“Oh, absolutely,” Jasper said cheerfully. “Particularly when you are brooding about your wife in the middle of a card game.”
“I was not brooding.”
“Greyson, old boy,” Jasper said, throwing down another winning card, “you have placed the Queen of Clubs on top of the King of Hearts. Even my infant daughter could play a better game, and she has not yet mastered the concept of fingers.”
Greyson sighed.
Even Jasper knew when to draw the line. “What happened?”
Greyson hesitated long enough that Jasper’s eyes sharpened with curiosity rather than mischief.
“My mother,” Greyson said finally.
The mischief vanished entirely.
Jasper set his cards down with a soft thud. “Is she worse?”
“No.” Greyson exhaled. “Better.”
Jasper sat straighter. “Better?”
“She was… different today,” Greyson murmured. “More alert and more at ease. And apparently, it was because Hazel visited her.”
Jasper stared for a moment, then grinned with uncontained delight. “Your wife visited your mother? Alone?”
Greyson made a vague gesture. “It is… complicated.”
“That,” Jasper said, pushing aside the deck entirely, “is the single best sentence I have heard come from your mouth.”
Greyson looked down at his restless hands. “She read to her. She spoke with her. Mrs. Atherton said she had not seen her this peaceful in a long time.”
Jasper’s expression warmed. “That is wonderful.”
Greyson did not immediately agree.
Jasper noticed it. “You are troubled by this.”
Greyson hesitated, and without even saying them, the words felt bitter on his tongue. “You know why.”
Jasper leaned back, folding his arms. “Because of your brother.”
Greyson stiffened.
“You fear the same fate,” Jasper continued gently. Greyson’s jaw clenched. “He lost himself over a woman who did not want him. He lost his reason, his strength, his future.”
Jasper shook his head. “He lost hope. That is not the same as losing to love.”
Greyson looked away. “Semantics.”
“No,” Jasper said firmly. “Truth.”
Greyson’s voice lowered to a whisper. “I cannot be like him, Jasper.”
“You are not,” Jasper replied without hesitation. “You never could be.”
Greyson shut his eyes.
Jasper softened his tone. “What is it you fear most? That Hazel will not care for you? Or that she will?”
