Chapter 13 Nora
NORA
Nora fled upstairs with her phone, her heart still pounding in her chest as she slid her finger across the screen to accept the call.
“Leslie?” she whispered as she closed her bedroom door behind her.
“Hey,” Leslie’s familiar voice said. “How’s it going?”
Nora took a deep breath and tried to focus. But all she could hear in her mind were River’s words.
I’ve never been this happy.
“I… don’t know,” Nora told her. “Things are going well.”
“Where are you guys?” Leslie asked. “I tried stopping by.”
Nora felt a wave of gratitude for her friend’s kindness, and then a twinge of guilt.
Not many of her old friends took the time to come see her these days.
Ever since she took in the kids, she hadn’t been able to get out much, or really at all.
And understandably, her usual crew wasn’t really interested in coming by to hang out with the children.
Except for Leslie—she stopped by here and there with candy or coloring books, always ready to talk and play with the kids. She had never even questioned why Nora wasn’t available to go out anymore. She was the one person in Nora’s life who really seemed to understand her new role.
And I didn’t even tell her we were leaving.
“I’m sorry I didn’t message you,” Nora said. “It was just so sudden.”
“What was?” Leslie’s voice was worried now.
“It’s nothing bad,” Nora told her right away. “I was getting ready to put the kids to bed the other night, and there was this knock on the door.”
“Edward,” Leslie whispered.
“His brother, actually,” Nora explained, still sort of unable to believe it herself. “River.”
“River,” Leslie echoed. “Wow. I didn’t even know Edward had a brother.”
“He does,” Nora said, lowering herself to the bed. “I actually met River first.”
“Really?” Leslie said. “I want every juicy detail.”
“I guess I’ve never told anyone this,” Nora realized out loud. “It was all so long ago. We were practically still kids, all volunteering at a firehouse fundraiser.”
“Wow,” Leslie said, chuckling. “That’s the most small-town thing I ever heard.”
“That’s fair,” Nora agreed. “Trinity Falls and Springton Valley did a joint fundraiser that year. We were hoping to raise enough for a special training session for both firehouses.”
“Did you?” Leslie asked.
“We did,” Nora told her, remembering everyone’s joy when the goal was met.
But by that point in the evening, it seemed like her fate had been decided for her.
“When I first got there, we had no idea how it was going to go,” she said. “I’d never been to the Trinity Falls firehouse before. It’s in the same building as the town office, but sort of built into the hillside, so you get in through the back.”
“Weird,” Leslie said.
“Anyway, I was supposed to be volunteering in the nursery area,” Nora went on. “I was super early, and when I couldn’t find the entrance, I sort of panicked. But this really cute guy saw me wandering around and asked where I was headed.”
“I bet he did,” Leslie teased.
“When I told him the firehouse, he told me he was going to be volunteering too, parking cars,” she said, smiling at the memory. “So we headed down together.”
“So that was River, then?” Leslie asked.
“Yep,” Nora said. “We hit it off right away. Talked about everything under the sun.”
“Like what?” Leslie asked.
“He was feeling pressure from his parents to finish college,” Nora said. “But he already knew what he wanted to do with his life, and the Army was the next step. He was all set to report for duty the next day.”
“Wow,” Leslie said. “So he spent his last night at home volunteering?”
“Yeah, it made me kind of sad,” Nora admitted. “I really liked him. But I understood too. My parents wanted me to go to med school, or to be a nurse. But I knew I wanted to work with animals.”
“I get that,” Leslie said with a smile in her voice. She was an animal person too, of course.
“Anyway, he really made me laugh,” Nora said. “And it just felt like we’d known each other forever after only half an hour of hanging out.”
“So, what happened?” Leslie asked.
“His brother got there,” Nora said. “River introduced us, and then Edward tossed River his keys.”
“No,” Leslie whispered. “What did he do?”
“River?” Nora asked. “He took the keys and did his job, then after that he stayed super busy parking and unparking cars all night.”
“I see,” Leslie said.
“Edward was there to auction off a lunch to talk about tax prep,” Nora went on. “So he didn’t have much to do until they announced his donation. And it turned out that no one brought their kids, so I was just sort of hanging out too.”
“Okay,” Leslie said.
“Once he got there, Edward didn’t leave my side all night,” Nora remembered.
“And while we didn’t hit it off instantly like River and I did, I liked him too.
He called me a few days after the fundraiser, and we got to know each other slowly.
He finally asked me out, and I said yes.
And then, well, things just kind of fell into place. ”
“Sounds like you two weren’t exactly madly in love,” Leslie said thoughtfully.
“I wouldn’t describe it that way, no,” Nora said. “But I also don’t think love has to be all-consuming like that. You choose to love someone and care about them. You build a relationship, and a marriage. That’s how our grandparents did it.”
“Not all of them, I’ll bet,” Leslie said.
“Anyway, Edward was so driven,” Nora remembered. “I knew my parents would love him. I was never going to be wealthy as a vet tech, but he was already well on his way to a pretty impressive career. It seemed like the universe had aligned and given me a path to follow.”
Nora trailed off, wondering if she would ever come to terms with the decisions she had made, and where they had led her.
“I’m so sorry it didn’t work out,” Leslie said after a moment.
“Honestly?” Nora said. “He didn’t want children. I told him I was fine with that, but some part of me always hoped he would change his mind once we were settled in our jobs and had a nice place of our own. Maybe things actually did work out for the best.”
Neither of them spoke for a moment. But even in the silence, Nora felt her friend’s support.
“So… River just showed up at your door the other night?” Leslie asked.
“Right,” Nora said. “He brought gifts for the kids, and told me he couldn’t believe Edward left.”
“But Edward left months ago,” Leslie said.
“River just got out of the Army,” Nora told her. “He hadn’t heard anything about it until he got home.”
“His family didn’t tell him?” Leslie asked, sounding scandalized.
“I guess not,” Nora said, feeling a little justified at being hurt by that news when it landed on her. “Anyway, he invited us to his farm for the weekend. And we ended up deciding to stay for the holidays.”
“I see,” Leslie said, a smile in her voice. “So you wound up with the right brother after all, huh?”
“No, it’s not like that,” Nora protested.
Could be like that?
“We’ll see,” Leslie said lightly.
“Anyway, how are you?” Nora asked, desperate to change the subject.
“Well, that’s why I tried to stop by,” Leslie said. “I wanted to thank you. I interviewed for your old job, and Tony and Margie hired me on the spot. I had my first shift today, and it was great.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful news,” Nora said, feeling glad to have connected three of her favorite people. “They’re the best, and it’s such a nice facility, even though it’s small.”
“They run a tight ship,” Leslie agreed. “And the clients are great too. But listen, when you’re ready to come back to work, I’ll find something else. I got a couple of offers, so just consider me to be keeping your seat warm, okay? Just in case this brother doesn’t sweep you off your feet.”
“He’s not sweeping anyone off anything,” Nora said firmly. “He’s just a good friend. The kids and I will be back after the holidays. But I won’t take your job away. I can find something else when the timing is right.”
She decided not to say anything about John-John going to preschool and making the timing work sooner than later. It really wouldn’t be right to kick Leslie out of her new job.
“No way,” Leslie said. “You were so good to me in school. I’m glad to be able to do something for you too.”
Leslie was brilliant, but she had always struggled with test-taking, so Nora made a point of always studying with her.
When it was time to prepare for the national exam, they had spent weeks together, scrawling on flashcards, making up songs and poems, and doing whatever they had to do to be sure they both knew the material inside and out.
But studying together had never been a burden. Nora saw it as a privilege to spend time with her friend, and a joy to celebrate their shared success when they both managed to pass the exam.
“That was nothing,” Nora said. “You’re such a good friend, Leslie. I’m so glad to have you in my life.”
“Ditto, Nora,” Leslie said. “Now tell me more about this farm. What kind of animals does he have?”
Nora smiled at her friend’s enthusiasm and was relieved to have something to talk about that had nothing to do with either of the Young brothers, or her feelings about them.
You’ll have to face your feelings sooner or later, a little voice whispered in the back of her mind. You can’t run forever…