Nora Ray (Ray Trilogy) (14 page)

“
I’m so glad you’re here,” she said breathing the scent of him.

She looked up and he took the opportunity to kiss her. “
You have no idea how much I have missed you,” rubbing his face against her hair.

“
Actually, I think I do. Jeremy, this is so hard. Going to different schools, I mean.”

“
It won’t be for long, I promise you. I will work something out.”

It felt so good to be in his arms again. She felt strength coming into her body from his.

He never left her side again until after the funeral. Nora stood between Jeremy and Laura at the gravesite holding hands. The minister committed her father’s body to the dust but Nora knew he was already in his resting place. He would watch her, Danny, and her mother from above.

Sunday morning
, Jeremy came over before his parents took him to the Tulsa airport to catch his flight to Harvard. They put on their coats to ward off the winter chill as they walked outside. He took her hand and they walked to the backyard where they had both put in so much work building the tree house for Danny, and he had installed a small concrete patio in the middle of her flower bed where she had cleaned out the collapsed shed. He had placed a decorative concrete bench in the middle of the patio for her to sit outside when she wanted some quiet time. Cute little stepping stones with butterfly impressions on them made it possible to reach the patio without stepping in the soil.

“
You know, I love this little patio and bench that you made for me. I sit out here every chance I get,” she sat and snuggled next to him.

“
I love
you
,” he said lifting her face to place a kiss on her lips. “Thinking of you is what gives me courage to keep going.”

“
I love you, too.” She brushed her hand over the side of his face and chin. “One day we will be able to be together and this will only be a memory.”

Usually he tried to make her laugh, but right now it seemed to him that she was stronger than he was.
“When I’m at Harvard, I feel that I am so far away. I’m doing well in my studies and I’m making friends but none of them come close to replacing you.”

She stood up and placed her hands on her hips mocking one of his old moves, “
As it should be, my dear, as it should be.”

She looked so funny trying to ask indignant and mock him that he began to laugh. “
Nora, I think that is the funniest thing I have ever seen you do.”

She laughed with him. “
Now, my faithful attorney,” she continued, “I expect a report in writing sent to me at least once a week declaring your love to me. I also need to read about every wonderful feat that you perform in your school work. You can expect no less from me.”

“
Yes, ma’am, my darlin’.” Jeremy stood up to give her a whirl.

Nora said, “
I think both of us will make it better if we hear from each other often.”

“
You’re right. Why didn’t we think of this before?”

Jeremy left
to fly back to Harvard; he sat in the airplane with remorse in his heart. Nora’s dad had asked him to watch out for Nora, Laura, and Danny. He hung his head. He felt that he had let John down because he had not been able to stay home to see that they were okay. He knew John would understand but still he whispered, “I’m sorry, Mr. Ray.”

Nora
had to get her things together. She had a two and a half hour drive to travel back to Oklahoma City.

As she drove back to OU Medical School, she reminisced about Jeremy being so sad. He had received his letter of acceptance to Harvard
University Law School two weeks before High School graduation. His father had been so happy; his feet hardly touched the ground for days. His son had achieved the goal he had set before him. Everybody he saw throughout the days following knew that his son Jeremy had been accepted to Harvard, his alma mater.

Jeremy also received
letters of acceptance from every other university for which applied to but his father only acknowledged the Harvard letter. Jeremy didn’t complain or make a scene, because he knew his destiny was already set. Nothing would change his father’s mind now.

No
ra remembered Jeremy coming to school without his usual jolly demeanor. When they met at lunch, Jeremy told her about the letters of acceptance and his father’s reaction to them.

She had told Jeremy at the time that he ought to tell his father how he felt
about Harvard. Jeremy shook his head very adamantly and said that was a can of worms he didn’t want to open.

She, on the other hand, only applied to OU, and thanks to God and Mrs. Jenkins efforts; she had received a full scholarship to study medicine.

Unlike Jeremy, she loved everything about her studies, she felt that she had been thirsting for information and finally the school was meeting her need. Every day she learned something that intrigued her.

She thought about Danny growing so fast, almost as ta
ll as their mother. He would soon be in the fifth grade. Nora shook her head thinking about him. It was easy to notice how tall he was getting when you didn’t see him every day she realized.

Nora hoped her mother and Danny didn
’t mourn their Dad overly much and were able to get on with their lives and be happy.

Chap
ter Twelve

As soon as classes were over on Monday, Nora went to the bookstore to buy stamps and envelopes to send off a letter to Jeremy.

She chided herself thinking of what Jeremy had said about missing her. She had apparently not taken him seriously enough. She had doubted that she would hold his interest in her if he was away and had all those other girls to entertain.

It was sadly good to know that he missed her as much as she missed him.

She wrote him a letter after she finished her homework that night to drop in the mail the next morning so he would have her mailing address.

Soon they had a letter coming from each other every day. Nora thought this is almost like receiving the newspaper
every day. She hoped he enjoyed her letters as much as she enjoyed his.

After the
spring semester Nora longingly looked at the summer schedule wishing she could stay and take more classes. She worried about her mom needing her and Jeremy being home expecting her to be there.
She could work at the hospital to earn some extra money
she thought.

When she pulled into the driveway
at home, Danny was sitting on the porch watching for her. She jumped out of the car and ran to give him a hug. They walked into the house arm in arm.

Laura put down her potholders and met Nora at the kitchen door to give her a hug. Nora looked around at the food prepared on the stove and her favorite pies lined up on the counter. She breathed in deeply, “
Aah, this smells like home. You cooked my favorites.”

“
We could hardly wait for you to come home. We’ve missed you so much,” Laura said as she turned to finish the meal.

Danny told her about trying out for the junior football team for the fall
season. He and Aaron practiced every day to perfect their skills. All during this time he set the table and filled the glasses. He placed napkins perfectly under the silverware.

Danny
had grown up so much trying to be the man of the house.

Nora was so proud of him but afraid to say anything because
she didn’t want to embarrass him.

Later she mentioned
to Laura, “I am so proud of Danny helping you so much.”

“
Now that it’s just the two of us we depend on each other much more,” she confided. “You should see him out there mowing the lawn. He does a really good job.”

Laura had grown bored at home by herself so she had found a job to occupy herself while Danny was in school
. Her friendship with Mary Roberts grew even closer with Aaron and Danny playing so much together.

Nora felt good about the progress they were making, each of them developing close friendships and finding things to occupy their time.

The next morning, Nora asked, “Danny, would you like to go with me to visit our cousin Jordan?”

“
Sure!” Danny jubilantly replied.

As they arrived at the Johnson farm, Little Jordan came hurrying out of the front porch doing his funny little walk on his
metal crutches that fit on each leg. The polio had made its mark on him but he wasn’t letting it keep him down. Nora hurried over to give him a hug as Aunt Betty came out to greet them.

After hugs all around from Aunt Betty, she invited them in for lemonade. Soon Jordan wanted Danny to go outside with him and see the new cats in the barn.

Aunt Betty told her, “I am so proud of Jordan learning to walk with those cumbersome crutches. He seems to be in good spirits. He will start first grade in the fall. I hope he will have as near normal school life as possible.”

“
He’s a smart and happy child. That can help him overcome in a lot of circumstances,” Nora assured her.

“
I worry the most about the other children making fun of him and breaking his spirit,” Aunt Betty sighed.

“
You might try talking to the teacher privately before school starts and explain your fears and the situation to her. She might be able to nip that in the bud.”

“
Thank you, Nora,” Aunt Betty exclaimed. “Since when did you get so wise?”

Nora shrugged her shoulders and smiled.

“I seems like you are getting all grown up,” Aunt Betty said. “Sometimes, we don’t think about our children becoming adults and getting wise and all.”

“
There’s something I wanted to tell you,” Nora said becoming serious. “I have found out that there is a new vaccine out now for polio called the Salk vaccine. It was developed in 1955 about the time that Jordan contracted the poliovirus. It’s a tasteless liquid squirted on a sugar cube that the child places on his tongue. The government is giving it out free to all school children. I hear it is to be distributed in 1957, so apparently it will be here before the end of the year.”

She sadly shook her head, “
Sorry that it’s too late for little Jordan, but I’m so thankful that it will save thousands of lives and save many children from being crippled.”

“
That almost breaks my heart,” Aunt Betty leaned over her legs with the sorrow, knowing that the vaccine came two years too late for her son. “Again, like you, I am thankful for all the other children it will be able to help.”

Jordan and Danny appeared at the door carrying a kitten i
n each arm to show Nora.

Nora
remembered Jeremy’s last letter telling her that he would be taking finals until the end of May so she didn’t expect for him to be home until the first week of June. She wanted to talk to him before she applied for a job at the hospital. It depended on what his plans were whether she wanted to enroll in the summer session at college. In the mean time she looked around to see what she could do to entertain herself.

She walked outdoors. “
Aah, the flowerbeds need me,” she happily told herself out loud.

Nora phoned
Jamie Rhodes, her friend that she obtained while working at the hospital.

“
How is medical school?” Jamie inquired.

“
I’m still mostly studying basics, but they have a great library. I have access to all kinds of interesting books to read. This last semester I took Anatomy which was something neat,” Nora said.

“
I’m getting into the medical books a little faster since I’m not shooting for a doctorate.” Jamie commented. “Bacone specializes in LPN’s and RN’s. If I can obtain an RN degree, I will be happy for now.”

“
Have you heard what’s going at the hospital? Do you plan to get a summer job there?” Nora asked.

“
Actually, I planned to check on that tomorrow. We could both go together, if you plan to work out there, too.” Jamie suggested.

“
I might,” Nora said trying to make up her mind, “I wanted to talk to Jeremy and see what his plans were, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to put in an application just in case.”

“
Sure,” Jamie agreed, “I’ll be by in the morning.”

Jeremy called Saturday evening to let her know that he was in town. “
Mom asked if you could come over for Sunday dinner, what do you think?”

“
Sure.”

“
Good, I’ll let her know. Nora, may I come over right now?”

“
Absolutely! Mom and I wanted to go out, so could you watch Danny?” Nora asked innocently.

“
What?” Jeremy couldn’t believe his ears.

“
Got ya’,” she teased. “Of course! I want you to come over. I’ve been waiting days for you to come home.”