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It was true, his uncle Ron and his uncle Rod—before he died— were loving dads who took care of their children.
“I heard about this girl. Teagan, right?”
He nodded without answering.
“The girls say she’s special. And that she was someone special to you. What went wrong, sweetheart?”
He tore his eyes away from the dead leaves on the backyard ground. His grandmother palmed his cheek with her brittle hand.
“She wanted to be claimed. I know it sounds stupid, but it’s a big deal in my world. It’s like marriage. I wasn’t ready for that.”
His grandmother hummed. “And why do you feel like you’re not ready, dear?”
“I can’t give her what she needs.”
Nanna thought about it, as she tilted her head just a bit. “And what exactly do you think a girl like Teagan needs?”
He shifted on his barstool. “I don’t know. I made her my girlfriend, but that clearly wasn’t enough.”
Nanna scoffed. “Oh, boy. From what I’ve heard from your brother and sisters, I believe Teagan didn’t need a title as an Old Lady, specifically.”
He sighed. “She said so, Nanna. I’m sorry, but that was what broke us apart.”
Nanna pressed on. “From what I’ve heard, she needed for you to be all in. To open up your heart completely and tell her you only wanted her and that you would do anything to stay together for the rest of your lives.”
“It was too soon, Nanna.” He stood from his barstool and filled a glass with water. He drank it down in a few gulps and filled another glass.
“Did you love her?”
A sudden pain zinged through his heart as he realized that he still loved her. How could he not? She was perfect for him. Without even trying, she reached a part of him he’d kept away from everyone else. She had a beautiful soul. Even as young as she was, she had an old soul because of her past. He wanted nothing more than to take care of her. To grow old together with her.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
He didn’t argue with Nanna.
“My dear Devlin… Why are you torturing yourself by staying away from the woman that you’re in love with? It makes no sense.”
“I don’t want to be just like him. I’ll never be like that bastard and hurt the ones I love.”
She stood from her barstool and hugged him tight. She whispered against his chest, “You’ve already done that, sweetheart. You need to make things right.”
Her words played over and over in his mind. She hugged him a little tighter before she let go of him.
“Come, let’s get some ice cream. It’s the best remedy for a broken heart.”
Devlin followed his grandmother into the living room, thinking there wouldn’t be enough ice cream in the world to fix his heart.
