I reach across the table to take Cora’s hand again. “You’re not damaged. Ray loves you. I promise. And if you come back with us, he’ll tell you himself.” I squeeze her hand. “Everyone deserves a happy ending. Everyone. And don’t let anyone take that away from you…especially not yourself.”
“She’s right,” Braxton speaks up. “I’ll support you in whatever you decide.”
She scoffs. “You hate Ray. You’ve made that obvious.”
Braxton presses his lips together. “He loves you. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Cora blinks at him. “Do you mean that?”
“Nothing would make me happier than to give you away to him.”
Now Cora looks like she’s on the verge of crying again. These aren’t the hopeless sobs from earlier, though. These are happy tears spilling down her face, and she lets out small choked laughs in between sniffles. “Yes…yes. Okay. Let’s go back.” She rubs her hand over her face to wipe away her tears. “I have to pick up my wedding dress.”
Braxton draws his thumb over her cheeks, helping her clean up, and then reaches into his pocket and puts down some cash for the check. “Let’s go.”
Cora goes to the bathroom to collect herself before we head out, so Braxton and I wait for her by the car. The sky is a nice, crisp deep noon blue.
“The weather is going to be great for the wedding tomorrow,” I tell him.
“Yes.”
A blue jay flutters to the roof of the diner and twitters as she busies herself with her nest. I try to stay calm, but my mind is a flurry of thoughts.
“Thank you for what you said in there,” I say. “It really changed Cora’s mind.”
“Which part?” Braxton asks. “When I gave Ray my blessing or the part where I said that I love you?”
There it is again. Those three words don’t fail to make a goofy grin burst on my lips. “Yes,” I say. “Both.”
“I didn’t say it just for her, you know,” Braxton makes sure to tell me. “I mean it.”
“I know.” I bite my lip. “Me too.”
We linger in a small silence.
“It’s not a proposal,” Braxton clarifies.
“I know.”
“I don’t expect us to move in together as soon as we get back to New York.”
“Wasn’t even thinking about it, but it’s good to know that you were.”
“But…perhaps we can see each other again once this all blows over.”
“I would like that.” I rest my arms around my chest. Braxton stands beside me stiffly, and we listen to the morning noises of people bustling around the kitchen, birds singing back and forth to each other.
“You can say it again, if you want,” I try.
A laugh leaves him. Deep, genuine. It makes my heart lift. “You’re impossible.”
“Yes. It’s one of the things you like about me.”
Braxton takes my face in his hand. And, just like that, everything else around me melts away. All I can see is Braxton and those deep, soulful eyes that seem to go on forever. He looks at me like I’m the only woman in the world. “I love you,” he says, the timber of his voice intense, passionate.
A knot of emotion curls around my throat. “I love you too.”
We tilt in together. His lips brush against mine as he closes in for a kiss—
“There was no toilet paper, so I had use a pocket tissue. It was gross in there,” Cora announces as she exits the diner. She sees us, however, and then stops. “Am I interrupting a moment?”
“Not anymore,” Braxton says and straightens up briskly.
“Shall we?” I say and gesture to the truck.
28
Notes From the Dalton/West File
Flower arrangements:
For Cora, an organic, free-flowing bouquet. Purple lilacs, peonies, clematis. Bouquet will be packed full with greenery to give it a natural look, completed with an ivory silk ribbon.
For Ray, a matching lavender boutonniere with a back-silk ribbon.
For Roxanne, a lily of the valley cascading bouquet with gardenias.
For bridesmaids, hydrangea blooms, purple and white, with matching greenery.
For the flower girl lilies lilacs magnolias.
Yes. Let’s slay our demons. Let’s bring magnolias back.
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.