He took a deep breath then stood. “Let’s face it. It’s just not going to be one of those happily-ever-after Christmases. Although you did get your sister back. That’s pretty big. I’m happy for you.”
Cassie came down the stairs as he spoke, a silky, lavender robe billowing around her. Even tired, she was gorgeous.
“Hi, guys,” she said, walking into the kitchen. “Am I in time to help clean up?” She took the bag from Ben before he could reply. “I’ll do this. You guys go into the living room and relax. Shoo!”
Corie gave him a look of such...he had to analyze what it was and decided sorrow best described it. So...she did love him, but she wasn’t giving up anything to keep him?
That wasn’t going to work.
“Cassie and I’ll finish,” Corie said, her voice raspy. “We’ll bring coffee out in a little while.”
He hesitated.
“Go,” she said.
So, he did.
CHAPTER TWENTY
CORIE AND CASSIDY sat on the love seat watching the children open presents, Jack perched on the back behind them.
“I feel so awful that I don’t have gifts for anyone,” Cassidy said. “One extra day and I could have done some shopping, but there just wasn’t time.”
“The fact that you’re here is gift enough for us,” Jack said. “Why don’t you come home to Oregon with the family and me? Corie’s going to come so we can all be together to see in the new year.”
“I am?” Corie asked.
“You are. I spent all this time getting us together and I’ll be darned if we’re going to part already. Cassie said she’s taking a couple of months off, and you could use a little time, too, couldn’t you?”
“I...” She began to decline the invitation.
“Good,” he said. “I’ll make a few more reser—”
“No,” she said forcefully, turning to smile at him. “It’d be lovely, but I don’t want to leave Teresa alone.”
“Teresa’s thinking about going with friends to New York until after the new year.”
Corie could have fallen over. That was the first she’d heard of it. “What about Soren and Rosie?”
He frowned. “She seemed to think they were looked after. She told me you were taking Rosie and Ben was adopting Soren.”
She stood in distress. “Rosie doesn’t want to come with me and Soren doesn’t want to go with Ben.”
Jack slipped off the love seat and turned to lean both hands on the back, frowning. “Why not? He’s crazy about Ben.”
“I don’t know. I think the kids made a deal or something.”
“It was a pinky swear,” Cassidy said, turning toward Corie, her bright blue eyes serious.
Corie gasped. “How do you know?”
“Soren told me,” she said. “He helped me take the garbage out to the shed. They made a deal that they’d only go with either of you as long as you took both of them, and then they’d work on getting you guys together so they’d have two parents. This is family building at its most sophisticated.” She spread her hands as though it was obvious. “It’s the only way the Palmer Family Fairy Tale is going to work.”
“The Palmer Fam—” Corie gasped again. “You’ve been here all of eight or nine hours and you know more about the kids than I do?”
“What can I say? Little girls love models, and little boys will spill their guts to a sympathetic woman who will listen.”
“I listened,” Corie complained.
“But you’re part of the secret, so Soren couldn’t tell you.” Cassie hunched her shoulders in a gesture of excitement. “So, you and Ben, huh?”
Corie fell against the back of the love seat. “No. I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“It is her and Ben,” Jack corrected, “but he’s too in charge and she’s afraid someone else’s self-confidence will compromise hers. So they’re going to be two lonely people, with a couple of lonely children left in their wake.”
Corie put an elbow on the side of the love seat to look into Jack’s eyes. “Soren’s been with Teresa for a year and a half. She and his father were friends. He’ll be fine. And maybe Rosie will get lucky and find wonderful foster parents. Everyone will be fine. I will be fine by myself and so will Ben.”
Jack closed his eyes, summoning patience. “Is that all you want out of life? To be fine? Don’t you want to be fantastic? Don’t you want to flourish? For your life to be so filled with love that people will have to cross the street when you walk by to make room?” He tugged at her hair. “You’re not going to get that by yourself.”
Corie growled and turned to Cassie. “Love converts are so obnoxious. He found Sarah—stole her from Ben, actually—and now he thinks he knows everything.”
“I think he’s right in this case.”
“You do realize—” Corie leaned toward her in mock threat “—that I’m the older sister? I’m supposed to give you advice.”
Cassie laughed. “And I’ll be happy to take advantage of that at birthday time. For now, though, I think you should fix whatever the problem is with you and Ben.”
Their attention was reclaimed by Rosie, who had just opened the jacket Corie had made her and put it on. Corie had appliquéd an angel on either side of the front closure. Rosie beamed with delight and threw her arms around Corie.
“I love it! I love it!” Then she straightened, her smile quivering. “I’ll send you a picture every time I wear it.”
Corie’s throat burned.
Across the room Grady, Teresa and all the Palmers were helping Soren with the biggest box of Legos that Corie had ever seen. Ben, uncharacteristically quiet, sorted pieces.
As though he sensed her attention he looked up and, like the words of the old song, their eyes met across the crowded room.
* * *
BEN SWORE HE heard the clang of their gazes meeting. She had that independent set to her head and shoulders, that out-of-my-way attitude that defined her. He knew there was softness in her, but she seemed to have hidden it away these past few days.
He wasn’t entirely surprised. Just...sad that they couldn’t connect in a way that made both of them happy. He was willing to compromise on a few things, but not everything.
He felt bad, too, about the children. He’d told Teresa that he’d keep in touch and if Soren changed his mind, he’d come back for him immediately. Teresa said she had a similar agreement with Corie regarding Rosie.
It was cool, though, to see all the Manning siblings together on that love seat, to think of everything Jack and Corie had braved to be brother and sister, and to find Cassie, who seemed to be just a sweet woman without Jack’s and Corie’s demons.
Corie had her siblings now. Maybe she simply didn’t need him anymore. He’d have to rethink his feelings on that “if you love something, let it go” theory.
He’d learned a lot in Querida, he realized. All the brave children had taught him a lesson in believing, and even those whose dreams hadn’t come true, had taught him that sometimes the best you could do was endure and wait for better times.
Teresa’s generosity was a lesson in itself. And... Corie. She’d been an education in accepting that there were some things in life you just couldn’t have, no matter how badly you wanted them.
He smiled across the room at her, hoping what he felt for her showed in his face and told her what he couldn’t say.
Needing to get away, he gathered up some of the gift wrap littering the floor and wadded it in his hands to throw away in the kitchen.
“Quite a Christmas Eve, huh?” Corie’s voice made him turn. Her hands were full of crumpled wrap. She must have had the same idea.
“Yes,” he said, holding the garbage bag open. “I doubt any of us will ever forget it.”
“Did I tell you I picked out my classes?”
“No. I’m glad you’re doing that. Someday, when Cassidy is modeling your designs, I can say I knew you when.”
“Yes,” she said, “you did.” She seemed uncomfortable. He hated that. He liked to think that his presence provided comfort for her, security. She smiled suddenly. “We’re having ham for Christmas dinner,” she said, “so Jack’s on dishes tomorrow.”
“Good,” he said. “I’m probably going to be gone, anyway. I have an afternoon flight back to Salem, so I have to get to McAllen early.”
“Oh?” She made a small distressed sound.
He found that a little encouraging but not enough.
“You’re not going with everybody else?”
He shrugged. “No. I did what I came to do. You’re free of Pimental. We proved Tyree scammed the insurance company. Bigelow seems to be turning around, though he may have to answer for a few things. Teresa has her house. Speaking of which, I think it’s safe to tell her about it. It’ll be a great Christmas present for her.”
Her expression brightened just a little. “Great. we’ll tell her together.”
“No...”
He pulled away, but she caught his arm. “Please, Ben.”
“Are you two in here making out when you should be helping me pour champagne?” Teresa teased them over her shoulder as she gathered glasses, then looked into their faces and turned. “What?”
Corie opened her mouth to reply, but her lips trembled. “You tell her,” she whispered to Ben.
He patted her shoulder consolingly, feeling a little choked up himself. “This house and property are now yours, Teresa,” he said. “It’ll take a couple of weeks until you get the legal paperwork, but it’s yours.”
Teresa stared, alternately smiling and frowning, wanting to believe, but seemingly afraid. “I don’t understand.”
Corie found her voice. “Kenneth left it to you in his will, but Cyrus altered it to make it look like he inherited everything. We found the paperwork the night we had the altercation with Pimental.”
“No more threats of eviction.” Ben put an arm around her shoulders. “Though you’ll have to fix maintenance issues yourself now. But that should be easy when you get the two years of rent back from Cyrus.”
Tears filled Teresa’s eyes as she wrapped her arms around Ben, then reached out to draw Corie in. “I can’t believe it. It’s a miracle.”
Ben committed the moment to memory. “It is. It’s the season.”
Teresa pulled herself together and pointed Ben toward the refrigerator. “Would you get the champagne. I was going to toast the Manning family reunion, and now there’s more to be happy about. Corie, can you bring the glasses?”
Ben poured champagne, Corie distributed glasses, and Teresa offered a toast to the Mannings. “I’m giving you Corie on loan,” she said, raising her glass to the Palmers. “I’m not giving up my claim on her as her foster mother, but I’m happy to share her.” Then she told them about the house and there were cheers and raised glasses again.
While everyone congratulated Teresa, Ben went back to the kitchen. Corie followed him.
“I’ve been thinking that Cassie will want to stay with you tonight,” he said. “I’ll bunk with Grady at the B and B. I’ll get my things out of your place tonight so that I don’t have to disturb you tomorrow.”
She looked as though she hated the idea. She dropped her lashes and firmed her lips. When she looked up again, she smiled politely. “That’s fine.”
“Good.” He gave her a quick hug, inhaling that cherry scent of her shampoo, memorizing how small she felt in his arms but how big in spirit she really was. “Grady and I’ll be on our way, then. I’ll leave my key on your kitchen counter.”
“Okay. Good luck, Ben.”
“To you, too, Corie.”
* * *
“I LIKE YOUR SISTERS,” Grady said to Ben as they packed up Ben’s belongings in Corie’s quiet little house. “You know, the sisters that are your brother’s sisters but not your sisters.”
“That joke’s getting old.” Ben handed Grady his computer case then shouldered his bag. Geez. Now he had two pseudosisters.
He looked around to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything and almost lost it. He remembered the night he’d given Corie the ornament and she’d looked so vulnerable in her appreciation that he’d kissed her, and the night he’d found her sewing. If he closed his eyes, he could still feel her in his arms, the silken strands of her hair in his fingers.
“I’m sorry it didn’t work out with you and Corie.” Grady watched him worriedly. “She’s quite a woman. They’re quite a family, actually.”
“Yeah,” Ben agreed. “I’m glad they have each other.”
Who do I have? Ben asked himself before the needy, pathetic nature of the question hit him.
“Cheer up. You’ve got me,” Grady said, as though he’d listened in on Ben’s thoughts. “I bet you could have her, though, if you told her you love her and promise not to spend your life bossing her around.”
Ben turned to his friend in disappointment. “Hey. Doesn’t she owe me a little peace of mind? I cheer her self-sufficiency but you can’t have a marriage if everybody’s independent.”
“You also can’t have a marriage if you let her stay here while you go home.”
“I’m not letting her stay here. She wants to stay here.”
“I don’t think she really does.”
“How do you know that?”
“I don’t absolutely, but she showed me Rosie’s fairy tale. Have you read it?”
“No. No one’s showed it to me.”
“Well, I brought it with me. We ready? Let’s go back to the B and B.”
* * *
BEN SAT ON the foot of Grady’s bed and read Rosie’s fairy tale, noting the title, “The Palmer Family Fairy Tale.” His throat closed and his eyes burned.
Corie and Ben were friends.
Rosie and Soren were friends.
Because everybody was friends together, they went to the store for ice cream in Ben’s car.
Then a big black cloud came with wind and rain.
Ben’s car got sucked up by the wind and he drove across the sky.
They saw chickens and cows but no other people.
Then the storm stopped and Ben’s car fell into a tree.
Corie and Ben and Rosie and Soren climbed down the tree but didn’t see any other people. They didn’t know where they were, just that they were all alone.
So, Corie and Ben got married and made Soren and Rosie their children.
And they lived happily ever after.
Ben cleared his throat, touched by the outrageousness of Rosie’s thoughts. “How did they get married if there were no other people?”
Grady rolled his eyes. “It’s a fairy tale, Palmer. Wake up. All of life is a fairy tale. Or a horror story. Depends on your perspective.”
Ben looked at him in surprise. “You’re very philosophical all of a sudden.”
Grady grinned. “I just met a supermodel. And she fell into my arms. That’ll change any man’s life.”
Ben placed the two sheets of wide-lined paper covered in child’s script on the desk and sat in the chair.
“At first, Corie was lost and alone and I was helpful. Now she’s got Jack and Cassie and she doesn’t need me anymore.”
“Oh, come on! Are you sure you’re not just worried that you don’t know where you fit into that equation? You need her to prove how much she wants you by giving up the woman she’s always been?”
Ben got up from the chair, stood uncertainly in the middle of the room, and frowned at Grady. “I thought you were on my side.”
“I am. I want you to have her.”
“On her terms?”
“Who gives a flying fig about terms? You can work those out as you go.”
Ben groaned over his friend’s ridiculous notion. “I’ll sleep in my car.”
“We took my car. Yours is still at Teresa’s. And your terms would be that when you get annoyed, you leave?”
“Then I’ll sleep in your car.”
Grady tossed him his keys. “You’re being juvenile, but go ahead.”
* * *
OKAY, THIS HAD to be close to rock bottom, Ben thought—Christmas Eve spent in a rental car. He was comfortable for about a minute. Because his legs were too long to stretch out, either in the front seat or the back, he finally moved to the middle of the back and stuck his legs between the two front seats.
That was okay for ten minutes or so.
He got out of the car and sat on the hood and leaned back. The air was cool and sweet, the inky sky filled with a million stars. He remembered that the very close conjunction of Jupiter, Saturn and Mars was believed to be the Star of Bethlehem. Christmas Eve on the hood of a car. Better than inside the car.
He started to count the stars so he didn’t have to think about whether or not Grady was right.
* * *
CASSIE SAT CROSS-LEGGED on Corie’s bed in a pair of pink silk pajamas, brushing her rippling, light blond hair. “Why won’t you come to Oregon with us?” she asked. “I’m looking forward to seeing Beggar’s Bay and where the guys grew up.”
Corie sat on the foot of the bed in her purple sleep shirt, entwining her black hair into a bun. “I went to Jack’s wedding when he first found me. It’s a wonderful place.” She sighed and dropped her hands into her lap. “But I’ve seen it.”
Cassie leaned forward to touch a hand to Corie’s knee. “Why don’t you just let yourself love Ben? I know your life’s been hard and I feel so guilty that mine’s been so good. But...”
To Love and Protect Page 22