Faithful to Laura (28 page)

Was this how people really saw her? As someone to be pitied?

She forced the hurt aside. “Can I help you?” she repeated, determined to treat Cora like any other person who came into the shop.

“I was looking for Sawyer.” Cora’s chin lifted, her gaze drifting down the bridge of her nose. “Is he here?”

“He went on a delivery with his father.” She made sure to put emphasis on Lukas’s role in Sawyer’s life. “When he comes in, I’ll tell him you were looking for him.”

“Actually . . .” Cora stepped forward. Her thin lips formed a tense smile. “Since we’re both here, I thought perhaps you and I could talk.”

Laura paused. “What would we have to talk about?”

“You’d be surprised.” She glanced around the shop again.

“Is there a place where we can converse in private?”

Laura didn’t answer right away. This woman had to be up to something. She could sense it. Finally, she said, “In my office.”

“Oh, you have an office? How . . . professional.”

Laura bristled at the subtle dig. No wonder Sawyer didn’t want to have anything to do with this woman. She could hardly believe they were blood family.

“Follow me.” She opened the door and gestured to the simple chair at her desk. “You can sit here, if you’d like.”

Cora nodded. She brushed off the seat of the chair before sitting down. Even while looking up at Laura, she managed to look down on her.

Laura folded her arms across her chest. “What did you want to talk about?”

“An opportunity. One you won’t want to turn down.”

“Puttin’ the plow ahead of the mule, don’t you think?”

Cora laughed. “Lovely accent. Where are you from?”

“Tennessee.” She leaned against the wall.

“And why are you in Middlefield?”

“I don’t think that’s any of your business, Mrs. . . .”

“Easely. But you can call me Cora.” She placed her purse on the desk. “I apologize if I’ve overstepped.”

Laura doubted the apology was sincere—or that the woman had ever uttered the words “I’m sorry” with anything like genuine remorse. Every word, every movement was calculated. In a subtle, unnerving way, Cora Easely reminded her of Mark. “You should get to the point. I have work to do.”

“Ah, yes.” The pity had returned to her eyes. “It’s utterly awful what happened to you, my dear. I know how much a paper cut hurts, so I can only imagine what you’ve been through. Not just physically, but emotionally. Facing every day, knowing you’re permanently disfigured.”

Laura flinched.

“Our society . . . well, people can be so cruel.” Cora crossed her slender legs. “And you’re so young. Do you mind me asking how it happened?”

“Yes. I do.” She couldn’t believe the woman’s nerve.

“Ah. I suppose that was rather nosy of me.” The woman’s smile held no warmth. “How do you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Live with knowing that each day could bring a nasty comment about your face?”

“Like the one you just made?”

Cora’s smile grew. “That was merely a statement of fact. You seem to be a smart girl. Very direct. I can appreciate that. I can also see why Sawyer is . . . attracted to you.”

Her words took Laura off guard. Sawyer? Attracted to her? Had Sawyer said something to his grandmother? The whole idea was ridiculous.

It was also wonderful. But she didn’t believe a word of it.

“I see what you’re thinking.” Cora adjusted the jeweled bracelet around her thin wrist. “You’re wondering how I know. I just do. A grandmother knows her grandson.”

“Even one she just met?”

The woman’s smile shifted. Not much, but it was visible if you looked close enough.

“Yes. He’s very much like his mother. He misses her still.

You never fully get over the death of a family member. You eventually accept it and move on, but there’s an empty place inside that remains forever.”

Laura dropped her arms. Despite not trusting Cora, she did have sympathy for her when it came to her daughter. “I’m sorry for your loss. I know how much Sawyer’s parents meant to him.”

“Yes. Family means everything. True family, that is.” Cora leaned forward. “But I’m afraid Sawyer is letting his emotions interfere with what’s best for him.”

“Which is?”

“To return to New York. To learn about his past. To accept his true role in life. Surely you can understand that’s what he needs to do?” She settled back in the chair. “But he’s refusing to listen to reason.”

“He’s an adult. He can make up his own mind.”

“Of course he can. But there are things holding him back. His adoptive parents, for one. Yet I’m hoping they can convince him that coming to New York to learn more about his real family is the wisest choice.” She peered at Laura. “And then there’s you.”

Laura shifted on her feet. “Me?”

“You care for my grandson, don’t you?”

She rubbed her forehead with her fingers. She couldn’t lie, not about Sawyer. “
Ya
. I do.”

Cora slowly rose from the chair. She stepped forward, closing the space between them. “Then I can count on you to talk to him?”

“You want me to convince him to leave Middlefield? To leave the family he loves?”

“He can come back to visit. Other than appreciation for what the Bylers have done for him, what is really tying him here? Unless you think there’s a future for you?”

Laura inched away until her back pressed up against the wall.

Cora’s intense gaze pinned her in place. “You realize that’s not possible.”

“Sawyer might join the church.” Desperation forced her to voice the thought out loud. But with each passing moment she realized Cora was right. What kind of future would she have with Sawyer? Even if he cared for her the way she hoped? Although she struggled with some aspects of her faith, she had no plans to leave the Amish. And he wasn’t sure he wanted to join.

“Laura, you’re a sweet girl. A kind girl. If you really care for Sawyer as much as you seem to, you won’t make him feel like he has to stay here with you. My grandson has a sensitive side to him. Kerry was like that. She used to take in strays. Feel sorry for her friends who were less fortunate. She always wanted to fix what was wrong.” Cora’s gaze traveled over Laura’s face.

“Do you really think Sawyer can fix you?”

Tears sprang to Laura’s eyes. She glanced away.

Cora took a step back. “Do what’s right for Sawyer, Laura. Let him go. Set him free to be the great man he’s supposed to be.”

Laura wiped her damp cheek. Sawyer was already a great man. But she understood Cora’s meaning. He was destined for more than being a carpenter’s apprentice. He deserved more than a scarred, flawed woman.

“All right. I’ll talk to him,” Laura said.

Cora smiled. She walked to the desk and pulled a checkbook and a gold pen out of her purse. “I believe in rewarding loyalty,” she said. She signed the check with a flourish, tore it out of the book, and handed it to Laura.

“I don’t want your money.”

“I know you don’t. But I want you to have it, as a token of my appreciation.” She held out the check. “There is enough here to pay for plastic surgery. If you need a recommendation, I know several good surgeons, both in New York and Beverly Hills.”

Laura didn’t know who Beverly Hills was, and she didn’t care. The reality of what Cora offered sank into her. No more scars. No more worrying about what others would say and think about her. She’d have a chance to be whole again.

But could she be whole without Sawyer?

The thought stunned her. But before she had a chance to examine what it meant, another idea occurred to her, one that couldn’t wait. “I’ll talk to Sawyer,” she said. “But before I do, I need another favor.”

Surprise colored Cora’s features. “More money? I thought you people didn’t care about wealth.”

“This isn’t about money,” Laura said. “It’s about justice.”

C
HAPTER
23

Laura paced back and forth in her office. Anxiety coiled and writhed like a snake inside her. Cora had left more than thirty minutes ago, and Sawyer hadn’t returned. What had she done, agreeing to Cora’s plan? She looked at the check on her desk. More money than she had ever imagined. Plus the woman’s promise to help her, once Sawyer was in New York and away from Middlefield.

Away from her.

She picked up the check, and for the briefest of moments she thought of ripping it to shreds. She remembered her talk with Sawyer yesterday. How he gently touched her scar. Opened up to her. She had never known anyone like him before. When they first met, she wanted him to leave her alone. Now she looked forward to seeing him every morning. The rides home in the evening. Standing by his side as he went through this difficult time with his grandmother.

Her feelings for him weren’t the crazy infatuation she’d felt for Mark. Instead, it was something deeper. More satisfying.

Real.

But once he went to New York, then what? He wouldn’t come back, at least not for her, not after he had a taste of what money and the city had to offer.

She put the check in her purse. Cora was right. Laura couldn’t hold him back. She wouldn’t. And although it was tearing her heart in two, she and Sawyer were both getting what they needed—his future, and her revenge.

She heard the familiar ring of the bell. Through the glass in the door she saw him heading straight for the office. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened the door. “Hey.”

He frowned at her. “What’s wrong?”

“I saw you coming and I opened the door. What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing, except that you look white as a sheet.”

Sawyer took her by the elbow and led her into the office. He closed the door behind them and put a clipboard on the desk. She recognized them as signed papers for the furniture delivery.

“I’ll file those as soon as—”

“Don’t worry about the papers.” He squared his body to her. “Talk to me. What happened while I was gone?”

She took a shuddering breath. “I have something to tell you.”

“I’m listening.”

“I . . . I think you should go to New York with your grandmother.”

“What? She was here, wasn’t she?”

Laura nodded. “She was looking for you.”

“Unbelievable.” He turned away from her, clasping both hands behind his neck. “She said she’d give me time.”

“So you were considering going?”

“I was
thinking
about it. But not seriously. And definitely not anytime soon.”

“But why would you wait?”

He spun around. “The question is, why are you in such a hurry for me to go?”

Sawyer couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You
want
me to leave?”

She nodded, not looking him in the eye. “It’s for the best.”

“Not for me.” He stepped closer. “Not for
us
.”

“There isn’t an us.” She moved away. Turned her back to him. “Did you really think there was?”