Lib Novel Page 52
He couldn’t help laughing at that, and it made him feel a little better.
“Sure, Ma,” he told her. “I’ll do that.”
“Is everything okay?” she asked with uncharacteristic gentleness.
“Yeah,” he said, scratching the back of his neck. “I think I messed things up with Cora, but I don’t know how.”
“Have you tried asking her?” his mother asked.
He opened his mouth and closed it again.
“I suggest you do,” she said. “Very politely.”
“Thanks, Ma,” he said. “Great advice.”
She smiled and nodded, before heading back downstairs, presumably to spread her wisdom and cookies far and wide.
He glanced at his watch. Cora would be up by now, and there was no time like the present. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and pulled up their texts, thinking for a moment about exactly what he wanted to say.
If I did something to hurt you, I’m very sorry. Can we talk about it?
He hit send before he could change his mind.
A moment later, he could see that she had read it. He waited anxiously to see what she would say.
But after five full minutes of staring at his screen without even seeing the little dots pop up to show she was typing, he put the phone down and got into the shower.
As the hot water pounded, he began to second-guess his message, thinking of all the things he could have tried to tell her—like how much he cared about her and how important she and Sylvester were to him.
But instinct told him it was better to wait for her reply before pouring his heart out. And that wasn’t the kind of thing you said in a text anyway. He had said he was sorry without even knowing what he had done. She was a good person. She would respond and he’d get a chance to tell her everything else.
But even after he got out of the shower and dressed the phone still showed no new messages.
He headed out with the tin of cookies, hoping not to run into any family on the way out. He wasn’t really in the mood to field any questions right now.
By some miracle, he made it outside without incident. The frigid air felt good to his heated skin and the view of the snowy fields with the expanse of steely sky above settled his heart. Some things never changed. They had been here before he was born, and would be here long after his time had come.
He jogged down the porch steps to his truck and hopped in, letting it run a minute or so before pulling out. Snow flurries were drifting down again, reminding him that Christmas was coming up quickly.
Now that he was an adult, he mainly looked forward to being with family on Christmas. He loved seeing how all his nieces and nephews reacted to the presents he gave them and then taking them outside to play so they would be nice and hungry for the big lunch his parents always prepared.
But this year, he had been hoping to invite Cora, and to have Sylvester’s voice join the happy chorus of kids playing and enjoying the day.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself and fix it, he told himself, shaking his head, as if that might shake the sorrowful thoughts free. You still have a couple of days until Christmas.
Before he knew it, the countryside was melting into the woods and the community college campus. Then the little village came into sight.
Jared had always thought Trinity Falls was as perfect as the town in the train set his father had built for him and his brothers. But at Christmastime it was even more so. He had no idea how they kept the candy cane decorations that hung from the lampposts looking brand new when they had been hung every year for as long as he could remember.
With a little snow leftover from last week, twinkling holiday lights reflected everywhere. As he drove past the tiny downtown he couldn’t help admiring the displays in each window. All the shop owners took such pride in making their displays unique.
And even at this time of day, plenty of people were out on their morning walks. Jonah and Martha Kahn waved to him as he passed. The older couple seemed almost ageless. He swore they had been a retired couple when he was a little kid. Their daily adventures around town must be keeping them fit.
He headed down Columbia and drove until he reached the colonial with the little Doctor’s Office sign out front.
Kellan had inherited the house and the business from Dr. Wilkinson, and now he took care of everyone in Trinity Falls and the surrounding area who didn’t want to go up to the clinic on Route One.
As Jared was grabbing the tin of cookies, his phone buzzed in his pocket. Praying inwardly for something encouraging, he pulled it out and unlocked the screen.