Oh how wrong I was. That hole just got bigger. Now I need to let both of you go in order to survive.
I love you, Colin. Until we meet again.
Always yours,
Millie
Tears streamed down my cheeks at the finality of my last letter to him. I sat there for a long, few moments, just breathing deeply, letting the tears flow. I was so absorbed in the letter I didn’t notice anyone had walked in until they cleared their throat behind me. I jumped a little, spinning to see Gran.
I quickly wiped at my eyes, putting on a fake smile.
“Hey, how’s Ashton and Wayne?”
She gave me a sweet smile.
“Well…” She took in a deep breath and let out a long sigh. “Wayne still needs a liver and Ashton’s body needs to stop rejecting Colin’s heart. But I’m hoping they’ll both make it.”
I froze.
Colin’s heart.
She said …Colin’sheart.
“He told you.” My voice was small as my head hung with shame. In such a short time I’d grown to love this woman too.
Gran nodded. “You wanna talk about it?”
I blew air through my teeth. “Yeah, let me get us some tea.”
Gran nodded and then sidled into the booth in the back. The new glass door was put in but I’d have to run a vacuum over everything before more customers started showing.
Making two cups of tea, I placed them on the tray and then grabbed my signed copy of the restaurant sale agreement Gran and I had signed in her office.
When I got out to the booth, she was just sitting there looking at me quizzically. My stomach tightened with nerves. She hadn’t walked in yelling at me and calling me a psycho, so that was a good sign.
I set the tea down in front of her with the contract, and then plopped into the seat. She looked at the contract and then looked up at me. Picking up her tea, she took a long sip and then looked at me again.
I swallowed hard. Clearly she wanted me to start talking.
“I fell in love with Colin when I was sixteen. We eventually got married, and two days after our wedding, he died in a car accident in New York City.”
She nodded, lips turned into a frown, but didn’t speak a word, so I went on.
“I was so … lost. That was my future, my plan. No Colin meant no children, no growing old together, no more takeout for two. I was …broken.”
She reached out and grasped my hand but didn’t speak. “A year passed, and they said it would get better with time … but it didn’t. Not while someone was walking around with his beating heart in their chest.”
A tear rolled down my cheek and I swatted it away. “So I got Ashton’s details. I borrowed a stethoscope. I was going to ask him if I could listen to Colin’s heart beating and then I was going to go. I had a flight later that night, youhaveto believe me.”
Gran nodded. “Why’d you stay?”
I gulped. “He was smoking, drinking … he had such abadattitude, his bar was failing. I don’t know. I guess I thought I could fix him. Do right by Colin.”
We were both silent a moment.
“Love will make you do crazy things,” Gran finally said, and I wasn’t sure if she meant love for Colin or love for Ashton.
I tapped the contract, pushing it across the table. “As soon as he’s discharged from the hospital and can get back to running the bar, I’ll go back to New York.”
