Best of Me

Chapter 5

Cora was hunched over her drawing board coloring in a sketch of a few garden gnomes under a mushroom with fairies flying over them. The weather had gotten colder the previous day and the little space heater she had under her feet wasn't keeping her warm enough, even her fingerless gloves weren't helping. She laid down her pencil and blew on her hands as she examined the drawing. It was the last one in the series and there were only a few more changes to make before it was ready. She should be able to take it to her agent the following day and collect another paycheck.

A sound behind her caught her attention and she jumped, turning she saw Garrett standing at the top of the stairs in the doorway to the attic and her heart jumped at the sight of him. Her eyes darted nervously back to her drawing table. He wasn't supposed to be back until the following day, he wasn't supposed to find out about her little studio, if she could even call it that. She didn't realize how guilty she looked as she peeked over her shoulder, and she missed Garrett's eyes narrowing in suspicion as he watched her.

"What are you doing up here?" he asked as he greeted Roxi then made her sit.

She should have left Roxi on the floor below and closed the door behind her, then he wouldn't have been drawn up the stairs. It was her own fault, she had let her guard down.

Cora cleared her throat. "Drawing."

"Drawing?" he asked as he moved towards her.

"Yes."

"Isn't it a little cold up here? Wouldn't you be more comfortable downstairs?" He looked over her shoulder, taking his time in examining the drawing.

She debated asking him not to tell their aunt but it would probably have the opposite effect. He would probably tell her for sure if she asked him not to. But, maybe if she didn't make a big deal out of it he wouldn't say anything.

"I'm out of the way up here," was all she said.

His eyes lifted to her face, studying her as if he was looking for an answer to something. She had to force herself to keep her hands at her sides and not mess with her hair as his gaze wandered up to vibrant red mass, taking in its striking color. She also had to force herself not to take a step back at the intensity in his gaze.

"This is very good." He lowered his eyes back to the drawing, "What is it for?"

"Drawing relaxes me," she said vaguely, finally breaking away from his blue gaze. She turned and pushed the drawing into her portfolio before gathering up the pencils she would need to finish it. "You're right, I didn't realize how cold it had gotten, I'll finish this in my room."

He was still staring at her and she stopped what she was doing, holding herself still and meeting his gaze. It was the same as it had been a week earlier when they had had dinner together. She couldn't look away, everything froze, and her stomach did a little dip. She had no idea how long they stood there staring at one another before she was saved by to ringing of her aunt's bell.

"What's that?" Garrett asked, looking towards the door where the sound was coming from.

"That's Aunt Mable's bell." Cora picked up the scarf that she had draped over the back of her chair and fixed it over her hair, turning her back to Garrett as she did it. For some reason she felt shame that she had to do it at all, she had never felt that way before but she didn't stop to examine the reason why as she bent down and unplugged the space heater.

"Excuse me, Aunt Mable always likes to be seen to about this time."

"For what? Does she need medicine or something?"

"No, Aunt Mable requires very little medication. She takes a pill for her blood pressure with her breakfast but that's the only medication that she requires."

"Then why does she need to be seen?" He picked up her portfolio and handed it to her.

"Depends, sometimes she wants her pillows fluffed or a glass of water." Cora turned off the light above her drawing table and followed the light from the door to the stairs as the bell rang again. She didn't tell him that it was Aunt Mable's form of a power play. It kept Cora up until midnight not matter how tired she was; it was demanded that she answer the bell.

She had tried to ignore it once in an attempt at independence but Aunt Mable had ventured out of her room and fallen and Cora had gotten a firm lecture from the doctor and a horrible guilt trip from her aunt. After a year of answering the bell every night she could probably manage the guilt trip but not the lecture from the doctor.

Garrett followed her down the stairs closing the door to the attic behind them.

"Thank you for taking such good care of Roxi, I can see that she wasn't lonely." Garrett looked down at Roxi and gave her a gentle smile. It was obvious that he had missed the dog. It was the first real smile she had seen him give and it melted her heart. It was a wonderful smile. When he looked up he was still wearing it, but when he encountered her stare it fell from his face. He nodded and started down the stairs to the main floor below.

Cora sat her portfolio in the chair next Aunt Mable's door and adjusted her headscarf before turning the door knob and entering.

"What took you so long girl!"

"Sorry Aunt Mable, Garrett just arrived..."

*******

Garrett stood just out of sight on the stairs and listened to Cora and Aunt Mable's exchange before the door closed behind Cora. He forced himself down the stairs with Roxi on his heels. The house was freezing and not in the least bit welcoming. He missed his apartment that would have been twice as warm.

He entered the study, looking at its empty hearth he sighed. He had had a busy and challenging week and the last thing he wanted or needed was Aunt Mable's drama. He threw himself down in the chair behind the desk and leaned back in it, closing his eyes and rolling his shoulders, thinking about the challenges of the merger he was trying to make.

The owner of the business he was trying to buy was a family man, his business was small and he knew every employee, and was concerned that they be well taking care of if he was to sell the business. Garrett had assured him that there was no problem on that front and that he treated all of his employees well, but the man had countered with the fact that, if Garrett himself was not married, how could he understand the importance of family.

What aggravated him the most was that this was not the first time he had stumbled on the same hurdle, it seemed to be a great concern with the older generation, which was the generation that he made the most mergers with. It was something he would have to come up with a solution for soon or else he would start to lose out on some major deals.

His mind didn't stay on business for long and he was soon thinking once again about Cora. Why was he drawn to the woman? She had been in his thoughts far too much over the past week. He had told himself that he was coming home a day early in order to check on Roxi, and perhaps in part that was the reason, but he also knew that Cora was proving to be a mystery that he was determined to solve.

As soon as he had entered the quiet house the weight of what his mother had asked him to do fell heavily on his shoulders. He rubbed his face in frustration as he remembered Cora hunched over the table in the attic. Her hair had been like a flame warming the air around her, it was not what he had expected to be hidden under the headscarf that she wore.

From the little that he had seen of her art she seemed to have a true talent for drawing, and he wondered why she was hunched over a broken-down table in the cold attic with a bare lightbulb as her only light. She had claimed that it was so that she was out of the way but he didn't think that that was the real reason. There was plenty of space in the old house.

She had looked almost guilty when he had found her. He would have to ask his aunt what she knew about it, but first he had a phone call to make. Maybe Theodora could help him figure out the mystery. She was excellent at reading people.