Read Online Here in My Heart: A Novella (Echoes of the Heart) by Anna DeStefano - Free Book Online
Authors: Anna DeStefano
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another bombshell. But it was time to put all of his cards on the table.
“You got me interested in radKIDS,” he explained, “the same time you did Vivian. I lobbied for the same kind of program in Savannah, and I got my captain interested. I’m the new crime prevention officer he’s created a position for. I get to work with families and kids and women and minorities and whoever else needs me, helping them better protect themselves and each other hundreds of miles away from here—because of you.”
“While I’ve been oblivious the entire time.” Dru gave up on the hamburgers and walked to the sink.
She turned her back while she washed up.
“It wasn’t important that you knew. And the home you’ve made for yourself here is all that matters to Vivian now. It should be all that matters to you. Not my mistakes when we were kids.”
She turned off the water with enough force to make the faucet squeak. She dried her hands on the oversize apron she’d tied around her trim waist, and then she unwound the strings and threw the thing onto the counter beside pots and pans that had been scoured at closing the night before.
“This is all just . . . too much.” Her attention was fixed on her raggedy sneakers. “Please tell me why you can’t seem to ever be straight with me, Brad. It’s been so long since I’ve felt like I understood anything about you. About us. And now we’re supposed to live together? Work together?”
“I’ve never lied to you. Not even about Selena. I told you the God’s honest truth when you asked me what happened, even though I knew it would hurt you, ruin things for us, and get back to your brother. I shouldn’t have gotten drunk with her when she broke up with Oliver and came looking for me to console her the night I’d pushed you away. I shouldn’t have slept with her. I’ll regret it for the rest of my life—the way Oliver lost it when he found out about everything, including you and me kissing. He was my best friend. I wish I could go back and undo my part in what happened. I wish I could have kept you from losing him in your life. But I didn’t lie to you. Just like I’m being straight with you now.”
She crossed her arms, hugging herself the way he wanted to.
“You’re talking yourself into making a huge mistake,” he said. “If you refuse to abide by the terms of Vi’s will, if you won’t agree to what she wants us to do while she’s still alive, it’s about you and your own baggage. I might have burned you once. But there’s nothing going on between us now except my grandmother’s antics, her concern for the future of her home and business, and whether or not you can learn to trust me again.”
Underneath all the admirable qualities everyone instantly fell for when they met Dru, something else had been lurking since she’d been a kid, something he’d never been able to put a finger on. That same wary something was looking back at him again from Dru’s summer blue eyes. She may have masqueraded once as a reckless tomboy. But deep inside had lurked the seeds of the almost-too-careful woman before him.
She looked as close to helpless now as he’d ever seen her.
And murderous.
“I appreciate everything you and your grandmother have done.” Her expression evened out until he might have been talking with a stranger.
“But you’re not going to listen to Horace about what Vivian wants? I’m going to see her next. I sat with Horace for a while after you left last night. She’s serious about this. We either work together”—he gazed around the kitchen—“or all of this goes away. Can you really let that happen, just to keep me out of your life?”
“Vivian’s will is fine. I don’t care. I mean, I do. I don’t like the position your grandmother’s putting me in with you, and I don’t like her thinking that if she promises to leave me something that should be yours, I’ll jump at the chance. But there’s no point in troubling her about
“You got me interested in radKIDS,” he explained, “the same time you did Vivian. I lobbied for the same kind of program in Savannah, and I got my captain interested. I’m the new crime prevention officer he’s created a position for. I get to work with families and kids and women and minorities and whoever else needs me, helping them better protect themselves and each other hundreds of miles away from here—because of you.”
“While I’ve been oblivious the entire time.” Dru gave up on the hamburgers and walked to the sink.
She turned her back while she washed up.
“It wasn’t important that you knew. And the home you’ve made for yourself here is all that matters to Vivian now. It should be all that matters to you. Not my mistakes when we were kids.”
She turned off the water with enough force to make the faucet squeak. She dried her hands on the oversize apron she’d tied around her trim waist, and then she unwound the strings and threw the thing onto the counter beside pots and pans that had been scoured at closing the night before.
“This is all just . . . too much.” Her attention was fixed on her raggedy sneakers. “Please tell me why you can’t seem to ever be straight with me, Brad. It’s been so long since I’ve felt like I understood anything about you. About us. And now we’re supposed to live together? Work together?”
“I’ve never lied to you. Not even about Selena. I told you the God’s honest truth when you asked me what happened, even though I knew it would hurt you, ruin things for us, and get back to your brother. I shouldn’t have gotten drunk with her when she broke up with Oliver and came looking for me to console her the night I’d pushed you away. I shouldn’t have slept with her. I’ll regret it for the rest of my life—the way Oliver lost it when he found out about everything, including you and me kissing. He was my best friend. I wish I could go back and undo my part in what happened. I wish I could have kept you from losing him in your life. But I didn’t lie to you. Just like I’m being straight with you now.”
She crossed her arms, hugging herself the way he wanted to.
“You’re talking yourself into making a huge mistake,” he said. “If you refuse to abide by the terms of Vi’s will, if you won’t agree to what she wants us to do while she’s still alive, it’s about you and your own baggage. I might have burned you once. But there’s nothing going on between us now except my grandmother’s antics, her concern for the future of her home and business, and whether or not you can learn to trust me again.”
Underneath all the admirable qualities everyone instantly fell for when they met Dru, something else had been lurking since she’d been a kid, something he’d never been able to put a finger on. That same wary something was looking back at him again from Dru’s summer blue eyes. She may have masqueraded once as a reckless tomboy. But deep inside had lurked the seeds of the almost-too-careful woman before him.
She looked as close to helpless now as he’d ever seen her.
And murderous.
“I appreciate everything you and your grandmother have done.” Her expression evened out until he might have been talking with a stranger.
“But you’re not going to listen to Horace about what Vivian wants? I’m going to see her next. I sat with Horace for a while after you left last night. She’s serious about this. We either work together”—he gazed around the kitchen—“or all of this goes away. Can you really let that happen, just to keep me out of your life?”
“Vivian’s will is fine. I don’t care. I mean, I do. I don’t like the position your grandmother’s putting me in with you, and I don’t like her thinking that if she promises to leave me something that should be yours, I’ll jump at the chance. But there’s no point in troubling her about
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