Page 60 of The Best Man Wins

There. In the booth at the back. All alone, morosely, Cora stabs her fork into her breakfast, and it’s just as I thought. Blueberry pancakes.

She didn’t come here to forget about Ray. She came here to remember why she loved him in the first place.

Braxton spots her and lurches forward like a race dog. I rest my hand on his arm. “Let me do the talking,” I beg. “Railing against Ray isn’t going to help. Not right now.”

Braxton pulls his arm out of my hand but then says, “Fine.”

We approach her together. Braxton slips into the seat beside her, closing her escape, and I move into the seat across from her.

Cora’s eyes go wide. “How did you find me?” She has a smidgeon of sticky syrup on her lip.

“That doesn’t matter,” Braxton chastises her sharply. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m just…” Cora wipes her mouth on a paper napkin and cuts a square out of her pancake with her fork. “I got hungry…do you want some? They’re actually pretty good.”

“What happened to brunch?” I ask.

Cora shrugs and stares at her plate. “Sometimes a girl needs pancakes.”

“You packed your bags and left. You’re running away from the wedding, aren’t you?”

Now Cora’s eyes grow wet. She dabs at the corners of her eyes with her napkin, and her voice shakes when she says, “I’m a terrible person…aren’t I? I’m so sorry…does he hate me?”

“Ray doesn’t know,” I tell her.

“Did he force you into this wedding?” Braxton growls. I wince. You’re not helping, I try to tell him telepathically, but he’s already going off. “I’ll tear him apart.”

“No, no, not…exactly.” Her lower lip juts out and trembles. She’s trying so hard to hold it together, but it’s clear that there’s something she’s holding back.

I reach out and take her hand. Solidarity. “Cora…this is a safe place. You can tell us anything.”

“I’m pregnant!” she finally bursts out. The second she says the words, her hand flies to her mouth and her eyes go wide. “Oh God…”

Oh God is right. For a brief second, no one around the table says anything. Braxton and I are stunned speechless.

I squeeze her hand tighter. “Does Ray know?”

“Yes…we knew…before. That’s why we’ve been rushing to get married. I just wanted to get through the wedding first, you know? And then we’d tell everybody.”

She breaks off in a loud wail. I don’t let go of her hand. “Cora…it’s okay. Okay? We’re here for you.”

Braxton has been thoughtfully silent. Finally, he speaks up. “I’m going to kill him.”

I shoot him a glare. “Braxton.” His eyes meet mine. He’s his own worst enemy, a cyclone of anger, and I lift my eyebrows and tilt my head. Forget about Ray for a second. Think about your sister.

Finally, Braxton gets the memo. He softens the hard edges of his mouth and slips his hand to her back, rubbing in small circles. “Cora,” he says, “you don’t have to go through with this. If you want to leave…you still have family. You have me. We’ll figure this out.”

“Or,” I say pointedly, “you still have Ray. The father.”

“That’s just it,” Cora sniffles. She wraps her fists around the napkin and starts breaking it apart into little, tiny pieces. Her nervous tick. “I don’t know what I want.”

“Talk it out,” I encourage her. “Do you love Ray?”

Cora’s lips part and she looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “Of course! He’s…such a good man. And so good to me. He makes me laugh…I’m crazy about him.”

The passion of her declaration surprises me. I hesitate and then say, “So…what’s the problem?”

Now her eyes go glassy again. Her vision darts downward to the massacred napkin in her lap. “What if he doesn’t love me?” she whispers. “I mean…sure, yes. Maybe he does now. Some…puppy love infatuation because I’m pretty and pregnant. But one of these mornings, he’s just going to wake up and look at me and think, why did I have to get this one pregnant? He could have someone stable, someone more like him…like Mandy…or anyone. Anyone else would be better.”

---