Page 28

Unsure my heart could take any more, I let myself in and leaned back against the door, smiling wider than I ever had and feeling tears burn my eyes.
Every feeling. Hope. Worry. Longing. Despair. I felt them all as his engine fired up and then faded away.
14
Henrietta
Confession: I want to make my grandma happy. I just don’t know if that’s possible.
I tiptoed to my room,where I was in danger of hanging a Tyler Griffen poster on my ceiling like some kind of fifteen-year-old fangirl. This had gone from the worst to the best night of my life, all thanks to him.
Standing in front of my dresser, I pulled out my hoop earrings, hanging them back on my jewelry tree. With them out, I looked in the mirror. My cheeks still felt warm, my hair was slightly askew, and there was a light in my eyes that hadn’t been there before.
I wondered what Tyler saw when he looked at me. The small mole on my cheek? The fullness of my lips? The perfect shape of my waxed eyebrows (the one splurge I regularly allowed myself.) Or did he notice my broad shoulders? My full hips or the extra flesh on my stomach?
The line of questioning was driving me nuts, because I had to know what he had seen that no other guy had noticed.
My door clicked open, and I nearly jumped out of my skin, stumbling backward.
Grandma stepped into my room, wearing her gold and black silk robe, pink silk cap, and a sly grin.
“Grandma!” I hissed at her. “You nearly scared me to death!”
“Seems like the date went well,” she said anyway.
I shook my head at her, continuing my routine of unclipping my necklace. The date had been incredible, for reasons she didn’t understand.
“Well?” she prompted, leaving room for me to fill in the rest.
I glanced at her. “Aren’t you supposed to be in bed?”
“I’m old, not an invalid,” she replied, sitting on my bed and crossing her legs. “I had a good feeling about this one.”
The hope in her voice nearly undid me. Grandma thought she had done me a favor, but I had to tell her the truth. I hung my necklace on the jewelry tree, then went to sit beside her.
“Grandma, I know you want me to be happy like you and Grandpa, but I have to tell you... I felt really uncomfortable with Houston tonight.”
Worry deepened her wrinkles. “What happened? If your father finds out he tried anything...”
“He did,” I said. “I actually had to call a friend to rescue me.”
Grandma covered her mouth with her weathered hands. “Henrietta, did he—”
“No, no, I’m fine. I just don’t think I can do the setups anymore, Grandma.”
There was so much sadness and compassion in her eyes as she covered my knee with her hand. “Honey, I never meant to put you in danger. I only mean to help you find someone like my Harold.”
“I know you loved Grandpa, but what you two shared, it was magic, Grandma. Maybe…” My throat tightened, and I had to swallow to speak my biggest fear. “Maybe that’s just not in the cards for me.”
She shook her head, gently running her thumb over my knee. “A partner, a true partner, can change everything. They’ll bring out the best in you, force you to acknowledge your weak spots, help you grow faster than you ever could on your own. I’d hate for you to miss out on that because you don’t think you deserve it.”
My eyes watered again, and I tried to hide the emotion from my eyes.
Grandma didn’t miss anything. “You seemed so happy when I came in, and I made things worse. Oh, I feel terrible.”
I gripped her hand. “It’s not that.”
“What is it?” she asked. “Did your friend say something that upset you? You were on the porch for a long time with her...”