A Silent Terror by Lynette Eason Page B

was the problem. She kept answering him intermittently instead of being consistent in just deleting his messages, and that encouraged him or gave him hope.
    Quite possibly if she just didn’t acknowledge his texts anymore, he would give up and go find someone more suitable.
    Such as a hearing girl, one he wouldn’t be ashamed of.
    Absentmindedly, she smoothed her hair down over her ears, then stared at herself in the mirror above the dresser. In a lit of pique, she grabbed a hair tie and pulled the silky mass into a casual ponytail, exposing her hearing aids for the world to see. There. Eat your heart out. Curt Wentworth.
    Marianna clamped the lid on the memories and the feelings they still invoked. Not feelings for him, just the feelings of not measuring up or being good enough.
    He’d certainly fooled her for a long time. But she’d learned her lesson well. And while she’d been honest when she’d said she’d forgiven him, she sure hadn’t forgotten his behavior. Or his constant pushing for her to get a cochlear implant, a surgically implanted device that worked as a “mechanical ear.” It was great for some people, she just chose not to go that route right now. She shook her head at her stupidity. He could have asked her for almost anything that wasn’t illegal or immoral, and she would have done her best to oblige.
    Anything but to get a cochlear implant. And he’d refused to listen to her or her reasons why she didn’t want one. She didn’t want to risk destroying the hearing she had left. She was also comfortable with her deafness and didn’t need to be “fixed.” It was a concept Curt couldn’t compute and refused to accept that she knew her own mind on this topic. Marianna grimaced. Okay, Lord, give me something more pleasant to think about this morning, please?
    Immediately, Ethan’s face appeared in her mind’s eye. She grabbed her jacket as she allowed herself to think about the good-looking cop. She’d been surprised he’d fit in so well with her family – and to find out he’d had a deaf sister…well…
    The lamp on her bedside table flashed. All of the bedrooms were wired with a flashing light to alert the occupant that someone was “knocking” on the door. There was actually a small button to push, similar to an indoor doorbell that activated the light.
    She opened her door to find Gina standing on the other side. Her sister signed, “You ready?”
    “Yes, I guess. Curt’s bugging me again this morning.”
    Her sister sighed and shook her head. “I hope you told him to leave you alone.”
    They started the walk down the hall to the stairs. Gina turned and walked backward down the steps, gripping the rail with her left hand as she signed with her right. Marianna smiled at the leftover childhood behavior and answered, “I did, but it doesn’t seem to faze him much.”
    Gina, dark hair, dark eyes and slightly overweight, still had all the features of the Santinos. Full lips and slightly slanted eyes gave her an exotic look, showing off her Italian heritage, but somewhere down the line the family had some Japanese blood, too. Her sister wore it well.
    “Want me to get rid of him for you? I know a guy or two.”
    “No, I wouldn’t want to get Mario in trouble before you guys even get married.” Her sister’s fiancé was an army ranger. “I’ll handle Curt. Now, let’s get to church.”
    The rest of the family, including her father, who was finally looking a little better after his bout with whatever had laid him low the last couple of weeks, dispersed to their respective cars. Marianna rode with Gina, who planned to have lunch with friends after church.
    As they drove, Marianna couldn’t help thinking about the breakin from Friday night. As much as she didn’t want to, she remembered the terror she’d felt, the pure fear that had almost held her paralyzed.
    Did the guy find what he was after? Did that incident have anything to do with Suzanne’s murder?
    She shivered in