Lib Novel Page 31
“Look at me,” Sylvester called out as he streaked by the goat feed with a little girl hot on his heels.
“He’ll keep you on your toes,” Ansel chuckled.
Jared found himself picturing a future where that was true, weekends spent throwing a ball in the yard and reading pirate books together at bedtime, and then relaxing with Cora afterward.
The old Jared would have laughed at an idea like that. But now it seemed like the most natural thing in the world.
Maybe being around Cora and Sylvester really was changing him.
And maybe that meant there was a chance it was changing her, too. Was it possible that he wasn’t the only one starting to think about them as a family?
He didn’t know the answer to that, of course. But as he left the feed shop, he was excited at the chance to find out.
12
CORA
Cora stood in her classroom later that week, watching proudly as Jimmy Allen, who she now thought of as “little Jimmy” held a debate with Jenny Tuttle over the themes of morality and wealth in The Great Gatsby and in The Grapes of Wrath, two books the class had read first semester.
It was clear from the points Jimmy made that he had read the novels carefully and that he fully understood not just the stories, but also the underlying lessons of the books. The student she had been so worried about didn’t just look well-rested, he looked like he was having fun sharing what he had learned.
He couldn’t have done this without Jared’s help, she thought to herself.
And while Jared himself would have shrugged his shoulders and simply said that the community came together in situations like Jimmy Allen’s, the truth was that he had gone above and beyond.
She could envision casserole dishes left on the front step, maybe even the offer of a hand for a few hours from the next-door neighbor. But the full-scale running of the farm that Jared and his friends were doing for Big Jim and his boy… well, it was stepping up like family might do.
And she felt just a shiver of amazement that it had all come from her mentioning one night that she was worried about Jimmy.
I’m part of it too, she thought in amazement.
But it was true. She and Sylvester had spent the rest of the weekend at Big Jim’s place. Sylvester had played checkers and chess with Big Jim, who seemed to have endless patience and enthusiasm for amusing her boy while she tutored his.
And on Sunday, Jared had come over with his brother Derek and Arnold Jones from the pet grooming place in town. The three of them took over all the farm chores, so that Jimmy could spend the whole day with Cora, going over the rest of the schoolwork he had missed.
She was delighted to find that he had continued the reading material during the week and a half he’d been absent more often than not. The boy really did love to learn. It was easy enough to catch him up on assignments and classwork over the weekend.
And now he was back like he’d never missed a day.
When the debate was done, the class burst into applause, Jenny Tuttle included. Cora realized in an instant that the feelings of community extended all the way to the classroom. These kids had also noticed that their classmate was missing for many days and too tired to keep his head up in class when he did come in. Seeing him back like before had them cheering him on.
Cora had never really been part of anything like that before. It was all she could do to hide her tears.
Fortunately, the bell rang, and the kids trooped out, laughing and chattering about their next classes and their weekend plans.
“Thank you, Mrs. Davies,” Jimmy murmured as he passed, meeting her eyes.
“Thank you,” she told him. “That was wonderful work today.”
She had her planning period next, so she slipped out to the teachers’ lounge to fix a cup of tea.
“Cora,” Sabrina said from her spot on the threadbare sofa the teachers used.
“Hey, we heard what you did for the Allen boy,” Viola told her with a smile.
“That’s just what neighbors do,” Cora heard herself quote Jared.
Sabrina and Viola exchanged a look.