Finding Our Forever (Silver Springs #1)(38)

“Nothing.” She pulled the belt of her robe tight. “My hair’s not too crazy, is it?”

He grinned.

“That must be a no.”

Whoever was at the door knocked again, causing her to glance toward the living room.

“You look like you’ve had a busy night,” he said, that grin slanting to one side, “but I wouldn’t want to make you self-conscious.”

“Thanks for doing just that,” she whispered in mock outrage but couldn’t help betraying herself with a smile of her own. Maybe he wasn’t capable of trusting her enough to give her his heart, but he was incredibly good in bed, especially now that they were becoming more comfortable with each other. She also liked these little moments when he revealed that he did have a playful side.

“It’s a great look on you,” he said.

She didn’t take the time to answer. “Stay here. And don’t make any noise,” she said as she left the bedroom.

Once she reached the door, she tried to smooth her hair down one final time as she peered through the peep hole.

It wasn’t Doug; it was Aiyana. Cora wanted to alert Eli to the fact that his mother was standing on the stoop, but she’d delayed too long already and couldn’t call back for fear Aiyana would hear her through the panel.

Cora could only hope she hadn’t come here looking for her son... “Hi,” she said as she opened the door.

Aiyana’s lips curved into a pleasant smile. “I’m sorry to bother you so early.”

“It’s no trouble,” she said but couldn’t help wondering why this couldn’t have waited until she was in her classroom. “I was rolling out of bed, anyway.”

“I figured you’d be up, what with school starting in little over an hour. There’s a guy who looks like he’s had a pretty rough night at the administration building, asking for you. I tried to reach you on your cell but couldn’t get an answer. Apparently, he’s been trying to reach you, too.”

She hadn’t taken her cell out of her purse last night to charge it. “The battery must be dead. Did this man say who he is?”

“He said you broke up with him when you left LA.”

Matt? Damn... “I—I’ll... Sorry about the random visit. Let me get showered and I’ll be right over.”

“Would you rather I send him here?”

It was going to be hard enough for Eli to get out of her house without being seen. “No. Um...have him wait there. I’ll come as soon as I can.”

“Okay.” Her gaze shifted to something behind Cora. “Tell my son I said good morning,” she added and left.

Cora pivoted to discover Elijah’s shirt on the floor. Shoot! Now there would be no pretending that she and Eli were only friends.

Eli came to the doorway, wearing nothing. “What’d she say?”

Cora picked up his shirt and handed it to him. “She said to tell you hello.”

To Cora’s surprise, he didn’t seem to be upset by that. He scratched his head and said, “I mean before that.”

“My ex-boyfriend is at the office.” Looking like he’d been up all night. Why? Cora hadn’t spoken to him since moving to Silver Springs.

“What does he want?”

“I have no idea,” she replied but realized her phone might provide the answer. She plugged it in and waited for it to charge while Eli dressed. She was just listening to the many messages Matt had left when Eli walked out of the bedroom again.

“You’re not coming back to me? I thought we loved each other. But you must never have cared for me the way I cared for you.”

Instead of heading to the door, Eli walked over to the counter and listened to Matt’s next message along with her.

“You’re not going to answer your phone? Seriously? I can hardly breathe now that you’re gone. Whatever I did wrong, I’ll fix it, okay? I’ll change. Just...give me another chance.”

Cora clicked away from her voice mail. She figured Eli had heard enough.

“He wants you back,” he said.

“Apparently.”

He raked his fingers through his hair. “How do you feel?”

“I feel bad that I’ve hurt him.”

She knew that wasn’t the answer Eli had been looking for, but she didn’t care to address anything else. She had to shower, hurry over to see what she could do for Matt and get to class—all before eight thirty.

“You’re upset he’s here.”

“I’m upset that your mother knows about us.”

“Because...”

Because Aiyana was her birth mother, and now, if she ever decided to have that conversation, it would be even harder. She was ruining any hope she had of reuniting with Aiyana as the daughter she was! But she hadn’t planned on Aiyana having an adopted son she couldn’t resist. “I respect her. I don’t want her to think poorly of me.”

“She doesn’t think poorly of you. She likes you.”

For some reason, that simple statement nearly made Cora burst into tears. He’d spoken so casually, as if he was saying, “Why would you matter much to her either way?”

Aiyana was her mother. She wanted more than the courteous treatment other teachers received.