Page 64 of Silent Heart

Expecting the receptionist or the other technician, I called out, “Come on in, I’m almost done.”

“They said I’d find you back here.” My grandmother closed the door softly behind her.

“Hi!” I breathed, fingers faltering over the medication I still needed to give Fritz while he was asleep. I shook my head, readjusting the syringe, and pinching the skin on his back leg. “What are you doing here, Gran? Is everything alright?”

Grandma peered over the operating table, looking at the bandaged abdomen. “Poor critter.”

“Yeah, got into it with something bigger and meaner. Managed to limp back to his people, though.” I stroked the dog’s side. “He’ll wake up groggy, but he’ll be just fine in a couple of weeks.”

Gently petting the sleeping dog’s head, my grandma pinned me with a look. “It’s been three weeks, Hariet.”

Oh, crap.She meant business.

“I know, I’ve been really busy—”

My grandma cut me off with a flick of her hand. “You’ve barely been at home. I don’t know when you’ve had time to sneak in for fresh clothes, you won’t return our calls, and you keep sending three-word texts back when you finally do answer. Forgive me for wanting to make sure you were alive.”

“Sorry,” I sighed, fidgeting with the bandages.

“Everyone’s worried about you.”

“Mighty nice of them,” I muttered.

My grandma let out an exasperated sigh. “And just what is that supposed to mean? Hhmmm? The last time you were home was that big Sunday dinner, and Beatrice said you were downright nasty to her. Now—” Grandma held up her hands to prevent me protesting “—I know my daughter can be a piece of work. So I took what she said with a grain of salt. But you haven’t been around, honey.”

“Truthfully, Gran,” I sighed, “I just got tired of being the punching bag. I’ve been working hard, and no one’s been riding my case about anything.”

Grandma scoffed. “It’s not that bad. Sure, the family can be loud, but that’s no reason to turn your back on us.”

I leveled her with a stare. “Do you know why I got so testy with Aunt Bea?”

“Not really, no.” Grandma arched a brow in challenge.

Here it goes.One can of worms, opening up! “Bea thinks I should pay you to keep the farm. Ottis thinks I’m his glorified babysitter. And the rest treat me like a failure because I havenever done the normal thing. Face it, Grandma, I’m the different one. Always have been, always will be. This is just me embracing that.”

Walking around the stainless-steel table, my grandmother brushed my hair off my face. “We shouldn’t have sprung the whole family on your gentleman caller like that. He obviously is different if he’s captured your interest like this.”

She had no idea how spot on those words were. Kole had me…seeing a different future. Three weeks with him, and no more sleepwalking! He’d been preoccupied with some projects in the unfinished basement, but he’d been tucked in bed with me every night. And he slept—the man who claimed not to sleep slept! We’d gone fishing. We’d baked! Pies and macarons, cookies and breads, we’d managed to do a lot of things. We’d even gone to pick more fresh strawberries. I knew it felt more like a fairytale than real life, but I couldn’t help losing myself to the dreams in the sky that had now become my reality. And if he hadn’t quite opened himself to me the way I wanted, it was his tangled web of secrets. I knew the man who consumed my thoughts was perfect, and I was not willing to lose that over whatever details existed outside this summer romance.

“You shouldn’t have,” I agreed. “I wanted him to know you and Grandpa. Not the whole clan!”

“But you abandoning us,” Grandma continued. “That isn’t right, honey.”

Another sigh blew past my lips. “I know. I’m just so caught up in work that I need peace and quiet when I’m done.”

“What about him? Hmm? He thinks he can use you and then call it quits when the summer ends?”

“Gran—” It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her she didn’t know him. But it was true. We had an expiration date. Kole had been nothing but honest. I was his present.

I’m not done fighting for a future. One that I create.I’d been doing it my whole life, why should this be any different?

“Mhmm, that’s what I thought.” Grandma gave me a severe frown.

I have to tell her.She always was able to make it better. It might be wishful thinking, but maybe she could fix this too.

"You're wrong about him. We said from the beginning this might never have a future," I whispered.

Grandma sighed. "Oh, honey, you're hurting."

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