Dreaming of You and Me

by Kristy Tate

  “I wonder if the ideal really exists. I’ve never met the picture-perfect picture family.”

  “My friend Darby’s family comes close, and yet they still make her crazy. She doesn’t know how lucky she is. It’s funny; growing up, we both envied each other. I would have loved to live with a large, loving group of people and she liked coming to my house where I pretty much had the house, the TV, the bathroom, the computer, and later, the car to myself. At Darby’s, she never knew if she’d find her clothes in her closet or her sisters.” Nora laughed. “And her grandmother...you really need to meet Darby’s grandmother.”

  “Do you have grandparents?” Cole asked.

  “No, my grammy Eleonore died when I was twelve.” Nora sipped her wine and patted her lips with her napkin. “Do you know what really hurts? If my parents had been lying all those years, then my grandmother had to have been in on it. My parents, well, I get that. They’re attorneys and lying is part of their job...but my grammy?”

  Cole put his hand over Nora’s and gave her it a gentle squeeze. “I’m sorry.”

  Nora blinked back tears. “Everyone important to me lied.” She had said basically the same thing to Darby and Darby’s response—, “and so now it’s your turn?”— floated to Nora’s mind. “I’m sorry.” She looked at the ceiling until she was sure the tears wouldn’t fall.

  “Including your husband?” Cole asked gently.

  Nora’s stomach clenched. “I don’t want to talk about him, or my parents. Let’s talk about something happy. What are you doing for Christmas?”

  “My mom—Irena, my real mom—and I are going to a cabin in Lake Arrowhead. My sister will join us.”

  “Your sister— is she your sister, or Irena’s child?”

  “Well, I’m sure Irena would argue that Talia belongs to her, but technically, neither of us are is Irena’s biologically.”

  “So Irena never had children of her own?”

  “No.”

  Nora pushed away her plate, no longer hungry. “Do you want the soufflé now? It’s best warm.”

  “I am so stuffed. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten anything so fabulous.”

  “If you’re not hungry now, do you want to go for a walk?”

  “I would love that,” Cole said. “But are you sure? It’s pretty chilly outside.”

  “I’m game.”

  Cole stood and gathered up his dishes.

  “Just leave those,” Nora said.

  “Nope! In my family, if you didn’t cook up, then you clean up. Besides, this will just take a minute. I don’t want you to return home to a sink full of dishes.” He gave her an earnest stare. “I want to be invited back.”

  She collected her own dishes.

  “Nope,” Cole said firmly. “You can’t help. That’s part of the rule. Why don’t I wash up while you go and get your coat and mittens?” He looked pointedly at her shoes. They were cute, but they weren’t walking shoes.

  “If you’re sure...” Nora watched him go to the sink, turn on the water, and ferret in the side drawer for a sponge. She could get used to this really fast.

  COLE HELD THE DOOR open for Nora. Her cheeks flushed pink almost as soon as the chilly air hit her skin. She flipped up her hood and tucked her scarf into her jacket so that the only visible parts of her was were her nose and her bright blue eyes. Her beauty took his breath and his chest ached.

  “Where to?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. It’s just nice to be outside.”

  Not knowing where else to go, he headed for the stables. She fell into step beside him. “It’s cold.”

  She tucked her mittened hand around his arm and they walked in silence. “The stars are usually brighter here than at home in Shell Beach, but not tonight.”

  Cole glanced up at the cloud- shrouded moon. “I don’t think it will rain.” He searched for something to say but couldn’t find anything. He slid her a glance and reached a decision. “I don’t get you,” he finally blurted.

  “What do you mean?” she asked, although he suspected that she knew exactly what he meant.

  “Are we friends?” He stopped and stood in front of her.

  “I hope so.” She looked a little wounded.

  “Are we just friends? Will we always be just friends?”

  Her mouth formed an adorable little O, but she didn’t answer, so he plunged ahead. “Because not too long ago, you told me that we could only be friends, but tonight...well, do you make beef Wellington for all your friends?”

  He watched emotions chase across her face. After a moment, she stood on her tiptoes, leaned forward and kissed him.

  He nearly stumbled but caught himself. Then he caught her. Holding her tightly, he pulled away so he could look her in the eyes. “Is that an answer?”

  “It’s the best one I know.”

  “I think, just maybe, I can do better.” He put his hand on the back of her hood and brought his lips to hers. She’d kissed him first, but he decided he would kiss her best. And, maybe if they were lucky, they’d enjoy a lifetime of trying to one-up the last kiss. But he didn’t need to think about forever; he wanted nothing more than to be in the moment here and now.

  She gripped his arms as he lifted her slightly off the ground to bring him her to him. She tasted of wine. He wanted to consume her. Even knowing how difficult it would be to go to school tomorrow and pretend that nothing had happened, nothing had changed between them, he couldn’t stop himself. But he had to.

  He pulled away. Her already pink lips were now scarlet. Her dark lashes lay closed against her pale skin. She moaned slightly and her eyes fluttered open. Shivering, she gazed up at him. Something wet white landed on his cheek.

  He captured a snowflake on the tip of his finger. “It’s snowing,” he told her.

  “It’s magic. The first snow is always magical. Is it typical to have snow here?”

  He shook his head. “It’s rare, but not unheard of.”

  “You should make a wish,” she told him. “The person who catches the first snowflake of the season is granted a wish.”

  “But I didn’t catch it. You did, on your cheek.”

  “Shall we make it together?”

  “No, it’s yours.”

  “Then my wish is that you’ll kiss me again.”

  He grinned. “That’s funny; that was my wish, too.”

  I’m lost in a forest. Light flickers through the trees’ canopy. I’m arrested standing before a giant tree with limbs that bend like swings. I know it has secrets I need to learn. Birds flit in the air and squirrels chatter as they scurry to safety. They know something I don’t. A fox darts through the waist-high ferns. A buck with a magnificent rack of antlers follows. “What is it?” I ask the fleeing animals. A monster emerges. Lewis Carroll’s words come to mind.

  “Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

  The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

  Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun

  The frumious Bandersnatch!”

  He took his vorpal sword in hand;

  Long time the manxome foe he sought—

  So rested he by the Tumtum tree

  And stood awhile in thought.

  I know I should be worried because I don’t have a sword—vorpal or otherwise—but I all I can think is, so, this is a Tumtum tree.

  From Nora’s Dream Journal

  CHAPTER 11

  The next morning as Nora buttered her toast, she glanced out the window and spotted Blake’s car sitting beside her own. She glanced at her watch. Seven-twenty. She had planned to be at school by seven-thirty. School started at eight. Nora pulled her phone from her pocket and called Blake. Although she couldn’t see him, she could imagine him shifting in his seat and sleepily trying to locate his phone. He wasn’t a morning person, but he must have been up before dawn to be here at this hour.

  “Hello,” he muttered.

  “Is that your Tesla beside my cottage?”

  “Nora, thank goodness, I t
hought I would freeze out here! Can I come in?” The driver’s seat popped up and Blake with it. He waved at her through the window.

  “Of course, but I have to be at school in ten minutes.”

  “Can you get a sub?” Blake asked as he emerged from the car. He wore shorts and sandals and his hair looked like he’d just woken from a nap in his car.

  “No. Why would I do that?”

  “Give me a second.” He ended the call and sprinted for her door.

  She let him in and gave him a quick hug. He felt cold, but solid. His sturdiness had always made her feel safe...until she wasn’t.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I need you,” he simply said.

  COLE DROPPED BY NORA’S classroom to find a Turner Lawson sitting behind Nora’s desk. He looked up from a pile of papers with a grin. The students sat at their desks with books either in their hands or spread open before them. Turner pushed to his feet and strode across the room.

  “What are you doing here?” Cole asked. “Where’s Nora?”

  “She said she had some sort of emergency and asked if I could finish the semester for her.”

  “What?”

  Turner shrugged. “She said her friend Chelsea will take over the play.”

  “What the hell?” The words burst from Cole.

  Turner raised his hands in a helpless gesture.

  Cole bit his lower lip, his mind racing with questions. Did her sudden absence have anything to do with last night? High heels clicked down the hall and Cole looked up to see his mom approaching. Her pace slowed and her eyes widened when she caught sight of Turner.

  “Turner. What are you doing here?”

  “Ms. Tomas asked me to come,” he told her. “Said she had some sort of emergency.”

  Cole watched his mom process the news. “Her friend Chelsea is going to take over the play,” he told her.

  “How long is she out?” Irena asked.

  “Until Christmas break,” Turner said.

  “This is...surprising,” Irena said.

  “Not to mention disappointing,” Cole added.

  “You’ll need to talk to her about it,” Turner said.

  Cole looked at his watch. He had a Spanish class in fifty minutes. He had planned on using this time for tomorrow’s prep but decided that could wait.

  He tried to reason away his worry as he strode across the campus. The horses nickered at him as he passed the stables, and it sounded as if they were laughing at him. He gave the unfamiliar Tesla parked beside Nora’s Range Rover a curious glance before he knocked on her cottage door.

  A tall man with brown hair, matching eyes, and a shadow of stubble on his chin answered the door. “Looking for Nora?” he asked.

  Cole could only nod.

  “She’s in the shower.”

  Cole looked over the man’s shoulder at the steam rolling out of the open bathroom door.

  “I’ll tell her you came by.”

  “I’m her boss,” Cole said stiffly.

  The man laughed deep in his throat. “That’s what you think. I’ve known Nora a really long time—long enough to know that no one is the boss of Nora.”

  NORA EMERGED FROM HER bedroom in a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt, and a pair of socks. She wrung out her long hair with a towel.

  Blake looked up from his laptop. He’d already set up a command center on her kitchen table. “I’m sorry to drop this on you. It’s totally my fault.”

  “But to be fair, I haven’t been paying any attention to Apex, either,” Nora said, settling down beside him.

  He nodded. “But I told you...”

  She put her hand over his. “It doesn’t matter who said what, or who did or didn’t do this or that. All that matters now is that we save the company.”

  Blake pushed his fingers through his hair. “You know, love sucks. If I hadn’t been so gaga, none of this would have happened.”

  “Don’t blame yourself. It’s not helping. Let’s just worry about where we are right now and focus on where we want to be tomorrow.”

  “Ah, Nora,” Blake said. “I’ve missed you.”

  Her gaze softened. “I’ve missed you, too. But we don’t have time to be mushy. Let’s save Apex.”

  “How long will it take you to pack?”

  “Already done,” Nora said.

  “Let’s go.”

  NORA’S DISAPPEARANCE with the man in the Tesla fed the flames of the school’s gossip. Cole tried to ignore the rumors and the hole in the pit of his stomach whenever he thought of her. He tried not to think of their kiss, but every odd moment, whenever he fell idle, the memories would blindside him. And the pain would start all over again.

  A voice in his head urged him to reach out to her, but he honestly didn’t know where she’d gone, why she’d left, or who was the mystery man. So, he did what any man of his generation would do. He googled her name. Dozens of hits appeared. Many of them included the man, he’d met, Blake Tomas, the founder of Apex Technology and Nora’s ex-husband.

  “Knock, knock.” Aa woman knocked on his office door and peeked her head inside his office door. She had long dark hair and, a smattering of freckles across her cheeks, and was beautiful in a girl- next- door sort of way. Still, Cole was pretty sure she wasn’t a student.

  Cole turned the computer screen so the woman wouldn’t know who he’d been googling. His face warmed. He wasn’t stalking Nora; after all, she was his employee. But he wasn’t a teenager. This wasn’t high school. Well, actually, it was a high school...

  Cole stared at the woman in the doorway.

  “I’m Mercedes Tobler, Kayla’s mom. I’m helping with the play,” the woman introduced herself said. “Sorry to interrupt, but there’s been a bit of an emergency on stage. Thought you’d like to know.”

  “What sort of an emergency?”

  Mercedes took the question as an invitation to step inside his office. She wore a pair of tight jeans and a glittery sweater.

  “Mrs. Poole took a spill.” She lowered her voice. “They’re debating on calling an ambulance. Mrs. Poole says no, but Chelsea—the sub—she thinks that at the very least, Mrs. Poole should go home.”

  Frustration bubbled in Cole’s chest as he followed Mercedes down the hall to the auditorium. They had already lost Barry. Nora had disappeared off the face of the earth—, although, according to Turner, Nora was heavily compensating him for filling in for her. She was probably doing the same for her friend, Chelsea. But still, when it came to the students, finances weren’t the only concern. Continuity was important, too.

  But one look at Darrel’s gray face as she lay motionless on the floor, Cole reached into his pocket for his phone.

  “No service.” He swore. Pointing at Marcy, the girl who played Alice, he said, “Go to the office and tell Donna to call 911.”

  AFTER FOUR DAYS OF nearly round-the-clock negotiations with bankers, Blake leaned back in his chair and grinned at Nora. “We did it,” he said.

  Jubilation bubbled in Nora’s chest as she bounced across around the table to hug Blake. He gave her a tight squeeze. They were still in each other’s arms when the front door blew open and Nora’s parents walked in.

  “What’s this?” Katheryn asked.

  “Pumpkin, what’s going on?” Weatherford asked. Hope tinged his voice. Both of Nora’s parents loved Blake.

  Blake held up his finger. “This is not what you think.” He grinned at Nora. “We just saved Apex from a disastrous takeover.”

  “Take cover?” Katheryn asked.

  “From who?” Weatherford asked.

  “The Literati firm,” Blake said.

  “The Literati?” Katheryn shot her husband a quick glance. “Isn’t that Crystal’s firm?”

  “Crystal Menlow?” Nora asked. “What does she have to do with it?”

  “Pretty much everything,” Katheryn said. “She owns it and she started it.”

  Blake and Nora looked at each other. “How did we not know that?” Blake ask
ed.

  “She obviously doesn’t want anyone to know,” Nora said.

  “It’s a prudent move,” Weatherford said. “The Literati is a pirate company. It looks for companies being poorly managed and swoops in.”

  Blake lifted his hands. “This was my fault.”

  “No, don’t blame yourself.” Nora took possession of his hands. “Unless you’re willing to give yourself credit, as well.”

  “Credit? For what?” Blake asked.

  “You created an incredible company with amazing service,” Nora told him. “Your employees, not to mention your clients, love you.” Nora took her focus off Blake and turned to her parents. “We need to talk.”

  “Darling, give us a minute to put down our things before you start peppering us with questions!” Katheryn lugged her bag toward the master bedroom without meeting Nora’s gaze.

  “No,” Nora said, following her mom. “You don’t get to put me off. You’ve been lying to me for almost thirty years. I want honest answers now.”

  “Pumpkin,” Weatherford drawled, “don’t take that tone with your mother.”

  “But is she my mother?” Nora asked.

  “Of course, she is!” Weatherford bellowed. “Blood and mucus don’t make you a mother! It’s the care and compassion she gave when you were sick, the endless nights of trying to calm your incessant crying, dealing with your teenage angst.” He grabbed at his chest, dropped his suitcase, and staggered to a wingback chair in the living room.

  “Weatherford!” Katheryn cried.

  He opened his mouth, trying to speak, but only a dreadful gasping noise came out.

  “Oh, look what you’ve done, you horrible girl!” Katheryn rushed to her husband’s side and dropped to her knees. “Weatherford!” She pinned Nora with a hostile gaze. “Don’t just stand there, call 911!”

  WHILE COLE AND IRENA knelt beside the struggling Darrel, Donna rushed back into the auditorium.