Unexpected Arrivals(5)
“It’s not so bad. At least this way I don’t have to talk to anyone. I don’t have to pretend everything is okay. If I need to yell or cry or laugh uncontrollably, there’s no one to stop me.” She didn’t let go of my hand. Instead, her grasp became a little tighter with that statement, as though she were afraid she might drift away if she let go.
“Have you eaten dinner?” I knew she hadn’t eaten lunch, and from the sounds of it, there had been no breakfast, either.
“I’m not hungry. I’m doing good not to be a blubbering mess.” Cora offered me a pitiful excuse for a smile, or maybe it was a grimace—either way, it was to pacify my need to comfort her.
“Were you close to your parents?” It was a tough topic I had to tread lightly around. If I pushed too hard, she might break down, and my hope was to get her to open up and share something she loved with me.
Her lips tilted up and then parted into the most stunning smile I’d ever had the pleasure of witnessing. The happiness reached all the way to her eyes, and even in the darkness of the night, I could see the vivid green almost glowing with love.
“They were my best friends. We were very close.” She hesitated before saying anything else, and I waited. “I was supposed to be with them on that flight. I’d begged to stay home to see Coldplay in Manhattan. They’d reluctantly agreed to leave me alone for the first time. Well, as alone as a teenage girl can get with people always in the house.”
I’d heard of things like this before, where fate intervened, although I’d never known anyone who’d been on the receiving end of it.
“I think my mom knew—well, not knew. Like a premonition that something was going to go wrong. I just think she thought it was going to happen to me. She left her assistant, Faith, behind to escort my friends and me to the concert. Faith got the call on our way home. She tried to keep it together until after we’d dropped everyone else off, except I could see it in her eyes, written all over her face. Even though she worked for my mom, she loved her, too. They were super close. When she finally broke the news, her soul shattered with mine. I think leaving her was worse than leaving my friends and my house and my school. She’s been around as long as I can remember.”
“Did she live with you guys?”
“Practically. Faith tried to get temporary custody of me, but she didn’t have the money to fight my grandparents, and since my parents’ will hadn’t specified who got custody, I went with my next of kin. So here I am.”
“Jesus. That’s awful. Have you talked to her?”
“Not since the funeral. It’s wrong; I should want to reach out to her, return her calls. It’s just that she’s a painful reminder of all I had to leave behind.”
“I’m glad you’re here with me.” It was stupid, but I didn’t have a clue what else to say. I’d never lost anyone close to me, and I wasn’t close to my parents and probably never would be.
She stopped with her feet at the edge of the shore and let the water roll over her toes and up to her ankles. The glow of the moon highlighted her natural beauty and made her appear almost angelic. When she stared up at me, I couldn’t stop myself from pulling her in. I needed to protect her, to comfort her, to ease her pain. Yet all I had to offer was a hug. Cora came willingly, wrapping her arms around my waist, her head resting on my chest. She was tiny in comparison, and somehow, I hoped that the difference in our size offered her reassurance.
For the second time that day, I’d experienced another one of those moments, one that would alter the course of my life. With Cora in my arms and the ocean kissing our feet, my heart fell, our souls collided, and I’d found the love of my life. At seventeen and a junior in high school, serendipity—no, fate—had delivered the missing piece of my rib in the form of Cora Chase.
2
James
There were definite benefits to having clout, not only in school, but in Geneva Key in general. Once I’d decided Cora Chase owned my soul that night on the beach, it had taken a matter of days for the student body at Harbrook to fall for her as well. She’d even captivated my best friend once he’d spent time with her and got over the changes. Cora was magnetic, and she had a personality that drew people in once she let down her guard.
Cora had only been in school two weeks before we were out for Christmas break, and in that time, it was no secret that the five-foot-three-inch Yankee had me wrapped around her little finger. And by the time we returned after the new year, we were a solid couple everyone stopped to admire and tried to befriend. She joined the track team in the spring and shined like the star I’d known she was from the moment I’d met her. The other students quickly figured out she was a force to be reckoned with in the classroom as well. This girl had it all. And there wasn’t a soul on campus who didn’t either envy me for having her or wish they were her. A year ago, that would have fed my ego, yet a few weeks with Cora and that part of me dissipated.
I wanted to be better for her, she needed a soft place to land, and I was determined I would be that security in her life. In order to do so, my pride had to take a back seat to her needs. Neil had been the only person who continued to keep his distance. All he saw was her changing me, although he didn’t recognize what she did was make me a better person. Cora dulled my hard edges. She loved the things about me no one else saw: the way I listened when she talked, my ability to be silent when she needed company, my need to show her how special she truly was. It didn’t seem like much at the time, but for a girl who’d just lost both of her parents and had a tumultuous relationship with her new guardians, it was huge.