Page 40 of Deserving Cora
“You feel it,” Pipe had whispered from next to her.
Cora could only nod.
“I come out here when things get to be too much. Being out here reminds me that we’re here for such a short time. That my life is fleeting. It grounds me.”
Cora understood perfectly.
“You’re lucky,” she said softly. “To live here, I mean. This is…it’s so beautiful I can’t put it into words.”
“Yeah,” Pipe had agreed. Then he’d taken a step closer to her, close enough that she could feel the warmth of his body seep into hers, and they gazed out at the beauty that was all around them in silence. His hand moved, tentatively touching the small of her back once more, and Cora hadn’t been able to stop herself from leaning into him.
How long they’d stood there, she had no idea, but even now she could feel the echo of his hand on her back. Every minute she spent around this man, the more shewantedto be near him. It was as if she’d found a missing part of her soul. It was corny. Unbelievable. Ridiculous.
And yet, she couldn’t shake the feeling that Pipe was hers.
Lara would be eating it up. She’d be encouraging Cora to go for it. To not be scared of what she felt. She was the romantic of the two of them. The one who always saw the best in people. Who fell in love at the drop of a hat.
Just thinking about it made her frown. As the others continued to eat, Cora’s concern for her friend filled her yet again. Lara was in her current situation because of her naiveté. Cora had tried to warn her that something about Ridge made her nervous, but Lara had disagreed, and they’d gotten into that big fight as a result.
Eventually, Pipe noticed her silence. “You okay?” he asked quietly from next to her.
Cora blinked and realized she’d been inside her head and completely oblivious as to what was going on around her for who knew how long.
“Yeah. Just worried about Lara.”
“Tomorrow we’re going to talk plans,” Pipe told her. “Tex is supposed to get back to us with any new intel he was able to find, and we’ll figure out how to get in touch with Lara and find out what’s going on.”
It wasn’t going to be that easy, Cora knew that. She wasn’t going to be able to walk up to Ridge’s door, knock, and leave arm-in-arm with Lara for an ice cream run or something. Ridge had gone to a lot of trouble to make Lara fall so quickly. Quick enough to agree to move to Arizona without warning…if she’d even agreed at all. Since Cora hadn’t been able to talk to her friend to find out exactly how the move happened, she wasn’t sure of anything at this point.
“Okay,” she said belatedly. “I appreciate you keeping me in the loop, but it doesn’t make my worry for my friend go away. Lara is…she’s not like me. She grew up sheltered. Her family is loaded, Pipe. She never understood what it was like to go to bed so hungry it feels as if your stomach is eating itself. Or to go to sleep knowing the second you do, someone might come into your room and touch you inappropriately. Didn’t have to wonder when her next shower would come or if she’d be living in an entirely new house from day to day. And Ineverwanted her to experience that stuff. Ever. Now I’m afraid that’s exactly what’s happening. That she’s suffering some of the things I endured as a kid…and she’s completely unprepared for it.”
Instead of responding, Pipe stood up, then reached down and grabbed her hand, pulling Cora to her feet as well. “We’re done. We’ll see you guys in the morning,” he told his friends.
“I’ll be here early, if you wake up and want some company,” Alaska said. “I need to work on the website a bit and do some scheduling.”
“And I’m always up early too,” Henley said. “I take Jasna to school and then head to my job in Los Alamos. If you need anything in town, let me know and I can grab it before I head back here around lunchtime.”
“I’ll be sleeping,” Reese said with a sheepish grin. “I’m not a morning person, unlike these weirdos.” She grinned. “And this kid in my belly is making me extra tired.”
“Yeah, sure, it’s the kid who’s keeping you up at night and making you tired,” Henley quipped.
Everyone laughed, and Cora smiled weakly. These women were being so nice to her. They were essentially strangers, and yet they’d offered their help without hesitation. It was a little disconcerting, and she felt as if she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Like they’d discover something about her they didn’t like, and figure out she wasn’t worthy of befriending.
Pipe shook his head as if amused by the women, then began to pull her toward the door. “Tell Robert thank you for me!” Cora called as she was towed away.
“No thanks needed,” Robert said as he came into the large room from another door on the other side of the room.
Cora wanted to protest, tell him that he definitely needed to be thanked for the amazing food he’d made for dinner, but Pipe didn’t give her a chance. He was walking fast, holding her hand in his with a firm grip. Though Cora had a feeling that if she gave him any indication she wanted him to let go, he’d immediately loosen his fingers.
But she had no desire to let go of his hand. Even though he was walking fast, he was making sure she was right by his side. That he wasn’t taking steps so big, she couldn’t keep up. He was considerate, observant. And even though it was dark outside, and she knew there were critters big and small in the forest around them that would completely freak her out if she came face-to-face with any, she felt as safe with Pipe as always. He wouldn’t let any bear, moose, or Chupacabra eat her.
A grin formed on her face at her thoughts. It was hard to believe that with everything going on, with how worried she was about Lara, she could still smile.
Pipe led them to his cabin, which he’d pointed out earlier. But instead of going to the door, he led her around the side of the structure. To Cora’s surprise, when they got to the back, instead of the deck she’d assumed would be there, like she’d seen on some of the other cabins, she saw only a tiny little stoop off the back door.
More interesting was the sturdy-looking spiral staircase near the rear corner of the cabin.
“Pipe?” Cora asked as he led her toward it.
