It's Never too Late

“Other than when I’m in class, I’m here, Mark. Pretty well all day and all night, too. I’d be happy to sit with her, look in on her. Anything you need.”

It was the right thing to do. For the Grans of the world. The women who took on other people’s children and loved them as their own.

And for the children of the world who were the sole caretakers of their elderly loved ones.

“I appreciate the offer,” he said. Addy had thought about the older woman on and off all afternoon. Nonnie was an example of the type of woman Addy longed to be. Independent. Strong. Capable. No matter what life threw at her.

And Nonnie posed no threat to her, unlike her grandson. She had to go in.

Still, the night, the darkness, held her trapped in its shadows.

With a man she was drawn to as much as she needed to get away from.

Staring at her fountain, she watched the jeweled droplets of water chase one another over the rocks.

“It’s like they’re playing hide-and-seek.”

“The fountain’s important to you.” There was a personal note in his voice.

“I like fountains.” She watched the water, needing to be transported to a place she felt safe.

“I know.”

His tone was far too personal.

“People give away things about themselves by the priorities they choose. Before you moved into the house, you set up your new fountain.”

He was trespassing....

“You’re perceptive.”

He was quiet, and she waited, on edge.

“Why fountains?”

He wasn’t going to ask about the nightmare. And she couldn’t stay.

“Hmm?” She sat forward in her chair, picked up her glass and sought a suitable way to say good-night that wouldn’t offend him.

“What is it about fountains that speaks to you?”

“The water.” Maybe it was all the lies she was being forced to tell that compelled her to speak the truth.

Or maybe the water was too sacred to lie about.

“The water?”

“I find it peaceful.” She didn’t want him to think she was crazy. Coping devices were enlightened. Not crazy.

“A lot of people find fountains peaceful,” he said, watching her now. “But it’s not their first priority when they move into a new home. Sheets on a bed, food in the fridge, those kinds of things usually come first.”

She was going to tell him.

As she sat there, her heart beating a mile a minute, Addy realized she wanted to tell him. Because he was a stranger passing in the night? Because he knew her as Adele, not Adrianna?

Because he’d rescued his best friend from a fire?

Not because she felt connected to him on any personal level. Please, not that.