Lib Novel Page 1
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CORA
Cora Davies stepped out of the car and took in the welcome sight of her new home for a moment.
It’s ours. It’s really ours…
Her seven-year-old son, Sylvester, was still asleep in the backseat, so she knew she could steal this small time to lean on her open car door, drinking in the crisp, fall air and gazing up at the lovable Victorian cottage with the wraparound porch and the copper roof.
Thankfully, the workers had already put in the fresh pine fence she’d asked for, cutting off the side yard from that dangerous path into the woods and the creek.
“It does look like Pippi Longstocking’s house,” a little voice said excitedly from the backseat, letting her know that someone was awake.
She smiled at his enthusiasm. She had thought this cottage looked like a smaller version of Villa Villekulla from the Pippi books the moment she laid eyes on it. And she’d hoped that telling Sylvester about their new house that way would make him more excited about the move, since those books were some of his favorites.
As it turned out, the only thing he needed to feel excited about the move was to be told they would be living close to Grandma Davies now. He had been eager to pack up and move from the moment he found out the grandmother he adored would be right around the corner from the new place.
And Cora was glad to be able to keep some close connection to her late husband’s side of the family. It was the main reason she’d chosen Trinity Falls when she’d decided to move out of the city.
“I’m so glad you think so too,” she said, turning to open his door and watch him unstrap from his booster seat before she could start thinking about how much she missed Arthur. “Are you ready to see your room?”
“Yes,” he said, sounding fresh as a daisy.
After a whole day of driving up from Virginia, Cora only wished she could say the same. But all she had left to do was bring in a few bags and fix them some dinner, and then they would be relaxing for the evening. Unpacking the rest of the car could wait until tomorrow.
“Wow, so many trees,” Sylvester said excitedly as he ran for the front porch.
“Walk, please,” Cora called out to him.
It was colder here than in Virginia. The last thing they needed was his asthma flaring up, or for him to trip on the porch steps. She nodded to herself when he slowed down immediately. He was a good boy, and she was glad he was excited about their new home.
They had left early in the morning so that they could arrive before dark. And now she was so glad they’d made the effort. Sylvester was getting his first look at the house and woods in the rosy twilight, when the peeling paint on the porch faded into the shadows, and the only thing you noticed was the lovely woodwork and the pretty green patina on the copper roofing.
But the truth was that, peeling paint and all, it was absolutely magical compared to the tiny apartment they’d lived in back in the outskirts of DC. The city had been bustling with all kinds of interesting things to do and see. But it was expensive, and they hadn’t been able to afford much there on Arthur’s salary.
And now that Arthur had passed, they didn’t have to live near the city for his government job anymore.
But thinking about that for too long wouldn’t do her any good. So, she set her mind to the happiness of the present moment instead, and all the things they had to look forward to.
The movers had been here earlier today, and their real estate agent, Sloane Greenfield, had done Cora the kindness of letting them in so that at least they would have beds in the bedrooms tonight, and all their possessions would be in the house, even if they were still in boxes.
Unfortunately, it looked like the movers had taken the turn out of the driveway a little too fast. The cute little mailbox was mangled, and the post it rested on made a forty-five-degree angle with the gravel driveway.
She sighed, thinking about having to arrange a repair before she’d even spent a single day here. But it was part of being a homeowner, something she had always dreamed of, so she couldn’t complain. All things considered, this move had gone better than expected.
“The door isn’t locked,” Sylvester squeaked, turning the knob. “Is Grandma here?”
“That’s just the vestibule,” Cora told him. “Miss Greenfield hid a key in there for us that opens the main door. And we’ll see Grandma tomorrow, remember?”
“What’s a best-a-mule?” Sylvester asked.
“A vestibule is like an entryway,” she told him. “So if friends come over when it’s snowing, they can stand in an indoor space while they wait for us to come to the door.”
“It’s going to snow a lot,” Sylvester said with a big smile.
“Yes,” she told him. “Lots and lots compared to what we’re used to. But it usually doesn’t snow much until January.”
She lifted the cute WELCOME mat that she was pretty sure hadn’t been there when she first came to see the house, and there was an envelope with her name on it waiting for her.