Forever RiverCreek

Chapter 6 - Trying to Find Their Footing

The next morning Cory is the first to wake and lies there with Tara still resting against his chest with a smile. Before Cory can move to get to his feet, there is a knock on the door, and Lorraine, still in her nightgown, peeks into the bedroom and notices Tara's bra on the floor. Cory barely sees the frown on her face when his mother vanishes without saying anything. Shock settles in when Cory realizes his mother has the wrong idea; he tries to shimmy free from Tara and makes his way out to the living room.

"Mom, before you say anything, it's not what you think."

A look of disappointment settles in deep, accompanied by a long breath, "Then please explain what happened last night, but do leave out the technical details."

"We did start down that road, but we stopped when we agreed that we should take your advice. All we did was fall asleep talking, that's it, I swear!"

Pleased with the tone of his voice, Lorraine senses the high-pitch volume, which has always been Cory's tell-tell sign of telling the truth. The frown evolves into a smirk as Lorraine motions for Cory to sit on the couch.

"That is such a relief, and thank you for being honest about the temptation. I get it, you two want to pick up the pieces, but right now, it needs to be about learning who you are together as adults. Thank you, son, for taking my advice seriously. It's a relief to not only me but also Ms. Rose. We like the idea of more grandkids, but don't rush it like you did with CJ."

"We won't, Mrs. Dubois, we promise. There are still too many things left unsettled to rush into anything serious again," Tara says, walking up with her arms crossed, "We love y'all and ain't ready to lose your respect again," as her southern accent kicks in.

Getting up from her seat, Lorraine makes her way past Cory and Tara before she pauses at the edge of the hallway, "Get cleaned up; we're meeting everyone for breakfast at Trippet's Diner."

The looks of shock tell Lorraine that they had the same idea. However, she continues to smile and returns to her bedroom to get ready as Cory and Tara saunter back to his room, and Tara borrows one of Cory's shirts as she ties her hair in a ponytail.

"I still love this shirt," Tara mentions smoothing out the faded RiverCreek Beavers t-shirt.

"I don't remember you ever 'borrowing' that specific shirt," Cory replies.

"That's because I didn't start taking it until after I had CJ. I was here one night when a bad snowstorm hit; CJ was maybe a year old, and I needed something to sleep in, so I searched your drawers and found this one."

Cory can't help but barely snicker as he slips into a navy blue muscle shirt with an open black dress shirt with bootcut Old Navy jeans. On their way out to the Celica, Tara cannot help but admire Cory's resiliency from the night before. After he rolls down the windows and pops up the sunroof, Tara reaches for Cory's hand when he shifts into fifth gear. There's no resistance as Cory spreads his fingers to allow Tara's to interweave. He takes their hands to his lips, kissing the back of her hand, but they release hands, pulling up into the diner to see everyone else waiting for them.

Once everyone is inside, those from around town, including Joe – Cory's former teammate from high school, stand and clap to welcome Cory home. Stunned at the sight of the warm welcome, Cory is nearly brought to tears as Tara clings to him, "Seems like you're loved and respected more than you ever realized. I know we wanted to escape RiverCreek, but sometimes being here is pretty awesome too," Tara says during the gentle hug.

The booth near the back is large enough for Lorraine, Olivia, Tara, Cory, and CJ. Ms. Trippet comes to take their order, but the surprise of Lloyd, Simon, and Rick creates a holiday style feel that takes Olivia and Lorraine back in time. The chatter among the others eating in the diner dies back to normal while the impromptu get-together fires up.