Unexpected Arrivals(84)
“I’m lost. Who is that?”
“Dottie is the woman who has taken care of Legend until we got here. Gwendolyn is my grandmother.” That was clear as mud. Even speaking about it brought out a side of me I didn’t like.
“And they’re connected, how?”
“They’re one and the same.”
“But you were never close to your grandmother, right?”
“Never. Yet she’s this amazing, doting, caring figure in Legend’s life. And while I appreciate what she’s done for James’s son, I resent her for not doing the same when I lost my parents.”
“I thought Geneva Key was like the Beverly Hills of Florida; how did this twisted situation become your life?”
“Good question. I don’t have answers. Every time I get close to getting any, my anger and resentment rear their ugly heads, and I ruin any attempt I make to talk to her.”
“If she’s this close to Legend, you have to fix it, Cora. That’s not fair to him. Or James. And it’s really unlike you. I could totally understand having resentment toward the woman who’d kept a child a secret for years, or even James indirectly. The only people you’re hurting by not resolving whatever it is that’s going on in your head, are you and Legend.”
Hannah was right. I knew she was right. And somehow, I had to rectify, or at least minimize, the destruction my animosity created. The two of us talked for an hour about nothing—it was one of the things I loved most about her. She had an uncanny ability to sweep my thoughts from anything important and bring me back to a happy place. I hated not having her around and wondered how hard it would be if we made Geneva Key home again.
We’d spent the better part of the two weeks getting to know Legend. I never imagined James would be great with kids, and I surprised myself with how easily I’d fallen for him. Something clicked between us that night he’d woken up from a bad dream. Maybe it was that we both shared something most kids never experience, or maybe he was just easy to love—either way, he’d captured my heart, and now I had to make things right. For Legend’s sake.
I hadn’t called. Legend was with James, and I hoped Gwendolyn was home. I hesitated—feeling like an intruder—the brass knocker was the only thing I recognized. The weathered C had been on their front door at the beach house when I was in high school. I should have noticed it no longer adorned the beach house when I’d rapped on a stranger’s door—somehow, I hadn’t missed it then, yet I recognized it now. It made a rich thud with each bang I gave it, and after three, I stopped to wait.
My weight shifted from side to side, foot to foot. I didn’t often get nervous, but whatever happened today would not only define my life, it would direct the path of James’s and Legend’s as well. I hadn’t comprehended what a burden I’d carried until we came back to Geneva Key. And now, being here, with her, brought all of that resentment and anger to the surface. No matter how hard I tried, I hadn’t been able to let it go.
When the door finally cracked open, I was met by a face I wanted to love but couldn’t figure out how.
“I had hoped you’d come by at some point. Please, come in.” She ushered me through and straight into her home. “Is everything all right with Legend?” Gwendolyn asked as she pointed me toward the couch.
“Oh yeah, he’s fine. He and James went to the park.”
“Would you like some coffee?”
Coffee indicated I’d be here a while. It would also give me something to do besides fidget with my hands and pick at my fingers. “That would be nice, thank you.”
She made her way to the kitchen, leaving me on the couch. “Your father was a big coffee drinker, although, I don’t recall your mother ever liking it much.”
I smiled at the memory. My love of the drink had indeed come from my dad. “She didn’t care for it, but I used to steal sips of his when he wasn’t looking.” It had slipped out before I realized I was being civil.
“Are you hungry? I have some muffins.”
“No, thank you. Coffee is good.”
She returned to the living room and sat in the chair facing me on the couch. Her long, slender fingers rested in her lap, and her eyes sparkled when she looked at me. “You look just like them both. A perfect mixture of their best qualities.”
I’d heard that all my life, and it was true. “Thank you. They were amazing people.”
“That they were. Your father loved your mother very much.”
I didn’t think I could handle the niceties for long. I was well aware of how great my parents were; I lived with them. I’d spent seventeen years with them that she hadn’t been a part of so I didn’t need her to preach to me about their greatness.
“I don’t mean to be impolite, Gwendolyn, or ungrateful, because I can’t tell you how much it means to James that you were there for Legend, but what happened?”
“Cora, there’s a lot of years to account for—most of which no longer matter.”
“Don’t do that. Please. It took a lot for me to come here, and I need to make this work for Legend. If we’re going to make peace, you’re going to have to be honest with me. What was so wrong with me that you didn’t love me the way you do him? What made Chelsea so special that when she needed a home, yours was available, yet you left me isolated after my parents died? I just need the truth, Gwendolyn.”