Page 58 of Eleanor & Grey

His stare was sadness.

Sadness didn’t come with words; it ran across a person’s body. It swam in the eyes. It swept across the wrinkles in one’s forehead. It pushed down shoulders and sat uncomfortably at the corners of lips.

No human ever had to speak of their sadness for it to be seen. Others just had to take the time to truly notice someone to see it.

All we truly had to do was slow down and look.

Greyson’s sadness was clear as day, and that was heartbreaking.

He kept staring, saying nothing at all.

I shifted around in place and gave him a tight smile. “Like, Ellie Gable, from high school. We were…”

Friends…

We were friends, Grey.

We were so much more than friends.

How could he not remember? He was the one who’d gotten me through the hardest period of my life.

My words drifted because the harder he stared at me, the more uncomfortable it all became. Did he truly not remember me? Could that even be possible? Was it even the same Greyson I’d known?

Of course it was. Eyes never lie.

“I’m sorry, this is uncomfortable.” I chuckled because that was what I did when I was nervous—I laughed awkwardly. “I just thought…” I paused, giving him an opportunity to dive into the conversation.

Still nothing but silence from him.

Say something, Greyson.

“I just… It’s been years, Grey. You look great! Really nice. I see you grew into your height.” What, Eleanor? What did that even mean? The palms of my hands were a swamp and I was having a hard time thinking straight. “Claire mentioned you have two daughters, huh? That’s crazy. I mean, it’s not too crazy, seeing how you’re a grown-up and that’s what grown-ups do—they have families. I mean, except for me. Still single as a daisy,” I rambled, holding my ring finger up in the air like a freaking fool.

What did that even mean? Single as a daisy?

Pull yourself together, Ellie.

I cleared my throat. “Funny how life happens, right?”

Still. No. Words.

“Well, I mean, do you want to ask me anything about the nannying position? I know this is probably weird, but I really would love the job—like, really love it. Life has been pretty crazy lately, and I could really use this position. I don’t want to give you my sob story or anything, but—”

“Thank you, that’s all,” he said. His voice was low and deep with a newfound smokiness to it. He definitely wasn’t a boy anymore, that was for sure.

I raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I have everything I need.”

He was so dry with his words that I truly wished he had kept with saying nothing at all. He spoke in such a monotone way that it was almost as if he weren’t really even there.

I gave him my forced smile, and he responded with a grimace.

He turned away from me once more and went back to staring out the window.

Gosh, this was so awkward.

There were a million questions running through my mind, a million things I wanted to ask him. How had he become the CEO of his father’s company? How long had he been married? How was he dealing with the loss of his wife? Oh, my gosh, he lost his wife…

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