Unexpected Arrivals(79)
“You’re not going to guilt me into staying here. This isn’t my home. It never has been.”
“No, but it is his. And when you start thinking like a mother, your stance will change.”
“Oh, is that what you’re doing? Thinking like a mother? I must have missed the part where mothers leave their kids with paid staff instead of holding and hugging them through their grief. It doesn’t matter where he is as long as he’s loved and has attention.”
I threw my cash down on the table, thankful I hadn’t bothered ordering more. Grabbing my purse, I slid from the booth and glared in Dottie’s direction. “Make no mistake, you can’t atone for your sins by living through someone else.”
Her eyes brimmed with tears, and I ignored them as I stormed out of the diner and into the warm, Florida air.
17
Cora
I walked until my feet hurt. Geneva Key wasn’t huge, yet by the time I’d made it from the diner to the edge of the island, I felt like I’d climbed Mt. Everest in sandals. She infuriated me; everything about her just rubbed me the wrong way. I should have figured she’d try to paint my dad out to be the villain when he wasn’t here to defend himself.
When I finally removed my sandals and started to make my way back to the Carpenters’ house—via the sand instead of the sidewalks—each step lessened the frustration I felt toward my grandmother and brought me a tad bit closer to understanding. She was my only option for answers. There was no one left who knew anything about my parents. I either gained what information I could from her, or when she passed away, it would be lost forever.
I tried to believe I’d be able to discern the truth from lies, but it had been a lot of years since I’d heard my father’s voice or held my mother’s hand. I wasn’t sure I’d recognize the difference between her story and theirs, and no matter what happened, I didn’t want to lose what my parents had given me. I clung to their memories like a safety net that would prevent me from ever falling.
Without sunscreen on, I feared my fair skin would cook in the Florida heat. I’d already been outside too long in nothing other than a strapless dress, so when I got to the Carpenters’, I went inside hoping no one was home. To my dismay, not only did I find James in the kitchen when I thought he’d be with Legend, but his parents were there as well.
“Where’s Legend?” I asked as I rinsed the sand off my shoes in the kitchen sink.
“He’s upstairs taking a nap.”
I glanced at my watch and gathered it was almost three in the afternoon. “I didn’t realize how late it was. He must have been really tired.”
“He fell asleep in the car after we went to the playground and had lunch. I’m glad you’re home, though. I was hoping we could all talk about our options.” James was apprehensive. I wasn’t sure if it was because he and I hadn’t discussed this or because he worried about what his parents would think.
“Okay.” I set my shoes on the rug near the door and took a seat at the bar with him and his parents. “What’s on your mind?”
“We need to figure out what we’re doing. How long are we staying in Geneva Key? What are we doing with Legend? How does Dottie fit into that picture? How do my parents fit into it? This is different than us having a baby, and I can’t figure out which way is up. Right now, it’s all new and fun, but at some point, life has to resume.”
“What do you want to do?” I shouldn’t feel like I was being hit upside the head with this. We’d both known it was coming; James had just been the first one to say it out loud.
“I think what I’d prefer and what Legend needs are vastly different scenarios.”
“Son, Legend needs to be with his dad. The rest will work itself out.” His father believed it was all cut and dry. I knew that wasn’t true.
“Brock, don’t make things so simplistic. There’s more to consider than James’s presence in the boy’s life. His home is here, the only family he’s had his whole life is here, we’re here. The thing missing is his mother who won’t be back. If James and Cora take him away right now, that could be detrimental to his well-being and forever alter his personality.”
“Cora?” The way James said my name told my input was far more valuable than anyone else’s in this kitchen. “You’re the only one who’s been where Legend is. I need you to tell me what to do.”
People always thought there was only one answer to every problem. Yet the truth was, I could see good and bad in what my grandparents had done with me. “I wished my grandparents had left me in New York after my parents died. That was where my friends were, my school, Faith—my life. I didn’t know my grandparents, and Geneva Key was a lifetime away from the things that mattered.”
“So you think Legend needs to stay here?”
I shook my head. “James, if my grandparents hadn’t made the choices they did, I never would have met you. So looking back, I can’t say their decision was wrong; it just hurt at the time they made it. I also think they could have been more involved and helped make the transition easier, which they didn’t do.”
“So you think we should go back to New York?” Confusion marred his face.