Chapter 13 - THE NURSE WHO REFUSED TO BE HIS REDEMPTION
Dominic began visiting my mother.
He brought books.
Flowers.
Sometimes pastries from a bakery she remembered from childhood.
He never pretended to know how to fix her injuries.
He listened when she repeated stories.
He answered her questions patiently.
And when she confused him with Adrian, he didn't embarrass her.
One afternoon, Mom looked at him.
“You love my daughter.”
I nearly dropped my coffee.
“Mom!”
Dominic froze.
My mother smiled.
“I may forget dates, but I still recognize the way a man looks at a woman.”
Dominic turned toward me.
His expression was almost shy.
I looked away.
Later, outside the hospital, he approached.
“Grace.”
“Yes?”
“Your mother may be right.”
I stared.
“Dominic.”
He took a breath.
“I love you.”
The words frightened me more than I expected.
I had spent twelve years protecting my independence.
I had built a life where nobody could decide who I was.
And Dominic Vale was a man whose name still carried fear.
I looked at him.
“I won't be the woman who makes you feel forgiven.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
“I won't become proof that you've changed.”
“I understand.”
“And I won't give up my career.”
His expression softened.
“I'd never ask you to.”
I studied him.
“Then what do you want?”
He smiled faintly.
“A chance to know you without a hospital chart between us.”
I couldn't help laughing.
“That might be possible.”
His eyes brightened.
“Coffee?”
I considered.
May you like
“Coffee.”
And for the first time, I allowed myself to imagine a future that wasn't defined by what had happened at Blackwater House.
