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“Yes, I know that, but we don’t need another one before your wedding.” She looked from me to Kipp and back to me, like I was the problem in this situation.
“I will guarantee we won’t be alone in this room while we’re here.” The man was irritating, and a traitor, what did I see in him? A good man that was willing to abide by my parent’s rules to help mend my relationship with them, that’s what.
The day turned to evening and Cooper yawned on my dad’s lap. Whose side he hadn’t moved from since we got here. There would only be one grandpa for him and somewhere in his four-year-old heart he knew that. “Little man, it’s time for bed,” Kipp said, standing to take him to bed.
“I’ll take him,” I offered, moving to stand.
“Nope, you stay here.” He winked as Cooper said his goodnights. He and Kipp walked out of the room and I sat in silence with my parents.
“Nora Jean, your mother and I have something to say and please hear us out.” Dad leaned ahead and rested his elbows on his knees. “We made the biggest mistake of our lives the day we turned you out. It’s five years we’ve lost and will never get back. Not just your life, but Cooper’s too. We’re so desperately sorry.” My father cast his eyes between me and my mother.
“When Kipp walked through our door the other week, we thought it was the worst day we could have imagined. Knowing this place would no longer belong to us was devastating. The only thing I was worried about was what if you came home and we were gone. But when we signed the papers, our hope had returned.” Mom’s eyes flitted behind me but I didn’t have to follow them, it was the same way I knew he was in the coffee shop, and the same way I knew the day I met him I was safe. His presence filled a room and my soul calmed when he was around.
We talked for a while and my parents went to bed. Apparently, it was okay to be alone in the living room but not the bedroom. If they only knew. “If we fall asleep out here, do you think they’d be mad?” I asked, resting my head on his chest.
“I don’t think they’d be mad if we shared a bed, but I won’t do something that may make them uncomfortable. Come on, baby, let’s go to our separate rooms.” He put his hand in mine and helped me stand. Taking me in his arms, I grabbed his shirt in my hands and he pressed his mouth to mine, and without another word I knew we were both sad separate rooms were where we were heading.
“See you in the morning, baby,” he said, slapping my rear end before turning and walking to his room.
My parent’s door opened and my mom stepped out, and motioned me to follow her. She reached up to the cupboard above the fridge and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. “Grab the glasses, child.” We sat at the table and she poured. “I never got to do this with you when you turned twenty-one. Tell me about that night.” She rested her elbows on the table and I took a sip of my drink.
“Too much of this,” I laughed gently, shaking my glass and smiling. “I don’t remember much. I didn’t even remember it was him. He was faceless, other than when I looked at Cooper.”
“And you didn’t have a clue when you saw them together?” Mom asked in disbelief.
“No, I thought Cooper looked like me.” I shrugged, taking another sip. We stayed up until the wee hours of the morning talking, laughing, listening, shedding a few tears and just enjoying being together.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
KIPP
Walking out to the kitchen, I was surprised to see it empty. There was a whiskey bottle and two glasses on the table. “I see our girls were up last night.” Ray laughed, walking around me, grabbing the bottle and putting it away. “That would explain my passed out wife. Whiskey’s always been her downfall.”
“Like mother, like daughter. Whiskey’s the reason Cooper’s here,” I said, looking over my shoulder making sure he wasn’t in ear shot.
“Go peek in that room and check on Nora, please,” he said, pointing to the room closest to the kitchen.
“Is this a test?” I stared at the man slightly suspicious.
He laughed and shook his head. “No son, just have to make sure she’s breathing.” I nodded and went to her room. Quietly turning the handle, the door opened and, sure enough, she was laying across the pink bed spread, in the same clothes she’d worn yesterday. Taking a glance around the room, it was hard to imagine the woman I loved here, surrounded by trophies, and crowns. But there she was, face down on the bed. Pulling the door closed, I went back into the kitchen.
“What time is church?” I shoved my hands in my pockets and rocked on my heels. Ray burst out laughing and shook his head.
“Let’s go do chores, son.” He slapped me on the back and I followed him. Son seemed to be the only thing he called me now. Six months ago it would have made me angry, but Nora changed the way I thought of my father. It wasn’t about what I couldn’t do for him, it was what I did for him. And what it did for me. I now took pride in the fact I was the one to be there with him rather than even a mention of him setting the entire ranch on edge.
“So you and Nora have a past?” Ray said as he shovelled new bedding for the horses.
“Yes sir, and please if I’d have been in my right head, I wouldn’t have done it. Grief mixed with alcohol wasn’t a combination I handled well.” I lifted the old straw out of the opposite stall and put it into the wheelbarrow.
“Grief? May I ask why?” He stopped and leaned on the handle of his pitch fork.
“I’d lost my father exactly a year earlier. He died in my arms and all I wanted to do was forget that day. I was team roping with my best friend, and we ended up at a bar south of Lubbock and well, things happened, and we have Cooper.” I shrugged, feeling like it was a totally inadequate explanation.
“And how’s the grief now?” He narrowed his eyes, and I felt like he could see into my soul.
“I still miss him, obviously, but it’s not ever present. It was until I met Nora. She was the first person I’d confided in. Over the years, almost everyone I know tried to get me to talk, but I was tight-lipped. My mom and sisters didn’t need the memory I had every time I closed my eyes. But one day, I was out on a ride with Nora, and it just spilled out.” There were things about that day with Nora that I would keep locked away forever, it was the moment I knew there was nobody else in the world that would ever understand me.
“She’s always been a good listener, even when she was young. But Kipp, she will take on all the things she’s told and she won’t let them go. My girl has more caring in her than ought to be allowed. She needs someone to confide in and be there for her. Keep people away that want to do her harm.” He looked at me like he knew about Bella, and I would feel immense guilt over that day for the rest of my life.
