Chapter 21
Cole
It’d been three days since Nora left, and I’d spent most of them at the inn. There wasn’t a damn thing I could do about New York or Gregory, but I could finish the job she’d asked me to keep moving. The work was going faster than expected. Good. At least one thing was cooperating.
It was Wednesday evening, and the boys and I were packing up to head home. I was craving a nice meal from Jen’s and a warm shower. So I didn’t hesitate. I packed up, picked up my order on the way home, and took a shower.
Last I heard from Nora, she said she’d be back soon.
There wasn’t much detail, and as much as I wanted to know more, I didn’t want to push it.
She’d gone there to handle her father, not report back to me.
I could live with not knowing. Didn’t mean I liked it.
I still wasn’t sure what was happening between Nora and me, and I certainly didn’t want to assume there was something when there wasn’t.
I loved her. I’d known it before she left. Three days without her hadn’t changed that.
I wanted her back. I had no idea if she wanted the same.
I glanced at the bed and pictured her there before I could stop myself. Hair all over my pillow. One bare shoulder above the sheet. The room still smelled faintly like her if I got close enough to the pillow. I knew because I’d checked. Three days hadn’t helped worth a shit.
As soon as I finished getting dressed, the doorbell rang, and I wondered who it was.
I sighed as I pulled the door open, my breath hitching when I saw Nora standing there with a smile on her face.
“Hi,” she said.
I choked out a chuckle. “You’re back.”
She nodded. “Took me longer than I intended, but yes.”
“Three days.”
“You counted?”
“Felt longer.”
For a second, I just took her in because she was here. Then the rest caught up: the messy bun, loose strands against her skin, that fresh just-out-of-the-shower smell and the light perfume I’d know anywhere.
“Come in,” I said, desperately wanting to kiss her. It seemed like forever since I had.
Nora smiled as she stepped past me and went into the living room. I watched her backside as she walked, my cock stirring as I took in her curves.
I closed the door and went to sit with her in the living room.
“Can I get you something to drink?”
She shook her head. “I’d just forget it was in my hand.”
“Fair enough.”
“I, um… I wanted to talk to you,” she said.
I nodded. “Yeah. Okay.”
She rubbed her hands together slowly as her gaze dropped to the floor for a second.
“So, as you know, I saw my dad,” she said, meeting my gaze.
“Yeah.”
Tears slowly brimmed in her eyes, but she quickly cleared her throat. “I already knew what happened. I just… I needed to hear him admit it. He called it saving the company.”
“Shit, Nora. I’m sorry.”
“You shouldn’t be apologizing. I should.”
I frowned. “For what?”
“For ever doubting you. For coming here and believing everything he’d told me about you.” She sucked in a breath. “I always knew my father could be stern and ruthless when it came to business, but I never thought he’d go that far. I looked up to him for a long time…”
“He’s your father. You wanted to see the best in him.”
Tears finally fell from her eyes, and she quickly brushed them away. “He didn’t even care, Cole. No remorse, no accountability… it was like talking to a wall.” Her voice cracked. “Then he said he’d cut me off completely. So I walked out.”
My jaw tightened. Gregory had done exactly what I would’ve expected. Nora hadn’t. She’d found the truth, gone straight at him, and walked away when he tried to use money to control her. I’d judged her by a last name. Everything she’d done since had proved me wrong.
“Can you forgive me?” she asked. “For doubting you when I got here. For the way I treated you because of what my father told me?”
“Yeah. I can.” I paused. “I was wrong too.”
Her brows pulled together.
“I took one look at your last name and decided I knew who you were.”
“You had reasons.”
“Doesn’t make me right.” I shook my head. “Your grandmother was nothing like your father. Neither are you.”
Nora sniffled. “Sometimes I wondered if I was. I wasn’t here for Gran. I didn’t arrange anything for her.” She hesitated. “What was she like at the end?”
I smiled as I remembered Ellen. “Still Ellen. Always had a smile on her face. And she talked about you a lot—especially when you were a kid. She loved you, Nora. She knew you loved her too.”
“That almost makes it worse.”
“Wasn’t meant to.”
“I wish she was here,” she said.
“She’d be proud of you.”
“You think so?”
“I know so,” I said. “You came back.”
She smiled then, wiping the tears from her eyes.
“Come to me,” I said.
She looked at me for a few seconds before slowly making her way over.