Page 54 of It Will Always Be You
Yeah. Well, if you change your mind, I’m only a text away, sweetheart.
Chapter 49
After a long night of hitting dead end after dead end, Donna dropped me off at Cora’s house—our old home. Stepping through the front door is a weird mix between stepping foot in a time warp and seeing her little touches sprinkled everywhere. But even the cuteness of April and their tuxedo kitten, Socks, batting a ball back and forth on the living room floor can’t distract from the pit of suspicion and unease that’s taken root.
Cora is mid-way through telling me about her own brush of danger with Angus when her phone rings. Shuffling closer beside me, she answers the Facetime call with a beaming smile, and a redhead pops into view.
“Cora, babe, you’ll never believe –” Abigail cuts herself off mid-sentence with a gasp when she spies me beside Cora. “Helen, oh my God. It’s so good to see you.” The last—and first—time I saw my daughter’s best friend, she was spitting mad on her behalf. My kind of woman; it’s clear she takes after her mother in more than just the looks department.
“I was calling to show you the progress on the makeover, but now I want to know how things are going with you guys.” Abigail sets her phone up against something so we can see her sitting cross legged on a bed while she pets the golden retriever curled up against her.
“It’s an adjustment for sure, but it’s just nice to be able to have days like this.” I indicate with a swivel of my hand to the peace that is having family moments, moments that, in my darkest days, I never thought I’d be lucky enough to experience again. Cora’s sharp inhale beside me says it all.
Abigail, sensing the fragility of the moment, offers us both a small smile as she tries to change the subject to something lighter. “Speaking of family…how about the fact Logan is technically Cora’s cousin?”
“Meaning we’re basically family.”
“Please, as if we weren’t already sisters,” Abigail scoffs with a roll of her eyes before turning to me. “Speaking of the devil—any chance you’d be up to talking to my husband?”
The thought of seeing him, even through a phone screen, and being slapped in the face with his resemblance to Freya is almost too much to stomach. At the same time, though, I owe it to her to offer him whatever sense of closure and answers I can. She would do it for me if the shoe was on the other foot.
“Sure. I’ll get Cora to give you my number, and you can pass it along to him.” The visible relief on her face at my concession tells me all I need to know about how important this is to her—to him. With promises to do so, she hangs up just as the doorbell rings. With a frown, Cora heads to answer it while I watch April and Socks. The sound of footsteps alerts me to Cora’s reappearance, but as I turn around, the sight of a curvy brunette with tears in her eyes and heartbreak bleeding from her every pore wipes the smile clean off my face.
“Are you okay, honey?” I ask, making my way over to her. When I’m close enough, I place my hands on her heaving shoulders. Her wide, panicked hazel eyes look at me in shock before she starts sobbing.
“Hey, it’s all going to be okay,” I hush her, running my hand overher hair, pulling her into me. Cora joins me in trying to soothe the clearly distraught girl by rubbing circles on her back.
“Lily, babe, what’s wrong?” she asks, shooting confused looks at me over her friend’s shoulder. Not knowing what’s going on any more than she does, I shrug and continue to soothe her, offering what little bits of comfort I can. Eventually, we get her to calm down a bit and move her over to the sofa.
“How about I make us all some hot chocolate, hmm? Chocolate fixes everything.” Leaving Lily curled up beside Cora, I make our drinks the way I used to for Cora when she had a bad day at school: boiling the milk on the stove, melting a chocolate bar down over boiling water, and combining both in a mug before topping a dollop of heavy whipping cream and a sprinkle of marshmallows. Taking the mugs back over to the girls, I catch the tail end of their conversation.
“I thought we talked about this. He’s just going to break your heart.” Frustration bleeds from Cora’s every word. It’s clear this is a conversation they’ve had a million times.
“I know, but I can’t help loving him, Cor. Don’t you think I’ve tried? Of course I’d save myself from this if I could.” She sobs, burying her head in her hands. Even with missing information, that kind of pain, of heartbreak, is universal enough that my heart goes out to her. Taking a seat beside her, I pull her into my side and hum a lullaby, trying to soothe her before she works herself up even more. Just as her breathing calms, we’re interrupted by the sharp click clack of heels on the wooden hall floor. Twisting to see who the hell has decided to let themselves into Cora’s home, I spy the frosty blonde from last night. Jen’s here, and she doesn’t look pleased to see her daughter here with us.
“Lily Jenifer Murphy, what on Earth are you doing here?! We are supposed to be halfway across town by now, and thanks to you, we’re going to be late. God, can’t you do anything right, you ungrateful brat?!” She ends her tirade with a shout before narrowing in on the hot chocolates.
“And what have I told you about consuming stuff like that? God,as if you aren’t big enough as it is. This is going to take weeks of dieting to correct.” With a huff, she grabs Lily’s arm without so much as a word to anyone else and drags her away. Lily’s tear-stricken face might be out of our line of sight for now, but not from my memory. It’ll take more than a closed door to erase a sight like that, or to erase the absolute venom clinging to Jen’s every word.
“Well, that was...” Jonathan frowns, having let himself in somewhere in the middle of Jen’s tirade.
“Interesting,” I offer, and he snorts.
“You could say that again,” Cora mutters, darkness clinging to her words as she glares at her front door. It’s clear Jen is making bad impressions left, right, and centre. My main question is, what kind of woman—what kind of mother—can treat her own daughter like that?
Chapter 50
Ever since Helen started spending more time with Donna and Cora, taking steps towards healing, every moment we spend together feels even more charged. Watching a movie with her thigh touching mine has me fighting back the urge to pull her into my arms. Having family dinner nights with her and Cora has me dreaming of what our life could have been, of what I’m determined to make it into. It’s like there’s an electric current in the air. With every breath we take, every move we make, it feels like it’s going to shock us.
It’s not just thrumming in my veins anymore—it’s palpable in the air. Anytime we’re in the same room, it’s all I can do not to act on it, to touch her, kiss her, show her I mean it when I say it’s always been her and always will be. She’s it for me, but she’s not ready for the weight of that yet. Once I make her mine, there’s no going back. I made the mistake of letting her go once, but never again. I’m playing for keeps this time. The only way this ends is with the ring that has lived in my dresser for two decades being slipped on her finger with vowsof forever and I do’s.
“You know the thing that got me through that hell hole the most?” Looking up from my laptop, I see she paused the movie and cast aside her book. Evil never sleeps, but that doesn’t mean I can’t multitask and spend time in her presence while answering the never-ending wave of emails.
“Hmm?” Shutting the lid of my laptop and setting it aside, I give her my full attention.
“The thought of being back in your arms,” she confesses, twisting to face me. “Every time they would touch me, I’d think of you, of us. It’s the only way I managed to stay sane.” Her confession rips at my restraint, and in seconds, I’m across the room on my knees before her, resting my forehead against hers.
“Sweetheart, knowing what you went through is killing me,” I confess against her skin. “I missed you so much. I never got over you. The guys didn’t understand my sudden celibacy, but I couldn’t stomach the thought of being with anyone who wasn’t you. Now that you’re back, I’ll give you all the time in the world, but just know, I still want you, Helen. I’ve wanted you since I first laid eyes on you, and that’s never changed. I want you so much, I’d give up everything to go back and change the path we took. I’d lay myself at the altar to save you from that if I could.”
