Page 63 of The Best Man Wins

29

Braxton

By time we get back to the Dalton farmhouse, there are cars covering the gravel lot. I park the truck out front, and the three of us exit and head to the house. Susie lingers by my side, and I find that I like having her there. When we get inside, Ray, Lena, and Roxanne are talking over the table and drinking coffee. The second Ray sees us, however, a grin splits across his mouth. He bounds over to us and swallows Cora up in a bear hug.

“Fancy seeing you here, pretty lady.”

“Fancy seeing you.” The side of Cora’s mouth lifts in a half-smile.

“We missed you at the brunch. Where’d you three run off to?”

“I was…craving breakfast food,” Cora says.

“Well, hell, why didn’t you tell me? You know my pancakes are on point.”

Cora goes somber. She slips her hands over his chest. “Listen…we need to talk.”

Ray rubs her lithe arms. “What is it?”

Cora’s eyes hit the floor. “It’s just…this wedding, it’s all happening so fast and…”

“You still want it, don’t you?”

“Of course!” She grips his shirt. “I do, a million times over.”

I watch as Ray tucks a strand of hair behind Cora’s ear. The way he’s looking at her, it’s as though there’s no one else in the room but the two of them. “Listen,” he says, his voice low and surprisingly serious, “I know this has been a whirlwind. It ain’t easy when two people’s lives collide as quickly as ours did. Especially with all the baggage that comes along for the ride. But I’ll take these bumps in the road any day so long as I’ve got you right there next to me.”

I hear Susie sniffling beside me, and when I turn to her, her eyes are shiny and wet.

“All the bumps?” Cora asks. Her hands cup her stomach suggestively.

Ray quirks an eyebrow. “You wanna tell them?”

Cora nods rapidly, her smile shy like a little girl.

Ray lifts his hands above his head with celebration. “We’re having a kid!”

Roxanne screeches and her hands fly to her mouth. Lena’s eyes go as wide as twin moons. They descend like a flock of geese around Cora and Ray, howling and weeping.

When Cora turns to me, she has fresh tears springing down her cheeks. She steps to me, hooks her arms around my neck, and presses her head to my chest. For a second, she’s my little sister again.

“No more secrets,” she whispers. “Starting all over, right?”

“Starting over,” I agree. I kiss the top of her head. “I’m proud of you.”

Ray flanks my side. I release Cora and clasp his hand firmly instead. “Congratulations, Ray,” I say.

“Thanks, Braxo.”

Braxo. Somehow, the nickname has become mildly less annoying.

Cora and Ray find each other and share a small, sweet kiss. Ray doesn’t let her out of his arms the whole while. Despite myself, my chest grows warm. The bride and groom are back together. That’s the way it should be.

The apology note. I remember it quickly, and without interrupting the now-happy couple, I slip past them and quickly scale the stairs. I go down the hall and into Cora’s room. It’s exactly as I left it, the note still perched in the middle of her bed.

Good. I have time to get rid of the evidence before Ray sees it. I quickly pluck the note off the bed, fold it into a small square, and stuff it in my back pocket to get rid of it later.

“Still protecting her?” I glance up to see Susie standing in the doorway, a knowing smile on her lips.

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