“Shelby...” he said finally. “It’s too late.”
The finality in his voice had her shaking her head. “No, it’s not.” Her words trembled with uncertainty.Please, say it’s not true.He didn’t enlist without even talking to her about it. He didn’t just sign up for years in the Army after she’d turned down her scholarship at Belmont this week in order to stay here with him!
“I’ve already enlisted. Basic training starts tomorrow.”
Everything inside went blank. Went numb, like after a blow when you knew the pain was coming but the nerves hadn’t yet informed the brain. Then the blessed reprieve ended and the pain hit all at once. “Tomorrow?You just left without a word and basic training startstomorrow?”
“It happened fast and I was afraid you’d try to talk me out of it. I’m sorry.”
A snort of laughter escaped as a sob. “Oh, you’resorry! Well, okay then. Everything’s fine.”
“Please understand, Shelby. I can’t stay in a town where I’m hated and looked down on. Where everyone only sees me as a murderer’s son and now the guy who tried to steal from the town paragon.”
“It’s only been a week, Gray! People forget. People move on. If you’d just waited, some other juicy story would soon have all the tongues wagging. But now you’re enlisted in the Army andyou left me!”
“I didn’t leaveyou. I left Grandville.”
“Really? Because it feels like you leftme, Gray!” She could almost feel steam shooting out the top of her head. “We’re supposed to be acouple! And you made this colossal decision that affects both of us. You’ll be gone for three years, Gray! Three years! And sometimes people die in the Army—did you think of that? Did you think of me at all before you abandoned me—?”Just likemy mom.Her throat swelled at the thought. She couldn’t believe this was happening to her again.
She’d trusted him, just as she’d trusted her mom—and look howthat worked out. She should’ve known better than to go falling in love. Giving someone the ability to hurt her. To leave her. Just like Gray was doing.
“I really am sorry. I didn’t... I should’ve—”
“That’s right, you should’ve. But you didn’t.” Her heart was a jackhammer in her chest. She boiled with anger—and yet a lump the size of Texas swelled in her throat. Her eyes burned with tears that threatened to burst like a geyser. She didn’t want to cry right now!
She’d never wanted to scream at anyone so badly in her life. She actually wished she could hit him! But what would that fix? There was nothing she could do or say to change this. Nothing. He’d left her. And now she just had to live with it.
Like she’d done with her mother.
She envisioned those stupid postcards she’d tacked to her pegboard with hopeful little hands. She’d waited and waited for Mom to come home. Waited for her to realize Shelby needed her. But all the hoping and wishing had been for naught. The postcards were all she’d ever gotten.
And Gray knew all this. He knew how badly her mom’s abandonment had hurt her—she’d cried in his arms the night she told him the full story. And now he was doing the same thing to her!
Her next words came out as cold as ice, as solid as steel. “I don’t want to talk anymore.”
“Okay.” His voice softened. “I understand. I know this is a shock. I’ll call you later today. We’ll talk about it some more and you’ll see that—”
“No.I don’t want you to call me later. I don’t want you to call me at all.” Her heart gave a loud, hard crack as she punched the Off button.
Chapter 34
Present day
Shelby cradled a sleeping Ollie in her arms as the rest of her family transferred the steaming food from the kitchen to the dining room. Drunk on love, she gazed down at her nephew. Those little lashes. That tiny nose. At three months his cheeks were beginning to fill out and he was nearly out of his newborn clothes. He could hold his head up, smile, and coo. He was growing so fast.
She’d been so glad when Caleb and Liddy announced an hour ago that they were extending their stay yet again—this time till the end of the year. Shelby could sure get used to having them around. But that was also when Gray would be leaving. How would it feel to have all of them leave at once? Not good, she was certain.
When the food was on the dining room table, they found their seats.
“Want me to put him down?” Liddy asked.
“I got him.”
Dad had carved the turkey in the kitchen, and the savory aroma made Shelby’s mouth water. In a world where there was so much pain and suffering, they were blessed to have this delicious feast and loved ones around the table with whom to enjoy it.
Although not all their loved ones.
Shelby’s gaze drifted to the seat across from her. She felt Gram’s absence like a physical ache. She usually did most of the baking. In recent years Dad cooked the turkey because of its weight. But it wasn’t Gram’s recipes they missed. It was her fun-loving presence. Her sometimes too-bluntly-worded statements. Her sarcasm. As beautiful as the table was and as divine as the food smelled, her grandmother’s absence was the most noticeable thing in the room. She reached for her grandma’s wedding rings and held tight.
