by Neesa Hart
Rafael’s patience had snapped. “No one’s going anywhere right now,” he announced. He took Liza from Lucas and held her against his chest. She buried her wet face against his neck. “You’re upsetting them,” he told Lauren.
Liza had raised teary eyes to her mother. “Don’t be mad, Mama. Don’t be mad.”
Lauren’s gaze flickered to her daughter. Rafael saw a slight softening of her features. Lauren reached for the child. Liza went willingly into her mother’s arms. “It’s all right, baby,” Lauren muttered. “Mama’s here.”
“It’s about time,” Kaitlin had said. “It certainly took you long enough.”
Lauren turned her shocked expression to Kaitlin. “Sugar—”
“No,” Kaitlin said angrily. “I’m not going with you.” She hurried toward the stairs. “You can’t make me.”
Cora held out a hand to her. “Kaitlin…” The girl was already racing up the stairs.
Lauren had glared at Cora. “I hope you’re proud of yourself. What did you say to her to make her hate me?”
Cora gritted her teeth. “Stop being melodramatic, Lauren. She’s angry. What did you expect after you dumped them here and didn’t call for over a month?”
Lauren had the grace to look embarrassed. “I meant to…” she started.
“Like Mother always meant to and never did?” Cora pressed. “It’s not enough, Lauren. They needed more from you.”
Lauren had angrily shifted Liza to her hip. “How dare you tell me how to raise my children. As if you know anything about what it’s like to be a parent.”
Rafael had heard enough. During her mother’s discourse, Molly had grabbed hold of his hand and was now clutching it so tightly, he could feel the child’s pulse. He picked her up. “It’s all right,” he told her. “Everything’s going to be all right.” Looking at Lauren, he said carefully. “I think we can find a way to discuss this so it won’t be so upsetting to your daughters.”
Her gaze had swung to him. She resembled her sister, he noted absently, but she looked like a harsher, more worn version of Cora. Her face lacked the tender expression that made Cora so alluring. Her eyes lacked the intelligence that made Cora’s sparkle. “If you think,” Lauren said brusquely, “that I’m going to let a renowned playboy tell me what’s best for my children—”
“He’s not,” Liza insisted, raising her head from her mother’s shoulder. “He’s not a playboy.” She had no idea what the word meant, but her mother’s tone had told her it wasn’t complimentary. “Rafael takes care of us. Don’t be mean to him.”
Lauren’s expression darkened. “I can’t believe this.”
Zack intervened. “I think Rafael’s right. This discussion is best had in private.”
August and Margie moved forward in automatic response and began gathering children, urging them toward the stairs. Lucas belligerently held his ground. “I’m not a little kid,” he said.
Seb threw an arm around his nephew’s shoulders. “Nope. So you get to help us keep order upstairs.”
Lucas looked to Zack for guidance. His father inclined his head toward the stairs in a silent directive. The boy hesitated, but finally yielded. Margie took Molly from Rafael. Liza allowed August to carry her. When only Cora, Lauren, Rafael and Zack remained in the foyer, Lauren had tossed the newspaper to the floor at Cora’s feet. “I can’t believe you, Cora. I never thought you’d do something like this.”
“Lauren, why are you so angry?”
Her sister’s laugh was harsh. “Why? Why? My God, I come back here and my children are in hysterics at the thought of going home with me, and you have to ask me why?”
“Will you stop thinking about yourself for once?” Cora shot back. “Of course they’re upset. You barged in here like a hurricane. You didn’t expect them to react to that?”
“I didn’t expect them,” Lauren said with irritating sweetness, “to look at me like I’m their enemy.”
“Then maybe you should have tried thinking about them often enough to at least send a postcard. The only time they heard from you was when you called and scared Kaitlin half to death.”
“What did you expect?” Lauren stomped her foot like an impatient teenager. “I went out for a pack of cigarettes and saw my children’s picture on the front of a scandal sheet. It never occurred to me that my self-righteous, judgmental, oh-so-superior sister would expose my children to—” she waved an angry hand at Rafael “—to this.”
“Oh, please.” Cora crossed her arms. “As if George the married real-estate broker and your current flavor-of-the-month is the perfect role model.”
Lauren gasped. “How dare you!”
“All right.” Zack stepped between the two women. “This is going nowhere.” He leveled an icy look at Lauren. “You’re not doing anyone any good by throwing around rash accusations about which you clearly know nothing.”
“Who the hell are you?” she demanded.
“Cora’s lawyer,” he said smoothly.
Lauren’s expression turned pale. “Her…” She looked at Cora. “You hired a lawyer?”
Rafael had to hide a grin. “Evidently,” he drawled. He ignored Cora’s frown.
Zack kept his gaze trained on Lauren. “And I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist that you leave.”
“I’m not leaving without my children.”
He held up a hand. “Surely you can see that it’ll take some time to get them packed and ready.” Rafael scowled at him. Zack ignored the dark look and continued to talk to Lauren. “I’m sure you have plenty of details to take care of before you’ll be ready to leave with them.” He pointed meaningfully to the two-seat convertible rental car Lauren had left parked in the driveway. “You’ll have to find appropriate transportation.”
Lauren’s forehead creased. “George is coming tonight. He’ll rent something bigger.”
“Good,” Zack continued. He angled his body so she felt crowded. She took a couple of steps toward the door. “Then I think you can see why a solid night’s rest would benefit everyone.”
“I don’t want—”
Zack pulled open the door. “The children will travel better if they aren’t tired. Is George driving back with you?”
Lauren looked indecisive. “He hates it when they whine.”
Zack nodded and put a hand on her elbow. “I’m sure he does. You’ll want to discuss this with him first, naturally.”
“I guess…” She had one foot on the threshold.
“What time tomorrow should we expect you?” Zack asked.
“Uh…”
“How about ten?” he suggested. “That’ll give Cora plenty of time to have the girls dressed and fed before you get here.” When Lauren hesitated, he added, “Or would George like to participate in the morning rituals?”
That seemed to make up Lauren’s mind. She stepped onto the porch and threw a final angry look at Cora. “Have them ready when I get here, Cora. I’m taking them no matter what you say.”
Zack shut the door in her face. When Cora made a choked sound, Rafael looked at her sharply. She had one hand pressed to her mouth. Her eyes brimmed with unshed tears. He pulled her into his arms. “It’s all right, baby,” he said into her hair. “It’s all right.”
She clung to him. That was his first clue that she was losing a battle with despair. He rubbed her back as he looked at his older brother. “Shh. Don’t cry. We’ll fix it,” he promised. “I swear we’ll fix it.”
That had been two hours ago. Cora had been unable to stop the tears. By unspoken consent, Seb, Margie and the rest of his family had taken all the children to the beach for a much-needed break from the tension in the house. Kaitlin, Molly and Liza had begged to stay with Cora, but she’d finally persuaded them to go. Rafael’s PR representatives were using Cora’s office at the university as their base. All the calls had been diverted to them, and Cora had taken her own phone off the hook. Now, when only August, Zack, Rafael and Cora were in the large house, it seemed unnaturally quiet. Rafael rotated his tens
e shoulders. “This is intolerable.”
Cora stood and walked to him. “You don’t have to do this,” she said softly.
August nodded. “Zack’s right, Rafael. You can’t stop Lauren from taking the girls with her. Your energy is better invested in helping them accept that.”
He ground his teeth in frustration as he looked at Cora. “How can you just accept this? You know what she’ll do to them.”
Cora looked stung. “She won’t hurt them,” she said. “She’s self-centered, but she’s not a terrible parent.”
“She ignored them all summer.”
Zack’s hand rested on his wife’s knee. “But she brought them somewhere that she knew they’d be cared for and safe. It’s not like she abandoned them, Rafael.”
He scowled at his brother. “I cannot believe that you, of all people, are taking her side.”
“I’m not taking sides,” Zack insisted.
August covered his hand with her own. “Rafael, the law—”
“The law sucks,” he bit out. “Dammit, those children are better off with Cora, and anyone in their right mind can see that.”
Cora shook her head. “No, Rafael. That’s not true. She’s their mother. They need to be with her.”
“How the hell can you say that? What’s going to happen when George decides he’s tired of them? Or your sister wants another vacation from motherhood? Then what?”
“Then they’ll come here, and I’ll love them,” she said softly. He could hear the hint of tears in her voice.
“Cora—”
“It’s okay,” she assured him. “It’s really okay.”
“The hell it is,” he muttered. He didn’t like that desolate look he saw in her eyes. He looked at Zack. “You’re a lawyer, dammit. Do something.”
“Rafael,” Zack said, his tone pure frustration, “you don’t honestly think that those girls would be better off having to choose sides during a court battle, do you?”
“In the long run—”
“No,” Zack said. “It’s too much stress for them and you know it. Cora is absolutely right. The best thing she can do for them is let them know that they always have a safe place—a place where someone loves them.”
Cora wasn’t looking at him now. She’d turned to stare out the window. Frustration clawed at his guts. He felt powerless and he hated it. The emotional roller coaster they’d been on for the past few days was having a definite effect on her. Finding the diaries this morning should have been one of the greatest moments of Cora’s life, but she’d been steadily withdrawing from him ever since. Despite her vehement defense of him to Zack, he could practically feel her pulling away. He crossed the room and put his hands on her shoulders. When she tensed, but didn’t face him, fear surged inside him. “What do you want me to do?” he asked her quietly.
Cora shrugged and pressed her fist to her mouth. “There’s nothing we can do.”
“Cora…”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to be upset when they get back,” she said. “It’ll make it harder for them.”
Instinct told him to press her for details, but he didn’t heed it. Instead, he pressed a kiss to the top her head. “I’m here for you,” he promised. “Whatever you need from me, I’m here for you.”
She didn’t respond.
And that scared him most of all.
Chapter Twelve
Dearest,
My minutes pass like hours now. I wait anxiously and pace my room praying that you are well, longing for your voice, trusting that you will come for me—just as you promised. Hasten, dearest. Oh, please hasten.
Abigail
5 November 1862
When the time finally came, Cora fought for the strength to break the news to her nieces without losing her composure. Rafael’s family had brought the children back to the house late in the afternoon, and Cora and Rafael sat with the three girls and explained, as best they could, what had transpired. Liza sat very still on Cora’s bed, her eyes wide with confusion, her hands maintaining a stranglehold on Benedict Bunny. Molly’s anxious gaze darted from her older sister to Cora and back again throughout the discourse. Kaitlin watched Cora, her expression indecipherable, her hands folded in her lap. When Cora finished telling them that Lauren would come for them in the morning, no one spoke for long, tense moments.
Finally Molly raised pleading eyes to Cora. “Do you want us to leave, Aunt Cora?”
Cora caught her breath. “Oh, Mol. No, I don’t want you to leave. Goodbyes are always hard, but you miss your mother, don’t you?”
Molly hesitated, then nodded. Liza chimed in, “I miss Mama. I miss my bed.”
“Me, too,” Molly said.
Rafael took Cora’s hand in his large one. She welcomed his warmth and his strength. “I’ll miss you like crazy,” Cora told the girls. She managed a smile for Liza. “What am I going to do without Benedict Bunny around?”
Liza’s eyes widened as if that possibility was too much to even contemplate. Cora ruffled her hair. “I’m glad he’ll be around to take care of you.”
“Me, too,” the child whispered.
Rafael winked at her. “Just be careful where you put him. Somebody else might not be as good at fishing him out of dark spots as I am.”
Liza’s lips trembled and she shook her head. “George wouldn’t get him. I know he wouldn’t.”
Molly patted Liza’s leg in a surprisingly adult gesture. “It’s okay, Liza. Kaitlin and me’ll help you keep up with him better. He won’t get lost.” She looked to her older sister for confirmation. “Won’t we?”
Kaitlin nodded, but still didn’t speak. Cora studied her oldest niece and felt her heart break. “Kaitlin,” she prompted. “Sweetie, are you all right?”
Kaitlin’s forehead creased. “I guess so.”
“You’re sure?” Cora prompted.
The child frowned. “What’s going to happen next time?” she asked softly, so softly that Cora wasn’t sure she’d heard her correctly.
“What?”
“Next time,” Kaitlin said, her voice stronger. “What’s going to happen to us the next time Mama wants to go somewhere without us?”
“She’ll leave us,” Molly wailed. “Where will she leave us?”
Kaitlin grabbed Molly’s hand. “I won’t let anything happen to you,” she told her younger sister.
“Oh, girls…” Cora moved from her chair to sit with them on the bed. Liza climbed into her lap. Molly and Kaitlin curled against her side. “Listen to me.” She smoothed their hair away from their flushed, teary faces. “You can always come to me. All you have to do is call me, and I’ll come get you. Anywhere.”
“Even Florida?” Molly asked as if she thought of it as the most remote place on earth.
Cora smiled at her. “Even Florida, Mol. Wherever you are. I will not let you be alone. Not ever.”
Liza sniffed. “What if you got other people here?”
“It wouldn’t matter,” Cora said.
Molly picked up the thread. “But what if you’re gone away somewhere and we can’t find you?”
“I’ll check my messages every day,” Cora promised. “If you call, I’ll know.”
“But what if,” Molly went on, “you can’t get there and we have to stay with someone really mean?”
“Then I’ll break the door down and take you away with me.”
Molly stared at her, wide-eyed. “Really?”
Cora shot Rafael a quick glance. “Really. Rafael promised to teach me how.”
Kaitlin looked at Rafael. “I think you and Aunt Cora should get married,” she said.
Cora choked. Rafael’s eyebrows lifted. “Oh?”
“Yes,” the child said. “Then she wouldn’t be alone. She’ll be alone without us.”
Cora’s throat tightened. She pushed aside the thought. “I will not be alone,” she assured the girls. “I’ll have an entire summer of memories to keep me company.”
“Memories?” Molly looked puzzled.
“Yes.” Cora gently caressed her cheek. “Close your eyes, and I’ll show you.”
Molly frowned, but complied. “You, too,” Cora told Liza. Liza dropped her head back in Cora’s lap and shut her eyes. Cora glanced at Kaitlin. The older girl looked at her for long seconds, seeking something, then obediently closed her eyes. Cora stroked Liza’s back. “Now,” she said tenderly, “let’s say that you’re somewhere far, far away—”
“Like Florida?” Molly asked.
“Like Florida,” Cora agreed. She met Rafael’s intense gaze and wondered what he was thinking. He was watching her so closely she could almost feel his scrutiny. Deliberately she returned her attention to the children. “And you’re sitting there one day,” she continued, “and suddenly, you remember something that happened in this house. What would you remember, Molly?”
Molly frowned in concentration, but kept her eyes shut. Then her face brightened. “I’d remember that I like your chocolate-chip waffles.”
Liza’s eyes popped open. “I wanted to say that!”
Cora encouraged her to shut her eyes again. “Can you think of something else, Liza?”
“Um…yes,” Liza announced. “I remember going to the ocean. I liked the beach.”
“Me, too,” Molly said.
“Good,” Cora responded. “What else?”
Molly giggled. “I remember the night we fought with the pillows and slept in the living room.”
“Me, too,” Liza said. “And Rafael made hot chocolate and mine had a big marshmallow like I like it.”
“Uh-huh,” Cora said. “What about the attic?”
“Oh!” Molly gushed. “I love the attic. We liked looking for stuff with you and Rafael.”
Liza nodded vigorously. “Benedict Bunny liked that, too.”
“Aunt Cora,” Molly continued, “if I think really hard, I can see you sitting on the porch in the rocking chair reading to us.”
“Can you?”
“Yes. You’re wearing your blue sweatshirt.”
“Where are you?” Cora asked.
“On the swing,” Molly responded.
“I’m on the rug,” Liza said, recalling the braided rug where she would often curl up at Cora’s feet.