Sunrise Point (Virgin River #19)(62)

But it was when Berry held out a cookie and said, in a voice loud and clear, “Tom! Eat dis! I maked it!” Nora just kind of went over the edge. And she had to run and hide.

* * *

“Where’s Nora?” Tom asked.

The women all looked around. “Bathroom?” Adie suggested.

“No one in there,” Tom said. “Keep an eye on the girls, I’ll find her.” He took a beer with him through the living room, dining room, even upstairs. Finally he grabbed his jacket off the hook by the door and went outside to find her huddled in a wicker chair in a far corner of the porch. Crying and shivering.

“Hey, now,” he said, whipping off his jacket and wrapping it around her shoulders. He pulled a matching chair close to her. “What’s with this? Why are you crying?”

“It’s complicated,” she said with a hiccup in her voice. “It’s just that I started feeling so…so safe. So much like being a part of a big, wonderful family. And then Berry…”

“What about Berry?” he asked. “She’s having fun.”

“She’s having so much fun,” Nora said. She sniffed. “Honestly, what a wimp I am. I held it together through new toys, clothes and even furniture, but this week…” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a hanky, handing it to her. She looked at it cautiously and said, “You sure?”

“Blow,” he said. “Then talk to me.”

She blew her nose. Hard. A little laugh escaped through her tears.

“Now talk,” he said.

“I don’t expect you to understand, but when I was growing up and it was just my mother and I, we didn’t have fun times like this. We didn’t have people around. And Berry…” She crumbled again.

“What about Berry?” he pushed.

“Did you hear her? Did you hear her talk? Like she was giving orders? She’s growing out of that severe shyness, Tom.”

“Sure,” he said, baffled. “She’s getting used to all of us. She’s been around us a lot lately… .”

“I was so worried about her,” Nora said. “I was worried about all of us—about us ever getting it together, having enough to get by, to stop being afraid!”

He wiped a tear from her cheek. “Were you afraid?” he asked softly.

“Oh, you have no idea… .”

He smothered a chuckle. “You always act so brave,” he said.

“Yeah, I act,” she told him. “What else am I gonna do? Growing up I was timid, scared of everything.”

“You?”

“Oh, my gosh, I was so scared of making my mother or teachers or anyone mad. And then what did I do but allow all that timidity to get me hooked up with this stupid guy who made my mother look like a day at the beach. There were times when I was pregnant…”

She was quiet for a moment and he took her hand. “Tell me. You were scared. Tell me.”

“Oh, Tom, you don’t want to hear all that… It’s all so humiliating, so maudlin.” But he nodded and she said, “Okay, I was on welfare and I worried all the time—that I’d be killed in my bed because I lived in such a scary place surrounded by gangs and dealers. Scared that I wouldn’t be able to protect my children. And I thought life was hard when I lived with an angry mother, then it got so much harder. When I bake with Maxie and eat at your table, I remember those times the social worker gave me supplemental protein drinks so I’d have enough calories for the pregnancy and I… I just never thought I’d have this kind of life—picking food from the garden, baking in a warm kitchen, sitting with my children at a table filled with such happiness and laughter… .”

He found himself stroking the hair over her ear. He had an unwelcome flash of Darla in her expensive boots, picking at her meal, taking it all for granted. He reminded himself that Darla shouldn’t be ridiculed for making something of herself. And she’d certainly had her own heartache.

“When Chad left me in this town, even though I didn’t know how we would survive, I was so relieved that he was gone, that I was in a place not so terrifying, and… If it hadn’t been for Noah…”

Tom wrapped his hand around her upper arm. “Did he hurt you?”

“Noah?” she asked, incredulous. “Of course not! Noah helped, but I didn’t make it easy for him. It’s so hard for me to trust anyone.”

He smiled at her. “But you trust Maxie?”

“Yes,” she said with a sniff and a smile. “I love Maxie.”

“And Adie?”

“Adie would never hurt a fly,” she said.

“Martha?”

“Martha is strong. So good, so responsible. I love her independence.”

“Jed?” he asked.

“It’s coming. I get more sure of him every week. He’s been so good to me. I’m going to let Maxie have a crack at him. If she trusts him…”

“Maxie has a sixth sense about things like that. I don’t know where she got it. Living life, I guess. And… me?” he asked. “You trust me?”

She gave him a shy smile. “I think so, yes,” she said.

“What do you think of stuffed grape leaves?” he asked.