Here in My Heart: A Novella (Echoes of the Heart) by Anna DeStefano
Authors: Anna DeStefano
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thought maybe Joe and Marsha had gone to bat for her at first, hitting up their unpredictable neighbor for help on Dru’s behalf. And she’d tried to repay every cent of the confidence they’d all placed in her.
The last seven years absolutely couldn’t have been about Brad’s guilt instead, over his starring role in Oliver’s leaving. Brad was supposed to be the villain in this story, not her silent benefactor.
Horace had lost himself in his documents, leaving Dru and Brad to figure things out. Dru willed the quiet man sitting in front of her, a man she’d once thought would be the love of her life, to look at her. To tell her that this was all a misunderstanding. When Brad finally lifted his eyes, he flinched at whatever he saw on her face.
“Why?” she asked.
The room spun. Why would he do something that would keep her from hating him as much as she needed to, and wait until now to let her know? The life she’d made for herself in Chandlerville was reshaping itself into something she didn’t recognize, far faster than she’d expected.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Chapter Five
“I was trying to do the right thing,” Brad said to Dru the next morning at the Dream Whip. “Every letter I sent you after I left was returned unopened. You blocked my calls and texts. Even if you hadn’t, and I’d told you years ago that I’d asked Vi to give you a job and a place to stay, we’d have fought over it, and—”
“And we couldn’t have that, could we?” Dru said.
She’d left him high and dry last night. She’d calmly walked out of the house before he could answer her question, and before Horace could finish going over Vivian’s will. Brad had spent a sleepless night trying to figure out how to help both her and Vivian now, without causing Dru more pain in the process.
“I was staying out of your way,” he said. “In Savannah. And I was happy to do it. I was building my own new life, while Chandlerville’s clearly worked out for you. If a small part of that was me asking Vi to help you, what’s the harm?”
“You’ve stayed away from Chandlerville all these years . . .” She looked as if she might laugh. Or cry. “For me.”
“That’s not what I said. I—”
“That’s what you did.”
“I did it for me, Dru.” At least at first he had. “I had a lot to prove to myself. It took years, and I’m still paying my dues on the force. We’re understaffed and underfunded, just like everyone else these days. There’s very little chance to take time off, except for personal emergencies. At least that means I have several weeks of leave banked now, so I can be here as long as Vi needs me.”
Dru didn’t look like she was completely buying it. Truth be told, neither was he. He could have come home more. He would have, except eventually running into Dru would have resulted in exactly the kind of drama they’d endured yesterday afternoon at the YMCA, and last night at the house.
He’d never expected to be put on the spot like this—Dru discovering that he hadn’t been the complete bastard she’d thought he was.
“You’ve been pulling strings with Vivian,” she said, “asking her to help me. Because you feel guilty about Oliver?”
“Can the bullshit, Dru. Stop overreacting.”
He told himself to cool it, too, even though blowing off steam would be a hell of a lot more satisfying.
“Vivian and I haven’t been colluding to control your life. You have no reason not to take what she’s offering you seriously, as crazy as she’s gone about doing this. And you know it, or you’d have stayed and finished working this out last night.”
It was early—too early yet for him to visit Vivian at the hospice center. By the time he’d made it to Harmony Grove last night she’d been asleep. And when he’d returned to the house, Dru still hadn’t been there. According to Travis, she’d turned up at their parents’ and slept on Marsha and Joe’s couch. Travis had mentioned
The last seven years absolutely couldn’t have been about Brad’s guilt instead, over his starring role in Oliver’s leaving. Brad was supposed to be the villain in this story, not her silent benefactor.
Horace had lost himself in his documents, leaving Dru and Brad to figure things out. Dru willed the quiet man sitting in front of her, a man she’d once thought would be the love of her life, to look at her. To tell her that this was all a misunderstanding. When Brad finally lifted his eyes, he flinched at whatever he saw on her face.
“Why?” she asked.
The room spun. Why would he do something that would keep her from hating him as much as she needed to, and wait until now to let her know? The life she’d made for herself in Chandlerville was reshaping itself into something she didn’t recognize, far faster than she’d expected.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Chapter Five
“I was trying to do the right thing,” Brad said to Dru the next morning at the Dream Whip. “Every letter I sent you after I left was returned unopened. You blocked my calls and texts. Even if you hadn’t, and I’d told you years ago that I’d asked Vi to give you a job and a place to stay, we’d have fought over it, and—”
“And we couldn’t have that, could we?” Dru said.
She’d left him high and dry last night. She’d calmly walked out of the house before he could answer her question, and before Horace could finish going over Vivian’s will. Brad had spent a sleepless night trying to figure out how to help both her and Vivian now, without causing Dru more pain in the process.
“I was staying out of your way,” he said. “In Savannah. And I was happy to do it. I was building my own new life, while Chandlerville’s clearly worked out for you. If a small part of that was me asking Vi to help you, what’s the harm?”
“You’ve stayed away from Chandlerville all these years . . .” She looked as if she might laugh. Or cry. “For me.”
“That’s not what I said. I—”
“That’s what you did.”
“I did it for me, Dru.” At least at first he had. “I had a lot to prove to myself. It took years, and I’m still paying my dues on the force. We’re understaffed and underfunded, just like everyone else these days. There’s very little chance to take time off, except for personal emergencies. At least that means I have several weeks of leave banked now, so I can be here as long as Vi needs me.”
Dru didn’t look like she was completely buying it. Truth be told, neither was he. He could have come home more. He would have, except eventually running into Dru would have resulted in exactly the kind of drama they’d endured yesterday afternoon at the YMCA, and last night at the house.
He’d never expected to be put on the spot like this—Dru discovering that he hadn’t been the complete bastard she’d thought he was.
“You’ve been pulling strings with Vivian,” she said, “asking her to help me. Because you feel guilty about Oliver?”
“Can the bullshit, Dru. Stop overreacting.”
He told himself to cool it, too, even though blowing off steam would be a hell of a lot more satisfying.
“Vivian and I haven’t been colluding to control your life. You have no reason not to take what she’s offering you seriously, as crazy as she’s gone about doing this. And you know it, or you’d have stayed and finished working this out last night.”
It was early—too early yet for him to visit Vivian at the hospice center. By the time he’d made it to Harmony Grove last night she’d been asleep. And when he’d returned to the house, Dru still hadn’t been there. According to Travis, she’d turned up at their parents’ and slept on Marsha and Joe’s couch. Travis had mentioned
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