25. Cora

25

CORA

A t lunchtime the next day, Cora spooned chicken salad onto homemade bread as Sylvester laid thick tomato slices on top.

She couldn't help sneaking glances at the window. The weatherman on the radio said there might be a storm on the way, but so far the sky was overcast, but otherwise pretty normal.

"You're friends with Jared again," Sylvester said, glancing up at her, and distracting her from her worries about the weather.

He knew she was. He even knew that Jared had called earlier today and asked her to go on a date with him, even though it was Christmas Eve.

I'm going on a date…

But it felt like more than that—like already they meant so much to each other.

"Yes, we're friends again," she told him. "And I think he wants to be my boyfriend. Are you okay with that? "

Admittedly, it wasn't the first time she had asked that question either. The two of them were being very careful with each other today. But after last night's scare and the return of the keychain she was afraid that maybe Sylvester had felt he had to say yes about Jared the first time.

"He'll be a good boyfriend," Sylvester told her, nodding. "He knows all kinds of fun stuff to do. And he likes me."

"He adores you," Cora assured him, nodding.

That made Sylvester smile.

"And it's okay for me to leave with him for a while tonight?" she asked.

"You're going out for dinner and a movie," Sylvester said, his eyes twinkling. "And I'm staying home to watch Christmas movies with Grandma."

"That's right," Cora told him. "But we won't leave for our dinner until it's almost your bedtime. Because no one wants to miss Christmas Eve with you."

"And then it will be Christmas ," Sylvester crowed. "And we'll have pancakes and presents and we'll sing songs, just like always."

"I can't wait," Cora said, enjoying his infectious spirit.

The rest of the day passed happily inside their little house. Cora and Sylvester listened to Christmas music on the radio while they wrapped up their presents for Grandma Davies and prepared a pretty platter of the cookies they'd been making to put out that night, as well as a smaller one with a candy cane to be set out later for Santa.

But outside, the sky was darkening and the temperature on the little thermometer Cora kept by the kitchen window hovered around thirty-four degrees.

On the radio, the weatherman brought up the potential storm hourly.

Though she was trying hard to be more laid-back, Cora's nerves finally got to her and she decided to call Ginny to tell her not to come after all. They could just reschedule the date and they could all still get together on Christmas if this storm turned out to be nothing.

But there was no answer.

And when she texted Jared to tell him not to come after all, his response was very short.

Jared

I'm already here.

Sure enough, there was a familiar knock on the door a moment later, and Sylvester shot out of his chair to open it.

"Rocky," Jared cried as Sylvester wrapped his arms around the big cowboy's waist and Jared hugged him back, looking very pleased.

Cora smiled at the two of them and inwardly wondered how she was supposed to greet him. But by the time the two had finished greeting each other, Ginny was coming in and Sebastian was busy hugging her.

Jared kicked off his muddy boots by the door, and then handed Cora a plate wrapped in tin foil, eliminating the awkwardness of deciding how to say hello.

"My mom sent some of her famous oatmeal cookies," he said. "She's hoping you and Sylvester will come to the house tomorrow, if it doesn't interfere with your own traditions."

"Thank you," Cora said, taking the plate, which was fragrant with the sweet scent of cinnamon. "I'm sure Sylvester would love that, but I'm a little worried about the storm."

"I know you're used to living in the city," Jared said kindly. "But as long as it stops by morning, I'll be able to get you to our place on Christmas. Out here we're prepared for a little snow and ice."

After that, everyone talked and laughed. Cora and Sylvester prepared hot chocolate while Ginny and Jared discussed methods for making homemade Christmas tree ornaments. Then everyone enjoyed cookies and cocoa as Sylvester told them about the holiday projects they had done at school.

When Ginny got up to take her mug to the kitchen, she paused at the window.

"Oh, dear," she said softly. "I don't like the idea of driving in that."

Cora hopped up to join her and saw what had Ginny worried. Icy droplets already shimmered in the moonlight.

"Sylvester has been dying for you to have a sleepover, Ginny," Cora said right away. "And we have our guest room all fixed up. Sylvester even picked out pretty bedding just for you. "

"Can I show you, Grandma?" Sylvester squeaked, hopping up from the sofa. "Wait until you see it. It has little blue flowers just like the plates at your house."

"Goodness," Ginny said, looking surprised and relieved at the same time. "I'd love to see it."

The two of them trundled up the stairs and Cora watched after them, glad they could offer Ginny a way to stay.

"I guess you probably don't want to go out in this," Jared said, joining her by the window. "Hopefully, it'll slow down soon. Doesn't look like it's sticking to the road yet."

"If you want to try and get home now, I don't mind at all," Cora said. "We can always reschedule our date."

"We have an idea," Ginny called out on her way down the stairs. "Sylvester is going to tell you all about it."

"We don't want you to go out in an ice storm," Sylvester announced excitedly on his way down the stairs. "So you can have your date here."

"What do you mean?" Cora asked.

"We're going to cook a fancy meal for you," Sylvester said.

"With whatever ingredients are in the house," Ginny added, winking to Cora over the top of Sylvester's head.

"And you can watch a movie on the couch," Sylvester said, pointing to the television.

"Oh, I still have Rocky in my truck," Jared said. "We can all watch it together."

" Yes, " Sylvester said.

"But we're going to skip a few parts," Jared told him firmly. "It's a good movie with a good message, but there are some parts that aren't really for kids, okay?"

"Okay," Sylvester agreed.

"Okay," Ginny said, nodding and looking impressed.

Cora smiled. Jared hadn't mentioned skipping any parts of the movie the last time he'd suggested watching it. Maybe he would have anyway. But she suspected that she had just seen real evidence that he was learning to think about Sylvester before offering activities.

He's growing, she thought to herself happily. Just like he promised.

Cora thought about her own promise to let him into her heart and that made her think of their kiss last night. She turned and headed for the kitchen before anyone could notice her cheeks heating.

"Oh no you don't, young lady," Ginny laughed. "Sylvester and I are handling dinner. You two should go for a romantic walk while we decide what to make."

"But," Cora said, pointing at the window.

"We can bundle up and walk on the porch," Jared suggested.

"Okay," she said, smiling at the idea.

Ginny and Sylvester disappeared into the kitchen, with Sylvester talking a mile a minute about the limited list of things he knew how to make.

"I hate to get ahead of myself," Jared said. "But I think this might be the best first date ever."

Cora found herself laughing as he held out her coat for her.

When he opened the door they were met with a blast of icy cold air .

"This will be a short romantic walk," Cora decided.

Jared laughed and the booming sound seemed to warm the cold night air.

They walked around the porch together. Cora kept her hand tucked into the crook of Jared's arm because even the porch was a little slippery. She had felt a little nervous about having a big conversation, but between the way the view was completely transformed by ice and noise of the wind, it was enough just to take it all in.

When they piled back inside a few minutes later, they both had rosy cheeks and the house felt cozy and warm.

"Hello sir and ma'am," Sylvester said from the stairs. "Welcome."

He was wearing his church clothes and had his hair slicked back, probably with water, since Cora didn't use gel or spray on her own hair. She had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from giggling.

"Thank you," Jared said, playing along perfectly. "We'd like your best table."

"It's ready for you, sir," Sylvester said, pointing to the dining room table.

The table was beautifully set for two with a fragrant pine scented jar candle for ambiance. A small piece of folded paper in the center declared it Reserved in Sylvester's handwriting.

"Thank you," Cora said, impressed.

Jared jogged forward to pull out her chair for her.

"And thank you," she told him, as he took his own seat opposite her.

Ginny appeared in the threshold and waved to Sylvester, reminding him of something .

"May I tell you about our specials?" Sylvester asked.

"Yes, please," Jared replied.

"Great," Sylvester said, smiling. "We have a special tonight for first dates. It's an appetizer course of toast with jam and butter, a dinner of macaroni and peas, and Christmas cookies for dessert."

Sylvester had just listed out all the things he knew more or less how to make on his own. Cora hoped Jared hadn't been expecting anything fancy.

"Well, I don't think I even need to see a menu," Jared said. "The special sounds great to me. What about you, Cora?"

"I think it sounds amazing," she agreed.

"Two specials, please," Jared told him.

Sylvester darted into the kitchen, and they heard every word as he told his grandmother their order.

"This restaurant has the nicest Christmas decorations I've ever seen," Cora told Jared in her loud, clear schoolteacher voice, so that Sylvester was sure to hear it.

"I agree," Jared said. "The paper chain technique on that tree is top notch."

More celebratory noises came from the kitchen, and Jared winked at Cora, sending a little tingle of happiness down her spine.

A few minutes later, Sylvester appeared with a towel over his arm and two plates of buttered toast.

"I'll be right back with the jam," he said.

Sure enough, he sprinted away as soon as the toast was on the table and came back a moment later, walking slowly again with the sticky, half-empty jar of strawberry jam from the fridge .

"Our finest jam," he said, placing it at the center of the table and glancing at Ginny, who was watching from the kitchen doorway.

She gave him a big smile and a thumbs-up.

Cora and Jared dug into the toast course, trying not to laugh at Sylvester's excited shout in the kitchen when the water was finally boiling and the macaroni and frozen peas could be added.

"That's a clever way to get a kid to eat vegetables," Jared said quietly. "Everyone loves mac and cheese."

Cora smiled, feeling happy that he wasn't disgusted at eating kid food tonight when he had probably been planning on a steak dinner.

They enjoyed the rest of their meal in pleasant conversation and even convinced their cook and waiter to enjoy dessert with them. There was so much happy talk about the next day's plans, and so many funny stories of Christmas past that before they knew, it half the cookies were gone and everyone was smiling and laughing.

By the time Jared suggested that it was time to start the movie, Sylvester was already yawning. But the three of them piled onto the sofa anyway, and Ginny took the big rocker beside it.

Sylvester was nodding off on Cora's shoulder by the end of the opening credits. But as he promised, Jared forwarded through the inappropriate parts and muted the bad words throughout the movie.

"Sorry," he whispered to her at one point. "You just never know when he might wake up."

"You really know this movie," Cora said, impressed.

"I like his persistence," Jared said, eyes on the screen .

She got a shiver down her spine for the second time in an evening. Jared himself was nothing if not persistent. She still couldn't believe he'd gone back into that creek last night. Even coming back up to the house afterward, knowing how furious she was had required a lot of courage.

"I think it's time for me to head up to bed," Ginny said at one point, stifling a yawn.

"Thank you so much for tonight," Cora told her. "I put a nightgown on your bed, but if you don't like it, help yourself to some of my pajamas."

"Thank you, dear," Ginny said warmly, heading up.

By the end of the movie, Cora was feeling good and sleepy herself. Sylvester was half in her lap, his warm little body so cozy against hers. And with Jared there, even the wind moaning outside didn't make her nervous like it often did.

The credits rolled at last, and Jared lifted Sylvester up in his arms to take him up to bed. Something about that sweet picture tugged at Cora's heart. She followed them over to the window.

"Oh, wow," Jared said.

The storm had slowed enough that Cora could see ice covering nearly every surface outside. It was strangely beautiful.

"Good thing I brought the chains for my tires," Jared said softly.

"Why don't you stay in his room?" Cora offered. "Sylvester can sleep with me."

"Really?" Jared whispered.

"Of course," she told him. "I can't have you spending the rest of Christmas Eve putting chains on your tires. And even with them, I'd be worried sick over you driving in this."

That earned her a grateful smile.

"We can go over to my parents' place together tomorrow," he said. "It'll be easier to put them on when it stops storming."

She led the way up to her room, opening the door and pulling down the comforter and sheets so that Jared could put Sylvester down. He lay the boy down so gently that she felt a tug at her heart again.

When he straightened, it suddenly hit her that they were standing alone in the darkness, in the most intimate space of the house.

But Jared was smiling down at Sylvester's sweet little face and she had a jolt of realization that their days could always be like this if they were together—having fun, sharing meals, and tucking Sylvester in at night.

"I wish this could be my life every day," Jared said suddenly, echoing her own thoughts.

She glanced up at him, wondering if he had somehow read her mind.

"Me too," she said, nodding.

"Do you think you might ever want to be married again someday?" he asked.

The words hung in the air between them for a moment as she took them in. She had never expected to hear those words from Jared, or least not so soon…

"Yes," she said, surprising herself. "But only if Sylvester felt the same way about the person I did. "

Jared nodded slowly and she could feel his eyes on her in the darkness.

"I guess I'll head to bed now," he told her. "Merry Christmas Eve."

"Merry Christmas Eve," she replied.

He slipped out the door quietly and she closed it behind him, her mind still on his words. She thought about his question as she brushed her teeth and got ready for bed, and she thought about it as she slipped under the covers with Sylvester, who snuggled right up to her, still half-asleep.

"Mama?" he whispered.

"Jared is going to sleep in your bed, so you're with me tonight," she told him. "Is that okay?"

"We're having a sleepover with Grandma and Jared," he whispered back sounding excited.

"We sure are," she told him in a calm voice. "But you'd better get back to sleep so you have lots of energy on Christmas morning."

"Okay," he whispered.

He seemed to drift off again quickly, snuggled to her side. But Cora stayed awake for a long time, imagining what it would be like to share their life with someone they both cared about.

Every day wouldn't be like this, she tried to tell herself. Every day can't be Christmas Eve and our first date all rolled into one.

But they had already spent so many afternoons together as he worked on the house. She already knew that even an ordinary day with Jared was so much more than the days they had spent without him .

He's made himself a fixture in our lives, she realized.

A month ago, the thought would have horrified her, or made her feel disloyal to her memories.

But tonight somehow, in the soft glow of the moonlight sparkling on the trees, she felt her heart fill with so much hope that it couldn't help but open.