Nora Ray (Ray Trilogy) (12 page)

Then she added, “
And we will be watching.”

“
Yes, Ma’am.”

When Nora saw Jeremy, she told him about her meeting with Mrs. Jenkins.

“Hmm,” Jeremy thought with his finger across his chin. “I have my college applications at home; I need to work on mine, too. What do you think about this?” Jeremy looked at his watch. “Since you don’t work tonight, how about you call your parents to see if you can come home with me after school? We can work on our homework together, and then we’ll see how far we can go in filling out these applications. What do you think?”

Surprised that he asked her to go after school, it took her a minute to think about it.

Seeing her hesitation, for leverage he said, “My parents will be really good help with that college stuff.” He nodded his head for extra assurance.

She smiled at his efforts and also could see the advantages, “
Sure, I’ll call home as soon as school is out.” Thinking of Danny, she said, “I’ll need to let Danny know, also, so he won’t wait for me.”

Jeremy and Nora spread their homework out on the dining room table, one on each side.
By the time they were finished with the homework, Samantha set out a tuna casserole, sweet peas, and a big salad.

Nora didn
’t ever remember seeing such mayhem at a meal, she set back and waited until the four younger boys had filled their plates before she felt brave enough to fill her plate.

Samantha scolded them, saying, “
Sit down and pipe down. Did you forget Nora was here?”

Quickly the boys quiet
ed down, mumbling “Sorry.”

Donald, Jeremy
’s dad, asked, “Nora, what did you think of Santa at the Christmas party at the hospital?”

“
I thought he did a good job, and his elves really entertained everybody,” she paused thinking. “Now wait just a minute.” She hesitated, “There was something…. something nagging at me about them that night.”

Recognition hit. She pointed her finger at Jeremy. “
It was you! You were Santa.” With a sweeping motion toward the brothers, she exclaimed, “And you were the elves!”

The brothers laughed and
poked each other in the ribs.

“Dad, you let the cat out of the bag.” Jeremy admonished his dad. “I actually pulled it off,” Jeremy said smugly.

“
You ornery thing!” Nora exclaimed, indignant that he slid one by without her recognizing him. “You never hinted one little word to me since then!”

Jeremy brushed the hair back on each side of his face, “
What can I say, I’m just cool.”

Jeffrey, the oldest of the four, laughingly commented, “
Jeremy set it all up because he is twitter patted and wanted to be near you at work. We had a blast wearing those costumes and handing out presents.”

“
I could tell,” Nora agreed, “You were bouncing around, kicking your heels together. Any other time, that behavior would not be accepted in a hospital. However, that night it seemed to bring the spirit of Christmas. You all did a wonderful thing for those patients.”

“
Thank you.”

“
While you’re at it, give Mom some credit.” Jeffrey continued, nodding at his mother, “She managed to find those costumes. After Jeremy got the ball rolling, Mom contacted every charity organization and church in town about gifts for the patients.”

“
Wow,” Nora said in amazement. “You guys go all the way! Thank you so much for all you’ve done.”

Samantha brushed it off, “
I was happy to do what I could. Most people want to help others, especially at Christmas, but don’t see the need until it is pointed out. I just nudged them in the right direction.”

The fun went on until the end of the meal and then they sat down with their college appli
cations.

After a few minutes, Donald came in and sat down at the end of the table.
“Jeremy, which colleges are you considering?”

“
In my hand I have Yale, Harvard, Tulsa University, and University of Oklahoma College of Law.”

“
Do you plan to request admission to all of them?” Donald asked.

“
Yes, Sir,” Jeremy answered.

“
Which is your choice?”

Jeremy took a deep breath and replied, “
Oklahoma University would be my preference.”

“
May I ask? Why would that be?” Donald questioned with raised eyebrows.

“
Sir,” Jeremy replied wishing he could defuse the situation, “they have a law school and Nora plans to attend the medical school there.”

Nora sat there round eyed watching one then the other
.

Donald turned to Nora, “
I apologize, Nora, before I say this. I mean no disrespect to you.” Then he turned to Jeremy, “Son, be sure you are thinking straight. That is not the reason you should choose your university. This will affect the rest of your life and you should choose wisely.”

Donald sat back
and folded his arms across his chest, “Now, which one of those universities is known for producing the wealthiest attorneys?”

“
I suppose that would be Harvard,” Jeremy said in resignation.

“
Now you’re thinking, Son. That’s the one you want to target.” Donald got up from the table and patted Jeremy on the back, “I’ll see to it that you get all the information you need for your applications.”

“
Thanks, Dad.”

Jeremy looked at Nora in resignation. He took a deep breath and shuddered.

Nora shook her head in sympathy. Finally she whispered, “An inquisition.”

“
He is a lawyer, you know,” acknowledged Jeremy. “He’s going to win this time. I need his approval to get the funding. I don’t think he will win in the end, he just thinks he will.”

“
Be careful, Jeremy. Don’t do anything foolish,” Nora cautioned.

“
I won’t. I need his help.”

She nodded. She thought of her dad. She knew he loved her but at this point, that
’s about all he could give her.

Jeremy leaned over conspiratorially to confide in her,
“I will study law for him, but it will be business law.” He pointed to his brain, “I’ll be half way there.”

Nora shook her head, and smiled, “
Jeremy, you’re a mess, but a smart one.”

Samantha had stood just inside the kitchen door and heard the whole conversation, she steppe
d into the dining room and said,” I agree, Nora, Jeremy is a smart one. He will get through this.” She patted Jeremy on the back, letting him know he had her support. “If you need any help with those applications, I’ll be happy to help you. I’ll be right in the next room.”

By
the next week the applications were sent off to their respective universities. Waiting was the only thing left to do. They both were on pins and needles. Nora worried because she wanted to be accepted. Jeremy worried because he thought he might be accepted.

One day Nora confided
her worries to her mother, “What if I get accepted into the medical school but I don’t receive a scholarship? I still won’t be able to go without taking out so many loans, I’ll never get them all paid.”

After Su
nday dinner John said, “Your mom and I have something we want to tell both of you children. We sold the land, the dairy, the barns, and the cows for a reasonable amount of money. I planned to see that you children were raised without having to work to support all of us, which was how it has turning out. I’m not pleased about that, but that was just how it is. Anyway, I need to see to it that your mom can make her own way when I’m gone.”

“
Please, Daddy, don’t say that,” Nora said as her throat choked up.

Laura wiped a tear as she pulled Danny over into a hug.

John raised his hands to ward off their complaints. “Now, now, don’t start fretting over me. I know where I am on this. I won’t be here too much longer.” He stopped and cleared his voice. “Like I said, the farm sold for a reasonable amount of money. I said I wanted to see to it that your mom was able to make it, but I also care about you children. I have studied on this a considerable bit to figure the thing I see that could help you the most. So what I did was put a savings account in each of your names at the bank which is set aside to help with your college expenses.”

He glanced at Nora as she took in a quick breath. “
This won’t be enough to pay for everything but if you get in a pinch, it’s there for you.”

“
Thank you, so much,” Nora blurted out as she jumped up to hug his neck.

On the weekend before they needed to head off to college, Jeremy came by to take Nora to dinner and the movies. John, Nora
’s dad, sat on the porch swing waiting to talk to Jeremy.

“
Would you have a minute before you go in?” John inquired.

“
Sure.”

“
I wondered if you would go with me tomorrow afternoon, I have something I want to show you?” John continued, “I know you young people are so busy these days, but this is important to me.”

Jeremy had his curiosity up and since this was Nora
’s dad, he would do almost anything for him. “Now, you have my curiosity up. Of course, Mr. Ray, I’d be happy to go with you.”

Seeing Jeremy on the porch with her dad, Nora walked out,
and then wondered what she had interrupted. She looked curiously at each of them.

Her dad looked at Jeremy and shook his head.

Jeremy understood that this might be private between the two of them so he said, “Look at you! You look gorgeous in that cute pink dress and long blond hair hanging down your back like a waterfall.” He reached for both her hands and held them out.

She immediately curtsied for him.

He whirled her in a circle and said, “We might just go dancing. Let’s go. You’re mine for the evening.”

Waving good
bye, they left for the car.

John sat on the porch contemplating how good Jeremy and Nora seemed to get along. He wondered what their future might be.
Sadly, he doubted that he would be around for much of it.

After leaving, Nora asked Jeremy, “
What was it my dad was saying to you?”

Jeremy knew that he needed to tread carefully, “
He asked me to go on a drive tomorrow, he wants to show me something. That’s all.”

“
Hmm,” Nora furrowed her brow, “I wonder what that could be?”

He glanced toward her to see if she was satisfied and changed the subject, “
How about we drive over to Claremore tonight? Let’s eat at the Hamlet House tonight. Does that sound good to you?”

“
Yes, I love their fried chicken and their desserts are to die for.”

“
Let’s do it.”

The next afternoon Jeremy hopped into the old picku
p with John and they turned on Highway 20 and headed west.

“
Has Nora ever taken you to the old home place where she was born?” John asked.

“
Yes, Sir, we drove out there once but we didn’t get out or anything.”

“
I would like to show you again, if you don’t mind,” John stated as he pulled in the driveway. “I called the owner this morning and he gave me permission to show you around.”

John waved to a man down by the
farm house as he got out of the truck. “Has Nora ever told you about when she used to go to her thinking rock, as she called it.

“
As a matter of fact, yes, she has.” Jeremy answered affirmatively. “I put that patio and bench in the backyard so she could go outside and sit. I know that bench couldn’t replace her rock but I hoped it would satisfy that need.”

“
Let’s walk through this little grove of trees and over here on the edge of this cliff; there is a rock where she sat.”

When they reached the cliff
, a flat sandstone rock perched right on the edge with a thirty foot drop on the far side. The flat top of the rock looked to be twelve feet long and five feet wide. On the top of the cliff the oak and hickory trees grew right up to the edge of the cliff and the other rocks that were embedded in the edge of the cliff. Below in the valley was a large meadow where dairy cows leisurely munched on the grass or lay in the shade of the trees which had been left to grow along the creek that snaked along through the pasture.

“
No wonder, she came here. This is so peaceful and quiet. A place to be with nature,” Jeremy said thoughtfully.

“
My family has lived here for five generations. I was the last in line except for Danny. I held on as long as I could, but my health gave out on me. Laura and Nora worked the dairy when I couldn’t but I knew that they were not strong enough, Danny was still a small boy.” John shook his head in regret.