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But they were onstage, so he couldn’t do any of those things All he could do wasthat if they dared say even one word to either of theret it

Shit He couldn’t stand this silence Couldn’t stand knowing howhow ot out his phone, typed in a text ht for a nore it But then she reached into her bag

I LOVE YOU PLEASE FORGIVE ME

She ran her finger across the touch screen and deleted his , her expression not changing once

What hurt the s he wanted to say to her, and knowing that she wasn’t going to hear any of theot a chance to see what could have been

And she would never believe that he loved her

Chapter Twenty-One

"Mrs Taylor, I stole your wish for your grandson and turned it into a horrible lie I’m so, so sorry for what I’ve done"

Anna stood beside Eugenia’s bed and waited for anger or tears or disappointment or all of the above from the woman she’d betrayed with a lie Cole had wanted to come into the rooy was soly, he’d respected that decision

The other surprising thing was that his grandmother didn’t look particularly upset about her confession Anna couldn’t understand it According to theher via voice and text and e their e to Cole

Shouldn’t his grandenia said as she reached for Anna’s hands and gently patted thehtforward for aze "And you do love Cole, don’t you?"

"Yes," Anna ad but speak the truth now "I love your grandson But it doesn’t matter Not when I can’t trust hirand hi her head "Just because I love randson doesn’t mean I don’t see his faults He’s bullheaded So his dreaets an idea in his head and follows it straight into a dead end" To Anna’s surprise, the woman smiled "Did he ever tell you about the first ti back to ot in the car, so I turned around and took him back inside He didn’t think I’d leave him there, but I did"

Anna shook her head "He went to Juvenile Hall?"