If people knew, Grant, they would make fun of her. Treat her differently. Shame her. We can’t tell anyone. Ever.
April’s mouth twisted. “I don’t like Suzie spying on me. She needs to mind her own business and stop coming over here to mess with my things.”
“She loves you. So do I.” He reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out the brochure. “Mom, there’s a place I want you to look at. It’s called Helping Hands, and it’s in California. We can fly out there together and—”
She glanced at the paper, and her expression hardened. “That’s a treatment facility.”
“It’s a place people go to heal.”
She waved her hands in the air. “Do I look like I need help? I’m fine.”
The question was so ridiculous, Grant had to smother the urge to snap back. He closed his eyes, wrestling with his emotions. It was times like these when Grant missed Pop the most. His father, Michael, had been a gentle giant who’d managed his wife’s mental health with tenderness and grace.
Grant had never managed to fill Pop’s shoes. He was neither patient enough nor could he find the right words, but he had to try. “Mom—”
She sliced a hand through the air. “No, I don’t want to hear another word about it. Do you understand me, young man?”
Frustration nipped at him, but he swallowed it back down. He didn’t want to fight with her. They’d done enough of that when he was a teenager. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. Now it’s time for my show. I’ll see you later.”
She shuffled out of the room. Moments later he heard the television in the back room come on. Grant left the brochure on the countertop. Maybe she would look at it later.
He stepped back outside, closing the front door firmly behind him, and marched across the street. Aunt Suzie was sitting on a porch chair. “April didn’t listen to you, did she?”
“Mom needs some time to get used to the idea.”
She nodded. “I’m sorry, Grant. I shouldn’t have let things get so bad.”
He let out a long breath. “It’s not your fault. This has been a long time coming, to be honest, and Mom has refused all offers of help. I’ll keep talking to her.”
It was going to take time to convince Mom. How much, Grant couldn’t be sure, but more than a day. Probably more than a week. It was fortunate he had time off from the navy. There had been a snafu with his reenlistment paperwork which coincided with his return stateside. Technically, he wasn’t employed with the SEALs until he provided his signature on the bottom line. But Grant wasn’t going to turn in the papers until he had his mom settled. There was time. Not years or months. But a few weeks was workable.
“Why don’t you go into town?” Suzie glanced at the slender watch on her left wrist. “If you hurry, you’ll catch Sara at the library before it closes.”
Sara. A thousand memories batted at the corners of his mind, but Grant refused to indulge them. “I was hoping to keep a low profile.”
His aunt laughed. “Oh honey, I know it’s been a long time since you visited, but Hidden Hollows hasn’t changed that much. There is no such thing as a low profile.” She paused, her expression growing serious. “Have you spoken to Sara since Jared died?”
“From time to time. A phone call here and there. We exchange emails occasionally.”
They’d all been friends in high school—Grant, Jared, and Sara. Jared and Grant had grown up together. Sara had arrived in Hidden Hollows as a freshman in high school. She and Jared hit it off over a Bunsen burner the first day in chemistry class and later became inseparable.
It was sometime in Grant’s sophomore year of high school when he realized his feelings for Sara went beyond friendship. By the time he left for the navy, he was hopelessly in love with her.
But never, not once, did he consider acting on it.
First and foremost, Sara was his best friend’s girl. And Jared…well, Jared was the right man for her. Loyal, kind to the core, and as settled in Hidden Hollows as the mountains skirting the town. They belonged together.
What would it be like to see Sara now that Jared was gone? Grant didn’t know. And he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to find out.
Suzie shifted in her chair. “It might be nice to see Sara. And Ben.”
Maybe. Or maybe it would rip open another hole in his heart. Grant had put off grieving for Jared by staying away from Hidden Hollows. He feared seeing Sara and Ben would unlock the pain lurking under the surface of his heart.
Pops. Jared. Why did all the best men die young? Pops, killed by a drunk driver while going to the store to buy milk on a Tuesday afternoon. Jared from an undiagnosed brain aneurysm. While Grant—who didn’t have a wife or children—ran headlong into bullets and came out alive. Life wasn’t just unfair, it was cruel.
He sighed. “I’m tired after a long trip. I’ll make a decision about seeing Sara tomorrow.”
Aunt Suzie pinned him with a look. “Mark my words, Sara’s going to find out you’re in town. You get to decide how that happens today. After that, the choice won’t be yours anymore, because the gossip will get to her first.”
Grant scrubbed a hand over his face. He didn’t want Sara to hear he was in town from someone else. It might be easier, but it wasn’t honorable. A decade had passed. Those feelings he’d harbored for Sara were long forgotten. And his aunt was right. There was no such thing as keeping a low profile in Hidden Hollows.
Grant would pop into the library and say hello. Keep things simple. Friendly. He pulled the keys to his SUV out of
