Finding Our Forever (Silver Springs #1)(36)

Regardless of Elijah, did she dare—or even have the right—to upset Aiyana’s life by announcing her true identity? Would Aiyana be happy to have found her?

That would probably depend on the reason Aiyana had given her up, and there was no file, attorney or private detective who could provide that information. Perhaps her grandmother could shed some light on the matter, but even that wasn’t guaranteed. It was possible Consuelo had never been made aware of the pregnancy. Aiyana had had Cora when she was twenty-one, so she’d been an adult but not a well-seasoned one. Maybe Consuelo hadn’t approved of the relationship that’d left Aiyana pregnant, and that was part of the reason Aiyana had acted as she did.

After staring at the grainy picture in the newspaper clipping that’d given Cora her first glimpse of Aiyana, she put down the file and picked up her phone. She hadn’t yet returned Lilly’s call. She needed to do that, didn’t want her adoptive mother to feel as if she was being neglected.

“There you are!” her mother exclaimed as soon as she answered. “How are you, sweetheart?”

Cora rubbed her left temple with her free hand. “I’m doing great. How are you, Mom?”

“Missing you. It’s not the same without you here. I have no one to go shopping with,” she said in a pouty voice that Cora knew was a joke.

“I’ll go shopping with you when I visit next.”

“Yes. We’ll have you try on that dress I found. You’re going to love it.”

“I’m sure I will.”

“Your father and I thought you might come home again this weekend, we’re sad when we didn’t see you. What’d you do?”

Cora considered mentioning that she’d had dinner at Aiyana’s but decided it wasn’t necessary. “I’ve met a new friend—another teacher here at the school named Darci. We went out last night.”

“How nice. I’m so relieved you’re adjusting. I was afraid you wouldn’t like it, and this year would prove long and miserable. I was surprised when you decided to go there instead of accepting the position at Woodbridge. But you don’t regret it?”

“No. Not at all,” she said, and that was mostly true. If nothing else, the rabid curiosity that’d nearly driven her mad over the years had been appeased, to a point. As she finished talking to her mother she had to admit, however, that she had no idea if she’d regret what she was doing in the end.





Chapter Twelve

Cora knew she shouldn’t have accepted when Eli texted her while she was at lunch the following day to see if he could take her horseback riding in the evening. After having dinner at Aiyana’s, she was more aware than ever that she was putting them all in a difficult position. She’d decided to back away, had assumed she still had the fortitude—until she heard from him this afternoon and had thrown all of that out the window with a “one more time” excuse.

When he’d explained where to meet him, she’d guessed he was taking her to the same place he’d taken the boys—not that she intended to reveal the fact that she’d seen him here before. He’d been so carefree that day, so...unguarded. That memory was the one thing she planned to take away from this place when school let out—probably because she’d only seen Elijah like that once or twice since, when he was so caught up in their lovemaking that he dropped the aloof mask he wore otherwise. She felt like those moments were the only ones where she got to see the vulnerable heart beneath that rugged chest.

A silver truck towing a white trailer turned off the highway and parked in the clearing where she’d left her car. When she stepped out of the trees and greeted Eli, he responded with an uncharacteristically wide smile, one that suggested he was happy to see her, which made her glad she’d come. He usually kept his emotions more carefully concealed.

“Have you ever ridden before?” he asked as he pulled on a pair of leather gloves.

“Once. In Mexico. It was a four-hour-long trail ride with my family on the beach, and it was beautiful. But my horse was only allowed to walk slowly behind the horse in front.”

“That’s not really riding.”

“After the first hour or so, it got boring,” she admitted.

“You’ll like this better.”

She expected him to be towing two horses, but when he opened the trailer, she saw only Atsila. “We’re riding together?”

“Is that okay? I figured if you’re not familiar with horses, you might feel more comfortable riding double.”

Since all she wanted to do was touch him—didn’t care if they ever left the clearing—she had no reason to complain. “No problem.”

“Great. I’ll let you take the reins whenever.”

He led the horse out and lifted Cora into the saddle before securing the truck and the trailer. Then he walked over and swung up behind her.

The warmth of his body made her wish she could turn and kiss him. They’d trained their bodies to expect such contact when they saw each other. She wasn’t even sure what they were doing here. She liked the idea of riding, but it felt as if they were wasting what little time they could spend together.

They traveled mostly in silence. Cora got the impression Eli didn’t care to talk. He’d answer if she asked a question, but only with a simple yes or no, if possible. There were a few minutes when she took the reins, but as soon as they came to a narrow pass that she wasn’t confident in navigating, he took over.