free, and forced his now-tense body to relax as he watched his grandfather give her a tight hug. One thing was for sure—the men in his family sure took to her like bees to honey.
He stopped walking and chided himself for the analogy. He hadn’t been in the west for more than a day and already his thoughts had gone all folksy.
“You saved my life,” Gage overheard Grandpa Buck say when he and Cori separated. His face glowed with appreciation.
“Hardly,” Cori told him, a slight blush on her cheeks. “All I did was help you get through a challenging time. Your grandson did much more than I did.”
Gage walked up alongside them and immediately his pulse quickened, as if her mere presence caused a physical reaction, which he knew couldn’t be the case. They barely knew each other. He blamed his response on the tensions of the day. There could be no other reason...at least none that made any sense.
“It was a good start,” Gramps teased, leaning in closer to Cori as if they had a secret bond. There was a time when he and his grandfather had their own secret bond, when his grandfather had a dry sense of humor that Gage always got, and most times added to the joke. Now he questioned almost everything his grandfather said. Nothing seemed funny and everything seemed like an attack.
“Was that a compliment?” Gage asked, hoping his gramps would lighten up.
Grandpa Buck turned to face him. “No. It was a fact.” Then he turned and walked into the theater where he met up with some of his male friends, each giving him a strong handshake and a pat on the back. Gage watched as his grandfather’s face lit up with each touch, with each recognition, and he longed for that light to be directed in his direction.
“He’ll come around. These things take time,” Cori said in a low voice.
It was as if Cori could read his mind. “Did anyone ever tell you that you’re a little spooky?”
“How so?”
“Do you always know what a person’s thinking, or am I one of the lucky ones?”
“You have an expressive face.”
“I’ll try to keep that in mind whenever you and I are conversing.” Gage purposely relaxed the muscles in his face and tried to look deadpan.
She pointed her index finger and made little air circles around his face. He loved being this close to her and seeing her smile. He really worked at remaining expressionless, but as her smile spread, and her perfume engulfed his senses, he couldn’t keep a straight face.
“See, right there.” She pointed to his eyes, then to his forehead. “And right there. I can tell you’re happy to see me. And you want to sit with me during dinner.”
“Yes, I’m happy to see you, but I hadn’t thought about seating arrangements.”
She turned to walk inside. “Well, you should have. I’m a great dinner partner.”
He followed close behind, softly chuckling at how she could wrap him around her finger with a few words and a smile. “Let me grab my grandfather and we’ll join you at one of the more private tables along the wall. Will that work?”
“Sure, I’ll hunt down my family and let them know. There’ll be three of us.”
Gage left her at the door wondering what she’d meant by her family. He’d thought she had come with her grandmother and no one else, but then, they really hadn’t had time to discuss much of anything before his grandfather collapsed in the lobby. A fact that still haunted him. Grandpa Buck could have hit his head on a table or a chair or broken a leg or an arm and where was his grandson?
In a bar...as usual.
* * *
THE HENRY STRATER THEATER, according to the brochure Cori had read up in her room, was one of the oldest continually running theaters in Colorado, featuring comedy nights with world-renowned comedians, improv troupes and ragtime music—from The Rocky Horror Picture Show during late October to Breakfast with Santa in December. The theater acted as both a community space and a cultural center.
Deep red velvet drapes hung in various areas around the large room and across the stage. Elevated box seats adorned both sides of the room, and exposed redbrick walls gave off an Old West ambience. At once Cori felt as if she’d been transported into another time. A feeling of absolute delight filled her as she walked toward her grandmother and Hailey, her precocious daughter. At one point she had doubted her decision to quit her job.
She wanted a calmer place and a better way to live. She’d thought they could move to her grandmother’s small town, until she saw just how small the town really was. There wasn’t an adequate local school for Hailey, and the nearest possible employment for Cori was over sixty miles away in Denver.
As soon as they had arrived at her grandmother’s new home, she thought for sure she wouldn’t be able to last a week. Her gram had sold the big rambling house soon after Cori’s grandpa had died three years ago, and the new one was so small the guest bedroom barely held a double bed and a dresser. The place was great for her gram, but not so great for Cori and Hailey if their visit wasn’t going to be a short one.
So many good memories had been centered in her gram’s town that Cori had built it up to be somewhat magical. In reality, it was still a sweet little place, but unless she was an entrepreneur or was willing to make the commute into Denver, there was no way she and Hailey could settle there. She would have to find an alternative.
Cori knew she wanted to raise Hailey in a close-knit community—just not her gram’s community, which had turned out to be very disappointing for Cori. The thought of not being able to put down roots next to her gram had thrown Cori off course, but hanging out in Durango was proving to be something else entirely. More and more she felt sure this change was exactly what she needed, especially seeing the group of seniors who had gathered in the theater for the buffet-style barbecue dinner during the opening talks of the conference. Cori knew there had to be something more to life than merely working eight to twelve hours a day. She wanted time to spend with her daughter, time to pursue a hobby, time to learn how to cook something other than a prepackaged meal.
There was something comforting about being around energetic older folks, as if they were clearing the path with their tenacity and courage of conviction, saying, “Look at me! If I can make it to my golden years and still pursue my hobbies and dreams, so can you.”
“Mom! Mom! Grammy’s going to let me help during the auction. I get to hand out books and stuff. Doesn’t that sound like fun?” Hailey’s face glowed with anticipation, causing her blue-gray eyes to sparkle. Her thick caramel colored hair was pulled back in a long ponytail, and it bounced with her every move. She wore jeans, a soft pink Western shirt and cowgirl boots Cori hadn’t seen before. Obviously, Gram had taken her shopping, a pastime they both enjoyed more than they should.
Hailey could barely contain her excitement. For the most part, she loved doing things with her grammy, especially if the two of them could go shopping either before or afterward. Helping Grammy in the kitchen, however, wasn’t on Hailey’s list of fun activities, especially if it had anything to do with cleaning up.
Helping out with the auction, on the other hand, sounded perfect.
“Are you sure it will be okay?” Cori asked her gram, who was seated at one of the many long tables.
Cori noticed an empty chair right next to her gram, no doubt being saved especially for Cori’s arrival.
“Don’t be silly, Corina-May. I never would have suggested it if she couldn’t do it. Besides, there’ll be a couple other people available to help her,” Grandma May said. Grandma May always referred to Cori by her birth name, making it a point to tack on the May part, in case anyone had any doubt who Cori was named after.
Cori looked around the crowded room and spotted Gage coming their way.
“I made a new friend today, and I thought we’d sit with him and his grandfather