Mind Games

“Thea, you were protecting yourself.”

“Yes, yes, I was. And he’s protecting his son.”

On a shake of her head, Lucy let out a long, frustrated breath. “And you don’t see that boils down to what you said it wasn’t? A misunderstanding?”

Thea shifted, looked into Lucy’s eyes. “When did you tell Grandpa you had a gift?”

“Now, that’s different.”

“Why?”

“We both grew up here, and people knew about my granny, my mama, me. And back before that.”

“You never told him directly?”

“I suppose I did, but it wasn’t something that came as a surprise. You’d’ve told Ty when you were ready. It just got away from you.”

“And how would knowing what I have let him trust me again? It’s trust, Grammie, that’s so important to him.”

“If he can’t trust and respect what you have, who you are, well, darling, he’s not worth what I thought he was.”

“I wanted too much,” Thea repeated, “so I wasn’t honest with him. I didn’t and I don’t deserve what he said to me, what he thinks of me, but I wasn’t honest. I didn’t respect myself enough, I didn’t respect what I have, so I held back because I wanted him, I wanted Bray, I wanted that pretty picture too much to risk it.

“Now I’ve lost it.”

“Listen now.” Lucy laid her hands on Thea’s shoulders. “You’ll take time, and give him time. Then you’ll risk it, Thea. You’re not a coward. God knows you’ve taken more risks in your life than I’d like. Love takes risks. You’ll make him listen. You’ll make him hear you. The rest is up to him.”

“I was a coward about this. I didn’t think of it that way, but that’s the truth. So I won’t be. I’ll give us both time. There’s really nothing to risk now anyway.”

“Why don’t you come on home with me?”

“I’m going to work. I can lose myself in my work. I’ll be all right, Grammie. I’m glad you came. You’re what I needed. You steadied me up.”

Now Lucy laid her hands on Thea’s cheeks. “If that steady starts to wobble, you come to me.”

“I will. Can you tell Rem? Just tell him to give Ty some space?”

“Don’t worry about that.” With a murmur, Lucy pressed a kiss to Thea’s forehead. “He’s going to want to go over there and give Tyler the what for. I’ll hold him off.”

“Good, thanks.”

When Lucy left, Thea sat a bit longer, one arm around Bunk. The last gusts of October had stripped trees bare. Now all but the pines stood stark and ready for the coming winter.

The sky had gone gray—not storm gray, just dull. Sheetrock dull, with the sun closed behind.

“That’s how I feel, Bunk. Sheetrock dull. Let’s go inside, light the fires.”

She rose, walked onto the porch. Not a cell, no, her home wasn’t her prison.

It was her sanctuary.

Chapter Twenty-six

For three days Ty dealt with Bray’s questions about the dog, about Thea, and made excuses. He tolerated the whining, hoping the kid would eventually lose interest.

Since he knew his son, he understood that was a doomed hope, but he held on to it for sanity’s sake.

He knew what he had to do. Pack up and move back to Philadelphia. Easier, by far, if he hadn’t sold the damn house. Buy a new house, new start? Sounded fine.