Song of the Meadowlark (Intertwined Book 1) (18 page)

When Rex arrived, the family gathered on the patio for breakfast. The conversation matched the cheery calls of the sea birds. Cora continued to smile because things were going so well. Had she stepped into someone else’s happy home life? Had the past twenty-five years of her life never existed?

After finishing his breakfast, Dad sat back in his chair and lit his pipe. “Well, you two, we’ve told you our plans about selling the business and then traveling. What are your plans?”

“We can do whatever Cora would like. I’ve already purchased her a ticket for the trip home. I know that sounds a bit conceited, but I did it hopin’ it’d sway her to return with me. The flight’s scheduled for tomorrow at eleven in the morning. If she wants to stay here a bit longer, that’s fine, but I’ve got to return to the ranch.” Rex turned toward Cora. “So, it’s up to you.”

“What would you two like me to do? Do you want me to stay a few more days?” Cora looked at Mom and Dad. Maybe they wouldn’t mind if she flew back with Rex. She couldn’t let him leave without her.

Mom poured a second cup of coffee. “I’m glad you came home. And I’m sorry that most of the time you were here we wasted on foolishness. But as much as we’d love you to stay, I think you should fly back to Georgia with Rex. Now that we’ve gotten to know him, and we’ve dismissed our initial reaction to the thought of you being with someone you met recently, I know you should go. The two of you would be miserable without each other.”

“You’re right.” Rex took Cora’s hand in his. “I’ve known Cora all summer long, and I’ve been interested in her, but I was too stubborn to let her know it when I had the chance.” He smiled at Cora. “If I hadn’t let my pride get in the way, Cora probably wouldn’t have left the ranch so upset like she did.”

“Rex, we’ve discussed this. I didn’t exactly make it easy for you. I was running as fast as you were.”

Dad grinned and held up a hand. “Now that you’ve both stopped running, and you’ve caught each other, what do you expect will happen?”

“Sir, I’d like to have your daughter stay with my family at the ranch as long as she wishes to stay. I hope we become closer, now that I've dealt with my pride. My daughter loves Cora, and Cora cares for her also. I feel we have something here, if Cora wants to be with an old cowboy like me.”

“Old? You’re not even thirty yet, young man,” Mom teased. “I know you lost your spouse, just as Cora did, and starting over has to be difficult. I’m sure your daughter plays a big role in your decisions also.”

“Oh yes, ma’am. I’ve gone out with a few women since my wife’s death, and Susie has liked none of them. Of course, now I see why. They were all terrible for me. Susie instantly took a likin’ to Cora, I think, especially because she was her nanny before she was a friend to me. Susie had her all to herself. I think it’ll be easy for her to accept Cora as my girlfriend.”

“You two keep us informed. We want to know what’s going on with you.” Dad stood from his seat at the table. “I’ve got to head to the office and get some work done. I should be back for lunch.”

“Wait a minute, Daddy. You haven’t heard what my decision is.”

“Okay, go ahead.” Dad smirked at her.

“I think I’ll return to Georgia with Rex tomorrow.”

“Surprise, surprise,” Dad mocked.

“I plan to help out with some changes to the ranch and still work with Susie. I’m not going just to be with Rex. I’m anxious to get started with my new life.”

“Sounds like a great plan.” Dad started to leave the dining room.

“Aren’t you forgetting something, Dad?”

“No, not that I know of.”

“I believe you have something for us both.”

“I suppose you’re right. I did go shopping, didn’t I?” he teased. “I’ll be right back.” He stepped up into the house and headed for his study.

When he returned carrying boxes, Cora’s face lit up. “What’s in them?”

“Open them and see.”

“Both of you open them at the same time.” Mom leaned forward.

Cora and Rex opened the boxes and found matching snakeskin boots and gasped.

“Sir, I can’t take these. It’s too much. You hardly know me,” Rex protested.

“Yeah, Dad, these are too much.”

“I thought long and hard about a gift for you both. This was the best I could do on such short notice. You’ll both accept them as our token of love and apology for everything,” Dad insisted. “I hope they fit.”

“Okay, thank you. But are you sure?” Cora laughed inside because Dad must have already assumed she’d return with Rex, or he wouldn’t have bought them.

“We’re sure.” Mom regarded Dad with the adoring eyes of a schoolgirl.

Noting that exchange of affection, Cora smiled.

“Of course, we’re sure. Now I have to go to work. I’ll see you two later.” Dad shook Rex’s hand and then left the patio.

“Well, what are you two going to do today?” Mom got up from her seat and collected the breakfast dishes.

“First of all, I’m going to help you with the dishes. Rex, why don’t you go watch television in the den? I won’t be but a few minutes.”

“No, you don’t,” Mom insisted. “You two go on and get started with your day. I’m sure you had already made plans.”

“I’d thought about showing Rex the sights. I’d like him to see where I grew up. I wanted to take him down to St. Andrews too. And to the beach house maybe.”

“That’d be fun, Cora. Let’s go.”

“Mom, are you sure you don’t want me to help you?”

“Go on. Have fun. But plan to have dinner with us tonight. We’ve made reservations at Franklin’s. I won’t take no for an answer.”

Cora eyed Rex, who gave his nod of approval. “Okay. Sounds like fun.”

“Thanks for taking me sightseeing.” Cora sat next to Rex in the rental truck, basking in the warmth of the sun coming through the windows, and tapped her toe to the steel guitar playing on the radio.

“Sure thing. It’s my pleasure. I love seein’ where you used to hang out. It gives me a glimpse of the stuff that made you who you are, Cora.” He winked at her, the laugh lines around his eyes more noticeable in the daylight.

“If you’ll go left on Thomas Drive here, we can go to St. Andrews and walk out on the pier. We used to do this all the time when we were in high school.”

“I bet you caught lots of fellas here, huh?” Rex cut his eyes toward her while he turned on to Thomas Drive, passing the T-shirt shops and shell shops.

“No, not really. Well, maybe,” Cora provoked.

They drove through the gate at the entrance to the park and pulled around to the pier parking lot. They walked out onto the pier, the autumn wind gusting, and seagulls diving at the prospects of acquiring bait from the local fishermen. Cora pulled her jacket closed and sucked in a deep breath, filling her lungs with the salty air.

“Wow! This is so beautiful. You know, I’ve never been to the beach before.”

“Why? It’s only four hours away.” Cora let the wind blow its salty healing across her face.

“We always had the ranch to work. When you have all the animals and ranch hands we’ve had, you can’t take time away. It’s too hard to find people who can run things. And every summer my cousins would come for their vacations.”

“Did you not ever go away with your friends on school trips or anything?”

“Nope.” He took in a deep breath; the wind blowing through his curls.

“Well, what do you think? Isn’t it amazing?”

“I think it’s the greatest thing I’ve ever seen, and I’m glad to be sharing it with you.”

“Me too. I think this is the best place to see and feel God’s presence.” Cora grinned at Rex like a child. “I should’ve brought the bread to feed the gulls. I left it in the truck.” She snapped her fingers in regret.

“Do you want me to go get it?”

“No, that’s okay.”

“Maybe next time.” Rex put his arm across Cora’s shoulders, and she leaned into him as they walked on the weathered wood of the pier.

She and Rex were like this beaten pier, with years of pain and turmoil carving a place in their lives. But, like the pier, they were still here, and they were better off for their troubles.

“Next time?” She looked up at him.

“Yeah, when we come back to visit your parents.” He looked out at the sea, shoving his left hand into his front pocket, his brown eyes soaking in the beauty.

“That sounds like a good idea.” She smiled. Next time? So he was thinking about the future, huh? “I still can’t get over my parents and how they’re taking all this change. I thought they’d resist letting me go, especially after all the revelation of the past two days. But they seem somehow at peace now. Almost like they were only being that difficult and clingy because of their secrets.”

“I’m sure their own guilt about things made them act the way they did toward you. That’s human nature. We always want to blame others for the things we’ve done wrong. And if we can’t put the blame on them, then we want to make them as miserable as we are for no reason.”

“Wow, you’re like a genius or a philosopher or something,” Cora joked.

“Ha! Actually, I’m an expert.” Rex leaned over to kiss Cora’s forehead.

After enjoying the view from the pier for a while, they turned and walked back to the end. Cora pulled off her shoes and rolled up her pants legs. “Let’s go look for some shells for Susie.”

Rex pulled off his boots and rolled up the bottom of his jeans. He carried his boots with him and followed Cora.

“Watch out for the jellyfish. They’re washed up all over the place. You don’t want to get stung by one.” Cora stepped around a clear and purple jellyfish approximately two feet in diameter. “Look! Out there, just ahead. Dolphins!” She pointed to her right.

“Where?” Rex shielded his eyes from the glare of the sun.

“Wait, they’ll come up again. They’re feeding. They love this area of the bay. There they are!” She pointed again and bounced.

“I see them. That’s wild!” Rex snickered like a little boy.

They stood side by side, watching the dolphins surface for several minutes.

“My ears are hurting a little from the wind,” Cora said finally. “You ready to go?”

“Sure, if you are. Where do you want to go next?”

Cora showed Rex where she’d played as a small girl in the park. They parked the truck and walked for a while, stopping to swing in the swings like children. They sat on a bench feeding pigeons, and Cora studied Rex’s eyes for any flecks of regret or hesitance. “I have a question to ask you.”

“Okay, go ahead.” Rex threw breadcrumbs to the birds.

“When I return home with you, should I still be Susie’s official nanny? Should I stay at the ranch or with Ms. Lottie?”

“I don’t want you to be Susie’s nanny officially. You’re my girlfriend—I hope. Between my parents and me, Susie shouldn’t need a nanny any longer. If I’d been the type of father I should’ve been, she’d never have needed one in the first place.” Rex scratched his bristly chin.

“That’s not entirely true, Rex. You did have to work for a living. She’d have needed someone to care for her while you were working. Besides, you’d never have met me.”

“That’s true.” He nudged her with his shoulder.

“Now, back to my question. Since I won’t be caring for her any longer as an employee, what will I do? I’ll need to earn money…wait, I really don’t need it right now, do I?”

“No, ma’am, you sure don’t.” There was that dimple again.

“Hmm, I can’t just return as your girlfriend. I can’t stay at the ranch in that capacity. People will assume we are...”

“I know. We don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea.” Rex paused and held his chin between his thumb and forefinger.

“How about I stay with Ms. Lottie in town? Then we could still see each other, but no one would get the wrong idea,” Cora proposed.

“I’d go crazy with you bein’ that far away. You have to stay at the ranch.”

“Rex, I can’t go back and stay at the ranch just so I’ll be there when you need to see me. If things don’t work out between us, I’ll be stuck. It’d make the whole situation so awkward.” She looked at him for an answer.

“I’ll move back home.”

“But, Rex, that’s too much for you right now. Are you ready to go back?”

“I am now. Knowing you feel the same about me as I do about you clears up a lot of things in my head. And it’ll give me some quiet time to figure out a plan for the ranch. I also have to think toward preschool for Susie. So the time back at home will do me good.”

Throwing bread out to the pigeons, Cora turned to Rex. “What do you mean? How has this changed your feelings about moving back home?”

“I’ve been afraid to go back because of the memories of Patty. I thought I couldn’t deal with it. But these past few weeks of bein’ without you were just as bad. I realized before I came after you I had never dealt with my grief. I closed myself off from everyone, and I was angry with God. When you came to the ranch, and Susie loved you so, I thought I’d finally gotten rid of my last tie to Patty. I was glad I didn’t have to take care of Susie. It didn’t take me long to realize you were special, but I refused to care for you. So I chose to stay with Veronica because she was the complete opposite of you. I thought I wanted a relationship with someone who’d expect nothing from me emotionally.” Rex took a sip of his cola.

“You don’t have to run from your pain.” Cora rubbed the scars on her wrists.

Rex ran his fingers through his hair. “I know now that when you run and hide, the problem only gets worse. I need to move back home so I can deal with the pain of losin’ her, if there’s any left inside me.”

“I think I’ve finally come to terms with Clark’s death. Some questions will never be answered, so I have to let them rest.” She paused. “I guess I could stay at the ranch. But if I stay there, Susie won’t understand why I’m not her caregiver any longer. I don’t mind at all spending time with her. I love going to the library and teaching her to read. Are you sure you wouldn’t want me to continue to be her nanny?”

“Absolutely not. I want you to go home with me and be free to do whatever it is you’d like to do. If you’re carin’ for Susie all of the time, you’ll not have the chance to...I want you to enjoy yourself.”

“I’d love to read a book or two, learn some more about the ranch, and maybe even find a new hobby.” Shivers rushed up Cora’s spine.

After their talk in the park, Cora showed Rex her old schools and her favorite hangouts from high school. There wasn’t enough time for Anne and her other friends to meet him, but maybe that would happen on their next visit. They ate lunch and shopped for a while but stayed away from the tourist shops, though Rex did buy a hermit crab for Susie.

“Let’s head home, but let’s drive by your hotel first and check out. There’s no reason for you to stay there when you’ll have to come pick me up in the morning.”