5. Cora

5

CORA

C ora sat in the teacher's lounge at lunchtime the next day, eating leftovers and listening to the two other teachers at her table talking about upcoming school events.

Sabrina Wilson and Viola Reese had taken Cora under their wing from the moment she walked in the school doors yesterday. The two of them had started at the school together, and were both just a few years younger than Cora. Sabrina taught History and Viola was the Music and Band teacher.

"If they let the kids vote again, the prom theme is just going to be whatever's buzzing on BeeBop," Viola said, frowning.

"I don't know," Sabrina said thoughtfully. "There's some cool stuff on there."

"Please tell me you aren't addicted to that silly app, too," Viola said.

"Hashtag no comment," Sabrina said, which made Viola howl .

Cora laughed too and shook her head. The two women had clearly been friends for a long time. She loved their silly banter.

The door opened, and another teacher came in. She was older, with beautifully coiffed silver hair, wearing a bright blue pantsuit that set off her eyes.

"You're Ms. Davies, aren't you?" the lady said, walking right over. "I'm Mrs. Brandt. I was so sorry to hear about your sweet Arthur. I taught him Pre-Algebra and Geometry. He was such a lovely young man, always so attentive in class."

"Thank you," Cora said, feeling like her heart would burst out of her chest at the new information about her husband, and not caring that Viola and Sabrina were sharing an awkward look. "He loved math, and I know he mentioned your name more than once."

"Oh, my word," Mrs. Brandt said, patting her shoulder. "That makes my day, sweetheart."

She headed to a little table next to theirs and opened her bag, pulling out a romance novel and a sandwich.

"So, you're coming out with us tonight, right?" Sabrina asked Cora, pulling her attention back to her own table. "They have discount wings at The Barrel on Wednesdays."

"And karaoke," Viola added.

"Oh, I can't," Cora said.

"You can bring Sylvester," Sabrina said sympathetically. "It's not a bad place. They'll make him a grilled cheese with French fries, and he'll have fun with the singing."

"It's not that," Cora said, though she certainly had no intention of bringing her son to a bar. "This guy yelled at me the other day and now he's trying to make up for it by fixing my windows. He said he might stop by again tonight."

She didn't realize how strange it sounded until she had said it out loud.

"Who's coming to your house?" Sabrina asked, wrinkling her nose at the idea.

Cora could hardly blame her. She really couldn't believe it herself that she'd let him in, whether he had yelled at her the day before or not.

"Jared Webb," Cora told them.

"Oh wow," Viola said, glancing over at Sabrina, who was waggling her eyebrows.

"He seems nice, but sort of hotheaded," Cora said firmly. "And, I don't know… impulsive."

"But he's gorgeous ," Viola said.

"Maybe," Cora admitted, her cheeks heating a little.

"Your initial assessment was correct," Mrs. Brandt said from her table. "I've never had a student who had more trouble staying in his seat than Jared Webb. But he's a good boy."

That made Cora smile in spite of herself.

"Well, you're one of us now," Sabrina said. "So you'll have to tell us everything tomorrow."

" Everything," Viola added.

"Be ready for a scintillating tale about my windows," Cora joked with a smile.

A shadow in the doorway caught her attention, and a tall man stepped in. He was like a stock photo of a professor, literally wearing a tweed blazer with leather-patched elbows and a pair of glasses perched on a handsome face with razor-sharp cheekbones.

This had to be the hot teacher Sabrina had been whispering about yesterday. Apparently, he also taught at the community college in town. Everyone went quiet as her colleagues drank in the new and interesting view.

But Cora's thoughts kept going back to the big man who had borrowed a paperback from her son and talked to him about repairing painted windows like he was an adult.

Will he read the book? she wondered. Will he even come back, or will he feel like he did enough to work off his guilt yesterday?

Somehow the idea of him not coming back made her feel sad for herself, not just for Sylvester.

But it was probably more likely he wouldn't come back than that he would. And of course she could just hire a handyman to help finish the job. A busy farmer like Jared Webb couldn't spend all his free time helping a widow with her windows.

But if she was so sure he wasn't coming back, why was she already thinking of more jobs for him to help with when this one was done?

It was just nice to have another adult around the house once in a while. That had to be it.