Here in My Heart: A Novella (Echoes of the Heart) by Anna DeStefano

she asked, “what did Vivian say to her about the window and the lamp?”
    Joe chuckled again. “She told her I should be in Little League, I had such a good arm. She gave my mom the name of a coach she thought would be a perfect fit—he was her husband’s friend and a regular at the Dream Whip. She said a talent like mine shouldn’t be wasted.” Joe rubbed a knuckle beneath his jaw. “Did I ever tell you I went through college on a baseball scholarship? My family couldn’t have afforded it otherwise. I’ll never know how much of that was because I broke Vi’s window. But she was right. Fred Bricker was one of the best coaches I ever had, thanks to a scary old lady all the kids in town were afraid of.”
    “She . . .” Dru had never heard that story, but it didn’t surprise her. Nurturing wasn’t Vivian’s thing. But she’d made a difference in so many lives. “She treated me like an adult from the start, I think. I liked that. She expected me to be more than just a kid, and with her I always was.”
    “We saw that.” Joe nodded. “Even before she had you working at the Dream Whip when you were Sally Beaumont’s age. It was good for you, gave you a sense of permanence. It was your first real friendship outside our family, except for Brad, when you trailed him and Oliver and Travis everywhere.” Joe looked around them at the kooky, mismatched palette of Vivian’s ancient furniture. “You started growing up here, doing odd jobs for Vi. She took a lot of time helping you become what you are now.”
    “She’s a special lady.” Dru had always admired Vivian’s no-nonsense, irreverent take on life.
    “She called your mother and me again tonight,” Joe said. “She asked one of us to talk to you about—”
    “Brad, and this crazy idea she has about us working together?” Dru had suspected as much as soon as she’d seen her dad at the door. Joe wasn’t one to sleep on a problem when it involved one of his kids. She rubbed a hand over her eyes. “It’s late, and I’m tired. Brad spent most of the day with his grandmother. He’ll be back over here eventually, and I’ll deal with him; don’t worry. And then I’ll be by the house, if you don’t mind me crashing there again.”
    “Of course your mother and I don’t mind, but we’re worried.”
    “There’s nothing to worry about.” No matter how reasonable Brad’s arguments at the Whip had sounded, or what Vivian had said to him since then, Dru would make him understand why she couldn’t get sucked into doing things his grandmother’s way. Not this time.
    “Well, we are worried, honey. About you . So is Vivian. From what she’s gathered from Brad, things didn’t go any better between the two of you at the restaurant this morning than they did with her and Horace last night. And I have to say I agree with her. This has gone on long enough.”
    Dru rolled her eyes. Of course her foster parents would have heard about her and Brad’s showdown in the Whip’s kitchen. After what Sally and Lisa had seen, plus Dru and Brad’s confrontation yesterday in the YMCA lobby, the Chandlerville rumor mill must be in overdrive.
    “There’s nothing going on,” she insisted, “except for Vivian making trouble, wanting the impossible, and Horace and Brad indulging her. I don’t trust Brad. I can’t trust him. How am I supposed to work with him, live with him? Brad’s been talking with her about me for years, after what he did to Oliver.”
    “Oliver left a long time ago, Dru.”
    “And no one’s heard from him since.”
    “Your mother and I have heard from him, after a fashion, every month for the last few years.”
    “Wha . . . What?”
    “He sends us money to help with expenses. He didn’t want anyone to know.”
    “Why?” Why wouldn’t Oliver want even Dru to know?
    “Because people keep secrets, honey. Even people we love. I don’t really know why he’s stayed away. He hasn’t talked to us yet, but he’s sincere about