Chapter Seven

 

 

“It wasn’t easy for Grey to get his life straightened out once you walked away.” Maria had gone to retrieve another box from the storage closet upstairs, and Flynn was taking advantage of the time alone with Cora.

“Grandpa Jackson wanted me here. He was like a grandfather to me, and there’s no way I was going to ignore those last wishes.” Cora knew Flynn had issues with her, but was it so wrong to think he could at least bury them for the weekend? If for no other reason, for Maria’s sake.

Flynn frowned. “I get that, and your motivation is admirable. But if this is your way of trying to get a foot through the family door, then you are sadly mistaken. Grey moved on, and I hope you have, too.”

“Of course I’ve moved on. I’m a registered nurse now. I have friends and a life of my own.”

“And the education that made it possible for you to be a registered nurse was paid for by my brother’s money.”

Cora dug a fingernail into her thumb to try and curb her temper. “Grey and I are being considerate toward one another in honor of Grandpa Jackson. He doesn’t have a problem with my being here, so neither should you.”

A muscle in Flynn’s neck flexed as he clenched his jaw. “I know you wanted to honor Grandpa Jackson’s wishes, but coming here was selfish, Cora. You didn’t consider how your presence would disrupt the entire family.”

Maria returned then with the last box they’d need. Flynn took it from her and started filling it with food.

Flynn’s words left Cora feeling numb. No matter what he said, Cora hadn’t made a mistake. Coming here for Grandpa Jackson was the right thing to do.

But it did leave her wondering whether she was doing more harm than good. She loved Maria, and despite all they’d gone through, she’d always love Grey. Was Cora only making it harder on them both? Hurting them was the last thing she wanted to do.

There wasn’t a thing she could change now, though. It’s not like she could just hike to the airport and get on the first flight home.

An overwhelming sadness enveloped her as she decided to go back to her room for a while. She’d gotten halfway up the stairs when Grey called to her.

“Cora, wait up a second.”

She swallowed hard and did her best to paste a normal smile on her face. “Hey. What’s up?”

“Are you okay?”

“Sure.” That was a lie, and it was clear he knew it, too. “I’m just going to go up to my room for the afternoon.”

Grey put a hand on the rail next to Cora. “I only heard the last part of the conversation, but Flynn—” 

Cora shook her head to stop him. “I handled it. I came here to honor Grandpa Jackson. I can survive anything for two or three days, right?” She gave him a sad smile and continued her walk up the stairs. She could tell by the footsteps behind her that he was following. When they got to her door, she turned around again. “Let it go, Grey.”

“I’ll talk to Flynn. He needs to leave you alone, especially when it comes to us. That’s our business and not his.”

“There is no ‘us’ anymore, remember?” Her voice sounded much sadder than she wanted it to. “You can’t fix everything. I’m going to go read for a while. Seriously, Grey, go visit with your family. I think it’s great you’re all together again. It was a long time coming.”

She slipped into her room, closed the door behind her, and turned the lock. She leaned against the doorframe and noted that it was several heartbeats before Grey’s footsteps faded.

One tear escaped to slip down her cheek, but that was all she’d allow. She’d cried way too many tears over Grey. Over this family. She was supposed to have moved on, and it’d do her well to remember that.

Cora spent the rest of the afternoon in her room. She had an entire library stored on the reading application on her phone. Since the electricity was out, though, she turned it off to conserve what battery power she had left.

Thankfully, she’d also tucked a paperback into her suitcase. It was one she’d purchased at the bookstore last month during an author signing. She didn’t buy that many paperbacks anymore, but this weekend convinced her she should always have something to read because you just never knew when you might have some spare time.

She read for a couple of hours before falling asleep on the bed, her book propped open on her stomach. The sounds of voices outside along with a child’s squeal woke her up. A glance at her watch told her it was five-thirty. She supposed she should probably clean up and meander downstairs soon.

Cora had just finished washing her face and double checking her hair when there was a tap on the door. She opened it to find Maria waiting with a smile.

“I thought I’d check on you and see how you were doing.” Maria nodded to the room behind Cora. “Do you have everything you need?”

“Most definitely.” Cora lowered her voice. “Even without electricity, this place is nicer than my apartment back home. It’s downright luxurious.”

Maria smiled. “It is lovely, isn’t it?” She rested one hand against the doorframe. “I’m glad we have memories of spending vacations here with Grandpa Jackson. I only wish you could’ve come here with us once. We’d have dance parties, play poker, and roast hot dogs and s’mores over the fire.” Her sigh had a hint of sadness.

Cora nodded. “He was an amazing guy. I wish I could’ve met his wife.” She knew her voice sounded wistful. She’d loved having a surrogate grandfather but had often wished she’d had a surrogate grandmother as well. She imagined baking with her or having tea parties as a child. All those fun grandmother/granddaughter things she’d read about in books but had never experienced herself.

“She would’ve loved you, sweetheart.” Maria reached out to tweak a little of Cora’s hair. “Come on, I want you to sit with me at dinner tonight. I have a feeling one of my sons hasn’t been overly welcoming, and I want to make sure he knows that you have support here.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that, Maria. I’ll be fine up here.”

“Nonsense. I guarantee you that he’s alone in his opinions.”

“The last thing I want to do is make it harder on you and Grey.” Her voice caught.

Maria pulled her into a hug then. “Believe me when I say that you’ll always be a part of this family. You’ve been missed, girl. I love having you here, and I don’t think Grey minds even the tiniest bit.” She leaned away enough to give Cora a wink. “Don’t let the thoughtless words of someone who can’t let go of the past ruin this, okay?” She looked at the empty fireplace. “Besides, it’s getting cold up here. I’ll have Grey come and light the fire before you retire tonight.” Maria offered her a sweet smile. “So, what do you say? Are you going to make me stand here all night, or are you coming downstairs with me?”

There was no sense in arguing with her. There’d never been any doubt where Grey’s stubbornness had come from. Cora returned the smile. “Thank you, Maria. Let me grab something quick and I’ll be ready to go.” Knowing she’d have a place to sit and someone to visit with boosted her mood.

When they got downstairs, Grey caught her eyes and mouthed, “You okay?”

She gave him a subtle nod and then tried to ignore the warmth that surrounded her heart in response to his concern.

Everyone took a seat and bowed their heads as Maria began to pray.

“Father, we praise You. Not only for the opportunity to gather together, but for safely bringing us through a variety of challenging circumstances. It’s too easy to focus on the things that seem to be falling apart around us. Help us to focus on You, grow closer to each other, and make the most of our time here. Please bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies. In Your Son’s name we pray.”

“Amen,” the word was echoed all around the table.

The anxiety weighing on Cora’s heart dissipated a little as she glanced around the table. In this moment, everything seemed to be okay. This right here was exactly what Grandpa Jackson had wanted.

Cora felt a strange mix of contentment and sadness. It was weird to be back with the family she loved, yet very much as an outsider.

 

~*~

 

After dinner, Abby brought some toys and a puzzle down for the kids while the adults got comfortable in the living room to discuss their situation. Even with the fading sunlight, the glow from the fire made it easy enough for them to see each other. Grey chose to sit on the couch between Dare and Cora.

“We still don’t have cell service, so it’s hard to know what’s going on at the resort or anywhere else,” Flynn was saying. “They’re used to a lot of snow here. I’m assuming, now that the blizzard itself is over, they’ll be dispatching snowplows to clear the roads in the next day or two.”

Dare nodded. “I can’t imagine that we’d be stuck here much longer than that.”

“We’ve got plenty of food to last us,” Mom told them. “Between all of the sandwich fixings that were left behind, plus breakfast stuff, we’re probably good for at least three days.”

Grey turned to Abby. “How are you on diapers for Emma?”

“We brought enough to hopefully get us through Monday if necessary. After that, we’ll be scrambling.”

“Nothing like situational potty training,” Mom said with a chuckle. “I’m kidding. We can make some cloth diapers if it comes down to it.” She patted Abby’s arm.

It was Saturday night now. Grey hoped it wouldn’t be much longer than an extra day or two. The sun shone all day, although the temperature never did rise above freezing so the snow situation hadn’t changed. If anything, they received a little more accumulation first thing in the morning.

“What about medication?” Cora’s voice snagged his attention. “Is everyone good on that front?”

Everyone looked at each other around the room and no one spoke up. Cora looked satisfied with that.

“We also have more than enough firewood in the storage building out back to last us several days,” Grey reported.

“So, we just sit here and wait to be rescued?” It was clear by Abby’s voice that she wasn’t a huge fan of that idea. “Chances are, the airport was one of the first places they plowed. Why can’t we try to make it there tomorrow as planned?” She exchanged a look with Flynn.

“Because we can’t see the roads.” Grey motioned through the window at the darkening sky. “Here we have food, water, and shelter. If anyone tries to drive out now and gets stuck, it could be potentially dangerous. At this point, the airline will have to help switch everyone’s tickets and move things around. We’ll get home, it just may be a mess.”

Abby glanced at Flynn who put an arm around her shoulders in response. Another look passed between them, one that had Grey wondering if there was a particular reason why they wanted to get out of here so badly. Surely a reason beyond getting away from Cora.

Mom looked around the table. “You know, I think Grandpa would get a kick out of the fact that we’re all stuck here like this. He always used to say that sometimes it takes something drastic to bring people together, and I think that’s what this weekend was all about.” She looked around the room with tears in her eyes. “I think we need to try to get together like this more. It doesn’t really matter what the occasion is, as long as we make sure we don’t lose touch with each other.” She put an arm around Cora, who was sitting next to her. “Too much time has already gone by. If there’s one thing that Grandpa’s passing should have taught us, it’s that time is too precious to waste.” She used her napkin to wipe at the tears that threatened to escape and laughed. “Speaking of being too precious to waste, I just may have some dessert I’ve been saving for tonight. Cora, would you mind giving me a hand?”

Cora smiled and followed Mom into the kitchen. They returned with a frosted chocolate cake, a plate of cookies, and napkins.

“Dessert was included with all the sandwich fixings, but I wanted to save the cake until everyone was here together. It seemed fitting to celebrate Grandpa’s birthday.”

Murmurs of approval followed her words. At the mere mention of cake, Zac abandoned his game and came running for his sugar fix.

Once everyone had their cake, they settled down to eat. Mom addressed Cora. “Will the hospital understand if you don’t show up for work on Monday?”

Cora swallowed her bite. “My boss knows where I am, and I mentioned the storms they were expecting here. I’d like to actually contact him so he knows to get another nurse in to cover my shift, but there’s nothing I can do about that.” She shrugged. “But I’m not worried about losing my job or anything. Registered nurses are in high demand. With any luck, we’ll get power back tomorrow so I can call in.”

Dare grimaced. “I may not be so lucky. I just started working at this ranch a couple months ago, and the owner isn’t the nicest guy I’ve ever met.”

Flynn said nothing as he focused on his dessert. Grey couldn’t imagine he had much to worry about with the family store. They’d had a great manager working for them for years. It was the same with Grey and his store. Brody had things under control.

Once dessert was finished, everyone dispersed. Grey found Cora looking out the living room window. It was dark outside, but between the moon in the sky and the bright white snow, they could still make out the shapes of items on the porch and the trees beyond. Grey went to stand behind her. “I don’t know about you, but I’m glad we’re not hiking out in that again.”

She chuckled. “Yeah, me, too.”

He studied her profile. “Look, when you decided to come up here for Grandpa, I know you didn’t sign up for all of this. Hiking to the cabin or getting stuck. I’m sorry it’s harder than it should’ve been.”

“It’s okay. Really.” She paused for several moments. “Am I the only one who suddenly feels as though we’ve lived a lifetime in the last five years?”

Her words hit on exactly how he was feeling. He thought he wanted to keep distance between them. But now that they were here, he felt like he’d missed so much of her life. It’s not like he’d expected any different, but the reality was still a bit hard to swallow.

“No. It’s not just you.” For the first time in a while, a pang of regret threaded its way through his memories of the last months of their marriage.

Her lashes lifted, and her pretty hazel eyes focused on him. How many times had he gotten lost in those eyes when they were together? Their effect hadn’t diminished. If things had gone differently, and they’d never separated, this weekend would probably be a romantic getaway.

He wasn’t sure which of them broke eye contact first. She looked as though she were going to say something and changed her mind.

“I have a crazy idea.” His words brought her gaze back to his. “What if, just for the rest of this weekend, we pretend we’re friends again?”

Cora’s eyes widened as she seemed to consider his suggestion —one he’d completely spoken on a whim, but now hoped she’d agree to. They’d been best friends for a long time, surely they could remember how to find a little of that now.

“Come on.” He nudged her shoulder with his arm. “What do you say? Temporary truce?”

A quiet chuckle accompanied a small smile on her face. “Sure. How hard can it be, right?”