Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 107118 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107118 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Hush was as still as a statue, until he lifted his hand and gently held her wrist. “Nice to meet you . . . Mormor.”
Mrs. Moreau fell apart on hearing those words and wrapped her arms around Hush. She looked tiny clinging to Hush’s waist. Hush’s eyes closed, then he hugged her back. His cheeks twitched, his lips tightened . . . then I saw a tear fall down his cheek. He held her tighter, and I could see he was struggling not to break down completely.
I moved to stand by the wall, keeping eyes on any movement from the house. I only looked back when Mrs. Moreau said, “I knew you’d come back one day. It was fate. One cannot do something so heinous and not have it come back on them.” I got the impression she was talking about more than the fire. She looked at her husband, and an ice-cold expression came over her face. “But you must go.” She ran her hand down Hush’s face. “An intruder came in, trying to get into our safe.” She righted her hair. “I was upstairs when he shot him. I was hiding, then came down to find him here, dead.”
Hush took a few shaky breaths, then nodded his approval. “We’d better go,” I urged. Hush couldn’t take his eyes off his grandmother. He was locked in the moment. “Val?”
He finally looked at me and nodded. As he moved past his grandmother, she said, “When all of this has blown over . . . I would very much like to see you.”
Hush stopped dead, took a deep breath, then turned around. “I’d like that.” My chest fucking cracked for him.
“And you must come back and see your mother,” she said. Hush stilled. More tears spilled from Mrs. Moreau’s eyes. “She’s in our garden.” Hush nodded, but I knew he wouldn’t be able to speak, knowing he was walking on the same ground as his mamma. As if that wasn’t enough for the brother to hear, she said, “And I will also take you to see your father.”
Hush turned slowly. “What?” he whispered in disbelief.
His grandmother stepped toward him. “He never knew,” she said confidently, gesturing to Moreau slumped on the desk. “But I paid the coroner behind his back. I had some savings he never knew about.” She smiled a sad smile. “I was saving in secret to go back to Sweden . . . hoping to find Aia, your father, and you first and take you all with me. To start a new life away from him. But . . .” She trailed off. We all knew the end. “When his remains were recovered, and my husband refused to give him a grave, I paid for one in secret.” Her breathing hitched and her voice grew hoarse. “I knew my daughter, and I knew she loved that man more than life itself. They should have been laid to rest together, but I couldn’t . . . he would’ve . . .”
Her head dropped, no doubt in shame, but Hush was across the room in no time, hugging the old woman to his chest. “Thank you,” he whispered, then said something to her in Swedish I didn’t understand. Mrs. Moreau sobbed and held her grandson close. “I am so sorry, Valan,” she cried. “I am so sorry he did what he did. I miss my girl . . . I miss her so much. Like half of my heart has been taken.” She pulled back and smiled a weak smile. “But seeing you today . . . how much you look like her . . . has given life to my soul.” She laughed. “You are so beautiful, gullunge.”
Eventually Hush pulled away, placing a kiss on his grandmother’s forehead. She sighed. “Now go. Leave town to wherever you live now. Get far away and don’t look back. I will not let you be punished for something that was very much deserved.”
I took hold of Hush’s elbow and led him from the house. We ran, Hush looking back to see his grandmother on the porch watching us go. We got back in the truck, and I quickly pulled onto the drive. Hush watched the house and his grandmother until they both faded from view.
“You good?” I asked as we joined the road that would lead us back to Sia.
Hush released a long exhale. I’d always thought that Hush had taken a deep inhale when his parents died. I guess I didn’t realize that until now, with the heavy sigh slipping from his lips, he had never breathed out.
Hush turned to me, a road light illuminating his face. “Let’s go get our Sia.” He smiled as he sat back against the seat. He stared at the road ahead. “I wanna go home.” But then he frowned, something clearly still on his mind. “What about your folks?”