Page 7 of I'm Yours

She blows out a breath, her body visibly relaxing. Reaching over, she grips my hand in hers and squeezes. I always got along well with Bev. In a way, it’s hard to be around her now. Katherine was so much like her mother. And as far as mothers-in-law go, I was lucky. She wasn’t pushy or demanding. “I’d love that. If you don’t mind.”

I feel like a jackass that I couldn’t suck up my grief long enough to offer before she asked herself. “I should have asked already. There are a few things I want to keep for Emmy, but otherwise I’d love for you to take what you want. I figured I’d donate whatever was left.”

“She’d like that.” She’s right. Katherinewouldlike that. And she’d hate it if she thought any of us were sitting around pining over her. She’d want us to live. Move on while remembering her.

Emmy comes running into the living room, carrying a pillow and blanket and enough stuffed animals to fill my back seat. As soon as she sees Bev’s tearful expression, she drops everything in her hands and runs to us, climbing up on Bev’s lap.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing.” Bev wipes under her eyes and waves a hand in front of her. “I’m just going to miss you two.”

“You should come live with us, too! Grandma and Papa’s house is real big! And there’s horses and cows and they’ve got kittens and dogs and there’s the lake and daddy said there’s a place that hasthe bestpizza in theworldin a town really close! And, guess what!”

“What’s that?” she asks, lightly laughing at Emmy’s enthusiasm.

“Daddy’s getting me adog! A big one, too!”

“No way!”

“Yes way! I never could before because dogs made Mommy sneeze but now I get one! It will be so much fun!”

Oh, shit. I don’t know how Bev will take the news of us getting a dog because Katherine’s passed away, but she just smiles, kisses Emmy on the cheek, and gives her another squeeze. “That sounds wonderful. I can’t wait to visit you. I’m going to go see Auntie Leah, too.”

“Yay!”

I smile and rub Emmy’s back. She leans over and squeezes Bev in a tight hug then slips away, back to her room, I assume.

Bev watches her go, a sad smile on her face. “She seems ready.”

I nod once, careful of how to steer this conversation. I know us leaving will be hard on her, too. “She is. I don’t think she’d be able to explain it, but living here without Katherine is hard on both of us.”

Bev looks around the house, bites her lower lip that’s trembling. “I miss her so much, Reed.”

“Me, too,” I tell her, sighing.

“I hate this.”

“Me, too.”

“Why’d she have to be so stupid?”

I chuckle. Leave it to Bev to be blunt. “I wish I had an answer to that.”

“If she were here, I’d give her a thwop to the back of the head.”

Smirking, I wrap an arm around her shoulders and pull her in close. “I’ll miss you, Bev.” That’s not a lie, either. I’ll miss her pop-ins and beef enchilada casserole and the way she welcomed me into her family so easily. The way she laughs with her whole body and makes Emmy so happy, is willing to get on the floor with her and play horses, even making different noises and voices. She’s a sweet woman, a wonderful mother-in-law, and next to my mom, the best grandma Emmy could ask for. She’s also the most straight-shooting woman I’ve ever met in my life. I will never forget when she asked me point blank what caused my past hurt.

“Isee it, Reed. Something’s holding you back from loving my baby girl with your whole heart. Someone hurt you,” Bev says quietly.

I stare at her, slack jawed and heart racing.

“What do you mean?” My voice comes out husky and broken. She doesn’t reply, simply gives me a look that tells me you can’t bullshit her. Before I know what’s happening, I’m spilling my guts. “I met her when I was fourteen or fifteen,” I tell her as if I don’t know the exact date, time and place that I first spoke to Sadie. “We never dated, she wasn’t my high school sweetheart or anything.”

“But you wanted her to be.”

So bad it still hurts to think about. “Yeah.” I settle on saying.

“And she didn’t want that?”

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