Dreaming of You and Me

by Kristy Tate

  “What do you think?” he asked.

  Nora licked her lips and scrambled for an answer. “I admit, there were times when I felt intimidated at Apex. And there were men—and women—who worked really hard at intimidation. But fortunately, I always had Blake...until I didn’t.”

  “Blake?”

  “My ex-husband.” She shook herself. The last thing she wanted to do was to talk about Blake. “My point is, there will always be those who think they can build a bigger and better rocket ship even if they lack the know-how, and therefore, there will always be bullies. I’m not sure gender has anything to do with anything.”

  A knock on the door pulled them out of the conversation. A tall blond teenager dressed in a sleeveless sundress and strappy sandals stood in the doorway. “Excuse me, Dr. Rowling. My mother would like to speak to you?”

  Cole pushed away from the desk. “Welcome back, Melissa! Did you have a nice summer?”

  “I did?” Melissa blushed with pleasure. “This was my first year as a counselor at Balboa surf camp?”

  Nora wondered if Melissa ended all of her sentences with question marks or if she saved all of her questions for Cole.

  Cole patted Nora’s shoulder. “I’d love to talk some more. A few of us will be at The Green Hog Bar tonight. Join us?”

  Nora nodded, propped her elbows on her desk, and watched Cole’s very attractive backside as he joined Melissa and disappeared down the hall.

  NORA SAT AT THE CORNER of Main Street and Eucalyptus, her car idling while she waited for the light to turn green. She watched clusters of girls surging on the sidewalks. A few carried shopping bags, but most were gathering at the movie theaters. In a few days, many of them—if not all—would fill her classroom. What would they think of her? What would she think of them?

  Nora reflected on her own high school experience at Santa Maria. Her teacher, Miss Cummings, had been a major influence on her decision to study literature. Her dad, who had also gotten his degree in literature, hadn’t minded paying for an undergrad in liberal arts as long as she had understood that the arts were nice to visit, but they weren’t a destination. His Bachelor of Arts in English had been simply preparatory for his law degree, and he’d thought that Nora’s should be the same. But Nora had detested the idea of law. Blake, fortunately, had started Apex during their sophomore year and by the time he’d finished with his undergrad, Apex was eating all of his time and attention. He’d been the one to suggest Nora attend MBA school. He and Apex had needed her.

  Who would have thought that would ever change?

  A driver of a Hyundai behind her bleeped his horn. Nora gave him an apologetic wave and pulled into a parking space beside The Green Hog Bar. This wasn’t a date, was it? Cole was just being friendly, right? She couldn’t date her brother.

  Nora hadn’t been on a date with anyone other than Blake in...well, ever. They’d met in kindergarten and had been best friends since sixth grade. In high school, they’d been voted couple most likely to get married. And they had. It hadn’t been a surprise to anyone when they finally announced their engagement during their junior year of undergrad. It had been expected. And then the unexpected happened...

  Nora checked her lipstick in the mirror and smoothed back her hair. She didn’t look so very much older than the girls milling on the sidewalk, but she felt her years and experiences settling across her shoulders. She wanted to protect the girls from her mistakes and help them to lead their very best lives. Teaching them out of great books could make a difference—and then they could make a difference in the world. She thought of the school’s mission statement: Compassion coupled with edification. Canterbury cares.

  Now I’m a part of Canterbury, she thought—and I care.

  COLE LEANED AGAINST the bar and watched the door, waiting and hoping Nora would walk in. He’d just finished her novel that afternoon and random sentences and phrases kept swimming in his thoughts. He wanted to ask Nora about Vanessa and Pierre. He tightened his fingers around his bottle glass of Coke, trying not to dwell on the ending final chapter of the book where all the questions had been resolved and finally Vanessa and Pierre could kiss without interruption.

  That kiss...was that how she experienced a kiss? Because if it was, he wanted that, too. With her.

  He shook himself. She was a teacher. He was the principal. Having a relationship with one of his teachers was almost as bad as having a fling with one of his students. Not really, but almost. Think of how complicated and messy it could potentially become.

  But all those doubts walked out the door when Nora stepped into the bar. She wore a plain white shirt, dark fitted jeans, and red strappy sandals. Her glance flicked over him in a curious and friendly way. She didn’t seem any more interested in him than in Sprog. That was good, right? Her indifference made him widen his smile. He even winked at her.

  She turned away, ordered a drink from the bar, and found a seat at the table surrounded by the other teachers. He watched her from a distance, taking note of Barry, who had scooted his chair so close to hers that his knee pressed against her thigh. She angled away from him, obviously trying to put a distance between them. Chad sat on her other side, munching on a slice of pizza. Cole wanted to join them, and he knew someone would make room if he asked, but...his phone buzzed, pulling him out of his thoughts. He saw it was from his mom and he stepped outside to take the call.

  NORA WATCHED COLE DISAPPEAR through a back door. She picked up a slice of pizza, and tried to dial into the conversation buzzing around her. She longed to follow Cole outside. Suddenly, the bar felt claustrophobic. The air too heavy. The music too loud. Barry, who had obviously had too much to drink, hemmed her in.

  “Are you staying for the karaoke?” Barry asked, his alcohol- tainted breath making her gag. “Maybe you and I could do a little duet. You’d like that, hmm?”

  “I’m not really a stand-in-front-of-the-crowd sort of person,” Nora said.

  Barry looked baffled and leaned away from her so he could study her face to see if she was serious. “How can you say that? You’re a teacher, for pity’s sake! Standing in front of a crowd is what we do! It’s who we are!”

  He was so right. Augh. Even drunk, Barry knew more about what it takes took to be a teacher than she did. “I don’t sing.”

  Barry grinned and leaned in, practically laying his head on her shoulder so he could look down her blouse. “I bet I could make you sing.”

  Chad finished his pizza, wiped his hands on a napkin, and turned to Nora. “Come on.” He stood and held out his hand.

  “Where are we going?” she asked. At this point, she’d go anywhere as long as it was in the opposite direction of Barry.

  Chad nodded at the stage.

  Nora stood, but she also shook her head. “I wasn’t lying about not singing.”

  “You don’t have to sing, just say the words.” He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “It’ll get you away from the Sprog.”

  Nora grinned. “Okay. Do you have a song in mind?”

  “I know just the one.” Chad placed his hand on the small of her back and guided her across the room and up the few steps of to the stage.

  It felt strange to be behind a microphone with a crowded barroom watching her. Chad told the DJ to play Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do.”

  “We’ll alternate lines. Just say the words. You’ll be great,” Chad whispered to her.

  Chad was so funny singing his lines, Nora relaxed and by the end of the song, was enjoying herself. When the bar exploded into applause, she took a small bow. Chad swept her into an embrace and waltzed her off the stage.

  Cole stood at the bar, watching her with dark, unreadable eyes. He must have come back in sometime during the song. Why would she feel his gaze so much more than any of the others? Everyone was watching her, or at least they had been until the song ended, but for a moment, she felt as if she and Cole were the only two in the room. Was it a sibling thing?

  She took her seat at t
he table. Fortunately, Barry had left. Moments later, Missy took Barry’s chair, but before she could say anything, Barry returned.

  Barry plunked his beer on the table in front of Missy. “You took my spot,” he growled.

  “Didn’t know you owned it,” Missy said.

  “Find another place to sit,” Barry said through clenched teeth.

  “Hey, buddy,” Chad said, touching Barry on the arm. “It’s probably time for you to go home.”

  Barry flung away from Chad. “Don’t touch me!” He glanced around with watery eyes. “The party is just starting.” He leered at Nora. “Am I right?” he asked her, leaning in so close she felt his warmth and smelled his breath.

  He obviously wasn’t in a condition to drive and since he and Nora were neighbors, she seemed like the best choice to chauffeur him home, but she didn’t want to be his designated driver. “Can we call him a taxi or an Uber?” she whispered to Chad.

  He smirked. “In this town? You’re kidding, right?”

  “I can hear you!” Barry bellowed. “And I’m not leaving!”

  “I’d take him, but I’m picking up my grandfather in about,”—Chad looked at his watch—“ten minutes.”

  “Barry,” Nora put on her schoolteacher voice, “I’m ready to go. Yeah? You want a ride with me?”

  “With you?” He jerked a thumb at Chad. “Not with him?”

  “Right. You’ll ride in my car,” Nora said, feeling ill and wondering how she’d get him out of her car once she got him in. “Want to walk out with me?”

  Barry draped an arm around her shoulder while Chad took up a position on the other side of her. They made an awkward threesome as they crossed the floor, then headed out the door, and down the steps.

  “I’m just over there,” Nora said, pointing at her Range Rover and steering Barry in the right direction. After she clicked the fob to unlock the door, Chad held the door open so Barry could ease onto the seat.

  “You going to be okay?” Chad ran his fingers through his hair. “I feel awful about this.”

  Nora nodded and leaned against her car. The brisk night air steadied her.

  Chad looked at his watch again. “I gotta go, or my grandfather will be left standing outside in the dark. It’s his night out with his buddies.”

  “Nora! Wait!” Cole pushed through the bar doors and strode down the sidewalk. “Let me give Barry a ride home.”

  Nora practically wilted with relief. “You don’t mind?”

  “Not at all.” Cole reached in to pull Barry to his unsteady feet.

  “I’m not going with you!” Barry slumped back into the passenger seat and tried to close the door on Cole’s leg. Cole jumped out of the way. Chad lunged for the door a moment too late. Barry hit the lock button and leaned back into his seat with a satisfied smile.

  Cole reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys. “I’ll take your car if you’ll take mine.”

  On an impulse, Nora threw her arms around Cole. “Thank you!”

  He patted her on the back and held on a moment longer than necessary. Warmth started at the top of Nora’s head and seeped down into her boots. She felt at home with him, as if he had always been a part of who she was and as if he would always be. She remembered her strange dreams—the ones he’d starred in—and wondered about the connection that had started long before they’d ever met.

  Chad cleared his throat. “I would have driven him home if I’d known I would have gotten that response. Grandpa Bernie can stand on the sidewalk...”

  Nora hugged him, too, but the warmth and strange familiarity she’d experienced with Cole wasn’t there. Which made sense. She pulled away from Cole, and to hide her flushed cheeks, she fished in her purse for her keys.

  “I’ll walk you to my car,” Cole said.

  They said goodnight to Chad and walked side by side to his truck at the far end of the parking lot to his truck.

  “See you at home,” he said, and his words sent another tingle of warmth down her spine.

  AFTER COLE PUT BARRY to bed—something he hoped to only have to do once in his life—he found Nora sitting on Barry’s porch, clutching a Mason jar full of cookies.

  “What’s this?” he asked.

  Nora stood and held out the jar. “A thankyou token.”

  “You don’t have to do that,” Cole said, but he took the jar anyway. “Are these cookies?” he asked hopefully.

  “Chocolate peanut butter. I love them.... I hope you will too.”

  “Want to share?”

  “Tonight?” Her voice squeaked with surprise.

  “Is it too late? Tomorrow, lunch? We can take the horses and go on a picnic up Dawson’s Trail.” He noticed her hesitation and wondered if he’d misread her. “Do you have plans? I know it’s late notice...”

  “No, I would love to go. I just...” She leaned forward and said in a small voice, “I’m not great with horses.”

  “Let me introduce you to Betsy. She’s almost as old as her namesake, Betsy Ross, and she’s as gentle as a sleeping poodle.”

  “That sounds great,” Nora said, hoping that there wasn’t anything in her tone to suggest she felt otherwise.

  I'm in a field surrounded by wildflowers. In the distance is a school with an enormous bell tower. The bells are ringing, calling me. I walk and walk, but I'm not going anywhere. The school doesn't get any closer. The school remains in the distance. A dog bounds to meet me. It's the dog from my other dream, the one that keeps me company on the riverbank. He leaps and I catch him in my arms. I no longer care that the school remains out of reach.

  From Nora's Dream Journal

  CHAPTER 4

  “Did I wake you?” Nora asked when Darby finally picked up her phone.

  “It’s okay,” Darby slurred. “I’m awake now. What’s up?”

  “I can’t sleep.” Nora lay back on the dew-damp grass and gazed at the star-studded sky.

  “So, you decided that misery loves company?”

  “Pretty much. How’s home?”

  “Sweetie, what’s wrong?”

  A breeze picked up and tickled Nora’s skin, making her shiver and sigh. “It’s Cole.”

  “The hunky principal? Has he turned mean?”

  “No, he’s great. I really, really like him. That’s why I hate lying to him.”

  “When you say you really, really like him—”

  “I mean as a brother.”

  “But what if he’s not?”

  “I know he is!”

  “We’re just going on Crystal’s word, right?”

  Nora sat up and hugged her knees. “I can’t explain it, but every time we’re together, I have this odd feeling of being home. Does that make sense? There’s a connection. I know he can feel it, too, but I’m afraid he’s misreading it.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “He invited me to go horseback riding tomorrow.”

  “Sounds harmless enough.”

  “We’re bringing a picnic.”

  “Boy Scouts have had wilder excursions.”

  “I need to tell him.”

  “I know you don’t mean any harm to his mom, but he might not see things the same way. She probably won’t see things that way. In my experience, if someone isn’t easy to find, that means they don’t want to be found.”

  “You’re probably right,” Nora said in a small voice. “What should I do? Should I cancel the horseback ride and picnic?”

  “Do you think it’s a date? If you think it’s a date, then I will definitely cancel. I know! I’ll make it clear that I’m uncomfortable dating my boss.”

  “At some point, you’re going to have to tell him and Irena the truth.”

  “Maybe,” Nora conceded. “But not yet. And definitely not tomorrow. What about you? Have you told your family about Benji?” Nora had never told Darby about her mixed feelings about Darby and Benjamin’s relationship. She’d tried to be happy for Darby when she’d fancied herself in love with the man that she met during a trip
to London and barely even knew, but even before Benjamin had boarded the plane to L.A. to be with Darby, Nora had known the relationship was doomed.

  “Huh, no.” Darby audibly swallowed. “I feel sick just even thinking about him. I’ve managed to pretty much avoid my family.”

  “Isn’t that hard to do with so many of them living in your house?”

  “Yeah, but it’s not impossible.”

  “You’re going to have to tell them eventually.”

  “I need a date to my sister’s wedding,” Darby said glumly. “As long as I have a date, no one will bug me.”

  Nora secretly hoped Darby and Chad would fall in love so that Darby could live next door on Chad’s ranch. She tried not to think about leaving Canterbury herself. Despite her original plan, she was beginning to think of the school as her home.

  NORA MET COLE AT THE stables the next morning. He looked happy and relaxed. Despite the heat, he wore jeans and boots. He didn’t say anything when he saw her shorts and flip-flops, but a wrinkle appeared between his eyebrows.

  “Do I need to change?” she asked.

  He studied her feet. “I wonder if my mom’s boots will fit you.”

  “I can’t—” Nora began.

  “She won’t mind.” Cole started for the house, leaving Nora to trail behind him.

  “Wearing someone’s shoes is like—”

  He interrupted her. “Don’t tell me it’s like sharing underwear, because I won’t believe you.”

  Nora swallowed hard and balked at the Dutch door that led to the farmhouse’s back porch. “Your mom’s opinion is really important to me. I can’t ruin it by pinching her boots.”

  “You aren’t pinching her boots.” Cole pushed through the door while Nora stood on the steps. A fat gray cat came to wrap himself around Nora’s ankles. “You’ll return them in a couple of hours,” Cole said when he returned with a pair of red leather cowboy boots in his hands.