Page 96 of Try Line Hearts
“I gathered,” she replied. “That’s why I’m calling.”
He sat back down, towel bunched in his fist, staring at the cracked screen. “What’s wrong?”
She paused. Just long enough to matter.
“I see what’s been happening with our boy online,” Maeve said. “And you’ve stopped answering me.”
Eli closed his eyes. “I didn’t mean to.”
“I know,” she said easily. “But you did. So, I figured something was up.”
Silence settled between them, not awkward—weighted.
“He’s not an easy person to get to know,” Eli said finally.
Maeve sighed. “No. He’s not.”
There was no judgement in it. Just weary understanding.
“He’s not trying to hurt you,” she added. “I need you to hear that.”
Eli swallowed. “Feels a lot like it anyway.”
“Aye,” she said. “That’s the problem. He’s very good at convincing himself that if he’s not being cruel on purpose, then it’ll all shake out grand.”
“That’s… generous of him.”
Maeve snorted. “Tell me about it. I’ve been cleaning up after that logic since he was seven.”
Eli leaned back, staring at the ceiling. “He thinks he can just wait this out.”
“I know,” Maeve said quietly. “Season ends. Noise dies down. Everything magically gets simpler.”
“And I’m meant to be what,” Eli asked. “Patient?”
Maeve didn’t answer right away.
When she did, her voice was steady. “You’re meant to be honest with yourself. That’s it. I’m not ringing to tell you what to do—or to tell you he’s the villain here.”
“That’s not what it feels like,” Eli said.
“No,” she agreed. “But itiswhat it is. He’s being an eejit. Not a monster.”
Eli rubbed at his face. “That doesn’t make it easier.”
“No,” Maeve said. “It just means you don’t have to hate him to protect yourself.”
The words landed soft and sharp all at once.
“You don’t owe him silence,” she continued. “And you don’t owe him patience just because he’s scared of the consequences.”
Eli exhaled slowly. “I don’t want to be hidden.”
Maeve’s voice gentled. “And you shouldn’t have to be.”
A beat.
“I’m not picking sides,” she added. “I can see this for what it is—two people wanting the same thing at different speeds and calling it careful.”
