Eloise sat rigidly in the passenger seat, the cold leather pressing against her back, but her skin felt like it was burning. Her hands were clenched so tightly in her lap that her nails cut into her palms. Her jaw was trembling, but she wouldn’t allow herself to cry.
The silence between them was brutal. Only the sound of the tires humming over the road filled the space. Alex drove, stone-faced, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw the devastation clouding her expression. Her face had gone pale. Her lips moved slightly, but no sound came out. She looked broken, and he hated that it made his chest tighten. Before, she'd always felt strange about her grandfather's inconsistent behavior. The shifts in his tone, the hesitations in his eyes, the tension she couldn’t name. Now, everything co
