Read Here in My Heart: A Novella (Echoes of the Heart) for Free Online Page B

tenderly adjusted the oxygen strip beneath her nose. He took her hand and kissed her fingers. “But we could have done this at the center, the way Dru suggested. The kids would have come there if I’d asked them to.”
    “You mean”—Vivian coughed again—“the way they haven’t said two words to each other for the last seven years? My mind’s not that addled yet.”
    “You’re exhausting yourself,” Horace said as Dru took the gaudy chair that matched the one he’d been using. “Let’s get you back to Harmony Grove.”
    “No. I intend to deal with what’s left of my life somewhere besides where I’ve decided to die.”
    Vi had been at the house when Dru returned from the Y. Horace had met Dru at the door, worried about Vivian’s Harmony Grove team approving a last-minute, hour-long visit, and how it was already sapping her strength.
    He walked now to the windows facing the side garden, putting a professional distance between himself and the woman rumors said he’d been sweet on since his wife passed more than a decade ago. He peered through the sheers at the dark world beyond.
    “I should let you two talk with Brad alone.” Dru stood as well, trying not to pull Vivian into a terrified hug the older woman wouldn’t want. Vi had never been one for physical signs of affection, and Dru wasn’t about to inflict her own need for reassurance on her friend.
    Vivian had lived a long life. A good, caring life, no matter how surly she’d often behaved toward people—including Dru, from the moment Vivian had offered her a full-time management job at the Dream Whip and a room to stay in at the Douglas house. And Dru would do just about anything for her, except play along while Vi used her illness to set up Dru to spend the evening with Brad.
    Vivian was clearly feeling well enough to deal with Horace and her grandson on her own.
    “I’ll wait upstairs,” Dru said, “until you and Brad go over your will and whatever else Horace is here to do. Or I could head to the Dream Whip and work on the holiday menu changes we discussed. You should be focusing on family matters tonight, Vivian. Brad and I saw each other at the Y. We got along fine. I’m sure we’ll be able to work together on whatever the three of you decide.”
    Vivian sipped her water and placed the glass on a hand-crocheted doily that had likely protected her mahogany coffee table since the dawn of time.
    Her hand trembled when she reached for Dru, but her grip was firm, stopping Dru from leaving. Vivian pulled until they were sitting side by side on her fraying couch. Every clock in the room seemed to tick louder, taunting Dru and her determination not to scoot even closer to the proud woman whose matter-of-fact generosity had helped shape her life.
    “You’re as much family to me now as my grandson,” Vivian said.
    Her revelation rang with uncharacteristic fondness. It was a lovely, cruel reminder of how little time Dru’s friend had left. Too much was changing, too quickly.
    “And I need your help,” Vi said, “for more than winding my clocks and making sure Bradley showed up to deal with my lawyer. I’ve asked Horace to discuss some things with the two of you, assuming my grandson hasn’t already beaten a path back out of town.”
    The front door opened.
    A chilly draft rushed across the room.
    “Hello?” Brad called. “Anyone home?”
    He stepped into the parlor from the entryway, looking even better than he had at the Y. He’d thrown on a light windbreaker over another T-shirt and jeans, his close-cropped hair damp and mussed. His guarded gaze tracked first to Dru, and then to his grandmother.
    “Vivian?” he asked. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
    He hurried toward the couch. Dru had been fighting back emotion. Before it could spill over, she joined Horace at the windows.
    “I thought . . .” Brad hugged his grandmother as gently as a big man could. He sat and pulled her close again. “I came here first because Dru