Grace,” he muttered as he tried to wipe the moisture away from my face.
“Oh, I feel so stupid,” I sniffled, and quickly shoved the sandwich into my mouth, hoping that I didn’t choke on it…or maybe that I would. “ Migh -shed- shumfing -bad-foo-shim,” I mumbled, bits of bread tumbling out of my mouth as I spoke.
Graham laughed, his head cocked to the side in confusion. “You wanna try that again with less food in your mouth?”
After gulping down the remainder of the sandwich, I replied, “I said something bad to him.”
“ Aah .” Graham nodded his head and reached for me, his arms circling wide around me in a strong, comforting hug, my shoulder pressed against his chest, the side of my head leaning in against the soft dip that rested between his shoulders. This was an embrace that felt…different. The depth of emotions that I could feel from it was the same, but they were just taking a different path. It felt like I was being hugged by a brother.
“I don’t think he’s going to forgive me,” I told him, my voice muffled against his shoulder. “What I said was really bad.”
“You want to tell me what it was? Maybe I can tell you if you’re overreacting.”
I allowed my head to move in a silent “no”, and then felt him sigh, not liking that I was keeping a secret from him and that he was seemingly fine with it.
“Grace, he’ll get over it. Let him cool off. He’s a guy and we all get our egos bruised once in a while. Don’t stress too much about it, okay?” He squeezed me, the way a brother would, and I nodded my head in confirmation even though I knew Graham was probably way off base.
“Could you at least tell me what started the argument?”
Wanting to be honest, I told him as much of the truth as I could. All five words of it. “It started with Miss Maggie.”
“The librarian?”
I nodded my head and the grief that I had not yet felt, the grief that I had subconsciously put on the backburner because of my stupid selfishness, suddenly came running to the forefront of my emotions, and brought with it a whole new set of tears.
“You want to tell me what happened?” Graham asked, his voice soft and overflowing with concern.
But as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t. I felt him exhale at my response, and the influx of tears only increased as my guilt and my self-hatred dog-piled onto each other.
I felt Graham’s shoulders shake as he chuckled softly, finding some small amusement in my uncharacteristic behavior. “You must really like books to let Miss Maggie come between you and Robert.”
I hid my smile on his shoulder. If he only knew the truth.
BOMBS AND BOMBS
Graham and I both went to bed right around the time the sun should have come up. I say should have because the winter storm that had made its appearance shortly after midnight continued to pour snow and the occasional balls of hail onto Heath well past dawn, completely blocking out any beneficial light. It was only when the pounding of hail went from sporadic to incessant that I finally woke up.
The gray glow that shined through my window deceived my inner clock when I looked at the actual one sitting on the dresser and fell back onto the bed with a loud grunt of dissatisfaction. “It’s only nine-thirty!”
I rolled over onto my side and reached for the familiar shape that felt like it had always been there, as much a part of me as my own skin. But nothing was there. The spot on the bed where Robert normally slept beside me was empty, the void on the bed obvious by the lack of disturbance on the comforter or the pillow.
I hadn’t expected just how bereft I would feel at the return of the emptiness that, until just a couple of months ago, had always been there. My fingers clutched at the empty space, my palm itching to feel the warmth of another’s skin that it had grown accustomed to.
The tears that had flowed too freely just a few
“Oh, I feel so stupid,” I sniffled, and quickly shoved the sandwich into my mouth, hoping that I didn’t choke on it…or maybe that I would. “ Migh -shed- shumfing -bad-foo-shim,” I mumbled, bits of bread tumbling out of my mouth as I spoke.
Graham laughed, his head cocked to the side in confusion. “You wanna try that again with less food in your mouth?”
After gulping down the remainder of the sandwich, I replied, “I said something bad to him.”
“ Aah .” Graham nodded his head and reached for me, his arms circling wide around me in a strong, comforting hug, my shoulder pressed against his chest, the side of my head leaning in against the soft dip that rested between his shoulders. This was an embrace that felt…different. The depth of emotions that I could feel from it was the same, but they were just taking a different path. It felt like I was being hugged by a brother.
“I don’t think he’s going to forgive me,” I told him, my voice muffled against his shoulder. “What I said was really bad.”
“You want to tell me what it was? Maybe I can tell you if you’re overreacting.”
I allowed my head to move in a silent “no”, and then felt him sigh, not liking that I was keeping a secret from him and that he was seemingly fine with it.
“Grace, he’ll get over it. Let him cool off. He’s a guy and we all get our egos bruised once in a while. Don’t stress too much about it, okay?” He squeezed me, the way a brother would, and I nodded my head in confirmation even though I knew Graham was probably way off base.
“Could you at least tell me what started the argument?”
Wanting to be honest, I told him as much of the truth as I could. All five words of it. “It started with Miss Maggie.”
“The librarian?”
I nodded my head and the grief that I had not yet felt, the grief that I had subconsciously put on the backburner because of my stupid selfishness, suddenly came running to the forefront of my emotions, and brought with it a whole new set of tears.
“You want to tell me what happened?” Graham asked, his voice soft and overflowing with concern.
But as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t. I felt him exhale at my response, and the influx of tears only increased as my guilt and my self-hatred dog-piled onto each other.
I felt Graham’s shoulders shake as he chuckled softly, finding some small amusement in my uncharacteristic behavior. “You must really like books to let Miss Maggie come between you and Robert.”
I hid my smile on his shoulder. If he only knew the truth.
BOMBS AND BOMBS
Graham and I both went to bed right around the time the sun should have come up. I say should have because the winter storm that had made its appearance shortly after midnight continued to pour snow and the occasional balls of hail onto Heath well past dawn, completely blocking out any beneficial light. It was only when the pounding of hail went from sporadic to incessant that I finally woke up.
The gray glow that shined through my window deceived my inner clock when I looked at the actual one sitting on the dresser and fell back onto the bed with a loud grunt of dissatisfaction. “It’s only nine-thirty!”
I rolled over onto my side and reached for the familiar shape that felt like it had always been there, as much a part of me as my own skin. But nothing was there. The spot on the bed where Robert normally slept beside me was empty, the void on the bed obvious by the lack of disturbance on the comforter or the pillow.
I hadn’t expected just how bereft I would feel at the return of the emptiness that, until just a couple of months ago, had always been there. My fingers clutched at the empty space, my palm itching to feel the warmth of another’s skin that it had grown accustomed to.
The tears that had flowed too freely just a few
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