Moving On

Chapter 4 - Part 1

She twirled the locket around her finger and looked away, trying to come up with an excuse to leave when he suddenly asked, "What was he like?"

"What?"

"What was he like to you?"

The late Mr. Hayes was like a grandfather to her. Whenever she got stuck with problems from work, she could always ask him for some insights. Whenever she wanted to complain about meeting an unreasonable client, he would be there to listen.

But she couldn't possibly say that to the grandson he had abandoned.

"He was a nice person," she said and glanced toward the study.

The door was closed, but she imagined herself walking in and seeing the grin that the late Mr. Hayes always had for her.

She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath when she felt the burning in her eyes. "He loved telling me stories about you." She smiled, thinking of those times when the late Mr. Hayes pulled out the photo albums. "I think I can tell you the story behind every photo in this house."

Opening her eyes, she waited for Tyler's response.

Tyler remained frozen like a statue, staring out of the long window at the end of the hallway.

The late Mr. Hayes used to do that all the time.

Sometimes, she would come up the stairs and find him sipping his coffee and staring out at the woods.

At those times, she'd join him by his side and watch the trees along with him. She never asked what he was staring at. All she knew was that his heart was aching, and she hoped being beside him could bring him some comfort.

She sighed when Tyler turned his gaze to her.

When she'd agreed to stay in the mansion for a year, she didn't think it would be this difficult.

She didn't like where the house was situated. She didn't like the feeling of being separated from the world, but she'd just realized how difficult it was to be trapped in the house with all those memories.

Everything in the house reminded her of the late Mr. Hayes.

The memories of their conversations were still imprinted so vividly in her mind that she could almost see him right there in front of her.

She couldn't imagine the pain he'd been in for the past twenty years. As much as everything reminded her of the late Mr. Hayes, everything in the house must have reminded him of Tyler's parents.

Now she could understand why he thought it was better to move Tyler somewhere else than for him to remain in this house.

"The two of you were close," Tyler said.

She didn't know why, but she felt awful. She felt as if she'd stolen the one family that Tyler had. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. To me, he's been dead for twenty years."

Although his face remained straight and revealed none of his feelings, the anger rang clear in his words as his eyes darkened. Kate finally realized how much the late Mr. Hayes had hurt and was still hurting him.

Maybe she was jumping to conclusions. Maybe she wasn't irritating him. Maybe he just hadn't figured out how to deal with everything.

She was suddenly remorseful of all the indignation she'd felt.

She should've been more understanding.

He was abandoned right after his parents were taken from him, and he never got to listen to his grandfather's explanation. He never got the answers he needed.