Page 9 of Dancing on Air

“It must have been hard for you, growing up with her,” he replied.

“There were ups and downs. There was a time when she would just go off and leave me alone. That’s when I moved in with Aunt Patty.” Cora leaned on the railing of the boat as her eyes scanned over the island.

“Your aunt…” JT asked.

“She’s wonderful. Well, was. She died a few years back in a car accident during a bad snowstorm.” Cora looked off over the water, remembering the hurt after finding out about Patty’s death. How she’d felt more abandoned by her aunt’s death than all the times that her mother had left her or the fact that her father hadn’t been in her life. “She was more like a mother to me than Mom. Things didn’t get better until Dad moved in. Then, at least for a while, Mom seemed… normal. Then, things changed for the worse.” It was true. Her mother changed after her father returned. They almost had what she would consider a normal life. For a short time before everything turned bad.

“What changed to make things worse?” he asked as he slowed the boat and maneuvered into the boathouse.

“Dad contacted you,” she said, glancing over at him. “Mom seemed to change after that. They fought more and more. She kept coming up to see me at school. Trying to convince me to return home and drop out.”

Over the following weeks and months, she and JT grew even closer. Kayla visited the island a few times, bringing her son Conner, or CJ, as he liked to be called, with her.

Cora had a nephew. CJ was so sweet and cute, and she instantly fell in love with him.

Then JT had to fly out to California for his movie’s release. She was thankful he suggested she stay and watch over the place and Bo again.

One night, while she and Bo were taking a walk, she noticed a light in the boathouse.

JT’s friend Todd was filling in for him as the ferry driver to and from the swanky resort East Haven while he was out of town, and at first she thought that Todd was in there getting something for the ferry. Then she saw flames shooting out of the shed area off the back of the building and sprinted into action.

It took her a few moments to put out the fire. It wasn’t until after she’d finished hosing down the last embers that she noticed the cigarette butt.

Sitting down, she stared at it until her heart settled. Bo rushed over and laid his head gently in her lap.

“Shit.” She groaned as she looked at the damage the fire had caused. “My brother is going to kill me.”

The next morning, she called Rowan, Kayla’s fiancé. JT had left his contact information with her in case of emergencies. Well, someone setting fire to the boathouse was a pretty big emergency in her book.

The man took one look at the damage and hugged her. “You’re okay?” he asked her.

“I… am,” she answered, a little surprised. She’d prepared to be yelled at. Kicked off the island. Instead, he was worried about her. Kayla even came by later that evening and brought her dinner and let her play with CJ for a few hours.

The following day, JT returned and, once more, she prepared herself to be pushed away.

Instead, he’d rushed to her and hugged her.

“Are you okay?”

Again, she was taken aback.

“I… yes,” she said after a moment.

“Do we know what caused it?” JT asked Rowan, who glanced towards Cora.

“I don’t smoke,” she said firmly as she raised her chin. “I swear it.”

“Of course you don’t,” JT said firmly. “Which means someone else was on the island.”

“You believe me?” Cora asked in shock.

“Sure.” He glanced down at her. “I’ve spent time with you, and not once did you break out a cigarette.”

Cora stopped dead in the middle of the pathway, tears burning her eyes. This was the family she’d been so desperate to have her entire life. They treated her like she was something. Like they cared.

Over the course of the next few days, she helped JT clean up the fire mess and rebuild the part of the shed that had burned.

She was surprised when she overheard JT talking to their father. Then her brother grew agitated by the conversation and handed her the phone. He walked away.