“Were you ever rejected by someone you loved, Granny Grace?”

She thought a moment. “Yes, I was. In high school. In my senior year I fell in love with a boy who was new to our town and to the school. Imagine having to start your senior year in a new school. He looked so lonely, and I fell head over heels for him.” She stopped. “My goodness, Tyler, you’ve got me going now. I haven’t thought about Hank Hessler in years.”

“What happened, Granny Grace? Tell me.” He leaned forward, distracted from his own unhappiness and eager for every word.

Grace nodded. “Hank Hessler. Why, Tyler, I must confess, he quite took my breath away. We had several classes together.” She smiled at Tyler and raised her brows. “I nearly flunked history and math. All I could do in class was look at him. In math class he sat catty-corner from me, so I could see his profile. I doted on his profile. He looked so lonely and so noble. I offered to help him with math—he wasn’t good with numbers—or to show him around town. He was polite but indifferent, and I built every simple hello, every smile, into something that simply wasn’t there.”

Her cheeks flushed, and she covered them with her hands. Then Grace laughed and slapped the end of the table with her palm. “What a silly goof I was. By Thanksgiving, he was holding hands and going steady with a girl in our history class. He just about broke my heart, and all that stuff about his caring for me was all in my head. But then your grandfather—goodness me, Tyler, I mean Ted Singleton—asked me to the senior prom.” She laughed again and smoothed her hair. “We started dating, Ted that is, and I married him and lived happily ever after.” It was worth stretching the truth here.

“Thank you for telling me, Granny Grace. I feel better. I think you’re right. I have built a whole fantasy in my head about Alicia. It ought not to be so hard and so hurtful. A person ought not to lie in bed at night and suffer, wondering if someone cares for them. When it’s right, you know it. They show you they care, like Grandpa Ted did with you. I feel he’s my grandpa, too, even if I never knew him.”

“He would have loved you, Tyler. Being honest with another person you care about is very important. No game playing. There doesn’t have to be. Your grandpa Bob and I were honest with one another from the start. We let each other know how we felt. That’s how it ought to be. Now you remember that. Your heart feels happy, and you feel secure about the person’s affection for you.”

He stood, circled the table, and hugged her.