“I called every few weeks, and I dropped by once in a while. My last visit was ten years ago. I’d been on a retreat, and afterward I got the urge to give my grandparents a gift. I knew they’d always wanted to take a cruise, and since I had the County job by then—and a regular salary—I decided to surprise them. A last-ditch effort to connect, I guess. I also wrote them a letter that was a bit on the sappy side.”

In other words, he’d taken a risk and bared his soul.

She leaned forward. “What happened?”

“They thanked me for the cruise.”

“What about the letter?”

“They said they’d read it after I left.”

“Did they?”

“I don’t know.” A muscle clenched in his jaw. “They never mentioned it again.”

Merciful heaven. How could they have treated their own flesh and blood with such coldness?

“I’m so sorry, Brent.” Somehow she managed to choke out the words.

“Hey.” He touched her hand. “It’s okay.”

No, it wasn’t.

But she couldn’t change the past. All she could try to do was ensure he had a better future.

As she struggled to get a grip on her emotions, he spoke again.

“Eve—I didn’t introduce this subject to dwell on the past or to elicit sympathy. I brought it up to help you understand how my childhood shaped me . . . and why I’m deficient in certain areas of my life.”

“None that I can see.”

“You would in time.” He linked his fingers on the table. “Let me cut to the chase. As you’ve probably deduced, my grandparents weren’t the most demonstrative or warm people. I witnessed few exchanges of affection between them, and they were no different with me.”

“What about when you were a young child? Didn’t they kiss you good night or . . . or comfort you if you were sad or hurting?” Surely they had a few loving qualities.

“No. They were stoic personalities. There wasn’t much laughter in the house, nor were tears allowed. Everyone was expected to suck it up and carry on. As a result, I learned to be self-sufficient and to keep my emotions on a tight leash. That’s been an asset in my work—but less so in my personal life. In fact . . . it’s been a significant problem.”

All of a sudden, the gentle rain that had begun falling as they’d arrived at her house intensified. The drops hammered against the skylight, adding to the drumbeat of tension in the room as she tried to process all he’d told her.

The man sharing her kitchen table had given her a bunch of facts—most of them heartbreaking. Yet there had been one revealing omission.

He hadn’t talked about how his bleak childhood had made him feel.

Or how he felt now.