Tina went into her kitchen and went through the motions of preparing tea, then sat down at the table, blinking at it, unsure of how it got there. She felt so empty now. This was a crueler blow on top of the one Grant had dealt her, and surprisingly she felt it more keenly. That store was the only thing she had ever been able to call her own. She bought it with her savings and had built it up by herself. It had been a success – one of the few successes she’d had in life. She had made enough of a profit that she was clear of her original investment with a little left over, and where did that leave her? With a little more money than when she had first arrived in Mercy. That was all. Her attempt to build a life here had been a failure. Everything she’d thought she had, had been taken away from her. It was so unfair.

Gradually she became aware of a knock at the door. She sighed and pulled herself up and swiped underneath her eyes with her fingertips. She paused at the door and timidly asked “Who is it?”

It was Grant. Again. And she didn’t have the energy to resist, so she opened the door and looked at him without inviting him in. “What?”

He didn’t wait to be asked in, he simply stepped forward and hugged Tina. “I’m so sorry.”

Tina sighed in his embrace and couldn’t stop the fresh tears that soaked through his shirt.

They stayed like that, with Grant murmuring comforting sounding things until Tina pulled away abruptly.

“What do you want?”

“I-” Grant faltered at the sudden change in her demeanor. “I couldn’t stay away. You need me.”

“No, I don’t.”

Grant’s face fell. “Tina, don’t shut me out. I’m worried about you.”

“You don’t need to worry. I’ll be fine.”

“Of course you will but I know you must be upset. Let me be here with you.”

Tins shook her head. “I can’t. You have to let me start getting over you.”