As they were leaving, Bea leaned in to give Dan a hug and a kiss on the cheek and whispered in his ear, “Take care of my Cora, she deserves to be the one getting the care for a change.”
He nodded and smiled, and after all the goodbyes were said he drove Cora home and just snuggled up and held her tight. Knowing she was only halfway through what was likely to be a very stressful weekend for her, his parents, sisters, spouses, nieces and nephews, etc. were a LOT to handle, and his sweet little Red was shy; he just hoped everyone at his mom’s behaved.
Sunday morning they got up early and met Dan’s parents in Revere at their parish, St. Anthony’s of Padua. A definite change of pace from Saint Susanna’s, old school gothic compared to her modern new age, it was beautiful, but just one more thing to intimidate her. Who the hell's idea was it that they meet his parents at Mass, when they couldn’t talk, and his parents could judge how Catholic she was.
Standing outside on the steps he held her hand tightly. “It’ll be okay, honey. They will love you, I love you.”
“Daniel,” Cora heard the voice before she actually saw anyone, then like a little salt and peppered haired, whirling dervish came up and wrapped her arms around Dan. “It’s so good to see you, it’s been weeks.”
Not letting go of her hand, Dan cleared his throat and peeled his mom off him, “Mom, Dad, this is Cora O’Malley, Cora, this is my mother, Theresa, and my father, Domenic.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. & Mrs. Santagata, Happy Easter, Buona Pasqua.” Cora plasters on a smile, trying hard not to shake out of her new shoes.
“We’re Terri and Dom, Cora, and you’re even more lovely than Daniel described,” wrapping her arms around her in a tight hug and kissing both of her cheeks.
Pulling back, Dan’s dad shakes her hand and smiles, “Buona Pasqua, Cora. Let’s head in so we can get a decent place to sit, your sisters and everyone should already be inside, except Sophia, who is already at home starting some of the cooking, except the ham, of course. Just a normal Sunday for her and all.”
Mass was not as stressful as Cora had thought and Dan held her hand almost the entire time. Getting in the car, Dan turned on some music to calm her down, singing along off key to his favorite song, one he sang to her often, Birdhouse in Your Soul by They Might Be Giants. He always asked her to make a little birdhouse in her soul for him, and she always smiled and kissed him. There was so much more room than that for him in her soul, she just could never find enough words to articulate it properly. As they parked in his parents’ driveway, he took a familiar pouch out of his pocket and added a new charm, today was a small bird. “This is the part of me that lives in your soul.” He took off her bracelet and placed the bird, kissing her wrist as he closed the clasp.
“You romantic fool, you are going to make me cry before we go inside and your family will think I’m crazy and emotional or we got in to a fight.” She sighed, twisting the bird, how she got so lucky finding him she’d never know.
Dinner with his family was hectic and wild, his sisters and their kids and their husbands were all loud and boisterous. She felt overwhelmed, even though his sisters, especially Maria, went out of their way to make her feel welcome.
After dinner Cora was helping Mrs. Santagata and the sisters clean up the table and put away the leftovers, when everyone was in the kitchen Maria pulled Cora aside in the dining room.
“Cora, can we talk for a few minutes?” Maria was smiling but Cora was absolutely panicked.
“Sure, what’s up?” Cora pasted on a smile, inside what she felt was not a smile, not even close.
“My sisters and I have gotten together and talked,” ‘Oh crap’ was all Cora could think as Maria went on, they’re going to take me out back and kill me. “We’ve never seen Dan happier. We don’t know what it will take to keep you around, but just let us know and we’ll make sure he does it.”
Cora breathed a sigh of relief, and then started to laugh. “Seriously? Could you threaten him into picking up his socks? I mean, it’s not a problem now, but I could see in ten years it could be an issue.”
“Well probably not, we can’t get our own husbands to do that kind of stuff, well except for Sophia, her husband is a saint, well a Rabbi, but he puts the rest, except for Danny to shame.” Her smile is soft and she squeezed Cora’s hand. “We like you, Cora, we want you around long term.”
“Thank you, Maria, I don’t know what to say,” her voice was soft, she was overwhelmed by her kindness, “I know Dan really values your opinion. He considers you one of his best friends. I know he talked to you before we started dating and I can never thank you enough for encouraging him, you helped give him the push to reply to my email, you changed my life.”
“You changed his life, Cora, he’s happy, truly happy. He’s always been cheerful, gotten along well with everyone had a positive attitude, but since you came along he is truly happy for the first time in his life. It’s all you, and I’ll kick his ass if he ever does anything to fuck it up; I’ve got your back. Welcome to the Coven.”
Maria gave Cora a hug and then went back to cleaning up, the sisters coming back in and out, obviously aware that their spokes-sister had done her job and said their peace. Each one gave Cora a hug by the end of the day. When he drove her home that night he asked her about what Maria was yapping to her about, Cora just smiled and kept it to herself.
Chapter 29
As spring approached so did Cora’s birthday, whenever Dan asked what she wanted she told him she had all she needed and dinner and a quiet night alone was all she wanted to make the day complete. They had a nice dinner with her mother and his parents in the North End. Her mother enjoyed getting out and their parents got along really well. His parents were sensitive to her mother’s situation, and never made Cora feel like she was bringing all kinds of drama into their family and never treated her mother with anything but dignity and respect. It made Cora relax and it made Dan proud of his folks.
May third dawned sunny and warm, Cora stretched in bed, Dan’s side cold. She sat up listening to see if he was in the shower or if he’d headed downstairs. She smelled the coffee and decided he was downstairs, but before she could get up, she heard him coming up the stairs, “Stay where you are, do not move!”
“Um, okay, can I pee?” she asked, she’d just woken up and nature’s call required some attention.
“Okay, you can pee but then get your pretty ass back in to that bed, young lady.” She heard him struggling with the door as she headed off to the bathroom, if he was going to be cryptic and bossy he could get the door himself.
After taking care of business, washing her hands, and brushing her teeth she ran a comb through her wild red curls and hopped back into bed. “Okay, bossy, what’s up?”
“Well birthday girl, we’re starting with breakfast in bed.” With a flourish, he put a tray with French toast, cantaloupe and banana and a glass of peach orchard juice on her lap.
“But you took us all out to dinner last night, you didn’t need to do this too.” She smiled and he tucked a napkin in the collar of the T-shirt she was wearing, he loved her sleeping in his shirt. She dug into the delicious smelling breakfast, which wasn’t burnt at all. It had taken several tries but she taught him how to make French toast the right way. She really loved when they cooked together, when they did anything together really.
After she finished breakfast and he finished his coffee, they took a shower, tumbled into bed, and then after some acrobatic hot sex the like of which had Lance turning tail and running in the other direction, they showered again and got ready for the day. He wouldn’t tell her where they were going but told her to dress comfortably because they might take a walk around the lake later. She put on some yoga pants, a long sleeved T-shirt, and her sneakers and grabbed a fleece while she headed down the stairs. More and more of their clothes had ended up at each other’s places lately.
When they headed out to the cars, Cora noticed they’d been switched around, usually they to
ok whose ever was at the end of the drive, but today the Honda was there and Ringo was tucked under the carport.
“So, are you going to tell me where we are going?” she asked, wondering what her crazy boyfriend had up his sleeve today. He was always doing this, surprising her with “whisks” as he calls them, little day trips or overnights, or afternoon adventures, he’d just tell her how to dress and off they went.
After about thirty minutes in the car, they pulled up to a bicycle shop.
Cora turned to look at Dan, “Are we renting bikes today? Do you know you have completed just about every fun item I ever described as wanting to do in my emails? You’re insane, Danny boy.”
He just walked around, opened her door, and yanked her out.
They walked around the side where a man was standing with five different women’s bikes in front of him and a bike that looked just like Dan’s.
“I’ll have Tony go and put the rack on if you give me the keys,” the man said as Dan threw the keys to him and in turn he tossed them to a teenager who looked like he’d prefer a skate park to a bike shop.
“Cora, this is Dave, Dave, this is my girlfriend, Cora.” Daniel smiled through the introductions as they shook hands; Cora was still confused.
“Hi Cora, Dan wasn’t kidding, you are a shortie, but a cutie pie.” Dave was sixty-five if he was a day and looked like he’d spent most of his life outdoors. “Well, that rules these two out, I’ll be right back,” he says as he rolled two of the bikes away and a few minutes later came out with the same bikes only shorter.
“Okay, Cora, why don’t you give each of these a spin around the lot a time or two and let me know which one feels best. Dan, while she’s doing that, give yours the once over and make sure that Tony tuned everything up right.”
Dan hopped on his bike and rode it around the lot and off onto the path, Cora stood there looking confused. “Well go ahead, girl, they’re not going to bite, Danny said you know how to ride.” He handed her a green helmet and shooed her along.
“I do, it just seems a lot of trouble for a rental,” she said as she walked up to the yellow bike and mounted it, pushing off with the pedals and giving it a go.
“Oh we like to make sure anyone heading out is as comfortable as they can be,” Dave said, tipping his hat as she circled him, enjoying the look of pure joy on her face. Dan had called ahead, explained the what, why and wherefores and Dave was only too happy to help. Every kid deserved a bike as a birthday present, didn’t matter if they were turning six or thirty-six.
After a couple of rounds on the yellow, she switched over to the blue bike, then the pink, then another blue and then the green. It was likely the colors weren’t important, that was obvious. It was how it felt to ride and what was comfortable. She was taking the green bike for a second spin as Dan pulled back from the trail.
“This feels just fine, thanks for tuning it up, Dave.” Dan pulled to a stop and dismounted next to Dave. “I told you not to bother taking out anything but the green bike. I knew that’s the one she’d pick; it’s her favorite color.” He chuckled shaking his head at the old man. He was taking some video on his cell phone camera. He’d send it to Kaelyn later, she’d get a kick out of this, and he wanted to relive this glee on her face again and again. It made him feel like he’d hung the moon.
“It actually fits her best, the first three were awkward and it was this or the blue K2 we’d talked about the other day and she had some slipping on the pedal; color aside this is the one.” Dan and Dave smiled as she circled the lot giggling like a little kid.
She pulled to a stop in front of them. “So how long do we have the rental? I’d love to get in a ride around the lake if we have time.”
Dan pulled a bow out of his pocket and stuck it on Cora’s helmet, “Not a rental Red, she’s yours, happy birthday. A woman your age ought to own a bicycle.”
She started to cry, and the old man looked puzzled. Dan handed him his Amex and he walked away to give them some time alone, even at sixty-five Dave still didn’t get crying women—never would. They made him skittish.
“Sweetie, what’s wrong? I thought you’d love a bike.” He pulled up her chin and kissed her softly. “I’ve been researching for weeks. Actually, truth be told, I started looking at women’s bikes online when you mentioned you didn’t own one, and when I was trying to decide what to get you for your birthday this seemed perfect.”
“It is perfect you, big idiot, it’s just too much.” She threw her arms around him in a big hug squeezing him and knocking her helmet askew in the process. “This is too big a gift for me. I bought you bookcases for the office for your birthday, from Ikea.”
“Which you then put together, which you know I cannot do and that’s worth ten bikes. Now let’s dry those eyes, finish up with Dave so he doesn’t think his horrible skills as a salesman made you cry and let’s head for a ride around the lake and a picnic.” She pushed her bike inside, where Dave added an old-fashioned wicker basket, a gift from Burkes Bikes, to go along with her sweet new ride.
She hugged Dave, and Tony, who looked mortified that some crying old woman was hugging him and hugged her new bike and she and Dan rolled it out the front door and put it on the bike rack on the car.
“Well, that explains why you moved Ringo,” she said, still sniffling a little.
“Being the laziest of all the Beatles, he can’t carry anything, not even a tune, let alone two bikes.” He took the kick to the shin he had coming to him, mocking the car was sacrilege, and kissed her again before tucking her in to the car and heading to the bike path at the lake.
This is what he was looking for, moments like this when he could make her smile and fill her with joy. She didn’t need things, but when he did give her things she had such a gracious heart, it overwhelmed him. She’d never have to give him another gift as long as he lived if she’d promise to stay with him forever. It was too soon for that, he’d know when she was ready for that, but for now a bike ride, a picnic and her infectious joy. Life did not suck for Dan and Cora.
Chapter 30
They went on like this, happy moments, quiet moments, moments filled with passion, almost six months in and he still couldn’t get enough of her touch, her taste, her smell. He made a point to have lunch with her once a week, out of the building. He’d taken her to Joe and Lynne’s a few times and those two got on like a house on fire. They played Scrabble and the men watched the game in Joe’s basement man cave. Cora was surprised at how easy they took her in, as if she’d always been there, like they’d always been Cora and Dan, the same went with Kaelyn and Tommy, although with two kids under five and another on the way, a night of fun with them was far less frequent.
Every day she woke up, some days with him, some days on her own, the days on her own sucked more that’s for sure, and she couldn’t figure out how she’d gotten so lucky. She waited for the shoe to drop, she knew it had to someday, but she was so happy she ignored it and hoped it would disappear, because things did that, right? That’s how adults dealt with problems.
On a Friday afternoon, Joe stopped in to see Dan on his way out for the weekend.
“Man, I can’t tell you how happy I am that you listened to me and asked Cora out. You are one lucky son of a bitch to have that woman love you.” Joe had the stapler in hand, he was teasing Dan, but the last time he’d actually needed a Band-Aid and they’d both gotten in trouble from the women.
“Well, I am a lucky son of a bitch, but if you recall she emailed me first and then I asked her on a date, you didn’t actually act as a messenger or go between, we established already that this isn’t seventh grade, right?” They did this once a week, Joe, glad to see his friend happy tried to take credit. Dan pretended to get cranky and they threw stuff then they had beer, not like chicks who talked about their feelings and shit.
Thoughtful for a moment, Dan looked at Joe and said, “In all seriousness man, you were right, when you know, you know and I knew and it was because you told me to nut up
… and I did. In the end, I’m going to have that pretty little redhead wearing my ring and my name and living under my roof. I’ll let you take partial credit, but if anyone asks I’ll disavow all knowledge.”
“I’m just happy to know you’re happy, you two are great together. It’s like you’ve always been together, you’re so smooth, do you ever even fight? About anything?”
“I thought we weren’t talking about feeling because we aren’t chicks,” he said, pretending to scratch his nuts and then spit. “But no, we never fight, and rarely argue and even then it’s small stuff. I still sometimes feel like she’s holding back, but then I think it’s just me and my insecurity and I move on.” Shutting off his monitor he gets up, the universal signal to Joe to get the fuck out so they can all go home. “You know I never told you this but after the Valentine's thing Raj came into my office and apologized. He hoped I wasn’t mad and that he hoped things worked out for me and Cora, and said he’d try to be less of a dick.”
“You never mentioned that, and that’s because we don’t talk about feelings. Now go home and have some hot sweaty sex on the dining room table with that redhead you’re living in sin with so us old married folks can live vicariously through your wild life, and the single lonely dudes like Raj who still live in their mom’s basement can be jealous.” Joe smacked him on the shoulder as they headed out and closed the door behind him.
He was indeed heading home to make love to his beautiful Cora. They hadn’t actually christened the dining room table, that wasn’t a half-bad idea.
Chapter 31
In late July, they were out for a Sunday drive to nowhere. Dan took her hand and squeezed it and said, as simply as if he were saying the sky is blue, “I love you, Cora.” He said it every day, sometimes more than once. Each time it surprised her, how a man as amazing as him could love a girl as messed up as her.
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