Finding Our Forever (Silver Springs #1)(49)

He picked up his phone. “I’m going to tell her to beat it. Again.” He did that, but turning her away wasn’t as easy as he was leading Cora to believe. Part of him—the part that admired the mother/child sculpture Cora had brought into his office when they’d first met—still craved an apology, an explanation he could understand, some sense of closure, even a little contrition, if not a full acknowledgment of what she’d done. She owed him something.

Whatever that something was, however, he’d never get it. She was too narcissistic to feel the slightest bit of remorse. How could she feel bad about what she’d done when she claimed no responsibility?

As difficult as it was, he had to learn to live with the reality that she wasn’t a fully functioning individual, that she never loved him and never would.

Some things just were what they were, he told himself.

“Is she or Tim responsible for the scar on your face?” Cora asked.

He fingered it, remembering. Late one night, he’d managed to get free of the cage they kept him in, but instead of running—he was too weak from lack of food—he tried to get something to eat. Tim caught him going through the pantry and slugged him so hard he’d flown across the kitchen, right into the door frame, splitting open his chin. There’d been so much blood, yet they’d never taken him to the doctor, which was why the cut had healed so badly. “Yeah.”

Cora reached across the table to take his hand. “Bastards. I hope they rot in hell.”

He couldn’t help smiling. He’d never heard her use that kind of language before. “I like being with you,” he said as if it was a revelation, because it was. Not only was she refreshing, she was healing, knew how to be supportive without being too overbearing. He felt like a whole new person when she was around, and that didn’t happen with just anyone.

He expected her to say the same to him, but she didn’t. “Who wouldn’t?” she said and that enabled them to climb out of the mire of his past—to shove it all away—with a laugh.

*

Cora was invited back to Aiyana’s for dinner on Sunday night. She’d been looking forward to it ever since she’d left Aiyana’s house last week. Only this time she’d be going as Eli’s girlfriend, which changed the way she’d be viewed by everyone else at the gathering. She knew Aiyana, and Eli’s brothers, would be watching her in a different way. She’d also be that much more conscious of what she was hiding from them.

As it turned out, however, she didn’t mind the extra attention. Gavin teased her quite a bit more and the younger brothers gave her shy smiles as if they were excited to think Eli had a romantic interest, but Aiyana treated her as kindly and politely as ever, almost as if she was determined to ignore the change. It was Eli who surprised her the most. He touched her freely and at every opportunity, despite the presence of his family. He could be so withdrawn and difficult to read, she hadn’t expected him to be this demonstrative.

“How are your classes going?” Aiyana asked after they’d shooed the men from the kitchen so they could clean up without threading their way around so many big bodies.

Cora liked having this time alone with Aiyana, liked puttering around, helping with such mundane tasks. “They’re going well.”

Aiyana filled the sink with hot water. “You’re not having any behavioral issues, are you? I remember you were worried about that.”

“The new student—Zack Headerly—is giving me some trouble, but from what Darci says, he’s acting out in English class, too. I think it’s a general problem and not specific to me.”

Aiyana lowered her voice in concern. “You know his parents were killed in a plane crash last year...”

“Yes. Eli told me. My heart breaks for him. That’s why I haven’t sent him to the office. I’ve been trying to gain a rapport with him, hoping the relationship we establish will encourage him to settle down.”

“How’s that going?”

Cora put plastic wrap over the cauliflower au gratin she’d made and contributed to the dinner. “It’s too early to tell, but I remain hopeful.”

“Let me know if you need help.”

“I will. I was thinking that maybe Eli and I could take him and a friend riding this week. I feel as if some one-on-one time might help calm and reassure him. He needs to know that there are people who are still invested in him and his life.”

Aiyana tossed Cora an approving smile. “That’s the real secret,” she said, her hands deep in suds. “I’ve invited him to have lunch with me tomorrow, so I’m trying to do the same thing.”

Cora began loading the dirty silverware into the dishwasher. “Do you spend one-on-one time with all the boys?” That would be a daunting task, she thought, in addition to running the school and taking care of such a big family. Aiyana still had two high schoolers at home, who had homework every afternoon along with sports, but Cora supposed living on campus made a big difference.

“Just the most troubled,” Aiyana replied. “I wish I had time to get to know them all on the same level, but the logistics are such that...”

“It’s impossible,” Cora finished.

“Sadly, yes.” She raised a wet, soapy hand. “But enough about New Horizons and what’s going on with the school. You’re here to relax and have a good time. Why don’t you tell me a little more about your family? I’m guessing you’re missing them by now.”