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“Oh.”
“She was on your wall. Like a family member.”
Mr. Buford looked like a deer caught in headlights, but eventually, his shoulders slumped. “You should come inside. We have a lot to talk about.”
The inside of his house was similar to mine, but pictures were everywhere. My eyes found the one of Gram immediately.
“Can I get you coffee?” he asked.
“I’m okay.”
“Are you sure? I’m sure it’ll be the last time you let me.”
“Maybe not. Unless you tell me you’re an axe murderer. In which case, I’ve probably gotten myself killed.”
“No, it’s nothing like that.”
I frowned as I turned to the photo again. It was older, back when she was young.
“I love that photo of her,” Mr. Buford said. “I took it myself.”
“You did?”
“She’d just bought the house. I asked her if I could take her picture. That was how I met her.”
“So you were friends.”
He smiled. “She was more than that. So much more. I loved her.”
I whirled to face him. “Are you my grandfather?”
There was no way he could be. That man hadleft, and with it, hardened Gram’s heart. She’d already hated men before, but it made it worse.
If he’d been there the whole time, right under our noses, why didn’t she say anything?
He shook his head. “Oh no. We were never married. I knew her long before that.”
“And you loved her?”
“She was my first love. And I was hers.”
My eyes widened. “Her first ... You’re the one she would never talk about.”
“I’m not surprised she didn’t talk about me. She grew more and more distrusting over the years, and I’m the reason why.”
I stared at him, trying to remember anything Gram could have said about him. All I could remember was her rants about how she’d been let down, how no one stood by her side when she needed them.
And how she sometimes looked out the window when she said that.
“Wh-what happened?”
“I was stupid. So, so stupid. Her mama didn’t like me very much. She said I was too rough for her girl. And I knew I was. So I sabotaged things. Like I always do. She asked me to marry her anyway, to defy her mama. But I knew she would be disowned if I did. I was told so.”
“But she loved you.”
“She did. But I couldn’t be the reason she lost her family. Not without guilt.”
“Guilt doesn’t mean you’re wrong.”