Finding Our Forever (Silver Springs #1)(34)

“Eventually. Consuelo married two other guys first, Aiyana’s father, who was an abusive jerk, and another man with whom she had her last two boys. That didn’t work out, either. He walked out on her or something.”

“Then she married Hank. So Hank’s her fourth husband?”

A fond smile curved Eli’s lips. “Yes. She finally got it right.”

“How’d they get together?”

“He says he fell in love with her cooking first. Her third husband wouldn’t pay his child support, so, to get by, she’d make homemade tortillas and tamales to sell on the weekends. Hank would come to her stand first thing Sunday morning, which was her only day off, and buy almost everything she had.”

“Wow. He must’ve loved her cooking.”

“That wasn’t all there was to it. He couldn’t have eaten that many tortillas and tamales. Once they started dating, she found he had a whole freezer full.”

Cora laughed. “What a story!”

“I’ve never seen a man adore a woman more than Hank adores Consuelo.”

His wistful expression caught Cora’s attention. He loved them almost as much as Aiyana. “So...these three must be your mother’s brothers.” She pointed at the other men in the photograph.

“Yes.” He fingered the one with the darkest skin. “None of the children actually belong to Hank, but he claims them all and loves them as if they do.”

For which they should all be so grateful. Eli didn’t state that, but the subtext was clear, and that subtext made it difficult for Cora not to bristle. She’d heard a lot of that type of thing herself. “Aiyana’s name is unusual. Is it Nicaraguan?”

“Consuelo claims it’s Native American for eternal flower. A woman who was part Cherokee came to her rescue one night when she was so hungry and tired she was ready to collapse. German was crying. Neither one of them could go a step farther. So she hid in a barn, hoping to rest before pushing on—only to be discovered by this woman whose name was Aiyana. Consuelo thought she’d be reported or turned out, but Aiyana fed them dinner and gave them a bed to sleep in. To this day, Consuelo says Aiyana was an angel sent from God, that she wasn’t really human.”

“That’s a beautiful story, too.”

“Consuelo’s lived a challenging but interesting life. Fortunately, other than old age, her worries are behind her. Hank takes care of her every need. Grandma Sway, as we called her growing up, is the one who gave me my horse,” he added.

“Atsila?”

“Yeah. Apparently, the Aiyana who helped her had a horse by the same name, which she gave to Consuelo so that Consuelo would have some mode of transportation, and so that German wouldn’t have to walk anymore. Without that horse, Consuelo swears she and German would not have survived the next two weeks. Not long after, she had to sell it, which broke her heart, but she claims she would’ve starved without that money.”

“How kind. What does Atsila mean?”

“I don’t know. I tried looking it up once but couldn’t find anything definitive—other than that it has Native American roots.” He came closer and took the picture from her to look more carefully at it himself. “I figure the real meaning doesn’t matter, anyway. To me, it means compassion.”

“I bet the original Aiyana would be proud of her namesake,” Cora said. “Your mother seems to be very generous herself.”

“Yes. Not only has she helped me and my brothers, she’s helped so many.”

After what Eli had been subjected to, he’d deserved his own “angel.” So did the others. And yet Cora couldn’t help feeling rejected, jealous, left out, overlooked...something that felt like a knife to the heart. “Has she said why she’s never had any biological children?”

“No. I’ve always assumed that maybe she couldn’t.”

Cora stood as living proof that Aiyana wasn’t infertile. But, of course, she couldn’t say anything to refute the assumption. “Darci told me that Cal Buchanon has been in love with her for years.”

“They spend a lot of time together, more than she lets on to me or anyone else, if she can help it.”

“She must care for him, too.”

“I’m pretty sure she does.”

“What gives?”

He scratched his neck. “She’s afraid of getting hurt, or feels as if devoting herself to a relationship like that will take away from her work or something. I can’t figure it out myself. And she won’t talk about it.” He put the picture back on the piano. “Why does this stuff seem to mean so much to you?”

Only then did Cora realize she was being too transparent. Straightening, she forced back the frustration and disappointment, as well as the curiosity she’d manifested so far, and conjured a polite expression. “I didn’t mean to give you the impression it was overly important. I was curious, that’s all.”

Fortunately, he didn’t get the chance to question her further. At that point, Aiyana called them to dinner.





Chapter Eleven

During the meal, Dallas tried to tease Cora about last night with a few carefully placed innuendos. But it seemed to Eli that Cora was too distracted and preoccupied to focus on Dallas or what he said, even when he made reference to what’d happened outside the bar. She’d smile or laugh where appropriate, but only Aiyana could claim her full attention. By the end of dinner, after Cora had helped Aiyana put the leftover pot roast, vegetables, mashed potatoes and cheesecake in the fridge and do the dishes, Eli was feeling a bit neglected. He got the distinct impression that she’d come to see his mother, that he had nothing to do with her desire to join them, especially when, instead of watching TV with everyone else, the two women went into the living room and talked for over an hour.