Finding Our Forever (Silver Springs #1)(57)

“He has a relationship with her?”

“No, he doesn’t want anything to do with her. But she hits him up for money when she gets desperate.” Jo hadn’t called or texted him since he’d told her to leave him alone the last time, but how long would that last? She’d contact him again in the future. He said she reached out every once in a while, when she was desperate for financial support or she felt the need to justify her actions. He said she always tried to convince him that she wasn’t to blame.

“How could any mother be like that?” Lilly asked.

“It’s tough to imagine.”

“Turned my stomach to read about it. But look how he’s turned out in spite of them. I’m so proud of him.”

Cora felt the same warmth pour through her she experienced whenever she saw him or thought about him. “So am I.”

Her mother pulled her into a tight embrace. “I believe you were brought together for a reason, honey. That it was meant to be.”

“And Aiyana?” Cora asked.

Lilly released her. “I guess I’m finally coming to terms with the idea of sharing you.”

She smiled wryly. “You just like Eli and know he wouldn’t be part of our lives if I hadn’t gone in search of Aiyana.”

Her mother chuckled. “I admit that’s part of it. Acquiring a son-in-law helps soften the idea that I might lose part of my daughter. But I’ve been doing some thinking—about you and me and the situation.”

“And?”

“I’ve decided that I need to trust love,” she said.

*

“What are you doing?”

Eli glanced up to see Gavin scowling at him for stopping so abruptly. They’d just finished breakfast, were walking down to the hardware store to pick up some parts Gavin needed to repair a sink in one of the dorms when Eli’d noticed they were passing H & G Jewelers. Sight of all the sparkling diamonds on display had caught his attention and caused him to fall out of step.

“Nothing.” He pulled his gaze away from what was behind the glass so he could catch up, but turned back almost immediately. He wasn’t ready to leave yet; he wanted to look some more. “I’ve been trying to come up with a good Christmas gift for Cora,” he explained.

“You’re thinking jewelry?”

“Most women like jewelry, don’t they?”

“All the ones I know,” Gavin agreed.

Eli gestured toward the door. “Do you mind if we stop in here for a few minutes?”

“Not at all.” His brother followed him inside. “What kind of jewelry are you looking for? A necklace? Earrings?”

It was the engagement rings that’d captured his attention. He’d begun to think about Cora in a different way. As easy and natural as their relationship had been, he’d felt the shift several weeks ago. He’d tried to fight it by giving himself all the reasons he’d be stupid to try to make it permanent. But no matter what he told himself, he couldn’t seem to regain his enthusiasm for bachelorhood.

The simple truth was that he’d never cared for anyone the way he cared for her, never enjoyed someone so much. She didn’t seem to mind that he couldn’t verbalize his emotions or talk about his past, didn’t take it personally. That helped, but there were other things about her that made her unique, too. She seemed more relaxed, more confident, more easygoing than any of the women he’d dated before. They just fit together somehow, and although she was still talking as if she planned to leave in the spring, he was beginning to dread the thought of going on without her.

“Eli?” Gavin prompted when he didn’t respond.

“I don’t know yet,” he replied as a sales associate—a woman wearing a Santa hat—made her way over.

“Can I help you?”

“I’m looking for something special to give my girlfriend for Christmas,” he told her. “Do you have anything you might suggest?”

“We have a lot of pretty things.” She showed him a thick chain bracelet, a ruby heart necklace, some black onyx earrings and several other items. She had a good eye—he thought Cora would like any of the items she’d singled out. And yet his attention kept straying to that case of engagement rings he’d seen in the window.

Once he walked over there, the sales clerk quickly followed and smiled coyly when he met her eager gaze. “Or, if you really want it to be a nice Christmas, you could go for one of these,” she said.

Gavin gestured dismissively. “Those are wedding sets.”

“I know what they are,” Eli said.

His brother blinked at him. “And you’re still interested?”

Was he? For years he’d been adamant that he’d never tie the knot. But the four months he’d known Cora had been the best four months of his life. He’d never felt more whole or healthy in a psychological and emotional sense. The thought of presenting her with a diamond ring that showed he was not only willing but eager to spend the rest of his life with her was exciting.

It was also a little terrifying, given his past. He’d be launching out into uncharted territory. Would he be able to make her happy? Or would there come a time when things wouldn’t be as easy or fun as they were now?

“Yes, I am,” he told Gavin and, shaking his head at how quickly he’d fallen for her when he thought he could avoid love altogether, he pointed at a ring featuring a large round solitaire. “That one looks like her.”