Done (Harmony Haven #1)

Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty-Four

SUNDAY DINNER

EASTON

My beautiful girl was just as crazy as I was if she thought I’d let her pull away from me without a fight. With her short answers to my texts all weekend, I had felt something happening. There was way more going on with her than fear for Max. But I wasn’t exactly sure what to do.

“She was scared, maybe angry, at the clinic. But it didn’t feel like it was at me.” I explained to my Grandparents, who gave me their undivided attention because neither West nor Miles could make it.

“She was probably a little angry at herself,” Grams explained, patting my hands gently.

“Why, though? She didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Mothers always think they’re getting it wrong. They wake up every day with unconditional love, anxiety, joy, and guilt. Can you imagine having all those emotions at the same time, every day? Much less having them and being a single parent?”

“Yeah—”

“Beep, wrong answer,” Gramps chimed in, cutting me off. “No, you can’t imagine. The only person you’ve ever had to worry about is yourself, and that’s okay, but don’t say you understand, because you don’t and never will.”

“But I can understand how that makes her feel?—”

“No you can’t,” he cut me off again, making me drop my fork and eye him incredulously.

“Gramps, I’m a good guy. I understand.”

“I think what he’s trying to say,” Grams interjected, “is that she has a lot on her plate, and you may think that interjecting yourself into the middle of it is helpful, but you really have no idea what she needs, or wants.”

“So what do I do?”

“Exactly what you said you’d do. Be there when she’s ready to talk. Give her space in the meantime.”

That didn’t feel like my style, but I was going to give it a shot. The ball was in her court. I told her to call me when she was ready, and she would. Even if it was to tell me we were done, she’d call.

But I couldn’t promise I’d accept it.

With my mind settled, I grabbed my fork and took another bite of the dinner Grams had made for me. Pork chops, butter beans, and fried green tomatoes. If I hadn’t been so upset, I’d be in heaven.

“Earth to Easton,” Gramps laughed.

“I just can’t stop thinking about her. She has me going crazy. Did you know I bought lavender-scented dryer sheets just so my shit smelled like her favorite candle?”

“Sounds like love,” Grams sang, letting her fork work as the maestro for her tune.

Love?

No.

Obsession?

Probably.

Never mind, I was in love with her. Why sit there and try to convince myself that I wasn’t? Hell, I was in love with her the moment I saw her. I’d already confessed to my parents, why lie to myself?

Self-preservation?

“Does love make you crazy? Does it make you doodle hearts and talk to yourself?”

“Doodle hearts?” Gramps' voice was teasing, humored, and I looked his way just in time to see him wiping his face with a napkin in an attempt to hide his smile.

“Yes, doodle hearts.” I owned it. Jesse made me draw hearts and flowers on the discarded mail that laid on my dining table. What else was I going to do with it?

“Love makes you crazy, and don’t let him tell you otherwise,” Grams added. “I mean, he was crazy enough to get a tattoo with my name.”

I’d have choked on my food if my bite had been any bigger. A tattoo? I’d never seen Gramps with a tattoo. “I call bullshit. I’ve never seen a tattoo.”

“It's not where you’d ever look,” Grams winked, and I turned my shock to Gramps, who had a smirk on his face.

“Ew,” I gagged, jokingly, making both of them start laughing.

“You tell anyone else, including your brothers, and I’ll make sure the entire town knows about those doodles.”

His secret was safe with me, but I wasn’t too sure it was that big of a deal. It was romantic and showed his commitment to her. I’d get Jesse’s name across my forehead if I thought it’d help her see how much she meant to me.

The doodles, on the other hand, were better kept as our little secret.