by Brenda Novak
“He might have better luck looking for someone closer to his own age,” Cora said.
“Yes. If necessary, I’ll mention that to him.”
“I appreciate your support.”
“Of course. That’s what I’m here for.” She was about to hang up when, impulsively, Cora stopped her.
“Aiyana?”
“Yes?”
“To tell you the truth...” She searched for the right words to express what she had to say and came up empty.
“Have you changed your mind about having me talk to Doug?” Aiyana asked.
“No. This is...something else.”
“What is it?”
She tapped her fingers on her steering wheel. “Um... I wanted to make sure you wouldn’t be...angry or—or disappointed if I ever...you know...”
“What?” Aiyana prompted.
“Showed interest in your son,” she blurted out.
“Elijah?”
Cora squeezed her eyes closed. She had no idea what the heck she was doing. She just hated the feeling that she might be letting Aiyana down by going behind her back, needed to know how serious of an infraction it would be if she were to continue to see Elijah. She had no idea how he felt about last night, but she definitely wanted to get to know him better. “Yes. I’ve seen Gavin but haven’t actually met him.”
There was a long pause. Afraid of what Aiyana might say to discourage her, Cora hurried to fill the silence. “I realize we both work for you, at the same school, but in the high schools where I’ve taught, if two teachers happen to go out once in a while, it’s pretty much ignored.”
“I’m not so concerned about two employees dating...”
“And yet you sound hesitant.”
“He bears some unique scars, Cora.”
Letting her breath seep out, Cora finally opened her eyes. “I’m aware of that.”
“Do you realize that what he’s been through will probably always be part of him? How a background like his could affect a relationship?”
Darci was now at the door, watching her with a confused expression, so Cora lifted one finger to indicate she’d be just another minute. “Here’s the thing. He’s fine the way he is. I’m not asking for anything serious. I think I could be a good friend to him.”
More silence. Cora didn’t get the impression Aiyana was against her seeing Elijah—it was more that she seemed to be weighing certain reservations in her mind, trying to figure out if she should say more.
Cora bit her lip. “I shouldn’t have said anything. It wouldn’t be serious, like I said. I guess I just...needed to know you wouldn’t be too upset if...if we ever hung out.”
“I wouldn’t be upset. I’m just worried that...well, because he’s so hard to get to know, it may not seem as if he can be hurt—”
“Anyone can be hurt.”
“Especially him,” she said. “I guess that’s my point. His heart is so big.”
“Trust me—it’s not like that. You have nothing to worry about.”
“Well, if that’s the case, no one can have too many friends,” she said, and they both laughed at her quick reversal.
“Okay. Great. Can I ask for one more favor?”
“Of course.”
“Don’t tell him we had this conversation?”
“Trust me—I won’t. He wouldn’t like the idea of me getting involved, so to be honest, I’m hoping you won’t mention it, either.”
“I won’t. This will be our little secret. And now I’ll let you go.”
“Cora?”
She pulled her phone back to her ear. “Yes?”
“Relationships, even friendships, can be unpredictable at times. So protect your own heart, too.”
“I will.” As Cora disconnected, she felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Maybe she hadn’t come totally clean. She wasn’t willing to go that far. But at least she knew she wouldn’t be doing anything that would upset Aiyana if Aiyana found out about it. As attracted as Cora was to Elijah, she didn’t want to kill any chance she had of being part of her biological mother’s life—if she ever decided to go for that.
Chapter Eight
“Thanks for being willing to get together,” Darci said.
Cora was a little self-conscious about the fact that she hadn’t had a chance to shower this morning. When Darci called, she’d rolled out of bed and thrown her hair into a ponytail. She was still tired after being up until the wee hours with Elijah. “I’m glad you reached out,” she told Darci.
“I almost didn’t, but with school starting on Monday and my kids coming home tomorrow, I figured this would be the best time to get together.”
“It’s perfect. I haven’t had a chance to eat in Silver Springs yet.” Cora noted the number of filled tables. “This seems like a popular place.”
“It’s one of the best cafés in town, not that we have a lot of them,” Darci added with a laugh. “Do you know if Elijah got Doug home okay last night?”
Cora took a drink of water from the glass the waitress had delivered to her a moment earlier. “He did. I saw him as he was coming out of Doug’s house.”
“Did he say anything to you?”
She opened her menu, pretending to be preoccupied by choosing her meal. “Not really.” After what Darci had said about the way Elijah was looking at her last night, Cora didn’t dare admit to anything. Her face was heating up, threatening to give her away as it was.
Fortunately, someone walked by that Darci knew, drawing her attention. “Hello, Cal!”
“Cal,” a handsome, middle-aged man who wore a cowboy hat and boots, stopped, a look of pleasant surprise on his face. “Darci! I didn’t even see you there. How are you?”
She got up to give him a hug. “Better. Thanks.”
“That ex of yours isn’t still giving you trouble, is he?”
“Things seem to have settled down for the moment.” She slid back in the booth. “He’s met someone else, so that helps.”
He shook his head. “You’ve had a rough year.”
“It’s been a rough twelve years. But the divorce would’ve been worse without you.”
“I didn’t do much.” He glanced at Cora. “Is this a new friend?”
As Darci introduced them, she told Cora that Cal Buchanon owned a big cattle ranch not far from town. “He supplies New Horizons with beef, gives Aiyana a heck of a deal. Actually, he helps everyone,” she said emphatically. “Silver Springs wouldn’t be what it is without him.”
“Stop!” he said, obviously embarrassed. “I do my part, like everyone else. It’s very nice to meet you, Cora.”
“Likewise,” Cora said.
He chatted with Darci for several more minutes before tipping his hat to the both of them and heading to the cashier to pay his bill.
“Cal’s superrich,” Darci whispered. “And he uses his money to do so much for the community. I was serious when I said Silver Springs wouldn’t be the same without him.”
“You seem to know him well.”
“I do. He has a couple of houses on his ranch that he typically rents to his hands. He let me stay in one for free until I could get on my feet. Wouldn’t take a dime for six months.”
“Is that why you came to Silver Springs? You knew him from before, and he made you that offer, or...”
“No. I came to teach at New Horizons, like you. But the house that was supposed to open up in the faculty housing—the two-bedroom so that I’d have room for my kids—didn’t, and I couldn’t afford anything in town.”
“So how’d you meet him?”
“Through Aiyana. She jumped in to make other arrangements when the faculty housing didn’t work out for me.”
“How nice of her.”
&nbs
p; “She’s generous, like Cal. And, from what I’ve heard, Cal has been in love with Aiyana for years, almost since the day she came here. I believe he took me in for her sake. But he’s been kind enough to befriend me, too.”
“He’s never married?”
“Not to my knowledge. He doesn’t even date. He’s waiting for her.”
“He reminds me of Sam Elliott with that gravelly voice and weathered face. Doesn’t she care for him in return?”
“I’m convinced she does. The way she looks at him...it’s as if he hung the moon. But she’s very private about her love life. If you ask her about Cal, she’ll make some glib comment about how he’s a great guy but she’s too old to get married for the first time.”
Aiyana was only forty-nine. Cora knew that from the documents provided by the private investigator who’d taken her on pro bono. “Do you ever see them together?”
“I run into them all the time. He supports anything her boys participate in so he comes out to the ranch a lot. And he sends her flowers or chocolates at least once a month. I wish I could find a guy as devoted to me as he is to her,” she added wistfully. “My ex only cared about himself.”
Cora had no business asking, but she was so curious about her birth mother that she couldn’t stop herself. “Do you think they’re sleeping together?” she asked, lowering her voice to a whisper.
Darci’s mouth twisted as she considered the question. “Don’t know, to be honest. When I lived out at his place, she never stayed over, not that I could tell. And I’ve never known him to sleep at New Horizons. But that doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened. Like I said, Aiyana’s very private about that sort of thing. She’d never let on, even if they were intimate.”
“There must be some reason they’re not an official couple. What’s missing?”
“I couldn’t tell you.” She made a signal to let Cora know the waitress, who’d introduced herself as Missy, was coming to take their order.
“Sorry to put such an abrupt end to the conversation,” she said after she’d ordered pancakes and eggs and Cora had ordered a Spanish omelet. “I was afraid Missy might overhear us. Everyone knows everyone else around here—and even if they don’t, most everyone knows Aiyana.”
“No problem. I understand.”
Difficult though it was, Cora let the conversation drift away from her birth mother to the school and what the coming year would entail. They also discussed some of the more troubled boys.
“How do you deal with those who won’t behave?” Cora asked.
“Easy,” Darci replied. “I threaten to send them to Elijah.”
Cora put down her fork and took a drink of her orange juice. “Why not Aiyana?”
“Elijah tries to spare her anything difficult, anything that might upset or disappoint her. He prefers we get him involved if we need help.”
“Elijah’s the enforcer.”
“Sort of.”
“What methods does he use for discipline?”
“The threat of being sent to his office is usually enough. If they do something wrong, they don’t want him to find out about it. They care about his good opinion, about getting the chance to be with him for various activities.”
“Surely there have been a few who haven’t cared enough to behave.”
“Of course. He barred one boy, Ricky Peterson, from playing sports and attending the dances and assemblies until he brought up his grades. But then he studied with Ricky for an hour a day. After a few weeks, Ricky was doing better than ever before.”
Considering they were talking about a man who called himself a “locked box,” Cora thought that was interesting. Apparently, he had plenty of love for the boys—but she’d already noted that when he was on the horseback ride.
She opened her mouth to ask if Darci had ever heard anything about the various women Elijah had been with but caught herself. She couldn’t show that much interest, didn’t want to give Darci any indication that there was something going on between them. Since they weren’t serious, she preferred to keep it on the down low. So she asked about Darci’s marriage and divorce, and then she tried to offer some support. But in the back of her mind she couldn’t quit thinking about Elijah and the role he played on the ranch. Aiyana remained on her mind, as well. Her biological mother was such an enigma. Why wouldn’t she marry Cal?
* * *
Cora had just stepped out of the shower when she heard a knock at the door. Assuming it was Doug, since he’d caught her when she got back from breakfast to say he had some fresh vegetables he planned to gather from his garden and bring over, she groaned and started to grab some clothes so that she could get dressed. Then she realized she’d have a much better excuse not to invite him in if she answered in her robe.
Prepared to thank him and quickly send him on his way, she pasted a smile on her face and cracked open the door. But it wasn’t her neighbor, it was Elijah. He stood on her stoop in a pair of faded jeans, his tan, muscular arms stretching the sleeves of his red New Horizons T-shirt as he tossed his keys from hand to hand.
“Hello,” she said, blinking in surprise.
His gaze lowered to her robe. “Just getting up?”
“No. I met Darci in town for breakfast and didn’t have time to get ready beforehand, so I just showered.” She’d also done a conditioning treatment on her hair, given herself a mani-pedi and rubbed her whole body with some vanilla-scented lotion. She told herself she wanted to look and feel her best to start her new job, that she was doing this as a matter of routine. But she knew Elijah had more to do with it than she cared to admit.
His lips curved into a devilish smile. “Then I’d say my timing is perfect.”
Not only was he smiling freely, he was smiling at her. “For...”
“I owe you a little something, remember?”
Slightly concerned by how easily he could make her knees weak, since she was supposed to be keeping some emotional distance in this relationship, Cora drew a steadying breath. “You don’t owe me anything.”
He reached out and tugged on her belt to loosen it, so she stepped back to let him inside. The last thing she needed was for someone to drive by and see them. “You don’t think it’s too risky to come to my house during the day? If you’re not careful the whole school will be talking about us.”
“What do you mean? It’s much safer to come during the day. Then it doesn’t look like we’re trying to hide anything.”
That made sense, but the fact that her robe was coming open also made it difficult to think. He continued to pull on her belt—slowly so she’d have time to stop him if she wanted. But she didn’t stop him, and soon the belt fell to the ground.
Suddenly nervous, she wet her lips as she stared up at him. “So now it’s my turn, huh?”
“Unless you have other plans for the next hour or so...”
Cora felt she should come up with something. Put this off, at least until she could regain her perspective. She shouldn’t be this excited.
On the other hand, she’d just spent two hours getting ready to see him—and here he was.
Dipping his head, he kissed her long and slow as he slid his big hands inside her robe and gripped her waist.
He wasn’t holding back today. Last night had convinced him that she wasn’t skittish, wasn’t going to bail out too easily. “I take it you don’t want to...to talk first,” she said.
“No. I’m not interested in talking.”
Cora found it quite erotic that she was naked while he was fully dressed. She also liked his level of focus. “So there’d be no point in putting on my clothes.”
“Why make me take them off again?” He hoisted her up onto the dining table, putting her on her back.
She caught the lapels of her robe so it wouldn’t fall completely open. The soft terry cloth was beginni
ng to feel like a safety blanket. But he pulled the fabric out of her grasp and ran his fingers over her bare stomach and breasts.
Cora shuddered as a ripple of pleasure went through her.
“You like that?” He continued his light touch, skimming up her neck to her face, where he ran his thumb over her bottom lip. “You’re so beautiful.”
The compliment surprised her. He wasn’t much for that sort of thing. She told herself not to take him too seriously, but at the same time she caught his hand and pulled his thumb into her mouth.
His pupils flared as her tongue moved over his skin, and he lowered his mouth to her breast.
Every nerve seemed to fire at once; she’d never been more aroused.
“Now I see how convenient a Brazilian makes everything,” he said as his mouth moved down her stomach. “Easy access. I like that.”
Cora couldn’t even speak. His hands were on her hips, and he was pulling her toward him, spreading her legs so he could fit between her knees. “Maybe...maybe we should wait until we know each other better for this,” she said, finding her voice.
“Because...”
“Because it...it makes me really self-conscious.”
“You don’t have to be self-conscious with me.”
He bent his head. When she felt his tongue, she nearly jumped off the table.
“It’s okay,” he murmured, his breath warm. “Relax. This is going to be fun.”
The next few minutes were more than fun; they were mind-blowing. Cora drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes as he used his mouth in a way she’d never experienced before. The sucking motion was so subtle, so gentle and so incredibly effective that her legs began to quiver. She felt his hand rub one of them, as if in encouragement, before that hand slid back up to her breast.
She was seconds away from the best climax of her life. Cora felt the escalation, the compulsion of her body to reach that pinnacle.
Then the doorbell rang.
Trying to force her sluggish brain to work as it usually did, she started to get up. She thought Elijah would stop so she could deal with her guest, especially because his truck was outside. They couldn’t be caught doing something like this. It wouldn’t look good. But he muttered a gruff, “No!” and held her that much more tightly as he continued his ministrations.
