Chapter 44
Chapter Forty-Four
Cora
“Do you think I could stay here tonight?” I ask Willa as I take a dish from her to put on the table. I don’t want to go home. There are reminders of him everywhere, and I’m not quite ready to see them.
“Of course you can. You don’t even have to ask. I was hoping to see Atlas. It’s a shame he couldn’t make it.”
Not trusting myself to speak, I silently nod and continue to help set out desserts. She doesn’t realize how much her words sting. A pit forms in my stomach when Willa offers me apple pie, but I shake her off. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to eat it again. Something so sweet turned so sour.
Grabbing a cookie and a brownie, I decide to take comfort in the chocolate route.
When I got here, sans Atlas, Mila and Mara asked where he was.
I only shook my head, and they left it at that.
They made up an excuse to their parents, saying Atlas wasn’t feeling well after dinner, and didn’t want me to miss out on the holiday with them, so he stayed behind at Emma’s.
Noah, fortunately, slept through the car ride over, where I alternated between wiping away stray tears and quiet sobs.
I know that once everyone goes to bed, I’ll have to explain, but right now, I pretend to be happy even though I feel like my heart is broken.
“So how was dinner with Atlas?” Willa asks, settling in at the table.
I decide to tell her about the good parts that happened before it was over. “Emma cooked a lot of food, and we had some fun conversations. Noah behaved himself, of course, so it was a good time.”
“I wonder what could have made him sick,” she muses, digging into her plate of miscellaneous desserts, including that damn pie.
“No clue,” I offer lamely.
“I didn’t even get to say bye,” Noah grumbles. “I fell asleep. Atlas said we’d play a game.”
I won’t cry again. I will not cry.
“Don’t worry, kid. We have games here,” Mila tells Noah, earning a grateful smile from me.
“I know, but Atlas said he had some old game he wanted to show me.”
“How about we watch a movie instead?” Willa offers. I avoid her gaze but breathe a sigh of relief when Noah agrees.
The conversation moves to safer topics, and I silently count the minutes until I can respectfully head to bed. I’ve managed to avoid Mara and Mila all night, so when Willa asks them to help clean up, I seize the opportunity to disappear upstairs.
We remain with the Morgans for the duration of Thanksgiving break. Mara and Mila close the shop for a few days and stay here with Noah and me. I took some time from the library. I can’t hide here forever, but at least a few days away from home will give me the time and space to think.
I quit the tattoo shop. I called the shop from Mara’s phone and got Rhett.
I told him I wasn’t coming in anymore. He tried apologizing, but I hung up quickly.
I don’t want to hear any apologies. The guys were right to be worried about Atlas.
He’s young and has so much to offer someone; he deserves someone with less baggage.
“So how long are you going to hide?” Mara asks, staring at Mila and Noah as they roll dough along the dining room table. We’re camped out on the sofa in the living room, and I’ve been dreading going back to real life.
“I’m not hiding.” I pout.
“Yeah, and I’m the ‘nice twin.’” She scoffs.
I level a glare at her, and she mock shudders. “Oh, so scared. Seriously, though. What happened? You started crying on Thanksgiving when everyone else went to bed and haven’t said much about it. This isn’t like you, Cora.”
Sighing, I tell her the condensed version of their conversation. Her expression is thunderous. “Those motherfuckers,” she seethes. “No one asked Atlas to be a daddy first of all. Second, fuck those fuckers.” Her words elicit what feels like the first genuine smile I’ve had since I left Emma’s.
“It just hurts, Mar. I thought we had something special. We just seemed to fit together. Me, him, and Noah. He acted like he wanted to be around us all the time, so we just kinda went with it,” I explain.
“You didn’t do anything wrong, Cora. He’s a dick; all of them are.” Shaking her head, she pulls me closer. “What did he say when you confronted him? Ya know what, it doesn’t matter. They’re all banned from the shop when it re-opens. For life.”
“I didn’t stick around,” I admit. “It’s probably cowardly, but it hurt hearing them talk about us like that. Also, don’t do that; it’s not worth it.”
“Nope. Banned. For. Life.” She punctuates every word.
Shaking my head, I know there’s no deterring her once she’s set. “I’ll have to go home tomorrow. Noah has school on Monday, but I’ll stop by the hardware store on the way home. He kind of has a key to my place.”
“Why does he have a key?”
“Never gave it back.” I shrug, ignoring her facial expression. “He’s had it since I got sick.”
“Um, Cora, that’s a bit weird.”
“I know, but it’s fine. New locks tomorrow.”
“Cora!” Noah hollers my name. Heading into the room, I scope out the mess they’ve made together.
“What’s up?”
“Can we take these to Atlas?” he asks, pointing to a few cinnamon rolls sitting in a container.
“Atlas doesn’t deserve your cinnamon rolls, kiddo,” Mara jokes.
“Besides, I thought I was your favorite, so I’m claiming these.
” She snatches the container and walks away, picking one up and taking a bite as she exits the kitchen.
“Thanks, buddy!” she hollers over her shoulder, ignoring Noah’s yell of protest. Thank God for Mara.