Finding Her Silver Lining – Extended Epilogue

Cora moved things about on her desk. The letter from her mother stared back at her. It was a letter she had been waiting for, for a long time, but now that it was there, it scared her to look at it. She reached down and opened it with one quick motion. It was better to put it out of the way.

It was a bittersweet letter. A certain part of her did not want to accept the letter. But after receiving several correspondences from Hanna, Cora knew this letter was the first step on a long road to repairing the damage to the relationship between her and her parents. 

She looked back at the letter and read it quietly to herself.

 

Cora, 

 

I know that you must be wondering why I never write. I suppose that I figured that you wouldn’t want to hear from me after everything that happened with you and Abram and your father. Both Hanna and Annie have spoken to us on multiple occasions about what they think of how everything happened. We were wrong to send Abram after you. We should have respected your decision. While it is still hard for us to understand why you did what you did, we are trying our bests to accept it. 

I hope that one day, we can all put our differences behind us. Your father never meant to hurt you; he just wanted you to be happy. Hanna has shared with us that you are very happy with Luca. We are happy that you have found a husband that cherishes you. We hope that he continues to make you happy and that you continue to grow in your happiness. We hope that you know how much we truly love you. One day, I hope that we will see each other again and we can talk about everything that happened. I am sure that you know your sisters will be there soon. They are very much looking forward to their visit. I hope that one day, either you will find it in you to visit us or we will have the opportunity to visit you. 

 

I hope you can forgive us, if not today, then at your own pace. 

With love, 

Your mother. 

Cora was not sure what to think of her mother’s apology. She didn’t know if her father had also written the letter or if he even knew of its existence. She liked to think that her father had asked for his apology to be included. She just didn’t know. 

Cora sat back in her chair and looked around her room. Things were not ready for her sisters to arrive, even though she’d been cleaning and organizing for over a week now. 

Annie had decided to come and live with her and Luca, and Hanna decided that she and her family would come and accompany her out west to make sure she arrived safely. 

Cora tucked her mother’s letters with her other correspondence. Even though she shared a room with Luca now, she still had a table with her own space where she kept the manuscript she was working on. She was finally writing the book she’d intended to write for so many years. It was almost complete, and the only person who was more excited about it than her was Luca. She had never expected such enthusiastic support from anyone, but Luca a had not disappointed. He was there every step of the way, encouraging her and reading every word that she wrote. Cora smiled at the thought of it. She wondered if she would get to the point of publishing it. She knew that if she did, she would have her husband’s support. Cora rarely thought of the days before she’d married Luca, but when she did, she realized just how lucky she was. 

“Are you okay in here? I thought you would have been out front checking the windows to see if your sisters had arrived yet.” Luca poked his head into the room. He had a big grin on his face and an excited look in his eyes. It seemed that he was as excited about her sisters coming as she was. The idea of getting everyone together made Cora giddy. 

“Are they here yet?” she asked. 

“You’ll have to come and see.” 

Cora hurried out of the cabin. She wanted to go to town to retrieve her sisters, but they’d come by train all together. Luca had sent a ranch hand to bring them from the train station to their house so that Cora could have more time to prepare. 

“Do you think the house is good enough? What if they don’t like it?” Cora looked around at the little things she hadn’t had time to pick up or clean. She’d been so busy with her writing and everything else that sometimes housework fell to the wayside. 

Luca put his hands on both her shoulders and stared her in the eyes. “Cora, don’t worry. They are family, and they are going to be happy about being here with you. They aren’t going to care about a little mess or about what rooms you have prepared for them.” 

“I hope you are right.” Cora bit her lower lip. Even with Luca’s guidance and reprimands, she was still worried about almost everything, and courage was not a word that she knew much about. 

She turned to him. “Thank you for being so helpful and supportive with everything.” 

“You know that I am here for you.” Luca grinned. “Now, come on. Let’s go say hello to your sisters.” 

“You left them outside this entire time?” Cora covered her mouth with her hand to hide her shock. 

“No. I just came to get you; that’s all.” Luca chuckled. Come on; I do believe they are eager to meet us.” 

When Cora followed him outside, she immediately spotted her family there. Hanna and Annie looked just like they did when she left them. The only difference was that Hanna no longer had a swollen belly but a small child bouncing on her hip. 

Annie looked taller and more mature, and there was no sign of Hanna’s husband. Cora practically ran out the door. When she got there, she wrapped her arms around Hanna and then Annie. 

“You’re here! I can hardly believe it. You are actually here.” 

Hanna and Annie giggled as if they couldn’t quite believe her excitement. 

“Yes, we are here. And I couldn’t be happier. That train ride takes forever.” 

Cora laughed. “You are right. It does take forever. Come in; come in. Come and see our house.” It still felt a little strange to Cora to say that it was their house. She still remembered a time when she hadn’t felt like it was her home, but only a temporary place to stay. 

Now that she had been married to Luca for two years, it became more and more natural for her to say. 

“This ranch, it’s beautiful. I can’t believe this is your home.” Annie sounded as if she were in awe of the place. 

“I know, it is lovely, don’t you think?” Cora felt pride well within her. She and Luca had spent many hours fixing the place up. They’d made sure that the gardens were planted, that the animals had proper housing, and that everything was in place. “Luca and I both want you to think of this as your home.” 

“My husband had a couple of things to do in town; he’ll be by later,” Hanna said. 

Cora smiled. She was looking forward to seeing Michael. 

“That is fine, whenever he wants to come. I am just glad to finally be meeting Cora’s sisters. She talks about the two of you all the time.” Luca wrapped his arm around Cora’s shoulders as he grinned at her sisters. 

“Does she? What does she say?” Hanna gave Cora a stern look, which made her giggle. 

“Nothing bad, I assure you.” Luca saved her and winked. 

Cora led everyone into the cabin. As they went, she took the time to point things out around the ranch. It was going to be an adventure having her sisters here to stay for a while. She had missed them so much; she wasn’t even aware of how much until she had them with her in her home. 

 

—*—

 

Cora sat on the side of the bed and patted the spot beside her for Annie to sit. They were in her room. Luca was out doing chores, and Hanna was laying her little boy down to sleep. 

“Tell me, what’s happened since I left? How did you convince Ma and Pa to let you come and live here?”

Annie sat down, and her face lit up. “I didn’t exactly ask permission. After what happened with you, I think they knew better than to ask me not to come. They knew I would come regardless.” 

Annie’s face fell slightly. 

“What’s wrong?” Cora asked. 

“I guess I just feel bad like I am being disobedient. But I didn’t want to wait until Pa found someone that I hated for me to marry. I wanted to come here so that I can continue to learn and grown and hopefully fall in love with some handsome cowboy.” 

Cora giggled. “You want to fall in love with a handsome cowboy? That is terribly specific.” 

Annie shook her head while she blushed. “You know what I mean. I want to find someone who sweeps me off my feet and makes my heart pound. I don’t want to marry because I am supposed to or expected to.” 

“So, that is what you want to do with your life?” Cora asked. “Get married and have a family?”

“I don’t know. I honestly haven’t decided. Maybe I will become a teacher, or maybe I will find work that I enjoy. But you know, I couldn’t have that freedom with Ma and Pa.” 

“I know. It makes sense. I want you to know that Luca and I are here to help you however you need it.” 

“Thank you. You don’t know how much that means to me.” 

Cora smiled. “I think I do. You forget that I was in your position.” 

“I suppose so. You know what? I am really happy. I am happy that I came, and I am happy that Hanna came with me. I feel like we are finally all together.” 

Cora grinned. “I know the feeling. It feels right. I really missed both of you.” 

Cora leaned in and gave her sister a quick hug. “We should all be getting some rest soon. I love you, Annie.” 

Annie nodded and smiled. “Thank you; I love you too.” 

Cora watched as Annie stood and left the room. Having her sisters here in her house was unreal. She almost expected to wake up and remember it was a dream. But it didn’t happen, and Cora started to realize that her dreams were starting to come true. 

 

—*—

 

Luca heard the noises of all of Cora’s sisters going to their separate rooms and getting settled for the night. He looked over at Michael, who seemed a lot less worried about what was going on than he did. 

“So, how is ranching life here in Texas?” Michael asked. 

“Ranching life? Do you want to come and start a ranch?” Luca raised his eyebrows. He didn’t think that Michael was exactly the type to start a ranch. He seemed more like a businessman. 

“I don’t know; I’ve heard good things about it. Maybe if things get any more stressful in the city, I will keep coming here in mind.” 

Luca grinned. “You should. It is a nice life. I still run several of my father’s businesses, so I don’t always have time to do the ranching I want to, but we make it work most of the time.” Luca crossed his hands in his lap. “I wanted to ask, what happened to Abram, do you know? After his father showed up in town with those documents from Cora’s father, he disappeared.” 

Michael nodded. “You’re right. They got him out of jail, but he hadn’t had an easy time of it. What he did to try and get Cora back has become a sort of legend. Everyone back home knows exactly what sort of man Abram is, and no one wants to marry him, much less befriend him. Even his own parents seem not to want to have much to do with him. I am glad he still served almost a year of jail time, though.” Michael offered a grin. “Hanna was probably the most upset when we knew that Abram made it out of jail.” 

“I’m sorry. We were pretty upset too. I am glad that he didn’t get out of the situation without any consequences.” 

Michael shook his head. “Quite the opposite, actually. He has had a lot of consequences. Starting with the fact that he’s become an outcast in our town.” Michael looked happy about the fact, and Luca would have to admit he found some satisfaction in it too.

Luca pushed himself up from the parlor chair. “I should get off to bed, but it was nice meeting you, Michael, and talking with you.” 

Michael nodded. He was a good-natured man, and so far, Luca enjoyed his company. 

Luca walked down the hall and slipped into the room he shared with Cora. She was brushing out her blonde hair and was already dressed in her white nightdress.  

“I was wondering when you would come to bed. Is everything all right?”

“Of course. I was just talking with Michael.” Luca recapped everything that Luca told him. 

“I kind of feel bad for Abram.” Cora sounded uncertain. 

“What? How can you feel bad for him after what he did?” 

“I don’t know. I guess I know that now he must regret what he did but doesn’t know how to fix it.” 

“Maybe there are just some things that can’t be fixed.” Whenever Luca thought of Abram kidnapping Cora and tying her up, he wanted to find the man and lock him up in a cell of his own forever. 

“Maybe, but maybe we shouldn’t judge.” Cora folded back the blankets on the bed and climbed inside. 

Luca took off his shirt and boots and climbed in beside her. “Do you feel that way about Samantha?” 

“What does she have to do with it?” Cora didn’t sound angry, to Luca’s surprise. 

“Actually, Derek told me that he has been befriending her. Apparently, he thinks that there is something in there that is good.” 

Cora was silent for a few long minutes. “You know, if Derek thinks he is finding something there, he should do it. If it is right for him, then that is what is important.

“You’re right.” 

Luca shook his head against the pillow. “I can hardly believe it. I would never have thought that Derek would be making friends with Samantha. The way he talks about her, it might be more than that.” 

“What about Alonzo? What is he doing without Samantha? I really haven’t seen him lately. Maybe we should have them all over for dinner soon.” 

Luca nodded. He would like to have them over for dinner. He and Alonzo had been repairing their relationship slowly over the past two years. It had gotten to a good point where Luca felt like he could actually trust Alonzo and carry on a conversation with him without feeling threatened or worried. It was a lot of progress and only a sign of what was to come. 

“Alonzo is seeing a new young lady. She works at the hotel in town. I think there are good things in their future. She is kind and helpful and just the type of woman that Alonzo has always needed.” 

“Why do you think that Samantha wanted me out of your life so badly?” Cora asked. 

“I don’t know. I think that Samantha always wanted what she couldn’t have. At one point, that was Alonzo. But then that became me, and so she changed her mind.

“What about Derek? What does she want from him?”

“I don’t know. Maybe she realized that he knows who she is, so she doesn’t feel like she needs to hide from him.” 

“You know what? I really am happy for them. And I am happy for Alonzo too. I think that he deserves someone too. I mean, this whole thing with my father, with us and with everyone, we all just want someone to love and who makes us happy.” 

“You’re right.” Luca flipped over and watched her face for a moment. He was still astonished by her beauty every time he saw her. 

“You know what?” 

“What?”

“Seeing your sister’s son, it’s made me think a lot about my father.” 

“It has?” Cora seemed surprised. 

“It really has. He’s always wanted a grandchild. Maybe we should make someone for him to love.” 

Cora giggled. “You have a good argument. Do you really think we are ready to have children?” 

“Maybe, but maybe we should talk about it tomorrow.” 

“Maybe we should,” Cora said sleepily. 

Luca stayed awake after she fell asleep. He could hear her deep breathing beside him, and he knew that she was probably already dreaming something wonderful. Luca tried to imagine what it would be like for them to have a couple of children. He had a feeling it would be a new adventure that both of them would enjoy. 

He grinned; he was going to be sure to bring it up to Cora the next day. After all, she had agreed to talk about it. 

Luca chuckled to himself. He didn’t know how a man could get any luckier than he was right then. 

THE END

---

Readers who read this book also liked