Page 43 of Thorns of Silence

I just needed her to listen to me and be supportive. Dante was coming tomorrow and I’d tell him about the baby. I just needed her reassurance for a dose of strength before I dropped the news on my first boyfriend. I just needed to know that my grandmother would be there for my baby and me.

Grandma leaned against a column, looking like she was posing for the movies, meanwhile my nerves rattled like the rose bushes in the breeze behind us. Her eyes darted above my head and I followed her gaze to the duke. I let out an inward groan. Something told me she’d try to weave that man into her web and there’d be another wedding coming.

I was so fucking sick and tired of how many grandfathers we’d cycled through.

Her eyes came back to me. “Phoenix, darling,” she signed, her lips unmoving, which was unusual. She tended to sign and speak the words at the same time. “Can you bring me a yellow rose?”

I scrunched my brows, staring at her, then at the roses, only to return my eyes to her. “Why?”

She signed, “I want to impress the duke with how considerate my granddaughter is.”

I sighed in resignation, not even bothering to point out that making a show of giving her a rose wouldn’t impress him. Not if he had an ounce of a brain and saw it for the phoniness that it was.

Despite my better judgment, I lowered to my knees and plucked the rose out of the garden, ignoring its pricks, and handed it to her.

Like a true actress, she feigned surprise. Even brought her hand to her cheek and made her lip quiver while she pretended like she was about to cry.

If she didn’t let me talk, we’d both be crying soon.

Grandma pushed off the column, then took my hand and led me to the nearby bench. Her perfume of fresh jasmine was never my favorite, but today it made me want to barf. Still, like a good granddaughter, I sat down and smiled.

She was a bit shallow, but she was protective, and I knew she loved my sister and me fiercely.

“Can I talk to you now?” I signed. “Or do we need to do anything else to impress the duke?”

Grandma’s hand cupped my cheek while looking into my eyes. “What’s troubling you, Phoenix?”

I took a deep breath in and then exhaled. There was no easy way to lead into this.

“I’m pregnant,” I mouthed. She froze and seemed to remain that way for seconds, minutes. Hell, maybe even hours. “Grandma, I—”

She let go of my cheek. “Sign with your hands. I misunderstood your lips.”

Wonderful. This was starting off well. I wanted to tell her she didn’t misunderstand, but instead, I signed, “I’m pregnant.”

“How the fuck are you going to blossom if you’re knocked up?” she signed, trying to keep her face impassive while her eyes flashed with fury. “Who did this to you?”

Okay, when she behaved like that—like she wanted to commit murder—there was no chance in hell I’d give her the name of the boy who owned my heart.

“I need your help, not your judgment. Another month and I’ll graduate high school, but I’ll need a nanny if I’m to continue on to college.”

“I’m not your nanny.” She actually mouthed the words, maybe even screamed them. From the corner of my eye, I spotted the duke approaching us, but Grandma raised her hand, palm up, and he instantly stopped. “Give me some time with my granddaughter. Go on inside and I’ll catch up to you.”

Oh, fuck! That didn’t sound good.

Once he disappeared into the house, her stormy attention was on me. “I thought you were smarter than that. Didn’t I teach you about safe sex?”

I let out an incredulous breath, trying to rein in my own temper. “No, you didn’t. You haven’t even taken me to an Ob/Gyn.”

“I thought you kids would be smarter these days with the worldwide web at your disposal.” She tugged on her impeccable chignon. “Besides, I didn’t think a boy—”

I inhaled a sharp breath. She didn’t think a boy—any boy—would want me. Okay, that hurt. My deafness was my weakness, yes, but not because of the actual disability. It had everything to do with the way the world viewed it.

“Well, someone does want me.” I hoped it would still be in the present tense once he learned of this.

“Hearing or not, any man runs once a baby is thrown at them.”

I rolled my eyes but didn’t comment. There was plenty of evidence to contradict her statement.