Love Walked In (Stevens Book 7)

Chapter 21

Norah and Caleb would be returning to Austin the following day, and the day after that was her show at the gallery.  She had been working on some last-minute sketches and she was in the processes of finishing up one of Caleb's tree house.

    The family had been slowly filling up the homestead for the past week. They were all going to be at her big opening to show her their support, and Norah was a little awed and overwhelmed by the whole thing. It was wonderful to have people who were supportive of her, but if she failed them, or failed herself, she would be crushed.

    There was still her and Caleb's sketch to finish, and she had an idea for how it should be, but fear was holding her back. She hadn't been lying when she said self-portraits weren't her thing. She had completed one of her mother, choosing to do it from memory and not a photo.  Her minds image of her mother was more important than a photo that may or may not have been taken on a good day.

    Sitting on the side of the small stream that ran in front of the treehouse was peaceful, and Scarlett snoring in the shade beside her was helping her to create a sense of place and serenity in her sketch that otherwise might not have been there.

    "Norah?"

    Norah looked up from her sketch and saw Laura as she approached from the top of the hill. She smiled a greeting but didn't stop sketching. Laura sat next to her, watching as the lines took shape on the paper. "Bryce is here and he would like to talk with you," she said after a few minutes.

    Norah's pencil stilled at her words and she closed her eyes taking a shaking breath.  This was it then. "Where's Caleb?" she asked as she slowly started to pack her things away. Scarlett sensed a change in her mood and she sat up to watch her every move.

    "Davis went to find him and Quinn." Laura reached out and put a hand on her arm stilling her movements that had become jerky and clumsy.

    Norah looked at her hand and then up at her as Laura looked over her shoulder as if she was making sure they wouldn't be overheard. Her expression was so unlike Laura, it was sad and fearful all at the same time, making Norah pause, whatever she was going to say was not going to be easy because Laura never looked anything but cool and collected.

    "I don't know the details of your story, none of us do, but Dana mentioned something about your having a guilty conscience...I know what that's like, you're lucky that you've been able allow this family to help you.  I haven't been able to do that." She watched Norah as she put her bag of drawing stuff over her shoulder.

    "Please, just know that, for me at least, I will be here for you. I believe all of the others will too but just in case...I have trouble believing that this is all real sometimes. I don't know how I got so lucky, to have Davis love me is a miracle. Trust me, when a Stevens' man picks his mate it's for keeps, I've learned that the hard way." Laura linked her arm through Norah's and gave her a slight tug towards the house.

    Slowly, as if on automatic pilot, Norah followed her up the hill. "You have a guilty conscience?" she asked the beautiful woman walking next to her, afraid to look at her for fear that she would see her anxiety, even though she had to sense it.

    "Yes," she hesitated, "what I did was not an accident, one can reason that I was too young to understand what the consequences might be, but what I did, I did on purpose."

    Norah was curious, but she knew how badly she didn't want to share her story, so she wasn't going to ask Laura any prying questions.  "Maybe one day you'll share."

    Laura gave a pained smile. "Maybe, when I've finally forgiven myself."

    They walked in silence, Laura lost to the past and Norah worried about the future, especially the next half-hour. It only took them a short time before they reached the house and Laura informed her that Bryce was waiting for her in Quinn's study. Norah walked slowly into the house and through the kitchen, until she arrived at the open door of an almost empty room for the Stevens clan. Only Bryce and Caleb were there.