenty of chocolate bars left over from making s’mores. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I could go for a good chocolate fix about now.”

Cora couldn’t agree more. Grey waited for her to sit down on the couch before doing the same.

Maria returned and handed out the candy bars. The room was filled with the sounds of the wrappers being opened.

Cora snapped off a piece of chocolate and let it melt on her tongue. Yep, chocolate really did make everything better. They ate in companionable silence for a while.

Dare finished his chocolate first and crumpled the wrapper in one hand. He looked at Cora. “Were you able to get a hold of someone at the hospital?”

“Yes, thank you. My friend, Jen, had left me several texts asking me to call her the moment I could to check in. I talked to her for a few minutes, then called into the hospital. They were able to bring in another nurse for my shift in the morning.”

Jen had asked Cora how things were going, and it took everything in Cora to keep control of her emotions. She promised to tell Jen all the news once she got back. And this time, she’d tell her about the ectopic pregnancy as well.

Cora realized she’d been staring at the fire without seeing it, a piece of chocolate held between her thumb and finger. It’d started to melt. She put it in her mouth and then licked the chocolate residue as well. “What about the rest of you? Did you get a hold of anyone?”

Dare propped his sock-covered feet on the coffee table. “I’m waiting until first thing in the morning. I was afraid that calling too late would get me fired as well. Trying to find that happy balance.” It was said with sarcasm, but he had a smile on his face. “My boss isn’t going to like that I’m calling in last minute, but at least I won’t be a no-show.”

“I hope your boss understands,” Cora said. She looked at Grey and Maria. “I suppose you both have to wait until your stores are open to check in, too.”

Maria nodded. “I do, but my manager has been working for me for years. There was no voicemail from him, so I’m confident all is well.”

“Same here.” Grey finished the last bite of his chocolate. “Brody has things under control.”

They all visited for several more minutes before Maria stood and said she thought she was finally ready to go to sleep. Dare agreed. They both gave her a hug and left. She wasn’t sure if they really were ready to go to bed, or if they felt like she and Grey needed some time to talk. Either way, she welcomed the quiet.

Grey moved to the hearth and worked on banking the fire. “I almost hate to put it out completely. We may want another one in the morning.”

Cora nodded. The central heating had effectively warmed up the entire cabin, but there was nothing better than a fire on a cold morning. Especially on a morning that was full of unknowns as tomorrow was bound to be.

She stood, watching, as Grey worked. When he’d finished, he returned the poker and turned to face her.

“I’m sorry, Cora.”

She blinked at him in surprise. “What on earth for?”

“I should’ve been there when Flynn came by that night. I never should’ve left on a picking trip until you’d completely recovered from the surgery.” He released a heavy sigh. “I was stupid and clueless.”

“We both were, Grey. We were both young, confused, and dealing with a lot. I should have told you or asked you to stay. I should’ve confronted Flynn at the time instead of letting him get the best of my self-confidence.” All of those were things she’d agonized over for years. This was the first time, though, that thinking about them didn’t immediately fill her with regret or anger. If nothing else resulted from this weekend, being free of some of that made the trip worthwhile. Although if she didn’t have to deal with drama for a while, that would be great.

She didn’t realize she’d started to smile until Grey returned it. “What?”

“It felt good to finally tell Flynn what I thought of him.” She laughed and then covered her mouth and looked toward the stairs. It was doubtful anyone could hear them, but she had to remember they weren’t alone in the cabin.

“I know exactly what you mean.” He sobered. “I do hope he can get the interview rescheduled, though.”

“I do, too.”

They were both silent again for several moments. Cora’s eyes suddenly felt tired and heavy.

Grey gave her another little smile. “We should go get some sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day. With any luck, we’ll be back in our own places by this time tomorrow.”

Cora ought to be relieved about that, but going their separate ways also meant losing touch with Grey again. The thought depressed her. “Who knows? Maybe we’ll end up on the same plane back to DFW.”

“You never know.” Grey took several steps toward her before stopping. “You asked if I thought we’d given up too easily.”

Cora nodded, her gaze transfixed on his face. 

“I don’t know about that, but I do know that if I could go back in time, I’d do things differently.”