Falling for the Brother

Another flash of confusion crossed Miriam’s face, to be replaced with a glance at Mason. “You don’t seriously think Elmer did this to me, do you?” Her quiet tone commanded attention.

Mason’s slow nod stabbed Harper. She hurt for him. For Miriam. And for…

“We know he did it, Gram.” Bruce took over. “Mason already got a warrant for him.”

Harper cringed. Got a warrant. It was true, but only for questioning. Such strong talk, which was his usual manner, but at the moment, in this situation, way out of line. She wished he’d leave the next few minutes to Mason.

“You got a… He’s under arrest?”

“No.” Mason shook his head. “The warrant was for questioning.” Mason sent Bruce a look, one Harper interpreted as suggesting he take it down a notch. “I talked to him yesterday afternoon.”

“You seriously think he did this,” she said again. “You’re going to arrest him?”

Mason didn’t deny it. How could he? Harper knew he had every intention of following through as soon as they got Miriam to press charges.

“You’re going to arrest him?” she asked again, her tone gaining so much strength Harper took another step forward, inexplicably drawn toward her.

“Gram…” Bruce reached for her…and Harper froze. Just froze in her tracks. Those arms…thrust toward… She wasn’t there. She was somewhere else. Another time…

Before Bruce could calm Miriam, she was standing at the side of the table, facing him. “You’re going to arrest Elmer? On what grounds?”

Harper saw it like a movie on TV. Separate from what was going on in her real life.

Mason was beside Miriam now, an arm around her. “Gram, we just want to talk. Please, sit down and we’ll get through this. Together.”

Gazing up at Mason seemed to calm her for a minute, while Harper stood there, completely separate from Miriam’s situation, horror filling her to the core.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

MIRIAM WAS SHAKING her head. Harper forced herself to focus on the older woman. Just as her mother had taught her. When emotion seemed overwhelming, you thought of others. Tended to others.

“Elmer and I are in love,” Miriam announced. “Yes, he came over that night. He comes over a lot of nights when Bruce is gone and he…usually stays longer. We sit and watch TV together. I understand why Bruce doesn’t approve. I am old. I’ve already got my family and my life. I also have twice as much money as Elmer does, and he might be after that. I don’t even care. Bruce was the one who cared. Always worrying that you’d think he was after any assets I had. That you’d really send me away…”

Harper needed to sit down. Mason’s glance at his grandmother held pure shock.

“I’d send you away? What are you talking about?”

“Him.” She pointed at Bruce. “He said you were concerned about me getting older. That you’d said some things. That I had to do what he said so you’d let the two of us live together in peace.”

What? Harper wasn’t sure she was following it all. Her gaze stayed on Mason—it was the only way she seemed to be holding herself together. There. In the present moment.

When Bruce had reached for Miriam…the past had slammed back on her. She couldn’t find her way…

“Why did you get so defensive with Grace?” Mason’s tone was loving as he faced his grandmother. At least Harper thought it was. “Why not tell her about it? She’d never even heard of Elmer.”

The way Miriam stared at the ground hit Harper hard. She felt as though she was living inside the older woman. “Because I know that Bruce is right,” she said. “I’m seventy-five years old and here I am, thinking I’m falling in love? What do I know? How can I know for sure that I’m not losing my mind? Grace was already telling me I wasn’t seeing things clearly, telling me Bruce was turning me into an old woman before my time, robbing me of the life I had left and that I couldn’t see it. And… I’ve never felt anything like I feel for Elmer. Love’s always been practical and calm for me. Like a gentle flower that blooms forever. With Elmer it’s more like a burning fire.” She shuffled her feet. Lifted her cast, then lowered it, and looked up to the sky. “At seventy-five I’m finally feeling a burning fire?” She shook her head. “I tried to stop seeing him, but I knew he was just down the street, that he was alone, and I missed him so much…”