by Kate Morris
“Say Cory was going to the same college as you on some sort of sports scholarship. Would you have dated him?”
“I don’t think we would’ve run in the same circles.”
Sam smiles and says, “Maybe you had to tutor him in something…”
“Etiquette?” Paige jokes.
Sam laughs quietly. “Yes, something like that.”
“Cory’s not a dumb jock. He’s actually really smart.”
“I know that, silly. I’m just saying for instance. What if you met him at a college party then. Would you have gone out with him?”
Paige thinks about this for a minute. She was dating someone back then. He was definitely nothing like Cory. He was perfect on paper. He turned out to be a real scumbag who slept with her roommate and friend.
“I doubt it,” she finally answers. “He’s not my type.”
“Doesn’t sound like it after what we found out about you two today.”
Paige shakes her head and rolls her eyes. “Yeah.”
“I bet you would’ve. I bet he would’ve asked you out enough times that you would’ve relented. He’s like that…”
“So annoying!” Paige complains.
“Then you would’ve gone on a date, probably something strange since we’re talking about Cory.”
“A ribs eating competition,” Paige teases.
“No,” Sam exclaims with a laugh. “He’s not that bad. He probably would’ve taken you hiking or fishing or something. He told me once that he always liked doing stuff like that. He went with his dad a lot and sometimes took Em.”
Paige lets her gaze fall to her hands in her lap. His tough, exterior shell keeps the pain of his own losses concealed so well that she forgets how many loved ones he’s also buried.
“He said that Kelly would come home on leave and go hunting with them. They even took trips up north to hunt big game.”
“I can see that,” Paige acknowledges.
“Then he would’ve charmed the pants off you, Paige Murphy,” Sam says. “Oh, geesh! Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that!”
This time they both laugh. After such a horrible and humiliating day, laughing for a moment feels good.
“That was brutal,” Paige admits with a smile.
“I don’t think you should discount Cory’s good intentions. He may know you better than you think he does. And he does love you. Of that much, I’m sure. Cory isn’t the kind of man to throw words like that around.”
“Yes, I’d say so since today was the first time I’ve heard of it.”
“I thought he said he’s been asking you to marry him quite frequently.”
Paige nods and explains, “Yes, he has, but he’s never outright said that he loves me. He implied it a few times, but never said it.”
“Well, he said it today all right!” Sam boasts. “I think you should consider his proposal. He’s a good man, Paige. And he wants to commit to you. I mean, come on! That’s kinda’ hard to find, even at the end of the world!”
She and Paige share a laugh again, ending up on their backs on the bed.
“Men are so much trouble,” she complains.
Sam rolls to her side and says. “Some more than others.”
“Sorry about whatever is going on with you and my brother.”
Sam nods and says, “I know. I don’t hold anything against you, Paige. You’ll always be my sister.”
This revelation brings tears to Paige’s eyes. She’s never had a sister. Now she has a house full of them. Hearing Sam say this is almost as poignant and meaningful as Cory’s declaration of love.
“You can tell me. I can also keep a secret,” Paige offers and strokes Sam’s hair back from her forehead, tucking it behind her ear.
“There really isn’t much to tell, not any more than you already know.”
“What about Henry? Do you love him? I guess that’s out in the open now, too. I didn’t know you were interested in him.”
Sam frowns and says, “I don’t know if I am. I’m very confused right now.”
“That’s ok. You’re allowed to be. You’ve been through so much. You deserve to be confused. And you deserve to be happy. If you can’t find happiness here on the farm, then you should seek it elsewhere. It’s only fair, Sam.”
She nods, tears forming in her eyes again. Paige rests her hand against Sam’s soft cheek.
“Thanks, Paige, for understanding.”
“What are sisters for?”
Her friend smiles and nods. They talk a while longer before Paige leaves her room. When she goes back downstairs, there is still a meeting taking place in Doc’s study. She tiptoes. Paige doesn’t want to discuss her relationship with Cory with anyone else in the family, and she’s sure there are a lot of people who are curious about it.
She is almost out the back door when Hannah’s voice stops her. She comes from the mudroom holding an armload of linens. Paige had been hoping that most everyone had gone to bed already.
“Hey, Paige,” she says, knowing full well that it is she who is trying to make a hasty escape out the back door.
“Oh, hi, Hannie,” she mumbles awkwardly.
“I was just getting you some fresh linens for your bed out in the cabin,” she says, handing the stack of clean bed sheets to her.
For some reason, Hannah’s kind gesture of thinking about Paige’s comfort almost breaks her numb state.
“Thanks, Hannah. That was nice.”
“No problem,” she answers and walks around Paige to the kitchen.
“Need help?” she offers, not wanting to be rude after Hannah just thought of her needing clean sheets.
“No, not really,” she answers. “Have a seat a moment. I just made tea.”
Paige pauses a moment. Then she says, “Sure,” although she’d like to turn Hannah down and flee to the privacy of the cabin. Facing the family is not something she’s ready to do.
She takes a seat at the long island as Hannah places a mug of steaming hot tea in front of her.
“A good hot beverage makes everything feel better,” Hannah informs her.
Paige would like to tell her that tea, coffee, or even a glass of bourbon isn’t going to fix her woes. She sips the tea anyway.
“Thanks, Hannah,” she says.
“Rough day?” she inquires.
Paige laughs, chokes on her tea and says, “Just a little.”
Hannah takes a seat across from her and stirs her own tea. “I figured you two wouldn’t be able to carry on much longer without someone finding out.”
“What? You knew?” Paige asks with surprise.
“I had my suspicions. Cory’s like my little brother. I knew he was in love with someone. He’s been acting differently for a while now. I figured it was you. I’m just sorry it all came out the way it did. It had to be difficult to have all of your problems and personal issues bared to the whole family.”
Paige nods, remembers that she must respond with words and says, “Yes, it was pretty rough. I feel like a complete idiot.”
“No, don’t feel that way.”
“I’m sure everyone is angry and…disgusted with my behavior. And your grandfather? Oh, good grief! I don’t think I could possibly face him.”
Hannah chuckles and says, “You think this is the first time Grandpa’s ever been surprised by things around here? He figured it out about me and Kelly before everyone else knew. At his age, I think he’s kind of seen it all.”
Paige smiles and says, “Yes, but I don’t want to disappoint him. And I certainly don’t want everyone to think badly of me, especially him.”
“I think you’re safe,” Hannah says and reaches for her hand. Her hands are small but warm and comforting. “Don’t worry, Paige. Nobody is going to have a negative opinion of you, dear. I think Cory might be in a hotter seat than you.”
Her turn of phrase makes Paige smile, but then it fades as she realizes what Hannah is saying.
“Wait, that’s not fair. I don’t want Cory getting into a lot of trouble ov
er this. It wasn’t his fault.”
“I know. Trust me, I know this well. Cory is a reputable man of good character. But he does really love you.”
“If it would help, I’ll move to town with Simon like he wants to.”
“Do you want to move?”
“No!” Paige whispers vehemently. “I really don’t want to, but if the family is going to punish Cory for what we’ve done, then I’ll move to town. I don’t want to leave here, but I would. I just feel safe here.”
“We don’t want you to move, either, Paige,” Hannah reassures her. “Nobody does. It’s just that Grandpa is set in his ways. If Cory wants to marry you, then he’ll likely want the two of you to get married. Or else stop…well, you know, stop doing that.”
Paige blushes and is glad that Hannah is blind, although she is quite sure that her friend knows of her embarrassment. It seems that Hannah knows everything about everyone. Paige feels like she did that time back in high school and she got caught sneaking out one night to meet her friends. She’d gone to a bonfire, even drank a beer, and kissed a boy. The exit wasn’t the problem. The re-entry is what got her busted by her mother, who’d just come home from a night shift at the hospital. She’d not been too happy. Paige had been grounded for a month. She’d spent the time feeling more and more foolish as the punishment had gone on. It was a life-changing month. She’d never wanted to displease her mother again. Not because she got caught, but because she didn’t like the look of disappointment in her mother’s eyes that night. She never wanted to see that again. Now she feels the same way about the McClane family. They probably think she’s some sort of harlot that came to the farm to seduce the first single man she found. It’s all completely irrational, but it doesn’t stop the idea from entering her mind and weighing down her conscience.
“Of course. It was already over before today. I had no intention of carrying on anymore with Cory.”
“Do you have feelings for him?”
“Yes, he’s a good person. I like him just fine. I just don’t want marriage and kids and all that.”
Hannah doesn’t say anything to this but is silent. She sips her tea and nods. Paige wishes she could read her mind.
“I know he’s your brother-in-law, but I just don’t want to be married.”
“Ok, that’s your choice. We won’t judge you for it.”
“Thanks,” Paige acknowledges.
She talks for a while longer with Hannah, all the while hoping not to see the look of disappointment in her sightless eyes. It never comes, but Paige wonders if Hannah isn’t just a little disenchanted with her that she has no desire to marry Cory. She doesn’t want to hurt him.
“Have you seen him?” Paige asks of Cory.
Hannah replies, “Yes, he’s gone. Went to check out that camp they found. John went with him.”
“Oh,” she says softly. Paige wishes she could’ve talked with him before he left. She feels dreadful about this whole situation, especially if he is taking the brunt of the blame for this.
“He’ll be back in the morning,” Hannah supplies.
“Right.”
She leaves Hannah to her tea and heads to the cabin for the night. Paige goes to her bed in their little cabin, the place she used to sleep and until this afternoon, Cory slept before her. It smells like him, even with the clean sheets care of Hannie. His manly scent lingers in the pillow and mattress as if he has permanently left his mark there. She tosses and turns for what seems like hours, the day’s events playing over and over again in her mind. What a disaster. She is so humiliated by the revealing of such a personal circumstance. Cory hadn’t seemed embarrassed at all. In fact, other than the fight with Simon and the pain of lying to her brother, Cory had acted like he was relieved. This bothers her. He needs to let it all go.
She finally falls asleep with a good dose of regret and guilt riding along the edges of her consciousness.
Chapter Thirteen
Cory
“Are you going to talk to him?” John asks beside him as they lie on the ground.
“I’ll try. I don’t know if he’ll listen,” Cory answers. They’ve been spying on the camp for the last sixteen hours. They have lain on the forest floor all night, morning, and now into the afternoon. Movement at the camp has been almost constant. Men returned last night around midnight. There were about thirty of them that came in on motorcycles, a couple of trucks, and ATV’s. He and John circumvented their camp and found their entry point. Then they’d come back to their original post and waited for something to happen. So far, that hasn’t been much. However, the men had unloaded boxes and crates of materials from the backs of the trucks. They looked to have contained random items from clothing and canned goods to car supplies and building materials. They undoubtedly could’ve been looted from people on the road somewhere, but they also could’ve been lifted from stores or abandoned homes. All totaled there are about sixty people living in the camp that they’ve accounted for.
“You have to try,” John tells him. “He’s your best friend.”
Cory sighs and says, “I know, man. I didn’t think this would happen. I wanted to talk to him about his sister, but I couldn’t get her on the same page with me.”
“Yeah, and he was already in a mood,” John says.
“Really? I hadn’t talked to him much since he got home.”
John pauses as he looks intently through his binoculars. Then he finally says, “He’s been in a funk since Sam moved. He was complaining to Reagan that Sam shouldn’t be allowed to go back to Dave’s to live because the compound was attacked. He wants us to stop her from returning. He doesn’t think it’s safe over there.”
“Sounds like they handled those assholes just fine,” he returns. “Dave said that nobody made it through their gates or fences. Seems safe enough. Seemed even safer than our place when I was over there visiting last week.”
“I agree. He’s just being overprotective.”
“Gee, wonder why,” Cory mocks with derision.
“Yeah,” John agrees quietly.
Cory points, “Over there.”
It looks like the men are awake again and joining the women. If they leave, he and John plan on following them.
“Got it,” John says as he follows Cory’s viewpoint.
They continue to watch the men moving around. It seems like they are preparing for the day ahead.
“Do you know something that the rest of us don’t about why Sam left?” John asks.
“No, not really. It’s just my hypothesis.”
John just says, “Hm.”
The men are throwing gear into their truck and on the backs of two ATV’s and one motorcycle. A woman walks forward and hands over a satchel to one man, who promptly backhands her across the cheek.
“Asshole,” Cory says.
“Agreed.”
Other women come forward to comfort and shield her. Another man shouts, and the women disperse. A few of them gather the children who were playing in the yard and take them inside the smaller house.
“Interesting,” Cory remarks.
“Uh-huh,” John agrees. “Let’s go. They’re getting ready to move.”
He runs alongside John, keeping pace easily and covering a lot of ground in a short amount of time. They make it to their truck, well-concealed in a thicket of brush and long grass. John fires it up and carefully backs out. Then they are speeding along a back road to circle the broad expanse of woods and make it to the entry point of the hidden forest camp. They pull off about a half mile from the camp’s concealed entrance and into a driveway which leads to an abandoned farm on the opposite side of the road. John drives slowly back the long, gravel driveway and pulls around behind a barn. They will be able to see the hidden entrance to the forest dwellers. Cory isn’t sure why those people aren’t living on this clearly empty farm instead of in the middle of the woods. They could’ve developed the farm into what the McClanes have, a place that would flourish with a little hard labor and some live
stock. John puts it in park but doesn’t cut the engine. They will wait to hear or see if those men pull out onto the road.
“Did you really see her kissing Henry?” John asks, still hung up on the issue of Sam and Simon.
“Uh, yeah,” Cory answers uncomfortably. “I don’t know how thrilled she was about it or if she likes him all that much, but he did kiss her. She didn’t slug him, so maybe she might like him a little. Hell, what the shit do I know? I’m in love with a woman that can barely stand me.”
“I’d say she can stand you,” John teases.
“Enough to get in my pants all the time, but not enough to marry me.”
His friend laughs. “She’s just using you for sex, and you’re complaining about it?”
Cory laughs, too. “Yeah, I guess I am.”
“Sometimes they just need a nudge.”
“Wow, what a couple of pussies we are,” Cory jokes, getting more laughter out of John.
“I’m ok with that,” his friend says. “As long as I got Reagan in the end, I was willing to do just about anything, even humble myself.”
“I could get down on my knees in the back yard and beg her, and Paige would still deny me. She’s got issues, bro.”
“We all do,” John retorts quietly.
“True,” Cory says, knowing that John is likely thinking about his wife and what she’s been through and what has made her the way she is.
They watch a few minutes more, and finally, the vehicles come pouring out the lane like rats coming up out of a sewer drain during a hard rain storm. John gives them a minute to get ahead and finally follows at a far distance. They are heading south.
“Keep an eye out,” John warns him. “We don’t know where they’re going or if they’re moving in a random pattern looking for people to rob.”
“Or if this is even them,” Cory says.
“Right,” John agrees.
They drive for about ten miles until the vehicles ahead of them turn off to their left. Again, it is a hidden drive on a road that is not well-traveled or by the looks of it often used. John goes past the turn off point very slowly and then drives about a mile away where they stow the truck in an attached garage of a home with the garage door open. Then they sprint on foot back through the woods and fields and a small suburban neighborhood until they come to the hidden drive again. They stay in the woods so that they don’t blow their cover. It doesn’t take long before they locate the place the men have gone. There is a small log home nestled in the woods. There are quite a few compact, tiny shacks around it in the woods. They don’t appear to be very old but, instead, recently built. The ground around them looks freshly cleared out. He and John hunker down to spy on them.
